Friday, 11 September 2009
a-ha on 'senkveld' tonight
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
a-ha live updates 20/7 2009
Various news updates from a-ha-live....
Video clips / Single is out / Danish chart
An interview with Morten and Magne appeared on the Irish entertainment show Xposé today.
It is now up on YouTube here.
ITN has a short video clip from another interview here.
A few more album reviews can be found at teletext.co.uk and er...musicOMH.com.
The single was released in the UK today. It's available as a digital download on iTunes, Amazon.co.uk and 7digital.
And on the UK radio airplay chart, FOTM climbs up to number 19 this week.
Kenneth from Denmark e-mailed me to help spread the word about a Danish chart.
Here's what he writes:
"Please vote for Foot Of The Mountain (the song) on the Danish chart "Tjeklisten". The chart is on Denmarks biggest radiostation and is purely based on votes. Go to: www.dr.dk/tjeklisten or just send an email to: tjeklisten@dr.dk where you write that you vote for the song, AND write your name and adress. Otherwhise the vote don't count. You must vote before Tuesday at 1 pm."
(Thanks to "sneakythesnake", "scorcher" and Kenneth)
Source: a-ha-live
Monday, 20 July 2009
Sunday, 19 July 2009
interview with erik ljunggren
A new interview with a-ha backing musician Erik Ljungren from a-ha's official website (a-ha.com):
We recently caught up with Erik Ljunggren, who kindly answered some questions about his studio and live work with a-ha.
Can you tell about some of the other bands have you been in/played with?
I do mostly studio work, but I have performed live with these bands: Yeahlove Swans, Vampire State Building, Seigmen, Zeromancer. Mostly as a keyboard player. I've also done quite a lot of performances as a live-musician for contemporary dance ensembles.
This March you and Karl Wennerberg performed with a-ha for the first time in South America. What was that experience like?
It was great. First we had a couple of days of pre-production in Sao Paulo to rehearse and get into the routines with the crew to make the performances as smooth as possible. I think the concerts went very well and the audiences were amazing. I have never experienced anything like it in my career at least. We did quite a long concert and rehearsed even more songs.
Also I must give credit to the three members of a-ha. We did a lot of rearranging from the previous live-versions and they were very positive about trying something new.
I'm also glad that we did these gigs before touring with the new album. It all went well, but now we have done that and can work on how to get the concerts to the next level.
Did you interact much with a-ha fans while in South America?
No I didn't. But nobody tried to talk to me either :-)
How would you describe the new live arrangements for those who haven't seen and heard it yet?
The idea has been to make them more in the spirit of the original studio versions. We will try to rehearse quite a lot this summer and develop this.
Have you also contributed to the new a-ha album, 'Foot of the Mountain'?
Yes, I was working on the album on and off for about a year.
One of your remixes of 'Foot of the Mountain' will be available on the iTunes exclusive UK single download on July 20. Can we look forward to more of your remixes in the future?
There are no plans, but if they want me to and I have the time that could very well happen.
Is there some freedom in the way you perform on stage with a-ha, or is it "locked" as soon as you have decided an arrangement of the song?
I decide on the parts during rehearsals and at least try to perform them that way on stage. But when it comes to the musical form we will have sections that can vary from one evening to another.
The band has been doing a lot of promotional appearances and performances in Europe, and many more are coming up in the UK. How has this experience been for you?
In June we did a TV show in Oslo playing four songs live in front of a huge outdoor crowd. That made me a bit nervous to be honest. But it turned out really well I think.
These events are of course very important. And we need to take them as seriously as a normal concert even though they are a lot shorter. The band only has those 5-20 minutes to make as good an impression as a full length concert. I think most of them turned out very well. We did a short gig at a radio award show in London. The stage was small so the band had to stay really close together. The audience was really up in your face. But it created quite a special atmosphere. And it turned out to be a really fun gig.
What upcoming events are you looking forward to the most?
I think I'm looking forward to preparing for and starting the tour in the fall the most.
Which of the new songs are you most excited about practicing and performing?
'The Bandstand' was really cool to rehearse and sounded very good after a couple of times playing it. 'Start the Simulator' could be very interesting if we are playing that one...I dont know yet.
Which songs have been most challenging for you to rearrange for the new live sound?
I think 'The Sun Always Shines on TV' was a very important song for me to make work with the new live sound, to recreate that energy from the original recording. So we spent quite a lot of time on that one. It's such an amazing song I think. It has a complex, brave arrangement but still on the studio version they managed made it sound natural and simple. One of their finest and most impressive moments I think.
'The Living Daylights' was quite difficult. And we have changed and improved that version now during rehearsals.
For more interesting discussion with Erik Ljunggren, read this interview published on fan site a-ha-net.de.
'foot of the mountain' to be album of the week
On July 27, the 'Foot of the Mountain' album will be released in the UK. Leading up to the release next Monday, the album has been chosen for this week's 'Album of the Week' by the biggest selling national Sunday paper, News of the World, and will also be 'Album of the Week' on Radio 2!
News of the World only reviews one single and one album per week - and the choice is based on their own favorites! Today's News of the World included the following album review:
"With new artists like Florence and the Machine and Little Boots plundering the 80s it's a good time for the Take On Me trio to show them how it's done.
Half of the 10 songs are zippy, uptempo synthpop - nothing like you'd expect from blokes knocking on for 50. The other half are moody ballads, which show why Chris Martin is a massive fan - Shadowside could easily be by Coldplay. A great return that's as sharp as Morten Harket's cheekbones."
'Foot of the Mountain' will also be Radio 2’s 'Album of the Week' which will guarantee ten album track plays across a week on Ken Bruce and Janice Long. Next Saturday, a-ha will be guests of Radio 2's Dermot O'Leary, and the guys will play five songs, including a cover of a great British song!
The UK has been very receptive to 'Foot of the Mountain.' Over the past couple of weeks, a-ha has been doing a lot of great promotion - including interviews, web casts and even an acoustic performance or two - and there is much more to come! Keep updated by bookmarking these posts:
a-ha on TV and Radio | Release News
Source: a-ha.com Click to see bbc-album of the week HERE
'foot of the mountain' no. 3 on the pre-order charts (uk)
UK (pre order charts):
HMV Top 30 albums pre-order chart: FOTM no. 10
Play.com top 100 pre-order album charts: FOTM no. 6
http://www.play.com/Music/CD/6-/PreOrderChart.html
Play.com top 100 pre-order single charts: FOTM no. 5
http://www.play.com/Music/MP3-Download/6-/PreOrderChart.html
HMV top 20 albums pre order chart: FOTM no. 3
http://www.mariahconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/hmvvhart130709.jpg
a-ha live: more radio and print interviews
More radio and print interviews
Magne and Morten were interviewed by Gethin Jones on BBC 5 Live this morning. They also performed an acoustic version of "Foot Of The Mountain", accompanied by Martin Terefe on guitar and xylophone.
The interview is available for listening here (starts after 10 minutes).
A few hours later they appeared on Gary Crowley's show on BBC London. This interview, which was taped a few days ago, can be heard here (starts after 1 h 32 mins).
There was also a recent interview on Magic 105.4, which is now available for download here.
The Times has an interview with Morten today, where he gets the chance to mention his favorite vocalists, artists and albums, among other things. Read the interview here.
And The Scotsman has a decent interview with the guys here.
(Thanks to Sandra, Milly and "scorcher" for some of the links)
Source: a-ha-live
a-ha will be special guests on magic 105.4 'indulgence' (uk radio) today
Sunday 19th July
a-ha is a band from Norway. They initially rose to fame during the 1980s and have had continued success in the 1990s and 2000s.
a-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut album and single in 1985. Hunting High and Low peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard charts and yielded an international number-one single, "Take on Me", earning the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. Hunting High and Low was one of the best-selling albums of 1986. In 1994, the band went on a hiatus, the same year a-ha reached a sales number of 20 million albums sold worldwide. After a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998, the band returned to the studio and recorded 2000's Minor Earth Major Sky, which resulted in a new tour. By 2000, they had reached 36 million albums sold wordwide plus a double figure million singles. In 2002 the band released their seventh studio album Lifelines. 2005's Analogue has been certified silver and is their most successful album in the UK since 1990's East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Their 9th album, Foot of the Mountain, was released on June 19, 2009 (release date different in some countries).
READ THE FULL WIKIPEDIA BIOGRAPHY HERE
Saturday, 18 July 2009
a-ha webcast 17/7 2009
Part 1 of 3
The audio might be a little out of sync, as usual in webcasts. This is the second time I upload the vid, I hope it's better that the first version I posted (that was waaay out of sync)
The audio might be a little out of sync, as usual in webcasts.
the scotsman a-ha interview
"All music that's meaningful is pain-condensed and made into something you can relate to," decides keyboardist Magne Furuholmen, as we settle into the band's smart West London hotel suite. "Happy music makes me sad," he laughs. "It's like watching a Hollywood movie where you know the ending and (are) told what to feel." The most garrulous member, he fails to see why so-called "dark music" should make you feel depressed. Quite the opposite, in fact. "People find consolation in the way that someone can articulate conflicting feelings and turn them into some sort of beauty," he says. "That's the attraction of Joy Division to me – their music's beautiful."
Waaktaar-Savoy is literally a pale imitation of his former self – wan and exhausted from his journey (he's just flown in from New York), he sinks back into the hotel sofa, from where he issues occasional comments as though from a faraway place. Harket is more voluble but is the one most troubled by the perception of A-ha as pop pin-ups. Furuholmen is the easiest to talk to, and the one most likely to discuss the groupies "lined up like a pussy rack" outside the dressing-rooms over the years that he had to turn away (he has been faithful to his wife since he was 18), the conflicts that led to the trio's break-up in the 1990s, and the way being misconstrued as manufactured muppets "screwed with our heads".
Has making A-ha's music, I wonder, been therapeutic for them, an opportunity to exorcise all their negative feelings? "Well, you say 'negative', but I strongly oppose that," says Furuholmen. "Because to a Scandinavian melancholia is not negative; it's more like an itch you must scratch. It's a big part of our make-up."
A-ha were, like one of their idols Jimi Hendrix, prophets without honour in their own land, who had to come to Britain in the early 1980s to find success, which they used as the launch-pad for international stardom. Fans of The Beatles and The Doors, they had their heads turned by the synthesised pop music then reaping huge commercial rewards for the likes of Soft Cell and The Human League. "That was the big change for us," recalls Furuholmen, "coming from Norway, with our stylistic orientation towards 1960s music, and then being in England and opening up to a whole new set of influences after years of thinking music ended with John Lennon's Imagine album."
Sensing a link between The Doors and "the darker synth stuff like Soft Cell", they set about recording their first album, Hunting High And Low. Suddenly, thanks to the success of Take On Me and its video, with its revolutionary pencil-sketch animation/live-action combination called rotoscoping, A-ha found themselves caught "in a hailstorm of pop stardom", when really what they wanted was the acclaim of the serious music press.
"We didn't control it, we were controlled by it," says Waaktaar-Savoy of their new-found teen fame. "When my wife saw the first album and the poster it came with, she went, 'Uh-oh'."
According to Harket, the problem lay not in the music but the marketing of the band. "They (the record company] didn't know what to do with us. They failed to recognise the different aspects of A-ha." They were, admits Furuholmen, regarded by their label as "awkward". "People would say, 'There's no Take On Me' on this record, and we'd say, 'Yeah, great!' We knew that the expectation was to regurgitate our own success and that wasn't what we were about."
"We wanted the freedom to be playful," explains Harket, "to experiment and do what we felt like doing, but we were heavily affected by the success that the first record gave us."
It was hard to know what direction to pursue after the 10-million-selling debut album, so they opted for a harder sound on their second album Scoundrel Days (1986), then returned to pop for 1988's Stay On These Roads, which featured their James Bond theme, The Living Daylights, a sure sign of their ubiquity and commercial enormity. Collaborating with John Barry was a mixed blessing, and remains a source of some tension. Waaktaar-Savoy admits to enjoying working with the legendary Bond composer, which baffles Furuholmen, who has different memories of their sessions. "I can't remember you loving that at the time, correct me if I'm wrong," he says, one of several quietly barbed exchanges during the interview.
They toughened up again for 1990's East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon, part of what Furuholmen calls their "crystallisation process, away from the ornate and structurally complicated", towards a more organic, live-band sound.
But after 1993's sombre Memorial Beach the writing was on the wall, and despite A-ha discovering a huge audience in South America, they chose that moment to split. They worked on a variety of solo projects, and Furuholmen, "tired to the bones", began exhibiting art work and even worked for a year in a sound recording library where he digitally archived the experimental music of John Cage and Stockhausen.
"That album (Memorial Beach] felt like a requiem," he says. "It was clear we wanted to get out of the pop business."
It brings back particular unhappy memories for Harket. "I didn't feel like I fitted in," he reveals. "I felt like I was a hindrance to A-ha." Confusion reigned during this period. "We were at the peak of denouncing ourselves and what we had been," says the singer. "When you're at war with yourself you will go under. I don't think we were focused. We were fighting too many demons, and trying to avoid things."
They were mainly trying to avoid the truth: that they were exponents of deliciously downbeat synthpop. When they reformed in 2000 for Minor Earth Major Sky, they appeared finally to have come to terms with that, as had the rock press whose attention they had for so long craved.
"Every grudge was gone," says Waaktaar-Savoy. "There were open arms everywhere, and people seemed genuinely happy to have us back."
Furuholmen remembers their opening show in Hamburg being "a real shocker – like, 'woah!'" There were, adds Harket, not just screaming girls this time, but "hordes of grown people going apeshit". It was, says the guitarist, "the same in every country. We thought we'd have to start from scratch and build it up, but we didn't. We had a totally new audience, with a big spread in demographic, from people our age and older to the really young."
And the really credible: since A-ha's comeback, it has become acceptable to proclaim their greatness: U2, Coldplay, Oasis, Keane, Morrissey and Bloc Party have all come out of the closet in recent times – indeed, Coldplay's Guy Berryman and Will Champion have collaborated with Furuholmen on various solo projects.
"Only now, with the reappraisal of the band and new acts citing us as a musical influence, is our idea of the band finally coming out," says Furuholmen. "We were the most important band in the world in our minds! We were The Beatles! We wanted to make great album statements! We didn't just want Top 10 singles."
They did have another Top 10 single, Analogue (All I Want), in 2006, their first for nearly 20 years. And now they've made their first purely synth-based album for almost as long: Foot Of The Mountain, a return to the electro-melancholia that made their name, recorded with Steve Osborne, producer for New Order.
"It has," says Furuholmen, "some of the vitality of our early stuff without plundering our own mausoleums," while the icily pretty synthscapes, he feels, provide the perfect accompaniment for "Morten's eerie, otherworldly, fourth-dimensional vocals".
A-ha are finally happy with their sound, and with their new position in the pantheon of electro-pop alongside the likes of New Order and Depeche Mode.
"Is that the company we'd like to keep?" the keyboardist repeats the question, slightly tartly. "What, you mean intelligent individuals making interesting pop music? Yes, absolutely."
As for what it is that U2, Coldplay et al like about A-ha, that is even more obvious, according to Furuholmen. "They just like the way we look."
• Foot of the Mountain is released on 27 July.