SPRINGTIMESKANDINAVIHAPPYLOVESADHALLUCINATE

Upon my return this week Djorik and I decided this show should be Springtime themed. We're in the midst of May, the weather is confused and realizing it should wean itself into these hot summer days to come. We separated our show into 4 sets to summarize a typical Spring season. First, we started out with Happy go lucky sort of songs, mainly Swedish pop for those of you who like to run through OPEN FIELDS (hence our first song). Then, we moved on to the Springtime Lovers set. Spring is a great time to fall in love, so why not play some love songs. Then we sped up to those of you who found your love was a little overrated, and played some sad, rainy day tracks. Finally, we ended the hour with Springtime Hallucinations. People are all over the world are in a rollercoaster of emotions, the weather is hot, then it's cold, and then you realize you haven't slept or eaten in days because either you're studying for finals or because you're having your midlife crisis since you lost your job *eek*, this is getting intense. Either way, the hallucination set would've been a great way to distract you, calm you, and take you into another world. I'd like to share that we actually received a call from an older gentlemen doing just this during the first song by Eleanoora Rosenholm. He was definitely experiencing some otherworldly phenomenons in his mind, and I couldn't have asked for a better phone call during the first song of the hallucination set. It was so strange, haha, I can't get over it. He really was on something, but he started out whispering very quietly, then finally just exclaiming loudly and slowly about how amazing the song was and how I need to "keep doin' what you're doin' girl." Amazing. You guys should give me more calls like that. ANYWAYS, here's the playlist from Tuesday evening:

Artist - Album: Track (COUNTRY)

HAPPYTIMES
Taken by Trees - Open Field: Open Field (SWEDEN)
Billie the Vision and the Dancers - The World According to Pablo:A Man from Argentina (SWEDEN)
Silje Nes - Ames Room:Dizzy Street (NORWAY)

LOOOOVE
Ane Brun - A Temporary Dive:The Fight Song (NORWAY)
First Floor Power - Nerves:Take Your Pants Off (SWEDEN)
Pacific! - :ReveriesHold Me (SWEDEN)

SADRAINS
Hanne Hukkelberg - Rkyestraße 68:The Northwind (NORWAY)
Kuupuu - Unilintu:Myrskylaulu (FINLAND)
Kira kira - Our Map to the Monster Olympics:BLESS (ICELAND)
Therese Aune - :I'll be Fine in my TreeI Tend To (NORWAY)

AHHHALLUCINATIONS
Eleanoora Rosenholm - Älä Kysy Kuolleilta, He Sanoivat:Tammen varjossa (FINLAND)
Rockettothesky - :MedeaGrizzly Man (NORWAY)


SUPER COOL VIDEOS!
Eleanoora Rosenholm (Tammen varjossa):


Rockettothesky (Grizzly Man):



The featured artist will be posted shortly, I am very torn at the moment since we had some really great and interesting finds this week. Perhaps you will see some of these names again in the near future. Keep posted!

Icelandic Escapade

This past Tuesday, April 21st 2009, marked the third week of me and Raakel's show, Skandinavi, on the college radio station kcpr in San Luis Obispo. For this particular show we featured the country of Iceland. Iceland is generally classified by their unique and beautiful collection of ambience, pop, and experimental musical genres most noted by artists like Sigur Rós and Bjork. I think those ideas were well exhibited in this installment of the Skandinavi, ranging from the ambience of parachutes cleverly titled track "Tree Roots Turn to Forts," to the fun upbeat melodies of Lay Low. With this said you should tune in next week where we will be featuring a new theme and new awesome music. Also tune in for the long awaited return of Raakel's angelic voice to the airwaves of san luis obispo. So make sure to tune in next Tuesday from 5:00 - 6:00 pm on the radio at 91.3 fm in san luis obispo or online at KCPR.ORG

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Below is the playlist for the Icelandic show (all bands are icelandic). Week of 4/21/09

Artist: Album - Track

Bjork (ft. Thom Yorke): from movie "Dancer in the Dark" - I've Seen it All
Lay Low: Farewell Good Night's Sleep - By and By
Mugison: Mugiboogie - The Pathetic Anthem
Pornopop: And the Slow Songs About the Dead Calm in Your Arms - Centre
Stafrænn Hákon: Gummi - Glussi
Seabear: The Ghost that Carried Us Away - Arms
Ampop: Made for the Market - Made For the Market
Bloodgroup: Sticky Situations - Red Egypt
Apparat Organ Quartet: Screaming Masterpiece - Romantica
Bark Cat Bark: Iceland - Iceland
Lay Low: Farewell Good Night's Sleep - Days Have Been
Múm: Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy - Marmalade Fires
Worm is Green: Automagic - Shine
Benni Hemm Hemm: Kajak - Skvavars
Parachutes: Two by Two - Tree Roots Turn To Forts

Featured Artist this week: Lay Low

The lovely 26-year-old Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir, better known as Lay Low, blessed the KCPR airwaves Tuesday evening with her upbeat yet calming combination of blues, folk, and country. Technically born in London by her Sri Lankian father and Icelandic mother, she may not have all her roots in Iceland, but she moved back at very young age and is definitely Icelandic at heart. I feel the atmosphere in Iceland inspires most of the melodic and beautifully ambient sounds that generally come from the area, but Lay Low has taken the opportunity to hail a different side of Iceland with a little more life and *oomf* thrown in there. Back in 2006 Lay Low made waves in the homeland with her album Please Don't Hate Me and won Female Singer and Performer of the year. Her newest Album Farewell Good Night’s Sleep features musicians such as Carwyn Ellis, Ed Turner, Rupert Brown, Matt Radford, Jason Wilson and BJ Cole and was released in Europe on March 9th. This album definitely lives up to her earlier recordings, but it's hard to be disappointed with such a charming, lively voice. There's a great interview with Lovisa on this nifty blog called I ♥ Icelandic Music that you should all check out.

Second Week Accomplished

To be honest this is the first time I have ever written on a blog before so you must forgive me for any poor blog etiquette, but that isn’t what I am here to talk about. Hopefully you listened to me and Raakel’s show this last Tuesday. If were listening in and noticed that Raakel’s voice seemed to be vacant, it would be because she had some important traveling to attend to, with that said there is no need to fear I am very hopeful she will be back next week. On the second week of Skandinavi, neglecting small difficulties, I think the show went very well, and I experimented with some very unique Scandinavian music. The theme this week was a little vaguer but revolved around styles of music that many people from else where in the world would not think of as purely Scandinavian. From the panda bear-esque tough alliance all the way to the heavy avant-garde styling’s of Nils Petter Molvær’s trumpet, the show hit all levels of music. With this said I am sure next weeks show will be even better, with the awaited return of Raakel, it is surely something to mark on the calendar so make sure to tune in next Tuesday from 5-6pm at 91.3 kcpr in San Luis Obispo.

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Featured Artist of the Week: Nuspirit Helsinki
For the second week in a row we have chosen our featured artist from the country of Finland, and this band does truly deserve its featured appearance. Nuspirit Helsinki is a super-group of sorts, but this a super-group from the entire country of Finland. Started by Tuomas Kallio and Hannu Nieminen, Nuspirit Helsinki is band made up of some of Finland’s most talented, musicians, producers, and DJ’s. Each track resembles a different genre of music, and though the overall style is categorized by Nu-Jazz, the feeling left by this band is all over the music spectrum. Songs like “Trying” begin to break down music walls by drifting from dance music, to hip hop then back to jazz with the listener never the wiser. The band was originally formed in 1998 and released the self titled album in 2002 and still plan to make another album in the near future. For more information visit nuspirit.com.



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Below is a listing of The tracks played on our last show:

Artist: album – track

Billie Vision & the Dancers: I Was So Unpopular in School – Stay Awake
Nils Petter Molvær: Khmer – Khmer
Under Byen: Det er mig der holder træerne sammen – Byen Driver
Nuspirit Helsinki: Nuspirit Helsinki – Subzero
The Tough Alliance: A New Chance – Neo Violence
Múm: Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy – They Made Frogs Smoke ‘Til They Exploded
Hjaltalín: Sleepdrunk Seasons – Debussy
Efterklang: Tripper – Collecting Shields
Lindstrøm: Its a Feedelity Affair – I Feel Space
Maus: Overwinning – Levend
Kashmir: No Balance Palace – She’s Made of Chalk
Slowblow: Nói Albinói –Aim for a Smile
Vapnet: Vapnet – Kalla Mig

Thanks for reading and make sure to tune in next week!

the SKANDINAVI Premiere! - Touring the Region

WELCOME.

Derek (Djorik) and I (Rachel / Raakel) have just been given the opportunity to have our own special format show on our college radio station, KCPR 91.3FM at Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo! We've been DJs for about a year now and finally get to go through with our idea for the SKANDINAVI show, which is pretty self explanatory, but to clarify: we are going to play music from the Scandinavian region (Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and occasionally Greenland + the baltic areas if we can manage). Each week will have be themed differently, either by country, genre, or artist.

Tonight Derek and I threw together our first show of the quarter. I think threw together is an OK way to describe it. I actually ended up feeling fairly proud of our playlist other than a few technical slip ups, but behind the scenes things got a little hectic. It was our first time doing a Special Format, so it took some time to adjust to organizing between the both of us. Either way, I think it's only going to improve from here, so you guys should keep tuning in, or begin tuning in if you missed the first one!

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We are going to be featuring a favorite up and coming artist each week.
Featured Artist for April 7, 2009:
LAU NAU hailing from Helsinki, Finland.


Drawing of Lau Nau by Corcoise.

Laura Naukkarinen of Lau Nau layers multiple instruments with a delicate complexity and pulls it all together within an intricate system of structure and harmonies. Her powerful vocals, along with occasional guest vocals, create a fairy-tale like atmosphere reminiscent of Cocorosie or Joanna Newsom. “The music, compared to reading literature, is a book with the leaves spread in the order of a tree. You get a three-dimensional picture, like nature’s sounds from a human soul.”
Lau Nau has been released on the Chicago based label, "Locust". She has also collaborated with Kiila, Päivänsäde, the Anaksimandros, Avarus, Maailma, and the trio Hertta Lussu Ässä. Read more about Lau Nau.

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If you are interested in the Scandinavian artists played on our show tonight, here is the playlist, grouped by country...

Arist: Album - Track

NORWAY:
Edvard Grieg: composed for Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt - In the Hall of the Mountain King
Erlend Øye: DJ Kicks - Poor Leno
Myrkgrav: Trollskau, Skrømt Og Kølabrenning - De To Spellemenn

SWEDEN:
Jens Lekman: Secretly Canadian SC100 - Your Beat that Kicks Back (Scout Niblett)
Dungen: Tio Bitar - Intro
First Floor Power: Nerves - Blanket Sky
Studio: West Coast - Self Service

DENMARK:
Phønix: Pigen Drengen - Ind og Ug

ICELAND:
Amiina: Kurr - Lóri
The Funerals: Pathetic Me - Rain and Snow
Borko: Celebrating Life - Continental Love

FINLAND:
Islaja: Palaa aurinkoon - Sateen Tullessa
Lau Nau: Kuula - Kuutarha

Thanks for reading, please tune in next week and join the SKANDINAVI at 5PM on Tuesday nights! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO KCPR LIVE ON 91.3FM