Last weekend NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION attended the BY:LARM Music Festival in Oslo, Norway. The showcase festival and music conference was the second Norwegian festival we attended this year (after Trondheim Calling Festival). So again it was time to find out about the hottest new acts from Scandinavia. And one thing is for sure: BY:LARM introduced to a lot of amazing acts from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. There simply can be no doubt about the fact that these countries have amazing musical acts that you will surely hear a lot about in the near future. BY:Larm is the biggest and most important showcase event for Scandinavian music. Each year tons of music professionals from labels, publishers, booking agencies come to Oslo to find out about what’s going on in the Scandinavian music scene. Besides NBHAP of course other journalists, e.g. from The Line of Best Fit, VICE/Noisey, Under The Radar and many more. Of all the bands and artists we saw at BY:LARM we chose the best ones. So check out the Best of BY:LARM selection by NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION on the next pages.
Besides all the concerts and seminars, panels and keynote speeches, the best Scandinavian acts of 2013 was awarded with the Nordic Music Prize in Oslo. The winner is THE KNIFE with their latest album Shaking The Habitual. At the Nordic Music Prize award show last year’s winner, the Swedish folk duo FIRST AID KIT, played a couple of their songs. Check out their video Wolf below and enjoy the best acts of BY:LARM 2014 on the following pages (alphabetical order).
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: ANDRE BRATTEN
ANDRE BRATTEN was born in Oslo and grew up in a suburb of the Norwegian capital, which borders on the deep, dark Scandinavian forest. In the late 1990s, he was bitten by the hiphop bug, but also was heavily influenced by LED ZEPPELIN records from his father’s record collection. No matter if Norwegian electronica like RØYKSOPP or acts like SIGUR RÓS, ENO, CLUSTER or WEATHER REPORT: ANDRE BRATTEN is into all of them, takes out the best and transforms it all into electronic music. At BY:LARM he proved to be one of the best upcoming Scandinavian electronic music acts.
ANDRE BRATTEN‘s tracks share the exploratory vibe of the 80s synth pop pioneers, and misfit electronic pop musicians like John Foxx, who were forced learning to sculpt new sounds with new tools. Yet he updates those sounds to a contemporary rhythm matrix, in parallel with the dayglo analogue dance music of Lindstrøm, Todd Terje and Prins Thomas himself – and he just happens to share the central Oslo studio space used by that glorious trinity.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: AWAY
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: EMILIE NICOLAS
There is a hype going around EMILIE NICOLAS. At BY:LARM 2014 she presented her dark pop songs and showed her international class. With her delicate and pure, yet raw voice, she brings a cinematic delicious mix of sadness, beautiful melodies and strong lyrics. Fragile and beautiful, powerful and explosive at the same time. We are sure that EMILIE NICOLAS‘ will be pretty popular soon.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: ERLEND ØYE & HJÁLMAR
ERLEND ØYE, known from bands like KINGS OF CONVENIENCE and THE WHITEST BOY ALIVE, teamed up with Iceland’s HJÁLMAR. The brand new project, simply called ERLEND ØYE & HJÁLMAR, is a genre-pushing collaboration between the Norwegian indie artist and the Icelandic reggae legends. At BY:LARM 2014 they proved that the band’s music perfectly matches with ERLEND‘s voice. Definitely a hot tip and without any doubt the music to listen to at sunny days.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: FARAO
We can’t say it often enough: FARAO are great! At Trondheim Calling Festival we just saw FARAO‘s acoustic show, which was nice, but not perfect. This time we had the pleasure to see the band’s live set, incl. their full band. To make the long story short: FARAO are mesmerizing and simply beautiful. They prove it live, on their new self-titled debut EP and surely soon on their debut album. Watch out!
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: HANNE KOLSTØ
Over the last years HANNE KOLSTØ grew up. When we saw her at SPOT Festival 2012 she was alone on stage, at BY LARM 2014 she shared the stage with a full band. Definitely a good decision, since the live experience is way better. Before her shows might have been more intimate, now it feels like she belongs on big stages. Not only due to the backing band fact, but also due to the fact that her songs evolved. Only one fact remains (and will hopefully remain forever): HANNE KOLSTØ is amazingly nice and wonderful!
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: IAMPSYENCEFICTION
Only a few days before BY:LARM 2014 NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION premiered IAMPSYENCEFICTION‘s new video Spy vs. Spy (incl. a short interview with the band). At the festival the band proved that that they are special, luckily not because of their name, since they convinced with their simply wonderful music. Music that takes the listener’s breath, music that deeply moves and that hopefully soon can be experienced on a lot of festivals.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: KATE BOY
KATE BOY are the perfect example for the Sweden’s greatness. From fancy furniture, blonde beauties to great pop music, Sweden has it all. KATE BOY, three Swedes and one Australian, celebrate atmospheric electronic pop music with a certain dark twist. In an interview with KATE BOY NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION tried to find out if the band is here to save pop music, or if it even needs to be saved? At this year’s BY:LARM festival KATE BOY proved to be one of the pop acts of our time.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: LINT
Still being breathless after the band’s show at Trondheim Calling Festival, we gave it another try to put the musical beauty of Bergen-based post-rock band LINT into words. Again we are out of words. If someone is able to put the emotions that this band creates into words: please send us an email. We’d be truly thankful for that!
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: LOVELOVELOVE
LOVELOVELOVE are released tgeur debut album Kaleidoscope in January 2014 viao Kakao Musikk. In 2012 the band was started as a solo side project of the Norwegian hardcore band ARUSTULLUS’ front man Simon Dolmen Bergseth. After a short time LOVELOVELOVE went from being his side project to his main project. Located somewhere between shoegaze, post-rock and dream pop LOVELOVELOVE grew to a quintet which is probably one of Norways’s best in this genre. At BY:LARM 2014 Simon Bergseth, Edvard Seim, Axel Skalstad, Ida Holmen, Birgitta Alida Hole and Kristian Rangnes showed that their band and their songs are only about one thing: LOVELOVELOVE – and NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION seriously fell in lovelovelove with it.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: NAOMI PILGRIM
From Sweden to Barbados and back. From the West Indian heat to the Scandinavian coolness. NAOMI PILGRIM is the Scandinavian artist to watch these days. Probably the pop hope of Scandinavia in 2014. After her show at BY:LARM NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION is pretty sure that NAOMI PILGRIM will make it big. And with ‘big’ we mean really big. Her songs belong everywhere, and she belongs on big stages. No one can escape her voice, her music, her songs. Seriously no one can. If you don’t fall in love with NAOMI PILGRIM then you probably have a heart of stone.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: SEA CHANGE
When it comes to Scandinavia’s best lo-fi electronic pop acts SEA CHANGE are the act to listen to. Norwegian dreampop artist Ellen A. W. Sunde and her alter ego SEA CHANGE create a fuzzy and gloomy atmosphere. At Oslo’s BY:LARM festival Sunde and her band made the crowd dream away. Quite possible that you’ll hear way more of this wonderful music soon – no matter where, the main thing is to listen to more SEA CHANGE.
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: SIN COS TAN
Finnish electropop duo SIN COS TAN is a collaboration between Juho Paalosmaa and Jori Hulkkonen. At BY:LARM SIN COS TAN showed to be the synthesized duo of great promise, broken dreams, and long nights. With their critically acclaimed album Afterlife, which was released in October 2013 via Solina Records, they have the songs it needs to make it into the synth heaven. Watch Limbo and realize that you won’t be able to not nod your head or move your legs. Time to sing along: ‘Hallelujah, here I come now. Life has passed by somehow.’
One of the best acts at BY:LARM 2014: TRULS
In 2012 singer, songwriter and musician Truls Heggero decided to put an end to his former band LUKESTAR. LUKESTAR’s end meant the start for a new adventure, an adventure simply named TRULS. The mission: creating awesome music, showing his great love for R&B mixed with his distinctive voice and new sounds. At BY:LARM 2014 TRULS‘ big melodies met beats, soul met Nordic electropop and it all soaked in sophisticated R&B – driven by a voice that simply can not be described with words. It’s impossible to remain indifferent: TRULS exactly knows how to fascinate the crowd.