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New Ja Ja Ja show w/ Sansa + Maribel + Reptile Youth
Ja Ja Ja returns to the Lexington for the last time before our summer break, but don’t worry; we’re back in September.
Opening proceedings is Sansa. This Finnish songwriter – awarded Live Debutant of The Year by the Helsinki Festival in 2010 – has supported everyone from Martha Wainwright to Robert Plant in her homeland. Schooled at the capital’s Pop & Jazz Conservatory and courted by major labels around Europe, she’s steadfastly stuck to her creative calling, exploring a love of sound and film at Helsinki University. Her debut album Savior showcases a voice of delicacy and purity, while her music toys with folk, pop, electronica and the occasional ode to disco.
Next up are the Oslo-based quartet Maribel, whose critically-acclaimed, shoegazing debut album Aesthetics in 2009 blended established their ability to “soundtrack the most hallucinogenic dream or hellish nightmare at the flick of a switch” (Drowned in Sound). Their follow-up on Splendour took inspiration from classic film scores by Barry, Mancini and Morricone, revealing dark, slow-burning, atmospheric dream-pop.
Closing the evening are Denmark’s Reptile Youth, who’re gaining quite the reputation for party-bringing, crowd-surfing, partial-nudity and the like. This trio’s super-infectious post/synth-pop/rock has had all manner of media outlets righteously salivating.
7:30pm ’til late, Thursday May 31, 2012. The Lexington, London N1 9JB. Tickets £5 adv.
Joint Nordic Electronic & Indie Showcase Night in Japan
The Nordic Music Export office (NOMEX) is to join forces with Creativeman for a second showcase in Tokyo. The next installment of the Hokuo Music Night showcase and networking event for Nordic indie and electronic music will take place on Friday 25th May in Tokyo, Japan.
“The first Hokuo Music Night showcase was a great success,” states Sami Häikiö, Project Manager at Music Export Finland. “The UNIT club was completely full from the first band to the last, and the reception before the show attracted over 50 Japanese music professionals from labels and publishers to national media, who all stayed to see the bands too. This showed us that the Nordic countries are stronger when they work together. Each band and each export office has their own contacts and it's good for everyone to put them together.”
The evening is to be produced again by Creativeman, one of Japan's biggest promoters, who are also behind the gigantic Summer Sonic Festival, among other events. It will run alongside Music Export Finland's “Finland Fest” export event, at the same venue as last November’s show: the wonderful UNIT club. With a 500-person capacity, a hip location in the Daikanyama area, and lots of electronic music events and famous international DJs on the lineup, the club is perfect for the Hokuo Music Night concept.
Last November's event featured a host of Nordic talent, such as LCMDF, Casiokids, Reptile & Retard and Feldberg. The line-up for the next one is looking equally fantastic, with Husky Rescue (FIN), Kira Kira (ICE), Lo-Fi Fnk (SWE) and Lars and the Hands of Light (DK) all so far confirmed.
“Traditionally there has been a close relationship between Japan and Nordic countries,” says Häikiö. “Japanese people love Nordic design and nature, and vice versa. The reaction from the Japanese music industry to the first Hokuo Music Night was really positive; they thought it was a great idea to bring all the Nordic countries as one to the Japanese market, especially since many Japanese people don't necessarily differentiate so much between individual Nordic countries…”
Ja Ja Ja Goes Bi Monthly & Announces March Line Up
Two years on, Ja Ja Ja is still going from strength-to-strength, outdoing itself each month with its consistently brilliant line-ups and sold-out club nights.
Not one to rest on its laurels however, and always aiming to improve and evolve, last year we brought you the one-of-a-kind Nordic music love-in that is www.jajajamusic.com, a big two year birthday bash and a retrospective download album.
Now Ja Ja Ja would like to announce that its club night is going bi-monthly.
Don’t be sad - it means we’ll will be bigger, better and badder every-other-month - and it also means Ja Ja Ja will be bringing you some extra special nights very soon. Watch this space for details…
Here's the line up for the next Ja Ja Ja on 29th March, 2012...
Manna
If you’ve been lapping up the return of Mark Lanegan, than you may have come across Manna guesting on ‘Wishing Well’ or seen her debut ‘Songs of Hope and Desire’ (2010) praised across the UK music press from Sunday Times Culture: “dreamy, doomy music” to Classic Rock: "she's a genuine talent all right, capable of both dreaminess and riffs that Royal Trux last rode in on. There's a killer attitude, too".
Manna’s music combines psychedelic bluesy rock and dreamy folk to beautiful pop melodies, creating a unique and powerful sound. Live, Manna is not to be missed. Fader (US) raved that “her stage presence makes her shine”. Muse selected Manna to support them in Finland in 2010 and in 2011 Melissa Auf Der Maur handpicked her for support on her Scandinavian tour. Not to mention critically acclaimed appearances at major Eureopean festivals such as Eurosonic and by:Larm, a UK tour with shows at Club NME and performances at The Great Escape and Secret Garden Party Festivals. The single ‘Shackles’, taken from Manna’s up and coming second album, will be released in the UK in March.
Freja Loeb
On a poppier tip comes Denmark’s Freja Loeb. Her debut album ’Odyssey’ is a catchy beast, but tinged with a new-wave atmosphere and influences from The Cure and David Bowie, the latter referenced in lyrics ”I can be the queen and you can be the king or I can be the princes and you can be the prince and we could be heroes just for one day or forever…”. Freja Loeb has played Roskilde Festival, Start! Festival, SPOT, Vegas Selected and Sounds Festival honing her new sound to perfection. Watch her perform ’Soft Blues’ live on Danish TV.
Útidúr
Útidúr (pronounced: ooh! - detour) are a twelve-piece group comprising players on double bass, drums, trumpet, violins, a second guitar and an accordion. They play joyous and ambitious chamber-pop with a dramatic streak – think Angelo Badalamenti, Beirut, Calexico and Ennio Morricone. Útidúr has honed their craft for a while and began playing at various venues in downtown Reykjavík in late summer of 2009. On seeing them live for the first time, The Line of Best Fit declared them “just incredible. Music to fall in love and get your heart broken to." Útidúr's debut album 'This Mess We've Made' is out now and was recorded at the Sigur Rós recording studio 'Sundlaugin' in the summer of 2010.