SPOT Festival in Aarhus is drawing closer and closer. May 4 to 7 will see Denmark’s second biggest city play host to the hottest mostly Danish and Scandinavian musical talents, sharing the stages around the music school. A ripe blueberry on the line-up comes in the form of Kalaha, a team of four, connecting producers Rumpistol and Spejderrobot with drummer Emil de Waal and guitarist Niclas Knudsen. The catching result is a refreshing blend of electronics and jazz. They have an absolutely mad album out called Masala, get behind this. And one to be enjoyed live, they play Ridehuset on Friday night. Team Poule says, gonna be heavy weight this one.
Can you feel the cool blossoms of springs lurking underneath the breezy April airs? It’s that time of the year again and SPOT Festival in Denmark’s second biggest city Aarhus will be opening the flood gates to a steady stream of new music from May 4 to 7. This year of course will be a very special festival as Aarhus is one of two European Capitals of Culture, how about that.
Major names on the ticket include Blondage, playing Saturday night, local heroes Lowly, who will be playing the opening concert on Thursday, main man Wangel who secured a prime slot on Friday night, as well as old mates Sgrow who play Saturday afternoon.
A show not to be missed will be Copenhagen’s First Hate. The duo has been twisting and turning the knobs on their tracks and live set and have already lined up a healthy line of shows for summer. They play Friday night at the lovely Congress Center. Attached below are Saint Best who are scheduled to take the stage at Radar on Satuday night and have been described by the festival as a Danish version of Friendly Fires – which is fair to say. Team Poule says, gonna be a home run this year.
Get out your oven gloves because this one comes in sizzling: lush vocals, on point electronic production and a spheric vibe that raises the roof. All this paired up with flawless looks and a seemingly unlimited supply of cables and devices and you got yourself Muutes. Attached below is Fever, b-side to their single Tush from last year. Still fresh as.
Naturally, it would be advisable to experience their chillwaves in the intimate setting of a concert. You’re in luck then because the duo has lined up a bit of mini tour, seeing them play Hamburg’s Barbarabar on May 3rd alongside Ducks for a Clubkinder Klanglabor session. After that, they will play the hot bed that is Oldenburg for Polyestival, May 26th. Also on the ticket for the occasion: Kirrin Island, A Thousand Vows and Billion One. Team Poule says, what a time to be alive.
Photo credits go to trigger man Gerhard Kühne.
Everybody’s favorite Los Angeles duo Freedom Fry have squeezed out a new little gem, a Wild Child. Marie and Bruce are really bringing their folk-fused spin of indie pop to perfection with this one. Driving riffs, hazy vocals and that spring time warmth of the Los Angeles skies. Team Poule says, right on the spot.
Icelandic smooth talkers Vök have been teasing everyone for the past four years with their carefully diffused drops of tracks and EPs, a steady stream of hazy electronics, warm vocals and clear sense for rhythm and melody. Figure will be their new full length release, out April 28th. For the occasion, the group has put together a handy line of shows taking them on an adventure across the European plains.
April 27th will see them stopping by at fair old Uebel & Gefährlich in Hamburg, presented by local radio station 917xfm, German event aggregator app Ask Helmut, and yours truly Team Poule. If you find yourself interested in that kind of event, paste you name and a few words of wisdom below into the comment section and with a little bit of luck you will be calling one of two pairs of tickets for Uebel & Gefährlich yours. Winners gonna be picked April 26th.
Further dates include Amsterdam April 22nd, Eindhoven after that, Rotterdam, April 25th, Cologne May 2nd, Gent May 3rd, Berlin May 5th, Kattowice, Poznan, Warsaw and Prague next, Paris on May 15h, London May 17th and really a whole lot more. Find them all, nicely listed, here.
Attached below then is Show Me, the quartets current single and latest piece of work. Carried by those delicate vocals and careful production, the track gently takes you on a ride across the Icelandic country side. Team Poule says, show me.
Did you know that the companies of Tokai, Roland, Kawai and Yamaha all hail from the same Japanese city of Hamamatsu, about 300 km West of Tokyo, right on the Pacific Ocean? Hamamatsu is dubbed city of music and is home to one of the largest museums of musical instruments in the world. The tallest building and landmark of Hamamatsu is a harmonica shaped hotel and congress center. What a place.
A few miles further West, across the globe then, in Sweden, ÆRHEART got his instruments in place and produced away on them. The first in a series of 12 is Lost Tapes 01, attached below. Wonderfully dreamy and vast piece of electronica, an ode to the engineers of Hamamatsu, if you will. Team Poule says, miles deep this one.
