Recently my blog has been more or less taken over by posts about classical singers and releases... but I still listen to a LOT of other music as well. Here are some albums I've been listening to recently:
Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
I admit that I only knew her by name until the first single off the album was released and I couldn't really tell her apart from other female Norwegian singer songwriters. I'm always curious about new music and tend to read the reviews every week to see if I find something interesting, and when the single was released the journalists seemed to run out of superlatives in describing it. I bought the single from iTunes and at the time I thought it was interesting but made me a little impatient because of the length and slow tempo, and I didn't listen to it for a week or so. I really wasn't impressed until I'd bought the rest of the album and took some time to listen through it, and by then I felt almost sentimental at being able to listen to such a rare masterpiece. It's an example of singer-songwriting at its finest, and at this point I simply can't believe why I didn't fall for this haunting melody the first time I heard it.
Aleksander With - Still Awake
This is almost embarrassing to include in my recommendation list if you just go by the name - except for Kurt Nilsen I don't think I've recommended any Norwegian Idol alumni
without changing my mind after a week or two. Like any other Idol alumni he's received mixed reviews, a lot of them stating the cd is just OK, filled with cliches - maybe a little nondescript. My liking this album is possibly subjective because I just simply like these serious, dark pop songs, but does it matter? OK, so his voice is perhaps a little too polished at times, but bearing in mind his first album (which to me was lacking in substance) this is a departure for him and even though it can be embarrassing to admit it, I do like this CD.
Salem Al Fakir - Ignore this
The most famous song from this album, without a doubt, is the song Keep on Walking which made it to the national final of Eurovision song contest in Sweden (but sadly didn't make it to the international final) - but by no means representative for the album as a whole. While Keep on walking is a positive, radio friendly, charming song, the album is filled with mostly electronica-flavoured singer-songwriter tracks with refreshing variation - there's no telling what he'll do next. There's a huge difference between the quiet ballad Brooklyn Sun and the darker (almost perverted in its description of torture) This Is For. In addition there are several short instrumental tracks scattered in between. The variety itself is so refreshing and fascinating it's worth a listen.
