Archive for October, 2020

a-ha aiming for Portugal (again)

Festival ad

a-ha were supposed to perform at Rock in Rio Lisboa in Portugal this summer, but the festival had to be cancelled due to Covid-19.

The organizers are trying again next year, and a-ha have now once again been confirmed to be headlining together with Duran Duran on 26 June 2021.

This will be the very first time a-ha perform live in Portugal. The Rock in Rio spin-off festival in Lisbon has been held every other year since 2004, and is one of the largest of its kind in Europe, with an attendance of around 350,000 people.

Tickets are on sale now, while tickets already bought for this year’s festival are still valid for 2021.

A total of 38 a-ha concerts are currently planned for 2021.

New reissues and German book release

Purple vinyl reissue

A limited edition 30th anniversary reissue of East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon was released on 180g purple vinyl yesterday. This marks the first time the album is available on this format since the original 1990 vinyl release.

The East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon vinyl reissue can be ordered from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de.

In connection with the reissue, Ørjan Nilsson has written a little piece for the Norwegian magazine Jazznytt, focusing on the man talking about “endless pain or endless pleasure” at the end of “(Seemingly) Nonstop July”. To find out more about him, Ørjan phoned up Paul in Los Angeles.

“I remember that day well. The song was recorded at Prince Street in Soho, in the middle of a heat wave. I was on the fifth floor with the window slightly open, when I heard this guy starting to yell out doomsday prophecies down on the street”, Paul says.

He hurried to point a microphone out the window.

German book cover

“The guy had great timing, as I didn’t need to edit the recording or move parts around afterwards. A one take wonder. He kept going for several minutes after the song had finished, with the same intensity, but the voice gradually became more distant as he disappeared down the street”, Paul tells Ørjan.

Meanwhile in Germany, Ørjan Nilsson’s 2019 book about Morten Harket’s solo career between 1993 – 1998, Hjemkomst, was published by Hannibal Verlag in a German version on Thursday, entitled Heimkehr.

The book has been translated into German by Daniela Stilzebach, who also translated Nilsson’s previous book Tears From a Stone. Heimkehr is available in a paperback edition, while the original Norwegian book came as a hardback edition with dust jacket.

Heimkehr is available from Amazon.de and Amazon.co.uk.

Våkenatt CD cover

This week also saw the announcement that Våkenatt, the second Bridges album from 1981, will be getting a wider release on vinyl, CD and digital on 20 November. The first single “Asleep” can be heard here.

Våkenatt was first released on green vinyl in a limited edition box set (900 numbered copies) by Rockheim Musical Archives in 2018, but will now get a worldwide release by Korova Records, which is a Warner Music imprint.

The vinyl and CD can be pre-ordered from thisisdig.com.

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