29th Mar2010

An Interview: Efterklang

by nickwan

Efterklang is on tour in the US right now in support of their newest album Magic Chairs. Shahin Kalantari and crew caught up with them at the San Francisco show at Bottom of the Hill. Check out the video interview below (it’s in two parts). If not video-savvy, read the transcript!


–

Shahin Kalantari: First thing is first: I’m going to say something and tell me how you react to this. “Rødgrød med fløde”?

Casper Clausen: (laughs) Pretty good.

SK: (laughs) Pretty good?

Rasmus Stolberg: (laughs) Pretty solid!

SK: Alright, how do I say this?

CC: It’s a classic trick sentence in Danish. So it’s pronounced “rødgrød med fløde”, if you pronounce it right.

SK: So, one more time?

CC: Rød

SK: Rød…

CC: The hard this about Danish is the “r”s and soft “e”s. So the “r”s are with the throat.

SK: Rød…

CC: It’s hard (smiles)

SK: Yes!

CC: But the “d” is easier. That’s like a “th-”. Like when you say “the”.

SK: Well I just wanted to ask, you know.

CC: Classic.

SK: It’s your third time here, what are you expecting out of this tour that was different from last tour? With the new album?

RS: Yes, we have a new album out. It’s a new experience because when we did Parades we toured over here [in the US] seven months after the release. Maybe more; maybe eight months after the release? The record [Magic Chairs] just came out when we started this tour so it’s all new and interesting to play the new songs for the first time.

SK: How is the audience receiving the new songs?

RS: They seem to like it.

SK: How about you guys? It’s the first time to play these songs right after the release of the record to play it live.

CC: Yeah, we played a lot of the songs last year on tour. The idea behind Magic Chairs was to be able to play the songs before we got to the studio, so we took six to eight songs with us last year on the US tour and just tried to play them live and try different things with them. And a lot of those songs ended up on the record. We’re ending up playing a little over half of the album, plus the b-sides and things like that. So it’s like the songs we’ve been playing in 2009 and songs we haven’t played yet.

SK: So where do you guys see yourselves after this? Do you have anything in the works right now?

RS: No, it’s mainly just touring. Maybe we’ll start talking about it later, but then someone will say, “let’s wait for that.” Right now, the main focus is [touring]. We have a long tour ahead. the US tour is about to end and then we’ll tour Europe until about end of May. So maybe on the other side of the Summer we’ll have plans.

SK: What about Rumraket? How does that play in when you guys are touring and recording?

RS: It’s working really well. It’s becoming more and more about what are label is. It’s becoming more “our” base. Right now we don’t have other releases. Because if we release another band, then I do a lot of things around that. Luckily there’s no other band producing a record right now. So all we’re doing is Efterklang and touring and things. So that makes it easier. And it works very nice because the record label is such a small territory so the people who put out records and people who help us promote it are close friends and collaborators. So we usually don’t have to worry about it because they take care of it.

SK: So have you toured with any of them [Rumraket bands]?

RS: Usually when we bring a support band it’s either one of the live band members’ side project or one of the Rumraket bands. This tour it was suppose to be a completely different band called Balmorhea but they had to cancel due to family matters so it’s all local bands this time around.

SK: How has it been with the local bands?

CC: It’s been great. I mean, you never really know. It’s always a surprise. There’s been some good acts. We were last in Portland where Heather, that’s her hometown. So she put together a good program with Helios and Dragging an Ox. So that was really cool. So there are the good things and also not so good things. (Enter guy stocking beer)

SK: So I heard that one of you or two of you are classically trained?

CC: That’s not true. (laughs)

RS: Where do you hear those… lies! (laughs)

CC: No, that’s not true. The only music educated member of Efterklang is Rasmus and he’s “classically” trained in music management.

SK: So how is it being classically trained as a music manager?

RS: I don’t really know (laughs). I just have a bachelor’s degree.  And it’s nice because I do the management for Efterklang and I run the record label too so I can use all those things for that. So it’s nice but it’s hard because I was doing Efterklang before I got into that school so I was in school doing it and doing this. But it’s really nice because I have a piece of paper that says I’m good at something.

CC: We have a school teacher. He’s an educated school teacher. Mads and I, we’ve been working and doing music. So we’re educated in Efterklang!

RS: It’s a very basic education but we take in new students every year.

SK: Nice! Where do you sign up?

CC: You can sign up at Efterklang.net

RS: Just send us an email and tell us how much money you got

CC: You have to put away at least ten years of your life.

SK: How about playing with the Danish National Orchestra? That was real?

CC: (laughs) Yeah, that is true. It’s documented on an album, so it’s for sure true. It was a project we did in 2008. It was both incredibly amazing and… hearing an orchestra yourself but then hearing your own music is an amazing experience but it’s also a logistical nightmare.

SK: Is it the transposing the songs for all the instruments?

RS: Just everything. Planning when to rehearse, how to rehearse, how long, and what to play. When you’re on stage with 50 other people playing your own music, it’s an unbelievable experience. It’s like a one hour long masturbation. It’s a pretty good feeling (laughs).

Nick Wan: One more question Shane.

RS: It better be good!

SK: Well, yes… global warming….

RS: (laughs) I actually bought a thermos. And in two days I’ve saved five cups of coffee on the road. In a couple of years of touring, it’ll be a whole forest!

SK: Well, thank you. This is usually my last question. If at any time you need a back up assistant triangle player or a back up dancer to your music video

CC: Would we consider you?

RS: Is that the question?

SK: Yes, if you would consider me.

CC: We can definitely consider you.

RS: You would have to sign up for that education…

SK: That’s right, ten years.

–

And as a bonus, here’s a video from this show of Efterklang performing “Modern Drift” off of their newest album Magic Chairs


Category : Interviews/Misc., Music
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44 Comm
17th Feb2010

NW Reviews: Efterklang – Magic Chairs

by nickwan

What do you think of when it comes to Danish people? When I think of Danish people I remember a question someone was asked on TV… they were asked, “If you are Danish, where are you from?” and someone said “Uh, Dane?” Yes. The great country of Dane. Well, these guys from Copenhagen, DENMARK, are a fresh step in the right direction in my opinion.

Efterklang’s newest, Magic Chairs, is one beast of an album as far as production quality goes. Things that should illuminate great production are the clarity in the layers, a great mixture of volume and panning levels that do not sway to any particular instrument, and subtle effects, such as extra instrumentation or interesting ways to accent certain parts, that add to the overall album experience, amongst other things. This album glorifies the love for the studio. You can tell, most easily, through the vocals that they spent a lot of hours recording these songs. The music itself is somewhat straight forward, but that doesn’t take away from the prowess of the production quality. This might be one of the best produced albums I’ve heard from an indie band in a while (sans The Magic Theatre).

This album has a lot to offer in various multitudes, and delivers. From the more indie-pop to the lo-fi scenester sound, it’s hard not to find something to like in this album. The band itself has been together since 2001 and from a decade of practicing, it definitely shows.

The sound itself harps on two sounds, one newer and one slightly older. The newest sound that helps the cause is the big instrumental sound of the indie scene right now. Strings, somewhat lo-fi, heavy vocals, and all brought together with a somewhat ethereal-sounding band, Efterklang heads in the indie-pop direction fast with a jet. The other sound, however, rings somewhat like Coldplay’s more indie sounding music. Coldplay, definitely not a face of the indie music world, is what is hinted at by this band’s direction to me. That’s good for more “big” musical aspirations, but not so much as far as cutting edge music is concerned. The Efterklang sound is amazing, but I am weary that the lines between Chris Martin and Casper Clausen will be drawn. And that definitely is a con to such a unique band.

People who would like this: people who don’t want to listen to crappy lo-fi art pop and people who don’t want to listen to crappy mainstream “contemporary” jams. Both fall into the same trench with me, crappy and somewhat heartless. The music in both unfortunately loved genres seems to be an after thought. Efterklang deserves much better. Luckily, with people like Owen Pallett sticking their neck out there for the road-less-traveled-indie-pop, there is a light for Efterklang and others. Other people who would like this: people sick of Coldplay, people who wished there was a pop version of Sigur Ros that sung in a language we could all understand, people who want to bridge a gap between the indie music realm and the classical realm.

Relay

Category : Music, Record Reviews
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0 Comm
17th Feb2010

NW Reviews: Rob Zombie – Hellbilly Deluxe 2- Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool

by nickwan

Shane Kalantari Week continues with another choice pick, Rob Zombie. He picked this album seemingly because of the song titles. With song titles like “Jesus Frankenstein”, “Mars Needs Women”, and “Werewolf Women of the SS”, how could you pick against this for a week from the person who eats ice cream with sriracha?

If you’ve never heard Rob Zombie before, congratulations. It’s the kind of music people play in their heads before they vomit. There was a website that used to be popular called stickdeath.com, and they had a lot of Rob Zombie featured. I personally would rather be deep sea diving while Rob Zombie plays live, but in this case… I have to listen to 48 minutes of this crap:

If you watched that video, just think of that song times 11 and that’s what I had to do today.

You will laugh a lot if you can sit through a bad set of songs and can pick out the horribles from them. That was a plus for me. Also, the lyrics are very laughable… in a “is Rob Zombie 7?” way.

Many. Lyrics suck. At first it leads you to think it might be a concept album… it isn’t. Some thought it was going to be something fierce, bleeding metal-esque… but it wasn’t. With lyrics like “Mars needs women, angry red women” it’s hard to give this something more than a Pabst blue ribbon.

People who would like this: people who suck, people who like treating their girlfriends like crap, people who like The Fox 101.7. Others who would like this: hopefully no one. Maybe someone who is wasted drunk and mistakes their favorite band, Slipknot or Mudvayne or something, for this.

Relay

Category : Music, Record Reviews
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8 Comm
17th Feb2010

NW Reviews: Motion City Soundtrack – My Dinosaur Life

by nickwan

Motion City Soundtrack, or MCS if you’re intheknow, is some fun stuff. I would probably use some of these songs in some short film things my friends and I do on our bored time off. I don’t feel too inclined to give this album as much review as I usually give albums, mainly because these guys are signed to Sony BMG, and secondly that’s not what this blog is all about. But to appease Shane’s three album requests this week, here ya go.

The album itself doesn’t surprise me, and if you’ve heard any Motion City Soundtrack at all then you know that the difference between most MCS songs are the same differences between warm water and cool water. With that, their album isn’t an identity crisis, which is a plus if you’re interested in listening to MCS for 40 minutes straight. Production is fine, since they have label money from Sony to put this album out. There isn’t much to say that’s bad about this album…

The album is a brick wall as far as completeness goes. Mortared together with that keyboard-heavy pop punk sound, MCS’s album just stacks another fun jam on another until you’re done with the album.

Rather than lashing into this album as I would, the cons are simple: it’s fun simple music. Nothing more and nothing less. Days, months, weeks, years, decades from now, MCS will be just another one of those bands that no one will really claim to have been born from. The Get Up Kids, for instance, started up a lot of inspiration. Reaching into some mainstream depths like Fall Out Boy, TGUK is classic when it comes to more indie-pop-punk type stuff. MCS isn’t, and that’s just known. Although I bite my words when you put in “influences: motion city soundtrack site:myspace.com” into Google and find 7,000+ results, other than fun. (who is touring with MCS), there isn’t one band in that list that will see next year. And if one does, I will formally write an apology to all of the MCS fans and to MCS myself. But until then, I stand firm that NO ONE will list MCS as an influential source of inspiration and muse. And that is what this blog is all about.

People who will like this: people who like going to Paramore concerts, people who really like going to shows like Paramore and MCS to see who is opening, people who still buy ice cream from the ice cream truck. Others who would like this: people who feel bad when other people buy this for their birthday and they don’t listen to MCS.

I wish there was an “abstain” vote, but since musically it’s not really bad at all… I guess it’s good? It doesn’t suck, and that’s good. But it’s not going on my playlist, and some people might think that means “bad”. Well, you decide. But I know what I’ve heard, and it isn’t bad…

Relay

Category : Music, Record Reviews
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