Ja Ja Ja’s October music extravaganza is set to be a night of Nordic atmospheric soundscapes, electronica, rock and psych-garage drone, as curated by Clash Magazine’s deputy editor, Matt Bennett. On Thursday, October 21st, Iceland’s Rökkurró, Sweden’sThe Deer Tracks and Norway’s The Low Frequency in Stereo will take the stage at the Lexington in London.
The three bands were selected to perform by Clash based on a mixture of recommendations and coincidence—for instance, The Low Frequency in Stereo were chosen after an excellent performance in Oslo’s parliament building caught members of Clash completely off-guard.
Rökkurró play first, starting the night out with Icelandic lullabies sung in their native Icelandic tongue, followed by The Deer Tracks, with their particular brand of ‘Northern Lights Electronica’. The evening comes to a close with The Low Frequency in Stereo, characterised by their style of focused- and fresh-sounding rock, combined with dark atmospherics.
Ja Ja Ja Music hosts this event monthly at the Lexington in London to showcase up-and-coming Nordic musical talents and help them build a name for themselves on the international music scene. A British curator is specially chosen to personally select the three bands for that month’s lineup.
Date/Time: Oct. 21st, doors at 7:30 p.m.
Venue: Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JB
Find out more about the venue HERE.
Tickets: £5 in advance, £6 at the door
Buy tickets HERE
Stage times: Rökkurró @ 8.20 p.m., The Deer Tracks @ 9.10 p.m., The Low Frequency in Stereo @ 10.00 p.m.
About the Bands:
The Low Frequency in Stereo
The Low Frequency in Stereo began making their low-fi post-rock in 2001, in Haugesund on Norway’s west coast and were soon known as the band with one foot in Pompeli, and one in space. They now have four albums under their belts: the self titled debut (2002), ‘Traveling Ant Who Got Eaten By Moskus’ (2004), ‘The Last Temptation’ (2006), which was Norwegian Grammy nominated and the recent ‘Futuro’. All this, plus a host of impressive live slots, having played more than 200 concerts around the world including Quart Festival, The Dour Festival, CMJ and SXSW. ‘Futuro’ is both industrial and rough and simultaneously polished and streamlined, with nods to Stereolab, Joy Division, Can, Doors and even B 52’s. As The Silent Ballet.com described them “imagine if you will, Thurston Moore. Now pretend that he formed a supergroup with members of
Yo La Tengo and Stereolab. Now take that a step further and pretend said supergroup smoked up, listened to whatever random handfuls of LPs they could find (including Canterbury-scene prog leaders Egg and perhaps a psych great like Can), and then created a sort of musical bastard God-child out of the unseemingly brew. You are now prepared for Futuro.”
Rökkurró
Rökkurró’s melancholic serenades are evocative of the cold and desolate landscapes of their distant homeland Iceland, yet the mesmerising tones and swooping strings create a unique owed in part to the fragile and soothing voice of Hildur Kristín Stefánsdóttir. Their debut Það Kólnar Í Kvöld (‘It’s Getting Colder Tonight’) was released in 2007 to great international critical acclaim, resulting in them touring with iconic Icelandic musicians Múm and the celebrated neo-classical composer Ólafur Arnalds. This year Rökkurró are releasing sophomore album ‘Annan Heim’ (‘In Another World’) produced by Alex Somers (partner and music collaborator of Jóns Þór Birgisson (Sigur Rós). ‘Í Annan Heim’ showcases a darker, more expansive sound full of meticulously crafted melodies, complex arrangements and smooth sonic textures.
The Deer Tracks
The Deer Tracks are David Lehnberg & Elin Lindfors from a small village in the Swedish countryside. Their critically acclaimed 2008 debut album, ‘Aurora’, received stellar reviews from NME, The Guardian, Clash Magazine, The Fly and dozens more influential magazines and blogs across Europe. The band then reached an even larger audience with a full song placement in the hit show Grey’s Anatomy. Managed by Scott Cohen (The Orchard founder and manager of The Raveonettes and the Dum Dum Girls) and booked by superstar agency ITB, The Deer Tracks have already toured the UK, Europe and Japan since the original release. The band are set to release their epic trilogy starting with an EP in autumn 2010 and a full length album in 2011.
Read an interview with Rökkurró on ClashMusic HERE.