News archive - August 2009
"Camera" opening at Flø / Morten on BBC Radio 2
Around 500 people showed up for the opening of Magne's Camera exhibition at Studio Hugo Opdal yesterday, and art for 230 000 kroner was sold on the first day.
A total of eight large oil paintings are on display. Two of them were shown at Galleri Trafo earlier this year, but the other six are brand new.
"I'm working on finding unexpected rooms in the paintings and text. The colour violet which is a running theme in Camera symbolizes death and perishability in Catholicism", Magne told newspaper Sunnmørsposten.
Studio Hugo Opdal also houses a Moods of Norway store, which could offer customers the new fall collection "Moods Cocktail Travels" yesterday. Magne took the opportunity to test out his new Moods-coat outside.
Left to right: Magne (wearing a new Moods-coat), Jan Egil Flo from
Moods of Norway and gallery owner Hugo Opdal.
Sunnmørsposten's online edition has a short article from Saturday night, when Magne arrived at Flø. But the report from yesterday's opening only appeared in the paper edition.
Morten will appear on the Ken Bruce show on BBC Radio 2 this week, where he'll choose and talk about his "Tracks Of My Years".
This will be broadcast from Tuesday to Friday this week, at around 11.40am. The eight tracks that Morten has chosen are:
Tuesday: "Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac and "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers
Wednesday: "Sign O' The Times" by Prince and "Human" by The Killers
Thursday: "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" by Soft Cell and "Wall Street Shuffle" by 10cc
Friday: "Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin and "Fields Of Gold" by Eva Cassidy
(Thanks to Milly for the Radio 2 info)
Mini-concert in Brussels / Record Collector article / Magne to Flø
a-ha did a surprise mini-concert in Brussels last Thursday, August 20th, as part of a media conference hosted by the Belgian TV channels VT4 and VIJFtv.
Apparently this performance was so shrouded in secrecy that none of us knew about it until now. The event was held at Ancienne Belgique - the same venue where a-ha will play in November, as part of the upcoming tour.
The setlist of this mini-concert is not known, but there is a short video clip of "Take On Me" on YouTube. And more pictures from the event can be found here.
The October issue of Record Collector (issue #367) features an article on a-ha. A small preview of the article is available on the magazine's website.
Gallerist Hugo Opdal tells Vikebladet that he's had it confirmed that Magne will return to the tiny village of Flø and be present at the opening of his Camera exhibition on Sunday.
"It's just incredible! It's fantastic that he gives priority to Flø when he's also so busy with a-ha", Opdal says enthusiastically.
(Thanks to Wim for the Brussels info, and "Timbersound" for the Record Collector info)
Single updates
Here is the cover of the next UK single, "Nothing Is Keeping You Here", which is set for release on September 21st.
Apparently there will be a CD single released this time, not just a download.
Update: The info about the single being released on CD turned out to be wrong. Universal says that it will only be available as a digital download, unfortunately.
The new single mix of "Shadowside", which is the next single outside of the UK, premiered on German radio today. To the right is the cover of that release, which will be out on October 2nd.
The tracklists of the two singles have not been announced yet.
(Thanks to Fitz, Andreas and Verni)
Morten presents "side vision" in Kristiansund
Morten and Kjetil Bjerkestrand, together with percussionist Helge Norbakken and Festivalkvartetten (The Festival Quartet), will perform a concert at Kirkelandet church in Kristiansund on 23 September, as part of Kristiansund Kirke Kunst Kulturfestival (Kristiansund Church Art Culture Festival).
Morten and Kjetil was at the church in Kristiansund yesterday, to present the concert plans and test the acoustics. The working title of the concert is "Sideblikk" ("Side vision"), and Morten tells local newspaper Tidens Krav that it will be a mix of different genres:
"Some hymns, pop, soul and gospel. I don't know if we'll be writing something new. But it will be performed in a new way. Music is a constant movement, it should never become something you just do automatically. Sometimes I've written a new chorus as I've been on my way to the stage."
"We'll be re-visiting many small stops along the way that have shaped me musically. I grew up in a Christian community, where song and music were important ingredients."
Peder A. Rensvik from the festival says that it's "a very exciting project, which we hope will further highlight the city and the festival."
Tickets for the concert cost 350 kroner, and can be purchased online from Billettservice.
Music Week article / Radio 2 single of the week
The August 29 issue of the UK industry publication Music Week features 9 pages about a-ha, including an article and several ads congratulating the band on the success of the new album and the upcoming 25th anniversary.
This issue should be available for purchase next week here. Chris on the WOTM forum has posted the text of the article here.
The single mix of "Nothing Is Keeping You Here" is record of the week on BBC Radio 2 this week. Expect to hear it every morning on Ken Bruce's show.
And an interview with a-ha (all three of them) - probably recorded in early July - was broadcast on Mercia FM's breakfast show this morning.
(Thanks to Chris, Emma and "samar22")
Morten performs in Kristiansand
Morten was in Kristiansand yesterday, where he was one of the artists performing at the opening of Elkem Solar's new factory, which will produce silicon for use in solar power cells.
A video clip of Morten performing "A Change Is Gonna Come" is available on fvn.no.
He also performed Elton John's "Circle Of Life" together with Gisele Jackson, which can be seen in another video clip here (after 4 minutes).
More info in English about the new factory is available at elkem.com.
Today, Morten was one of the guests at the wedding of Turbonegro vocalist Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby. Dagbladet has a couple of pictures which can be seen here and here.
Brussels date
Yet another date has been added to the upcoming European tour:
- 11 November: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
This will be the fourth time a-ha play a concert in Belgium. The fan pre-sale starts on
a-ha.com tomorrow.
New single premieres
The new single mix of "Nothing Is Keeping You Here" premiered on UK radio today. It was played by Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2, and it's available for listening here (starts after 1 hour 39 minutes). (Thanks to Milly for the link)
The website heroynytt.no has a new article about Magne's upcoming Camera exhibition at Flø, which will be open from 30 August to 20 September. The gallery will also be exhibiting a-ha pictures taken by Stian Andersen.
More German dates / Guardian interview
Two additional dates in Germany have been announced:
- 14 November: TUI Arena, Hannover, Germany
- 16 November: Messehalle, Erfurt, Germany
The ticket pre-sale for all the new German dates start tomorrow on a-ha.com.
The Guardian has a big interview with Morten and Magne in today's newspaper. But the way it's written is truly terrible. The so-called journalist tries her best to make fun of a band that she seems to know very little about. But as she writes at the end; the joke is on her...
WCA opening show / More tour dates / "Shadowside" single
As expected, a-ha performed two songs at the opening show of the World Championships in Athletics in Berlin last night; the official championship song "Foot Of The Mountain" and "Take On Me".
The show was held at Brandenburger Tor, in front of an audience of 10.000 people. NRK footage from the soundcheck and interviews with the guys can be seen here and here (starts after 16 mins 30 secs). The performance of "Take On Me" is up on YouTube here.
Two more tour dates have been confirmed:
- 12 November: König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany
- 17 November: Arena Lodz, Lodz, Poland
The concert in Lodz will be the second a-ha concert ever in Poland. They previously played in Warsaw on the Lifelines Tour in 2002 - the infamous concert where bassist Sven Lindvall ended up vomiting on stage after Magne had dragged the Lindvall brothers along to a Polish clinic specializing in colon cleansings earlier that day...
a-ha.com reports that a new mix of "Shadowside", produced by Martin Terefe, will be the second single outside the UK. It is also expected to be the third single in the UK after "Nothing Is Keeping You Here", which the guys will be doing promo for next month. There will be music videos made for both songs, according to a-ha.com.
a-ha.com also reports that "Nothing Is Keeping You Here" will be used in the upcoming German movie ZweiOhrKüken (or on the soundtrack release - the article is a bit confusing).
Magne's exhibition "Camera" was on display at Galleri Trafo in Asker from February to April this year. The exhibition will now move to Hugo Opdal's gallery at Flø, where it will open on August 30th. This according to Vikebladet.
New Pop Festival / Next single / Video interview / Magne blogs
a-ha will perform four songs at the SWR3 New Pop Festival in Baden-Baden, Germany on September 19th.
They will also receive the "Pioneer Of Pop"-award for their "outstanding position in pop music".
The event is held in the city's Festspielhaus, and will be broadcast on German TV by ZDF on October 3rd.
Two days later, on September 21st, the second single from the album will be released in the UK - a new version of "Nothing Is Keeping You Here". a-ha.com writes that it will be "a more uptempo version of the album track". It is not yet known if other countries will get the same single, but Universal Germany are currently looking at releasing a different song instead.
TheQuietus.com has posted a new video interview with Magne and Morten, in which they talk with Welsh rapper Akira The Don about Paul's songwriting, Leonard Cohen's music and the drug references in "Riding The Crest", among other things. Watch it here.
Over on MySpace, Magne has posted a new blog entry where he hints that he'll be shifting focus back to his own projects for a while. The official Apparatjik website suggests that something will happen next month, and earlier this year Magne said that he's planning an exhibition in Boston sometime this fall.
(Thanks to "Phoenix0509", Jenn and Luke for info)
Haydom meeting in Vennesla
Kjetil Bjerkestrand on keyboard.
Morten performed a couple of solo songs at the Haydom meeting in Vennesla yesterday, in addition to singing with his relatives in Harket Mannssangforening.
One of the songs he did was Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come", which he recorded in 1995 and has performed many times since then, most recently in Stavanger in May.
"That's a fantastic song which means a lot to me, it's one of the most beautiful songs I know", Morten told the newspaper Fædrelandsvennen.
The annual meeting, which supports Haydom Lutheran Hospital in Tanzania, is held in a large garden owned by Bernt Kvarstein - who is Morten's uncle.
"My father's family comes from Vennesla, and I have many memories from being here when I was a child", Morten said.
Fædrelandsvennen also has a video clip from the event, which can be seen here.
SWR3 concert in Neuwied
Here is the setlist from last night's concert in Neuwied. They played the same 14 songs as they did at the iTunes Festival two weeks ago, but in a different order.
1. The Sun Always Shines On TV
2. Riding The Crest
3. Scoundrel Days
4. The Bandstand
5. Stay On These Roads
6. Manhattan Skyline
7. Hunting High And Low
8. Summer Moved On
9. Foot Of The Mountain
10. Cry Wolf
11. Analogue
12. The Living Daylights
----------------
13. Train Of Thought
14. Take On Me
There are more pictures on SWR3's website.
Neuwied concert / Haydom meeting / News summary
Sorry about the lack of updates during the last week. I have been away for a little while.
Today a-ha are in Germany to play a concert together with Simple Minds at Engers Castle in Neuwied. Both bands are expected to play a 45-minute set before an audience of around 1600 competition winners. The TV channel ARTE is planning to stream both concerts live here, starting at 7PM local time. The concerts will also be broadcast on German radio and TV later this month.
In a press release, Jim Kerr of Simple Minds said about a-ha: "I love their beautiful melodies and the distinctive voice of Morten Harket".
Morten said: "The Simple Minds are a great band. We've never played together so far but we're really looking forward to it".
The annual Haydom meeting in Vennesla will be held next Sunday, August 9th. As usual, the music will be provided by Harket Mannssangforening (The Harket Men's Choir), which includes Morten, his father Reidar on piano and various other members of the Harket clan. Morten will also do a solo performance this year. The money being raised goes to Haydom Lutheran Hospital in Tanzania.
A short summary of what's happened during the last week:
5 August:
Interview with Magne and Morten in the Daily Mail.
ITN has a couple of interview clips here.
4 August:
Magne and Morten appeared on Janice Long's show on BBC Radio 2. You can listen here (starts after 14 min 30 sec).
Album review by The Wharf.
3 August:
Album review by State Magazine (Ireland).
2 August:
Interview with Magne and Morten in Mail on Sunday.
FOTM enters the UK album chart at #5!
Music Week writes:
"A-Ha's new album, Foot Of The Mountain, debuts at number five (18,744 sales). That's a major improvement on the veteran - average age, 48 - Norwegian trio's last album, Analogue, which secured a number 24 debut and peak in 2005, on sales of 9,911 copies, and provides A-Ha's highest charting album since May 1988, when Stay On These Roads was the last of their introductory trio of albums to peak at number two."
1 August:
Article in The Times.
31 July:
The programme "Sommertid" on TV2 in Norway had a report from Tone Lise Skagefoss, who followed a-ha for a couple of days in London.
It can be seen on YouTube.
A telephone interview with Morten is broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.
Yorksire Post has an article here.
Album review by Irish Times.
And Musicomh.com reviews the iTunes gig.
30 July:
Remember The Eighties has now published their interview with Magne and Morten.
29 July:
ABC Nyheter in Norway has a video report from the Westfield Mall appearance here.
Same with Danish newspaper Politiken.
There was also a report on Italian TV, which is available on YouTube.
And an interview from Five News on 28 July is now on YouTube.
(Thanks to everyone who have provided links and info!)
Lastly, website visitor "Col" sent me a link to his Mechanism Podcast site, where he has posted his own "a-ha 2009 Mechamix". It can be found here.