Author: Alan Kortbaek

Choir Of Young Believers, Store Vega (Oct 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment
Choir of Young Believers returned to Store Vega for their second concert of the year at the venue on Saturday.  Led by frontman Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, the believers managed to brighten up the damp, dark evening with a solid show that featured some of the band’s revered hits along with a few songs off their latest album Rhine Gold. Ultimately though, the evening failed to truly take off despite the best efforts of the internationally-acclaimed Danish indie pop band.
Makrigiannis and company took the stage as the last act of the evening, following performances by 4 Guys from the Future and One Year from Home. A combination of technical glitches and sound problems resulted in poor opening sets, which weren’t made any shorter by a stiff audience in a venue that was far from its usual capacity.
It was clear from the start that this was going to be an uphill struggle for Choir of Young Believers, who went on almost a good half an hour later than they should have. This notwithstanding, the indie pop band were sharp, if not witty, during the entirety of their performance as they did their best to rescue what had been a disappointing couple of hours.
The musical career of Choir of Young Believers received a shot in the arm back in February when they dropped their highly revered second album Rhine Gold, an album that saw the band cultivate the heavily acoustic sound fused with dark, contemplative lyrics that they have become associated with.  Saturday’s show featured several tracks off the album, but the live versions failed to match the band’s studio work.
The confident Makrigianni’s sharply inclined vocals plucked away at a rigid backdrop of emphatic synthesiser stabs and wistful guitar combinations that created a dreamy, progressive atmosphere in the concert hall right from the word go. As the show progressed, however, an overwhelming sense of repetitiveness descended on the venue, as many of the songs began to sound a lot like each other.
This, coupled with paltry crowd, dampened the otherwise dextrous musicianship by the Believers, and cemented the final brick in what was ultimately a lukewarm concert.

Tako Lako, Le Panum (Sept 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment

Identified by MTV as one to watch, and with a new album under their belt, the band are keen to explore the international market in 2013

Balkan beat is a rowdy, raunchy concoction of a music genre, popularised by the efforts of acts like Goran Bregovic, Fanfare Ciocarlia and the well-known New-York based band Balkan Beat Box. Here in Denmark, it remains something of a stranger to the mainstream despite its increasing popularity in underground music circuits.
This may well change though, thanks to the efforts of a band cited as one of the greatest up-and-coming acts in Denmark by MTV, the critically-acclaimed Danish/Serbian outfit Tako Lako, who in their own words are “more than just another Balkan Beat band”.
The Copenhagen Post caught up with three of the band’s members – harmonicist Andreas Broby Jensen, bassist Philip Zubin Hormozi Køppen and multi-instrumentalist Malene Brask – for a quick chit-chat following the recent release of their eagerly awaited debut album, Through the Mud.
First and foremost, for all the people who don’t know you guys, who are Tako Lako?

Jensen: Tako Lako is a band that plays psychedelic gypsy beat; that’s what we choose to call what we do. It’s a pretty mashed-up type of music. We combine heavy beats with a psychedelic acoustic vibe.
Køppen: So far we’ve been known mainly for our live shows, up until releasing our debut album, Through the Mud.
How did Tako Lako come to be, how did you form ?
Køppen:  (grins): Well Andreas was on a inter-rail trip, maybe you’d like to elaborate on that?
Jensen: It all started on an Inter-rail trip many years ago. Our lead singer Ognjen and I went through Europe- Serbia and Monte Negro especially. On the tour we bought some instruments- a drum and a small keyboard thing; a melodica is that what you call it ? It was very chilled, very relaxed – we just jammed on the long train trips- we sat in the coupe and jammed
Køppen : Which must have been really annoying for the other passengers
Jensen (laughs) : For some yeah, some did think it was cool to have a private concert. We weren’t really a bad it was just for fun. When we came home to Denmark we thought it would be fun to go further with our music,; we started bringing people together. In the beginning Oggie wasn’t singing- he wanted to be a percussionist. We got a better percussionist who was trained- even though Oggie insisted on trying the percussion.In the end we got ourselves a pretty good lead singer (laughs)
Køppen: Personally I got into the band since I was really drawn to the complexity of the music. I’d played a lot of rock before that and I wanted to try something new
Did you know any of the guys before ? 
Køppen: I went to high school with Andreas, the classic story
What about you Malene, how did you get involved ? 
I went to school with Phillip (Køppen). He invited me to a concert which I remember really well- I was drawn by a bunch of gypsy balkan dudes who were playing really well and I though that I’d really like to be a part of this.
Tako Lako, the name; where does it come from?

Jensen: (grins) I think it’s a bit of a coincidence. Tako Lako means ‘so easy’ in Serbian. We started out brainstorming with names. [Vocalist] Ognjen [Curcic] came up with it – it looks good written and maybe people can remember it. It also reflects our music. Our music is kind of complex, but we wanted to turn it into something that is comprehensible.
Køppen: It’s a name you cannot categorise, much like our band – it’s completely movable contextually, which reflects us as a band. Tako Lako has changed a lot. I mean Tako Lako can be everything.
Many people would call you a Balkan beat group, for the sake of classification at least. What are some of your main influences, if any, within Balkan Beat?
Jensen: Of course, at the beginning, we were very influenced by the Balkan wave, by Balkan beat. Bands like Go Gol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Shantel and so on. In time, however, we changed – particularly over the last two years. We found our inspiration from bands who are not related to the gypsy genre as such.
Køppen: The thing with Balkan is, we all adore it, but it’s not necessarily full of substance and meaning, especially lyrically. So we feel that we’ve added an extra element of meaning to the genre through Ognjen’s lyrics.
So what does Ognjen sing about typically?
Brask:  There are some themes on our CD, particularly family traditions and coming from Serbia. Ognjen’s family comes from Serbia. He knows how it was in the war. He also knows what it means to be left out.
Køppen: It’s also about the past and the clash that one’s past represents for the future.
A bit like discovering one’s own identity perhaps?
Køppen: Exactly. In a way it’s about our own story as well. The battle that we’ve been through. We’ve been compared to other Balkan beat bands, but we’re trying to find our own place.
Your album Through the Mud has just dropped. Gaffa has given it five out of six stars. You must be pretty happy with it. You’ve been performing since 2008. What took you so long to make an album?
Jensen: Two years ago when we made our EP, we decided we’d wait a while before making an album.  If you listen to the EP, you can tell that something is happening, but it’s not finished yet. It just took us a while to find a sound that we can all agree on.
Køppen: The thing is that we’re really busy as a live band. We’ve had a lot of gigs over the last few years and have been really busy despite us not having any recorded material (laughs).
Brask: At the start we almost only worked on our live performances because we just love being on stage. We really love it! We wanted to see how far it could take us, so that’s where our focus was, but we also had to find a bit more substance in our music. We needed time to become more of a unit.
I’m sure you’ve had many good gigs in the history of Tako Lako. Is there a jewel in the crown of all your many gigs ? 
Jensen: Roskilde 09 for sure. It was very emotional for all of us. One of the things you say as a band is “We want to play at Roskilde Festival” We did it, with over 5000 people packed in an arena that was meant for 2000.
Køppen: It was manic ! Mind blowing ! The security dudes almost had to close down the stage because there were so many people.
Denmark has been a pop-reliant nation for a long time now. What has it been like for you to face this barrier  a Balkan outfit ? Has it been difficult to get people to latch on to Balkan beat? 
Køppen: Definitely yeah. That’s why our album is titled Through The Mud – we’ve really fought for this. Getting our music out to the important people has been really difficult- we’ve been told there’s no market for Balkan music. We’ve really fought for what we believe in though and we haven’t given up. It is a pat on the shoulder when we get to perform at a Pop festival like Skanderborg and we can get the crowd to sit down and jump start.
Jensen: Signing for a label like Sony is also a huge pat on the shoulder-  It tells the music industry something about us.
Brask: A couple of years ago we actually thought about being a bit more mainstream just to fit into the Danish market. It went wrong though- our heart wasn’t in the music, so we stopped and went back to our original style. The market has to accept our songs and work with us so we can the music out to people.
Where do you see yourselves in, say three years from now ? 
Jensen: We definitely want to expand out of Denmark. A dream would be to become the GoGol Bordello’s of Europe.
 
What are you up to now then?
Køppen: We’ve got a busy schedule this autumn. The plan is to focus on the Danish market to see how far we can take Tako Lako, promoting the new album and so on. Next year we’ll head south, into the German market and of course the UK.

Of Monsters and Men, Store Vega (Sept 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment
When I turned up at the Of Monsters and Men concert at Store Vega on Wednesday night, I must admit that my expectations were rather high. The chamber pop sextet have been hogging blog space lately, spurred by, among other things, their recently dropped albumMy Head is an Animal. If their performance is anything to go by, this is a band with huge potential, and an amazing live act at that.
We’re talking about a band that sounds strangely similar to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, fused with Mumford & Sons, and a tinge of Arcade Fire – just to complicate things.

Fellow Icelander Lay Low was at hand to provide a wonderful warm-up, playing a dexterous blend of powerful songs, intermeshed with snippets of witty humour. The performance was proof enough of why she’s had the honour of touring with the likes of Emiliana Torrini.

Of Monsters and Men then stepped onto the stage illuminated by a fiery red glow and proceeded to sweep Store Vega off its feet. Lead singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir seemed thrilled with the soaring number of Icelanders at Vega and engaged them in her native tongue before unleashing tracks such as the up-tempo, jovial ‘Mountain song’.

An unexpected cover of ‘Skeletons’ by trendy New York garage rockers Yeah Yeah Yeahs thereafter added a fresh wave of variation to the concert, while sing-along gems such as ‘From Finner’ got the crowd jumping.

Unsurprisingly, the highlight of the show came when the anthemic ‘Little Talks’ dropped towards the end. The song epitomises the chamber pop sound that the band has managed to cultivate over its short but sparkling career, and featured a brief, but perfectly timed trumpet solo that accentuated its jolly effect.

Led by the vocals of the subliminal Ragnar Pórhallsson and Hilarsdottir, Of Monsters and Men were sharp from the word go, playing with ear-to-ear grins and bonding with the crowd, despite the customary unresponsiveness of Danish audiences.

Nowhere was this bond more candid than at the very end of the show, as the Icelanders parted from the stage, with the dreamy, contemplative chimes and ticks of  the final track ‘Yellow Light’ ringing in the audience’s ears, who by this point, were in merry spirits.

Bas Under Buen, Bispepuen motorway underpass ( July 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment

Drum N Bass, something of a niche sub-genre within the spectrum of electronic music, more so in Denmark where it’s a rather small albeit rapidly-growing cultural movement.

The last few years have seen Drum N Bass grow from being a fringe music phenomenon celebrated in musky concrete basements and in the dens and alleyways of underground Copenhagen to a genre that has become renowned for providing some of the best parties for miles around. 

Nowhere has this been more evident than at OHOI’s annual ‘Bas Under Buen’ party- an evening that attracts the creme de la creme of Denmark’s intimate Drum N Bass community for several hours of sheer bass and beats under the the Bispebuen motorway bridge on the outskirts of Nørrebro.

One could hardly imagine a more ideal setting; five thousand plus attendees under a concrete bridge, with the dipping summer sun flickering on the horizon.

This year’s event was a mammoth occasion that topped all previous ‘Bas Under Buen’  parties. I got to Bispuebuen rather late into the proceedings, and found myself surrounded by masses of smiling, dancing revelers who at the time were being steered through the heftier, more down-tempo sounds towards the dub-end of the electronic music genre.

As the sun set to the East of the motorway, the music got a tad commercial as the likes of  Guns n Roses anthemic number ‘sweet child of mine’ and a tacky remix of Rae Jepsens overplayed and overrated ‘Call me maybe’  reverberated off the concrete roof of the motorway.

This didn’t really stir things up that much, though it did help accommodate the musical interests of some of the crowd. Personally I was a bit bemused about it all, and as such it was a relief when underground ragga/dancehall boys Maffi, Klumben, Top Gunn, Sukker Lyn and the revolutionary Mighty Mala came on to put on the best half an hour or so of the evening’s entertainment.

Well-rehearsed live versions of epic contra-mainstream culture tunes such as the emphatic, up-front “Du en lort” seemed to get the crowd raving and dancing, rattling through the warm evening air with a vengeance. The show ended at eleven o’clock sharp, finishing off with some of the wildest Drum N Bass tunes for miles around as the likes of Pendulum’s peerless track “Tarantula” caused quite a bit of pandemonium.

For many Roskilde festival attendees, Saturday’s shenanigans under the Bispebuen motorway were the perfect antidote to the post-Roskilde blues. Judging from the crowds reaction to it all, it would appear that Drum N Bass continues to cement its status in the landscape of the Danish clubland, proving itself as a genre to be reckoned with.

Friendly Fires, Roskilde Festival Arena (Jul 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment
St Albans-based indie rock boys Friendly Fires did what they could do keep the audience entertained at Roskilde Festival’s Arena stage with a decent show early yesterday evening. Roskilde Festival’s arrangers had eloquently described the eclectic Brits as being one of the party acts to watch out for at the event.
Their slot at the Arena stage early on Sunday evening before the concluding concerts of the festival suggested that they were supposed to have gotten the wind-up party proceedings going with a bang. It therefore came as something of a disappointment when this didn’t really happen, despite the best efforts on the band’s part.
The lively 2009 Mercury Prize nominees came on a little later than expected owing to technical difficulties at the start of a show, which meant that giving a good performance was going to be a challenge from the start. Lead singer Ed Macfarlane was clearly not amused by the sound problems, apologising curtly before getting things started.
Playing to a mixed crowd with the sun dipping gently to the west of Arena, Friendly Fires rolled out a steady stream of funk-filled, dance-punk tinged tunes for the first half an hour or so of their show in an effort to set things in motion.
One hour in and the recognisable quick-tempo sounds of signature track ‘Paris’ thundered across the reasonably-filled Arena stage, much to the delight of the crowd, who up until this point were more cool and casual than anything else.
And whilst Friendly Fires have been known to be quite the party starters, with their cunning concoction of disco and post-punk brilliance, it would be unfair to say that they were at their best yesterday.
Led by their hard-working frontman Macfarlane, the band did try to redeem what was ultimately a lukewarm party from the start, by churning out tracks such as ‘Pull Me Back to Earth’ which helped patch things up, if only momentarily. Two post-curtain call tracks and the party that never really got started was over, with the bitter tinge of disappointment spread across Roskilde’s Arena scene.
Friendly Fires will surely fire again, but it just wasn’t their day yesterday.

Paul Kalkbrenner Roskilde Festival Arena (July 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment
Highly respected Berlin DJ Paul Kalkbrenner did exactly what was expected of him last night at an intense, sweaty show at Roskilde’s Arena stage. As one of few DJ acts headlining the festival, Kalkbrenner was heralded as a performance to look forward to by Roskilde’s electronic music fans.
Starting slowly but surely, the Berlin frontman looked secure and content, clinging to a heavy bass line that was to dominate the better part of his charged show. In his native city, the German capital and in many ways today’s Mecca of electronic music, Kalkbrenner is known for more of a minimalist approach to his shows.
Last night at Arena however, it was a different story, with a more crowd-friendly setlist dominated by driven, heavily-percussive tunes.
Many of Roskilde’s attendees relate Kalkbrenner to his appearance in the cult film Berlin Calling, in which he stars as himself in a riveting tale about his past life. His most popular songs are those off the Berlin Calling soundtrack  and it is these that most of Roskilde’s guests came to see last night. Kalkbrenner followed a driven and thudding, if not a tad repetitive line, before slowly and cautiously releasing several songs off Berlin Calling. The monstrous ‘Altes Kamuffel’ went down well towards the end of the show, whilst other tracks such as the distinctive, down-tempo ‘Sky and Sand’ provided minor, if not crucial, breaks for the audience to catch their breath.
It is difficult not to be objective about what turned out to be quite the show yesterday, though one did feel that the tonality of the concert was at many times repetitive and heavy. This notwithstanding, Kalkbrenner’s show ticked off all the checkboxes a late Saturday night show should. It was pulsating, intense and chaotic at the best of times, driven and emotional at others, and on the whole a very decent performance.
Today’s Arena action features a highly anticipated show from English band Friendly Fires before pop darling Santigold checks in as the main act of the evening, making a return to Roskilde after an epic showing back in 2008.

Celso Pina, Roskilde Festival Cosmopol Stage (Jul 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment

Cumbia enthusiasts Celso Piña conjured up a performance of credible stature at Roskilde’s Cosmopol stage earlier this evening. The Monterrey-based cumbia dons produced a show that was both impassioned and seasoned at the intimate venue.

I turned up to the show expecting quite the show from the revered ‘Rebelde del acordion’ and received just that; an epic, if not dedicated, performance from one of Mexico’s frontline musicians.

Though Cosmopol wasn’t as crowded as it could have been, Piña rattled the airwaves from the onset of their show, reeling in many an innocent bystander to a show of elevated proportions. Weaving through their brief setlist, Piña hardly put a foot wrong during the concert, playing with passion and Latin flair in what will go down as one of the most crowd-oriented shows of Roskilde 2012 so far.

Cosmopol has been praised by many festival goers over numerous years for it’s unique atmosphere and quaint acoustics, both of which have contributed to providing quite the ideal platform for world music year after year. Celso Piña and co used the comfy surroundings to their benefit, churning out recognised numbers such as the invigorating ‘Cumbia Sobre El Rio’ to a party- driven crowd that gave their all from start to finish.

And whilst Celso Piña without a doubt put on one of the best shows at Cosmopol thus far, one would ultimately be compelled to critique the slight repetitiveness of their driven cambia-based, percussive show. Similarly, a poor showing owing to the fact that few Roskilde guests have ever heard of the act, contributed to forming a concert that was ultimately extremely entertaining but rough around the edges.

This notwithstanding, those present at the fourth show of the day seemed to have had a rollicking time, as they danced practically nonstop from start to finish. Celso Piña were the ideal warm-up to Cosmopol’s later show, Colombian ‘Electro Vacilón’ pioneers Bomba Estereo, who delivered a show of monstrous proportions.

Saturday’s Cosmopol action features South African electronic maestros Spoek Mathambo and Congolese street musicians Staff Bendabilili.

The Roots, Roskilde Festival Orange Stage (Jul 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment
****** (6 out of 6 stars) July 7 at Orange, Roskilde Festival
Philadelphia legends The Roots have, for a very long time, been a band that haven’t quite reaped the share of mainstream success that they deserve. After a stunning show on the Orange stage this evening, it is hard to understand why this band isn’t playing on every single sound system in Roskilde Festival’s camping areas. That said, after their stunning performance, few would disagree that The Roots are surely one of the best bands to grace Roskilde’s main stage so far.
Led by their charismatic and indefatigable frontman Tariq ‘Black Thought’ Trotter, The Roots were stunning from the word go, unleashing popular crowd-friendly numbers such as ‘The Fire’ as early as thirteen minutes into the show.
An emotional dedication to the recently departed Adam Yauch of New York hip-hop pioneers Beastie Boys and a cheeky live version of popular anthem ‘Jungle Boogie’ were but a pair of highlights in the preliminary stages of the show, an opening that showcased the depth and breadth of the band, as percussive sequences and tuba solos ruptured across the expansive Orange scene.
Midway through the proceedings, and the pits at the front of Orange were steadily filling with energetic fans as The Roots churned out one passionate number after another, gelling together admirably in a way that the focus was never solely on main man Tariq, or on the extremely energised tuba player, or on either of the impeccable drummers, including group co-founder Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, but rather on the chemistry between the band as an entirety.
This connectivity was reinforced towards the end of the show, as The Roots showed off their dexterity, lashing out a seismic cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrant Song’ interspersed between probably the best take on Guns N’ Roses’ evergreen monster ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ and a daring snatch at a brief, albeit ingenious rock-infused, take on R&B legend Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move on Up’. Post curtain call tracks featured the well-known tune ‘The Seed (2.0)’ alongside a series of enigmatic covers that paved the way for a stage exit that well and truly reflected the best of the Orange scene’s best show of Roskilde 2012 so far.
The Roots are what hip-hop used to be way back when: shun the pathetic self-referential, revenge-tinged bollocks du jour and swap it for purely eclectic, instrument-rich genius at its most refined. This is what The Roots conjured up at the Orange stage on Saturday. Best show at Roskilde so far in this reviewer’s book? Probably, maybe almost certainly, yeah!

Bomba Estereo, Roskilde Festival Cosmopol Stage (Jul 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment

***** (5 out of 6 stars); July 6 at Cosmopol, Roskilde Festival

Bogota darlings Bomba Estéreo set Roskilde Festival’s Cosmopol stage alight with an impeccable performance that topped their 2009 debut at the event. Following in the footsteps of a blockbuster show by cumbia kings Celso Piña earlier in the evening, Bomba Estéreo delivered a performance that may well go down as one of the best of Roskilde 2012.
As something of a recognised commodity at the festival following their 2009 debut, Bomba Estéreo were up against the feat of topping their first Roskilde to date, a task they carried out with some dexterity.
I turned up to the show expecting the Colombian pioneers of ‘electro vacilón’ (electro tropical) to deliver a show of epic proportions, following a credible performance by warm-up DJs who did their bit to stir up the crowd with a scintillating mix of thumping electro beats riddled with pronounced rock guitar interjections. Although the DJ performance was impressive, it was left comparatively insignificant in the wake of a fiery appearance by Bomba Estéreo. My expectations were neither too high nor too exaggerated, as the Colombians were solid from the word ‘go’, playing a concert that was both clinical and extremely entertaining all in one.
Following in the footsteps of performers such as The Streets, Bomba Estéreo managed, midway through their show, to get the audience to crouch low and light their lighters in a show of solidarity, a feat that is seldom achieved at Roskilde, less so at such an early point in the proceedings. Lead singer Lilliana Saumet was on fire as she rapped fiercely and evocatively to the live acoustic backings of songs such as ‘Fuego’ and the driven ‘La boquilla.’
Backed by one of the most impressive light shows I’ve seen at Roskilde so far, Bomba Estéreo hardly put a foot wrong and clearly demonstrated why they are one of Colombia’s top acts of the moment.
Roskilde’s Cosmopol stage has rarely seen a show of such proportions. It is hard to see how any of the acts playing there over the coming days can top what Bomba Estéreo did earlier tonight, though this reviewer remains ready to be pleasantly surprised.

The Cure, Roskilde Festival Orange Stage (Jul 2012)

/ Alan Kortbaek / Leave a comment
*** (3 out of 6 stars); July 5 at Orange Stage, Roskilde Festival
Fans of alternative rock band The Cure were treated to a taste of things to come from Roskilde Festival’s Orange Stage in the second show of the day at the revered venue. The Cure came on after local boys Kellermensch had opened the proceedings on Roskilde’s largest scene earlier in the evening and were performing at about the same time as the other big name of the day, American rapper Wiz Khalifa.
Despite being one of the most hyped names prior to the commencement of the festival, The Cure seemed off-pace and unenthusiastic, particularly at the start of their show.
Following what can only be described as an extremely laid-back approach, The Cure looked more like a band that should have closed the festival on Sunday, a far-cry short of living up to the legendary reputation they have gathered over the years.
Lead singer Robert Smith looked ragged, devoid of passion and well past his prime though his astonishing lack of energy was masked somewhat by his distinctive, far-reaching voice, which admittedly did get better and more poignant over the course of the performance. Several charged guitar and piano solos midway through the show also did their bit to punctuate what was otherwise a rather flat and insipid appearance by the overlords of Gothic rock, a genre that they helped cultivate.
Despite the shakiest of starts, things did get better as the sky dimmed and darkness fell on the Orange Stage as the audience livened up to more popular numbers from the band’s 30-year discography, such as the jolly ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and the reverberating ‘Lovesong.’
Smith added more weight to his vocals and interacted a lot more with an audience that had turned up in the thousands, armed to the teeth with flags, banners and smiles aplenty. Ultimately, the show will go down in this reviewer’s book as being at the best a lukewarm performance that will surely be eclipsed by many other shows at this year’s Roskilde Festival.
Tomorrow’s Orange Stage action features performances from American indie band The Gossip and popular Danish rappers Malk De Koijn amongst others. Clearly the best of Roskilde Festival 2012 is yet to come.