POWERSOLO - Denmark

PowerSolo return with an album that cuts to the bone. 12 songs in 30 minutes just like the good old days. BLOODSKINBONES. Blood, skin and bones. Tendons, nerves, muscles and not so much as a gram of excess fat on a skeleton that can be seen and felt. Very much in tune with the Jeppesen brothers’ bodies, which grace the cover. The railthin brothers, Kim Kix and Atomic Child, are once again a duo after the group’s drummer of five years, JC Benz, pulled the plug to focus on his sound studio and family. Benz has however still been on drum duty on BLOODSKINBONES, which was also recorded in his studio. Three men in one room. Drums and two guitars and then a dozen songs that want you no good and go straight for the throat. This is PowerSolo in their natural habitat – just like they are live, where they have earned an incomparable reputation for being a full- on, intense and always entertaining band.

In the three years since PowerSolo’s last studio album ”Egg” the band has been touring intensively both by themselves as well as with kindred spirits Heavy Trash (Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray) in the countries where the record is available: 4 tours in the USA, 2 in Great Britain, 2 in France, Benelux, Germany, Iceland, Sweden and Norway – and several more around their homestead of Denmark.

PowerSolo has also recorded a soundtrack to the movie Himmerland (2008), contributed to a tribute album for cult producer Joe Meek, and have as backing band recorded songs for two whole albums with Heavy Trash. On top of all that, the brothers Kim and Bo have recorded Kim and the Cinders’ debut album, which was released in August 2008.

But it is in the flagship PowerSolo, where the brothers’ completely unique style is most clearly conveyed. Over the top, but not trying to be clever. Catchy, but never pleasing. Instead of middle-of-the-road Powersolo drives off-road. Jump in and put BLOODSKINBONES on the stereo. Turn up the volume and say a prayer. Atomic Child Bo and Kim Kix will guarantee you an unsafe ride on the shortest way home.

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WHO KNEW - Iceland

Born in a heat-less garage in Reykjavik, Iceland, six-piece indie band Who Knew was conceived four years ago by lead singer Ármann Ingvi Ármannson and backup vocalist and guitar player Baldur Helgi Snorrason.

The duo would undergo dramatic changes in band members the next two years until it was fully formed consisting of Ármann, Baldur, Snorri Eldjárn Snorrason (lead guitar), Jökull Huxley Yngvason (Bass), Jón Valur Guðmundsson (drums) and Hilmir Berg Ragnarsson (synthesizer).

Who knew is finally doing them self justice by releasing their jovial debut album “ Bits and pieces of a major spectacle” that will be released in spring 2010. Recorded in the Sigur Rós studio “the swimming pool” and their own studio ‘’Stúdíó Skjön” (translated as “the crooked studio” cause of their lack of construction skills) their homemade lair has been the perfect place for them to develop their sound. Surrounded by vintage wallpaper and burned out cigarette buds the band has defined their music as layers of trembling guitar and synthesizer melodies overlapping with falsetto voiced multi vocals from all of the band members.

As for their performance, vocalist Ármann has been compared to David Byrne having a panic attack as the band leaps about in a manner reminding of an early performance by the libertines. Who Knew isn’t trying to encapsulate the chilling vastness and serenity of their homeland. Instead, they aim to “mediate happiness”. Toward the end of their concerts you’ll notice all six drenched in sweat, half with their shirts off and the other half either lying on the ground, falling against the audience or screaming in mayhem.

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HELLSONGS - Sweden

Hellsongs saw the light of day in the early fall, 2004. They kickstarted with a premiere gig in a barn out on the countryside.

The threepiece managed to rehearse and arrange three songs and got cosmic response from the audience. Cheers and suggestions of new songs kept coming during the night and next show urked around the corner.

In late 2005 the band got a lot of airplay as swedish media discovered the band through the epic version of Run to the Hills. This track and five more were recorded and released as the Lounge ep in 2006. During the next year Hellsongs started to build an reputation as a impressive live act and toured the scandinavian countries heavily.

In 2008 the Hellsingers released their full length debut "Hymns in the key of 666". It entered the swedish charts at no 9 and has so far been released in the nordic countries, GAS, BeNeLux, Australia/NZ, UK, France, Spain, Japan and Russia. The album was nominated for the German Critics Award as well as the Swedish Grammy Award, and a succesful tour in the GAS countries followed.

In late 2008 the members of the band realized that they no longer shared the same vision. They decided that it was best to part ways with Harriet and let their friend and back up vocalist - Siri Bergnéhr - inherit the throne of Lounge Metal. The last recordings done with Harriet will be released as an ep during spring 2009 (with Siri on backing vocals) and the band will be breaking new boundaries as they launch their european Tour de Lounge 2.0.

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GET DANCY! - Norway

Get Dancy! is a Norwegian DJ duo/club concept. Their mission in life is to make people dance to indiepop and indierock (and electro with a little bit of guitar in it). They have never pretended to have the best dj-skills or to play the most cutting edge blog-hyped tracks, instead they focus on an intelligent mix of old and new indiehits combined with an unpretentious and feel-good atmosphere.

If you go to a Get Dancy! night you dance – that’s just the way it is.

Get Dancy! is Oslo’s most popular club concept, it’s never not been sold out. Crazy! They have in the last two years played Norway’s biggest and best festivals (Øya, Hove, Slottsfjell, by:Larm, Pstereo and more), filled up the best clubs in Norway, and have had their own legendary parties at closed down factories in Oslo. Get Dancy! is not only popular with the indiefans, they have even inspired two of Norway’s best bands to make songs about them. Check out Miss Harmonica and hiawata’s Get Dancy! tribute.

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THEA HJELMELAND - Norway

In a little village, inside one of Norways deep fjords, the young Thea Hjelmeland was raised in a family where music was present before she even could walk. As far as she knows she has always been singing, and as the years passed by she picked up instrument after instrument. One day she found an old mandolin at home. As her father collected instruments and filled the house with treasures, this was not an unusual occasion. But this mandolin was from Sicily in Italy, and it was 115 years old. The journey this mandolin already had had, was just the beginning of a new one. And the combination of the norwegian singers voice, and this small instrument, started a new chapter. The young singer moved early away from home, and studied music for a couple of years.

After having started a band, winning big competitions, played in small bars and big festivals all over Norway, recorded an EP and started to record an album, she was tired of the cold weather... She left the project, and went traveling. After months in Morocco and Cuba, and years with her suitcase as home, she found her way to Paris. With new songs and influences she finished her album in 2009.

She is now based in France, were the album will be released next spring, touring in Scandinavia and south of Europe. On her travels she has picked up new instruments, and with her on stage she brings different types; ukulele, banjo and mandolin, to piano and accordion. Growing up with rhythm & blues, soul music and world music, she started to create her own thing. She plays acoustic pop, but the influences of music and travels can be heard in her style and lyrics. Her voice can make even the thoughest man cry, reaching from the highest to the deepest notes, powerful or soft. Her playfulness in music and her presence on stage gives audience a rare adventure.

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HANNA TUOMELA - Finland

Hanna Tuomela is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Helsinki, Finland. Born into a musician family, Hanna chose to follow her fathers steps and started playing the piano. She first started expressing herself through improvisation, later then evolving into composing.

Only as a 4 year-old-girl Hanna was put to the conservatory, first to play the violin, (that instrument was still missing from the family!) but without any success, because she insisted on playing the piano. She then received later on extensive classical and pop education, in piano and voice, studying at the Conservatory and Sibelius Academy of Helsinki. Hanna has been performing with choirs, singing backing vocals, as well as performing with artists like Poing-trio, Pekka Kuusisto and Happy-go-lucky. She has been on stage both as a singer and a pianist, finding herself in the middle of days filled with music styles ranging from electro to classical and, all the while, loving it all.

Last summer she she decided to discover the opposite part of Europe and is currently situated in Milan, studying at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi and working on her own music.

The unique soundscape of Hanna’s music reflects her colourful background; her pianistic abilities together with her crystal clear and versatile voice make a delicate but powerful combination. The Finnish adoration and closeness to nature is present in her music: the stories from light summernights and gray rainy days, with pureness and honesty, dark to bright, light to powerful, showing an even naive love for life.

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Ung Flugt - Denmark

Ung Flugt is one of Copenhagen’s promising young dj duos consisting of Johanne Schwensen and Najaaraq Vestbirk, two best friends who found one another in high school. Due to their shared passion for electronic music, they tied knots behind the decks, and since then they have spent the past years spinning records in various clubs in the danish

capital, and abroad in Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden.

Ung Flugt means Young Escape (danish translation of the movie ”Les Quatre Cents Coups” by Francois Truffaut), and whatever you want to escape from, this dj act can make it happen.

They’ll get you up and dancing with girly techno, house, tech house and melodic minimal.

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