IDA MARIA - NORWAY (Nesna)

 

Ida Maria Sivertsen has a powerful voice that conjures so many classic-rock associations it's a wonder she doesn't get lost amid all the references. 1  
Even if I didn't 'find a cure for my life' as Ida nervously repeats in one of her most popular single "Oh My God" I definitely found a very nice music therapy served by this cute 'Norwegian badass'. She brings a lot of postive punk rock energy, moreover she likes to smuggle messages in her songs, even though they may seem to be frivolous at first - "I used the simplest kind of melody to get my message across, so that people would sing the words out loud, and then maybe discover the message later." 2   
Ida Maria has also teamed up with the rock legend, Iggy Pop, on a special reedition of mentioned hit "Oh My God" - this must convince you to check her out, if you haven't yet.  





CONTENTS:

1. STAGE NAME
2. BIRTH NAME
3. YEARS ACTIVE
4. GENRE
5. HOMETOWN
6. RECORD LABEL
7. BACKGROUND
8. DISCOGRAPHY
9. MEDIA REFERENCE 
10. OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEOS
11. LIVE PERFORMANCES
12. VIDEO INTERVIEWS (In English) 

Ida Maria 

Ida Maria Børli Sivertsen 

2008 - present 

Punk rock 

Nesna

Nesna Records/Sony BMG/Upper 11 Group

Ida Maria was born and raised in the small town of Nesna in Norway.
After learning to play the guitar at 14, she left her small hometown, moving to the other side of Norway to Bergen, an eclectic community with burgeoning local musical scenes in jazz, metal, electronica and bluegrass, known for bands like Royskopp and Kings of Convenience, where she proceeded to soak up those influences like a sponge.
Ida Maria gained considerable success in Norway in 2007 after winning two national competitions for unknown artists - Zoom urørt 2006 and Urørtkonkurransen 2007 - and playing successful shows at the annual Norwegian music industry festival By:Larm 2007 and 2008. Her singles "Oh My God" and "Stella" were both played regularly on Norwegian national radio station NRK P3.
Ida Maria later expanded her popularity outside of her native country, namely in the United Kingdom, where she appeared on Later... with Jools Holland, was interviewed by The Times, and performed at the Glastonbury Festival.
Ida Maria is reported to have the neurological phenomenon of synesthesia which, in her case, means she envisions colours when she hears music.
sources: [1] [2]

Albums:

 'Fortress Round My Heart' (2008)

      

1. Oh My God 
2. Drive Away My Heart 
3. Louie 
4. I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked 
5. Keep Me Warm 
6. Forgive Me 
7. Stella 
8. In the Morning Light 
9. Queen of the World
   See Me Through

'Katla' (2010) [produced by Butch Walker]

 1.Quite Nice People
 2.Bad Karma
 3.10000 Lovers
 4.Cherry Red
 5.Let's Leave
 6.I Eat Boys Like You For Breakfast
 7.Devil
 8.My Shoes
 9.Bonus Track











Singles: 

• "Oh My God"
• "Drive Away My Heart"
• "Stella" 
• "Queen of the World"
• "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked"
• "Bad Karma

• Waterfall records (2009-07-31). Ida Maria song for Nivea TV campaign/Gray's Anatomy. Retrieved from here 
• "Oh My God" - The song has been used in promos for the ITV show Gossip Girl, and was featured in episode #386 of the radio version of This American Life entitled "Fine Print". It followed a story on health insurance. The song was also featured in several movie trailers, including It's Kind of a Funny Story and The Virginity Hit. "Oh My God" is one of the songs featured in the video game Rock Band 3 [source]
   

"Oh My God"

"Oh My God" (Remix) ft. Iggy Pop

"I Like You So Much Better When You`re Naked"

"Queen Of The World"

"Quite Nice People"

"Stella"

"Louie" (2009) 

 "Drive Away My Heart"

(at Rolling Stone 2010) 

"Keep Me Warm"

(At The Borderline 2008)

 "Bad karma"

  (2010 NRK)   

 

 Ida Maria Interview With Steve Lamacq: Part 1

  

Ida Maria Interview With Steve Lamacq: Part 2 

Interview with Geoff Lloyd

Ida Maria Profile & Interview 

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DIKTA - ICELAND (Reykjavik)

Dikta is a four-piece indie rock band from Iceland, formed in 1999, and soon gaining a large following for their unique, heavy yet soulful haunting sound.

Media Quotes:

"Dikta is musical magic ... one of the most intriguing albums of the year, a forerunner in the race for top honors ..." DecoyMusic.com, USA 2006

"The sultry tones of lead singer Haukur's vocals are striking and could capture the attention of the female population of the planet ... a potential classic." Salvo Magazine, UK 2007

"... Dikta ... ended its set with a Nirvana-like blowout, "Chloe", from its latest Smekkleysa album, Hunting For Happiness." David Fricke, Rolling Stone Magazine, USA 2006

"Icelandic pop sensation Dikta ... we love them to death, check them out!" Metromix L.A., USA 2008
source



CONTENTS:

1. BAND NAME  (etymology)
2. FORMATION YEAR 
3. GENRE 
4. HOMETOWN  
5. RECORD LABEL
6. MEMBERS
   
7. HISTORY
8. DISCOGRAPHY
9. OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEOS
10. LIVE PERFORMANCES

'Dikta, an Icelandic verb meaning “to compose or make something up,” remains immersed in the same passionate and soulful atmosphere it was formed in, inspiring their melodic alternative rock sound.'source 

1999

Rock/Pop/Indie

 Reykjavik

Smarten-Up Records , Kölski

Haukur Heiðar Hauksson  

(vocals, guitar, piano)

Jón Bjarni Pétursson  

(guitar, backing vocals)

Skúli Z Gestsson 

(bass, backing vocals)

Jón Þór Sigurðsson 

(drums)

“Dikta has been our creative outlet for 12 years, we've been a band since high school, friends since kindergarten… music is a shared passion for all of us so it just made sense to do it together.” Starting in a garage in Garðabær, Iceland, and inspired by bands like Radiohead, Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins to name a few, Haukur, Jón, Skúli, and Nonni released their first album, Andartak, in 2002 under their own label, Mistak Records. Andartak’s singles topped Icelandic charts and were constantly played on Iceland's rock stations. 

They followed up with their first English language album, Hunting for Happiness, in 2005, expanding their European audience. Dikta filled every venue and played every festival in Iceland and opened for The Kooks during their 2010 European tour before releasing their third album, Get it Together, through their recent union with German record label Smarten Up. Prior to releasing the album in Germany, Get it Together, also sung in English, reached Platinum in their home country. Dikta is poised to make 2011 a good year, kicking off with a European and US tour, making a stop at the SXSW music festival in the US and Spot festival in Denmark.

source 

'Andartak' (2002)

1 Enn einn ósigur
2 Engin orð
3 Augnablik
4 Andartak
5 Fimm ára
6 Xanthias
7 Taminóra
8 Hugmynd
9 'Easy, Jack!'
10 Fullkomið herbergi
11 Góða nótt
12 Í síðasta sinn
13 Fráhvarf






'Hunting For Happiness' (2005)

1 Losing Every Day
2 Breaking the Waves
3 Chloë 4:35
4 This Song Will Save the World
5 Remember Me
6 Someone, Somewhere
7 WM3
8 My Other Big Brother
9 Greater Good
10 Flies Don't Tell
11 My Favourite Friend
12 A Way Out








'Get It Together'  (2010)

1 Warnings
2 Thank You
3 Hotel Feelings
4 Final Call
5 Let Go
6 Start To Finish
7 Blonde Brunette
8 Goodbye
9 The Story Of Roscoe Gray
10 Just Getting Started
11 Lost In The Light
12 From Now On

"Someone, Somewhere"

 "Goodbye"

"Thank You"

 "Breaking The Waves"

 "Save The World" 

"Thank You" 
(At The Icelandic Music Awards 2010)

"Just getting started" 
(At Söngkeppni Framhaldsskólanna 2010)

"From Now On" 
(Eldhúspartý 2009)

"Let Go"
(Eldhúspartý 2009) 

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THE DØ - FINLAND (Helsinki)

It's high time for something Finnish (to be precise: French/Finnish). The Dø caught my attention by "Slippery Slope" and its music video, which reminds some kind of  psychedelic tribal song making listeners fall into pleasant trance. I couldn't stay indifferent, so I started my research. The more I got to know about this band, the bigger my fascination grew.
Everything I found in their music is included in this comprehensive description:
'One thing that really distinguishes them from the major part of indie pop bands spoiling your ears nowadays are their very extensive use of all kinds of instruments, it goes from tribal like drumming to glitch beats and samplers, to violins, via trumpets to synthesizers after bleeps, piano, cello, xylophone and even a contrabass, all guided by Olivia's absolute beautiful high-pitched voice. It's an adorable mixture of more traditional instruments with some tiny electronic elements, vocal harmonies and catchy pop melodies. Really a pretty amazing sound accomplished by, at the end, only two musicians.'
source

CONTENTS:

                

1. BAND NAME  (etymology)
2. FORMATION YEAR 
3. GENRE 
4. HOMETOWN  
5. RECORD LABEL
6. MEMBERS
   
7. HISTORY
8. DISCOGRAPHY
9. OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEOS
10. LIVE PERFORMANCES
11. VIDEO INTERVIEWS (in English)

(Etymology)

As Olivia claims there is no big story behind this name. At first I thought it's a finnish word, which means the doe, but then I found this explenation:
'The band's name is pronounced the same as the English word "dough", with a long "o" sound. The band's name is derived from the first note of the solfège scale. It is written with the letter O (slashed o), but it is in no way linked to Olivia's Finnish origins- the slashed o doesn't exist in Finnish alphabet. "D" is also often typed as a lower-case letter, since it looks like a half note that way.'
source

2005

Indie Rock

Helsinki / Paris

Get Down! / Cinq7 Wagram

Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti
(vocals) 

 Dan Levy
(multi-instruments) 

Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti and Dan Levy met in 2005 while recording the music for a French movie Empire of the Wolves directed by Chris Nahon and produced by Gaumont. They released their first piece under the name The Dø a few months later. They kept on working for cinema (The Passenger, awarded at the Festival d'Angers and the Festival d'Aubagne, Wild Camp, and Darling), dance (Prologue, Perle and Cinderella by Juha-Pekka Marsalo, as well as poetry lectures by Carolyn Carlson) and theatre (Laure by Colette Peignot).
They used their free time to write the songs that would feature on their first album, A Mouthful. The band's myspace page was opened in 2007. The first four songs released online (The Bridge is Broken, At Last, On My Shoulders and Playground Hustle) quickly created a buzz that brought them to play a series of sold-out concerts in Paris. In December 2007, they opened the festival Les Transmusicales de Rennes. Meanwhile, they signed on the indie label Cinq/7, and the song On My Shoulders was their first single, also used in an Oxford-notepads commercial.
A Mouthful was released in France in January 2008. The rest of Europe and Australia released it later that year . It was very well received by critics and the public, ranking n°1 in the French charts on the first week.
The band went on tour in Europe and Australia for over 200 shows. They spent summer 2008 playing at most of the biggest festivals in Europe (Eurockéennes de Belfort, Paleo, Provinssirock, Vieilles Charrues, Roskilde, Main Square Festival, Pukkelpop...), flew to Australia for the V Festival in spring 2009, and spent two weeks in America, playing from Mexico to Canada, NYC to Los Angeles, in September 2009. A Mouthful was officially released in the US in April 2010 on Six Degrees Records, including 3 bonus tracks.
In December 2010, the band released a video for the first promotional single 'Dust It Off'. Their second album - 'Both Ways Open Jaws' - was released in some parts of Europe on Monday, March 7, 2011, and in France on Wednesday, March 9, 2011.
source 

Albums:

'Empire of the Wolves' / soundtrack (2005) 

 

3. Passage brady(movie version) - Olivia Bouyssou

4. Bloody entertainer - Olivia Bouyssou

5. La vengeance d'anna - Dan Levy

6. Wolves - Olivia Bouyssou

7. Hollow of your shoulder - Olivia Bouyssou

8. Black dove - Olivia Bouyssou

10. Java - Olivia Bouyssou

11. Woolen silence - Olivia Bouyssou

12. Columbarium - Dan Levy

14. Fuite ackermann - Dan Levy

17. Requiem - Dan Levy

19. Poursuite metro - Olivia Bouyssou

21. Arrivee en turquie - Dan Levy

22. Colline d'azer - Dan Levy

23. China doll(remix) - Olivia Bouyssou

26. China doll - Olivia Bouyssou

'A Mouthful' (2008)

1. Playground Hustle
2. At Last 
3. On My Shoulders 
4. Song for Lovers 
5. The bridge is Broken 
6. Stay (Just A Little Bit More) 
7. Unissasi Laulelet 
8. Tammie 
9. Queen Dot Kong 
10.Coda 
11.Searching Gold 
12.When was I Last Home 
13.Travel Light 
14.Aha
15.In My Box

 

'A Mouthful' [U.S. Release] (2010)

 

'Both Ways Open Jaws' (2011)

1. Dust It Off
2. Gonna Be Sick!
3. The Wicked & The Blind
4. Too Insistent
5. Bohemian Dances
6. Smash Them All (Night Visitors)
7. Leo Leo
8. B.W.O.J
9. Slippery Slope
10. The Calendar
11. Was It A Dream?
12. Quake, Mountain, Quake
13. Moon Mermaids
14. Open C (Bonus)
15. No Clue (Bonus) 

 

 

 

 

EP: 

'Dust It Off' - EP (2010)

1.Dust It Off
2.Slippery Slope
3.Too Insistent

 Singles:

• "On My Shoulders" (2007)
• "At Last!" (2008)

"Slippery Slope"

"Too Insistent"

"At Last"

"Stay"

"The Bridge Is Broken"

 

 "Playground Hustle"

 

"On My Shoulders" (2008)

"Too Insistent" (2011) 

"Dust it Off" (2011) 

"Slippery Slope" (2011)

"Smash Them All" (2011)

"Moon Mermaids" (2011)

(In English)

:)

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