Tag: Sound of Aarhus

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Dublin’s The Murder Capital Performs “For Everything” at Tapetown Studios

Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio Tapetown Studios teamed up with Sound of Aarhus to invite national, regional and internationally recognized touring bands to stop by Tapetown to do a live session, which is filmed and then distributed across the internet through all of your favorite social media and streaming sites. During the live series history, they’ve hosted British indie rockers Ulrika Spacek, Gothenburg, Sweden-based trio Pale Honey, the Bay Area-based JOVM mainstay Tim Cohen and his The Fresh & Onlys, renowned British psych rockers The Telescopes,  Malmo, Sweden-based punk rock act Sista Bossen, Copenhagen, Denmark-based indie rock quartet ONBC,  Los Angeles-based post punk rock act and JOVM mainstays Moaning, and Oslo, Norway-based punk trio  Dark Times

Tapetown Studios and Sound of Aarhus recently invited rising Dublin-based post-punk act The Murder Capital, who were in Denmark during the Scandinavian leg of their tour to support their critically applauded, Flood-produced full-length debut When I Have Fears. Since their formation back in 2015, the band — James McGovern (vocals), Damien Tuit (guitar), Cathal Roper (guitar). Gabriel Paschal Blake (bass) and Diarmuid Brennan (drums) —  have been compared favorably to the likes of Idles, Slaves, Shame, and Fontaines D.C. 

The band performed a blistering and furious take on album opening track “For Everything.” Interestingly, the live session is a great taste of the band’s live sound: raw, noisy, primal and uneasy. Sonically, the live version of “For Everything”  reminds me a bit of Joy Division and Disappears. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Les Big Byrd Perform “A Little More Numb” at Tapetown Studios

Comprised of founding duo Jocke Åhlund and Frans Johansson along with Frans Johansson and Martin Ehrencrona, the Stockholm Sweden-based indie rock act Les Big Byrd features a collection of their hometown’s most accomplished indie musicians.  Åhlund co-founded cult Teddybears with his brother Klas in 1991. Åhlund went on to play guitar in Caesars — and formed Smile, with Peter, Björn and John’s Björn Yttling. And in that insanely busy period, Åhlund managed to find time to write for and produce the legendary Giorgio Moroder and renowned Swedish pop artist Robyn. Johansson, meanwhile, was a bassist in Swedish Grammy Award-winning act Fireside since the early nineties and worked as a touring bassist with The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

As the story goes, by 2011 Åhlund and Johansson had become increasingly disillusioned with their primary gigs and they began to collaborate with each other, frequently bouncing musical ideas off one another; the band’s founding duo quickly recruited two fellow grizzled scene vets, keyboardist Martin ‘Konie’ Ehrencrona and Caesars drummer Nino Keller to finalize the band’s lineup. 

The band’s debut, 2014’s Back to Bagarmossen EP was an atmospheric, guitar driven effort that found the quartet receiving attention from Swedish national TV. Interestingly, with a growing national profile. the members of Les Big Byrd ran into The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe at a local record store, and after hitting it off with him, the band headed to Newcombe’s Berlin-based studio to jam with him — and the end result was a handful of tracks which eventually appeared on their critically applauded Åhlund-produced full-length debut, They Worshipped Cats, an album that was a decided left turn into trippy space rock.

In the winter of 2015, 18 months after the release of They Worshipped Cats, Åhlund was looking forward to working on new material; however, unlike their debut, he was determined to bring in an outside producer to allow him to focus just on the songwriting and playing. With much of their material drawing heavily from psych rock and drone, while retaining a pop sensibility, the band recruited Spacemen 3‘s Sonic Boom (a.k.a.Pete Kember) to produce the album as the band loved his work on MGMT‘s 2010 sophomore album Congratulations.  The initial sessions with Kember quickly went awry; Kember clashed with Newcombe, who also headed to Sweden to work on some ideas for the record with the band — and Åhlund eventually found himself taking up the production role, he didn’t want and wasn’t seeking.

Burned out by the experience, the band shelved the second album for a while.  “I didn’t know it at the time, but I needed to get some distance from it,” Åhlund says in press notes. “It was only after a while that I was able to go back and realise that there was a really good album in there.” The members of Les Big Byrd spent the bulk of last year remaking and re-imaging the material in their own image — with Kember and Newcombe’s contributions being limited. Recorded between two Stockholm studios — Åhlund’s own and Ehrencrona’s Studio Cobra — the band’s sophomore album Iran Iraq IKEA derives its title from a slogan that Åhlund’s saw printed on a tie while in Berlin years earlier and wanted to use for years; in fact, Åhlund felt that it suited the album, “because it gave it all some kind of subtly poetic intrigue.” However, the album’s politics — if you really want to call it that — are rooted within the personal, As Åhlund says in press notes,  “It’s about classic topics like love and failure. And about being older and feeling like you’ve pissed your life away, It’s about regrets and wishing you’d done things another way,”

The band’s Åhlund takes up production duties again, but with the admission that maybe it was something he never really wanted to give up — and sonically speaking, the band reportedly have reinvented themselves and their sound but while retaining elements of the sound and approach that first won them national and international attention.  “I still love my krautrock, and space rock, and experimental, improvisational stuff” says Åhlund. “But I also have a strong love for psychedelic sixties pop music, and I love reverb-drenched guitar with a lot of tremolo on it. All of those things make it on to Iran Iraq IKEA, but the lines are blurred – there’s a lot of electronics, and you can’t always tell where each individual sound is coming from. Hopefully it’s suggestive, a little bit uncertain and unpredictable, at least that’s what I wanted.”

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you’d recall that Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio Tapetown Studios in partnership with Sound of Aarhus have been inviting national, regional and internationally recognized touring bands to come into their studios for a live session, which they film and distribute through all of your favorite social media sites. So far they’ve inited British indie rockers Ulrika Spacek, Gothenburg, Sweden-based trio Pale Honey, the Bay Area-based JOVM mainstay Tim Cohen and his The Fresh & Onlys, renowned British psych rockers The Telescopes,  Malmo, Sweden-based punk rock act Sista Bossen, Copenhagen, Denmark-based indie rock quartet ONBC, and up-and-coming, Los Angeles-based post punk rock act Moaning.  Recently, the members of Les Big Byrd stopped by Tapetown Studios to perform the bittersweet lament “A Little More Numb.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Swedish Punk Rockers Sista Bossen Perform an Explosive Set at Tapetown Studios

With the release of their full-length debut Se Upp För, the Malmo, Sweden-based punk rock act Sista Bossen, comprised of Hampus Sunden, Frans Möller, Fredrik Persson, 
Patrik Schlegel and Kristopher Ståhlgren have developed a reputation across their native Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia for meshing high energy punk rock with psych rock in free flowing, anarchistic and humorous fashion — and unsurprisingly, their sound and songwriting winds up being wild, explosive and unpredictable yet centered by a crooked yet infectious melodic sense. 

The Malmo, Sweden-based punk rock act’s sophomore effort Titta inte på mig (när jag dansar) was released earlier this year by Danish indie label Crunchy Frog Records in collaboration with Kollektivet Records. The up-and-coming Swedish punk rock outfit was recently invited to stop by Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio  Tapetown Studios — and if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past 15-18 months or so, you’d know that Sound of Aarhus along with the Aarhus-based studio have developed a continuing video series in which they invite national, regional and even internationally recognized touring bands to come into their studios for a live session. A number of bands have played including British indie rockers Ulrika Spacek, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based trio Pale Honey, the Bay Area-based JOVM mainstay Tim Cohen and his primary project The Fresh & Onlys, the renowned British psych rockers The Telescopes, and a growing list of others. 

Sista Bossen’s Tapetown Studio session which was sponsored by Crunch Frog Records, is the first session in its history to be sung completely in Swedish — until now, bands have written and performed material in English. But most important, it’s an incredible display of the mischievousness and explosive quality of their overall sound and live set; if anything, it’s the most energetic set I’ve come across as the band’s lead singer shouts, stomps and rolls around the floor with childlike fury and abandon. Along with that, there’s a playful musical joke in which the leader singer asks the band to play a little softer before the set’s fittingly explosive and quick conclusion. Regardless of the language, these guys kick ass — and have a mosh pit friendly sound. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Up-and-Coming Danish Act Collider Performs “Glockster” at Tapetown Studio

With the release of “Bruno” last year, the Danish psych rock act Collider, comprised of Mikkel Fink, Marie Nyhus, Johan S. Polder, and Troels Damgaard-C quickly emerged into the national scene. Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the members of the Danish psych rock act have been playing showcases across the European Union and the States without much of an internet presence — until recently. But despite that, from what I’ve been told the band has received some attention from the likes of Rolling Stone and other internationally recognized outlets.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past 15-18 months or so, you would have come across a couple of live sessions shot in the Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio Tapetown Studio, and as you may recall the studio along with Sound of Aarhus started a live video series in which they invite national, regional and even internationally recognized touring bands to come into their studio. The newest installment features the aforementioned Collider, who played their latest single, the trippy and chaotic track that nods at krautrock, psych rock and space rock simultaneously while being centered around anthemic, grunge rock-like hooks.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Copenhagen’s Baby in Vain Performs “One Feather” at Tapetown Studios

Formed back in 2010, the Copenhagen, Denmark-based indie rock trio Baby in Vain, comprised of Lola Hammerich, Benedicte Pierleoni and Andrea Thuesen have received attention across Scandinavia and elsewhere for a sound that features elements of stoner rock, grunge rock, the blues and noise rock; in fact, the trio have been written about in Mojo, Vice and Intro Magazine — and adding to a growing the profile, the trio has opened for Ty Segall, Thurston Moore’s post Sonic Youth project Chelsea Light Moving and The Kills during their Stateside and European Union tours. Additionally,  they’ve made appearances across the European festival circuit, playing sets at Reading, Leeds, Great Escape and Roskilde among others. 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past year or so, you may recall that the Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio  Tapetown Studios  along with Sound of Aarhus have developed a live video series in which they invite national, regional and internationally recognized touring bands to come into their studio during their free time to record a live session. And over that period of time, Tapetown has invited British indie rockers Ulrika Spacek, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based trio Pale Honey, the Bay Area-based JOVM mainstay Tim Cohen and his primary project The Fresh & Onlys, and the renowned British psych rockers The Telescopes. Recently, Tapetown and Sound of Aarhus invited the Danish indie rock trio to the studio, where they performed a slow-burning dirgey blues number “One Feather.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Telescopes Perform “You Can’t Reach What You Hunger” and “Something In My Brain” at Tapetown Studios

Currently comprised of founding member Stephen Lawrie and featuring members of One Unique Signal as the live performing band, the Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, UK-based psych rock/noise rock band The Telescopes originally formed back in 1987 and while inspired by the likes of Suicide, The Velvet Underground and 13th Floor Elevators — and over the course of a number of singles and nine full-length albums, including 1989’s Taste, 1992’s self-tiled album, 2002’s Third Wave, 2005’s #4, 2006’s Hungry Audio Tapes, 2008’s Infinite Suns, 2013’s HARM, 2015’s Hidden Fields and this year’s As Light Returns, the British band has developed a reputation for being arguably one of the more influential noise rock/psych rock bands of their era, seemingly influencing the work of the likes of A Place to Bury Strangers with whom they released a split 7 inch released through Fuzz Club Records, Chain of Flowers, Bambara and others. 

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you’d recall that the Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio  Tapetown Studios  along with Sound of Aarhus have developed a live video series in which they invite national, regional and internationally recognized touring bands to come into their studio during their free time to record a live session. Over the past year, Tapetown Studios and Sound of Aarhus have invited British indie rockers Ulrika Spacek, Gothenburg, Sweden-based trio Pale Honey, and the Bay Area-based JOVM mainstay Tim Cohen and his primary project The Fresh & Onlys. Stephen Lawrie and the members of the touring band were invited to Tapetown to record a session that featured the slow-burning, murky, feedback driven dirge “You Can’t Reach What You Hunger” a song that builds upon a tightly restrained tension until its scorching conclusion; and the forceful and stormy “Something In My Brain.” 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: The Fresh & Onlys Perform “Wolf Lie Down” at Tapetown Studios

Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio  Tapetown Studios  and  Sound of Aarhus have developed a live video series in which they invite national, regional and internationally recognized touring bands to come into their studio during their free time to record a session — and along with that, the band would also be provided a unique glimpse of Aarhus beyond the exhausting touring routines of load-ins, soundchecks, live set, chat with strangers and friends, tear downs, pack ups, and van rides and/or flights to the next series of gigs. Now, if you’ve been frequenting recently, you’d know that Tapetown and Sound of Aarhus have invited the British indie rockers Ulrika Spacek and Gothenburg, Sweden-based trio Pale Honey. 

Of course, throughout the past few years, I’ve written quite about  Tim Cohen, woho has written, recorded and toured with a number of different bands and creative outlets, including Magic Trick, The Fresh & Onlys (with whom, he may be the best known) and as a solo artist. Interestingly, over that same period, Cohen has managed to be remarkably prolific and extremely busy: last year alone, the Bay Area-based singer/songwriter split time touring with Magic Trick and The Fresh & Onlys, worked on and recorded Magic Trick’s fourth album Other Man’s Blues, as well as his solo debut Luck Man — and he managed to balance all of that with the responsibilities of being a new father.  

Released earlier this year, Wolf Lie Down is the first Fresh & Onlys effort in over three years, and the album found collaborators and bandmates Cohen and Wymond Miles (guitar, production) stripping the layered sound and feel of their last few albums while keeping the focus on Cohen’s hyper-literate yet accessible lyrics, focusing on metaphysical musings; but in the case of album title track “Wolf Lie Down,” Cohen’s vocals and lyrics are paired with the sort of arrangement that should immediately remind you of  the Ramones. 

Recently, Cohen, Miles and company were touring Europe and were invited to stop by Aarhus’ Tapetown Studios where they played a loose and fast live version of “Wolf Lie Down.” Check it out. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Up-and-Coming Swedish Band Pale Honey Perform “Heaviest of Storms” at Tapetown Studios

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you may know that the Aarhus, Denmark-based recording studio  Tapetown Studios  and  Sound of Aarhus have a long-running series in which they invite both touring bands to come into the studio for a live session; but along with that the band during their limited downtime would get a unique taste of Aarhus beyond the touring routine of load-ins, sound checks, shows, tear downs, pack ups and van rides to the next gig. Recently, Tapetown Studios and Sound of Aarhus invited Gothenburg, Sweden-based trio Pale Honey for a session — and the trio, comprised of Tuva Lodmark, Nelly Daltrey, and Anders Lagerfors performed “Heaviest of Storms (Devotion, Part 1)” a shimmering and moody track that reminded me quite a bit of early PJ Harvey. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Ulrika Spacek Performs “Mimi Pretend” at Tapetown Studios

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site for bit, you’ve likely come across a handful of posts featuring Ulrika Spacek, and as you may recall the act, which is comprised of long-time friends and collaborators Rhys Edwards and Rhys Williams can trace their origins to a night in Berlin, when the duo conceptualized the project’s sound and aesthetic around their mutual love for Television, Pavement, Sonic Youth and krautrock. When the duo returned to their hometown of Homerton, they began working on their full-length debut, The Album Paranoia, which featured the 120 Minutes-era  MTV-like single “She’s A Cult,” and the shoegazer-like “Strawberry Glue.”

While on a tour across the European Union, the members of the band stopped by Aarhus, Denmark-based Tapetown Studios to participate in the Live at Tapetown Series, in which Sound of Aarhus and the recording studio invite touring bands to come in and do a live session; but along with the touring bands during their downtime would get a unique taste of Aarhus beyond the typical touring routines of load-ins, sound checks, tear downs, pack ups and van rides.

Last month, Sound of Aarhus released footage of the JOVM mainstays performing their  A Storm in Heaven and  A Northern Soul-era The Verve and The Bends-era Radiohead-like single “Everything, All The Time.” The second video from the live session is the shimmering and jangling shoegazer track “Mimi Pretend,” and much like its predecessor from the sessions, the video will further cement their reputation for crafting 90s alt rock/shoegazer songs but with a subtly modern sheen. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Ulrika Spacek at Tapetown Studios Aarhus Denmark

Comprised of long-time friends and collaborators Rhys Edwards and Rhys Williams, the indie rock act  Ulrika Spacek can trace their origins to a night in Berlin, when the duo conceptualized the project based around their mutual passions and influences — namely, Television, Pavement, Sonic Youth and krautrock. And as the story goes, upon their return to Homerton, the duo began working on the material that would eventually comprise their full-length debut The Album Paranoia, an album which featured the 120 Minutes-era  MTV-like single “She’s A Cult,” and the shoegazer-like Strawberry Glue.”
Now, it’s been some time since I’ve personally written about them; however, the members of the project has been pretty busy writing and recording new material and touring — with their latest single “Everything, All The Time” managing to sound as though it nods at A Storm in Heaven and  A Northern Soul-era The Verve and The Bends-era Radiohead, thanks in part to jangling and distorted power chords, a propulsive rhythm section and an anthemic hook. And while among the most 90s alt rock-inspired songs they’ve released to date, the song reveals a subtle yet decidedly contemporary production sheen, along with a blistering urgency. 

While on a European Union tour, the members of the band stopped by Aarhus, Denmark-based Tapetown Studios to participate in the Live at Tapetown Series, in which Sound of Aarhus and the recording studio invite touring bands during their downtime to get a taste of the city beyond the routines of load-ins, sound checks, shows, tear downs and van rides — and it’ll include a live session in their studio.