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The Final Concert CD cover

Posted by Jakob S on March 2nd, 2011

 

The cover of the CD version of Ending On A High Note – The Final Concert has now started to appear online, including on the website of Universal Norway.

And I’d expect the covers of the DVD and Blu-ray to look somewhat similar.

These live releases are still scheduled to be out in Germany on April 1st, but details on tracklists and number of discs have not been officially confirmed yet.

Amazon.de has the CD version listed as being just 1 disc, which means it’s obviously not the complete concert. Hopefully the Deluxe Version (3 discs) will have all the songs. Needless to say we’re at least expecting the DVD and Blu-ray to feature the complete concert (although leaving out “Bowling Green” will be understandable).

An official announcement is expected soon.

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Magne donates artwork to charity auction

Posted by Jakob S on February 21st, 2011

 

Aftenposten has an interview with Magne today, in connection with a new campaign by LHL (The Norwegian Heart and Lung Patient Organization). He is among a number of artists who have donated artworks for an online auction to benefit research on heart disease among women.

Magne himself has been suffering from atrial fibrillation for a number of years, and is scheduled to undergo heart surgery this summer.

“So it’s natural for me to contribute to a campaign like this“, he says.

Magne has recently been busy moving into his new atelier at Galleri Trafo in Asker, and in the process he’s had a chance to go through a lot of his older paintings, graphic prints and ceramic art.

The monotype that he’s donated to the charity auction is from a series of prints that he made around 2000, where the motif somewhat resembles a heart against a background of electrical charges.

“Shortly afterwards I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation“, Magne says.

“It was almost a bit eerie. These prints were made right before my own heart problems were discovered. Yes, it does resemble a heart muscle. I had, perhaps, an underlying feeling in my body, which caused this to materialize.”

The monotypes were exhibited only once, but were not available to buy. Now Magne has brought them out of storage.

“This print does fit very well, considering my personal connection to heart problems“, he says.

The charity auction is now underway at the website of auction house Blomquist. Magne’s monotype is available here, with a starting price of 30 000 kroner. The auction is open until February 28th.

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Sound On Sound article

Posted by Jakob S on February 21st, 2011

Sound On Sound, a UK magazine focusing on music recording technology, has a 6-page article about the recording of “Take On Me” in its latest issue, March 2011.

Describing the studio work on the different versions of the song in great detail, the article features contributions from producer Alan Tarney and engineers Neill King and Gerry Kitchingham.

The March issue of the magazine can be ordered from soundonsound.com. The a-ha article is also available as a PDF file here (includes a preview of the article).

(Thanks to Oliver and Matthew for the tip)

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Just Loomis book and exhibition

Posted by Jakob S on February 13th, 2011

A sample of the book

The 96-page photo book a-ha photographer Just Loomis was published in Norway earlier this week. It features a selection of Loomis’ a-ha photos between 1985 and 1991, taken in the UK, Canada and Brazil.

The book also includes a foreword written by Magne, an interview with Morten (done by Loomis himself) and a text written by Paul. There are also interviews with Warner executive Jeff Ayeroff and graphic designer Jeri Heiden.

“We recognised in Just someone whose ambition and passion for photography matched our own ambition and passion for music: he wanted to take great pictures, we wanted to make great music“, Magne writes in the foreword.

Just Loomis with some of the photos on display at the Stenersen Museum

The book release tied in with the opening of Loomis’ exhibition As We Are at the Stenersen Museum in Oslo on Thursday, February 10th, which also features some of his a-ha photos.

WOTM forum member “Hermetic”, who attended the opening, writes:

“Both Magne and Morten were at the opening of the exhibition, and I was lucky enough to have my copy signed by both + Just. Lauren was there too, but no sign of Paul though (might have left already as I arrived quite late).”

Update: Just Loomis has posted a couple of pictures from the opening on his Facebook page. Here he is with Morten, Magne, The Swing Of Things author Jan Omdahl and head of Press Publishing Håkon Harket. And here is another one with Morten and Jan.

A TV interview with Loomis from NRK Østlandssendingen can be seen here. There were also interviews with him at Dagbladet.no and Foto.no.

“This is the first time I’m in Oslo and it’s a great honour for me to show these photos now, following a-ha’s farewell tour”, Loomis says in the Foto.no interview.

“It’s very special for me to be among those who were there from the start, taking part in the process that eventually turned a-ha into international stars”, he added to Dagbladet.

The exhibition at the Stenersen Museum is on display until April 3rd.

The photo book, which will be available outside of Norway next month, can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

If you’re in Norway, the book is now available from online stores such as Bokkilden and Haugen Bok.

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Ending On A High Note coming on CD, DVD and Blu-ray

Posted by Jakob S on February 7th, 2011

Several German online stores (like Buch.de) are now taking pre-orders for Ending On A High Note, the recording of the final two a-ha concerts in Oslo Spektrum, which is set for release on 1 April and will be available on CD, DVD, CD/DVD (deluxe) and Blu-ray.

This will be the first a-ha Blu-ray release. The concerts in Oslo were filmed with ten HD cameras.

Cover image and other info is not yet available.

(Thanks to “Elly2” on the German forum for noticing)

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2011 a-ha fan calendar now available

Posted by Jakob S on February 6th, 2011

 

The West Of The Moon 2011 a-ha fan calendar is now available to order from Lulu.com.

Here’s some info from Catherine on the WOTM Forum:

“This is a weekly desk calendar, NOT a 12-month wall calendar. Please be sure this is what you want before deciding whether to buy – Lulu.com doesn’t do returns or exchanges unless something is faulty.

Because we missed January due to production delays, we added in January 2012 so that everyone could have the January facts and more photos 🙂 As always, this is a non-profit product, you pay what it costs Lulu.com to print and ship to you.

Thanks to everyone involved, and for all members’ support and patience! Let us know what you think of this year’s calendar!

Join the calendar discussion here.”

If you missed any of the the previous a-ha fan calendars from 2007, 2008 and 2010, they are still available from Lulu.com here.

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Apparatjik announce Berlin performances

Posted by Jakob S on January 31st, 2011

 

Magne and the rest of Apparatjik will do 3 concerts/performances in Berlin in March, once again using their specially constructed cube.

This was announced in a news bulletin on apparatjik.com today.

The performances will all be held at the city’s Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery), and the dates are:

Saturday 12. March
Saturday 26. March
Sunday 27. March

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at theoutland.com.

Apparatjik have previously only done 3 concerts; in Berlin, Flø and London – all in 2010.

Update: A press release that has been published on a-ha.com and Magne’s MySpace page provides more details about The Apparatjik Light Space Modulator.

In addition to the three performances, there will be an exhibition from 13 to 27 March.
And the last performance on the 27th will be performed in collaboration with the Deutsches Kammerorchester.

Update #2: Apparatjik are also inviting their fans to take part in the project, by submitting images that may be used in a slide-show projected onto the cube. More details here.

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Morten: – Life after a-ha is exciting

Posted by Jakob S on January 27th, 2011

“Queen goes a long way back for me”, Morten said at the premiere of “We Will Rock You”.
(Picture by Heiko Junge/Scanpix)

Morten and Inez attended the Oslo premiere of the Queen-musical “We Will Rock You” at Folketeatret tonight.

Freddie Mercury’s style of singing was a major influence on Morten as a teenager, and he’s been known to perform songs like “Love Of My Life” and “Killer Queen” on several occasions.

“Freddie Mercury was one of the vocalists I tried to sound like when I first started singing“, Morten told Dagbladet on the red carpet.

“He hit me when I was around 15-16, during a period when I was really developing [as a singer], and I walked the streets trying to sing like him and Johnny Cash. That’s how I became what I am.”

Morten was also asked about his current plans after a-ha.

“What I’m going to do now? The possibilities are endless. But reality itself sets the limits, you could say that being creative is about setting certain limits.”

“The end of a-ha is not sad at all“, he added in a short interview with TV2. “It’s great to have the time to do something different“.

Morten is also interviewed in this video clip on VGTV.

Original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor also attended the premiere in Oslo, and May was expected to perform at the end of the show.

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Contributors wanted for a-ha book

Posted by Jakob S on January 26th, 2011

I have been contacted by Greg Lansdowne, a freelance journalist/communications professional from England, who is planning to write a book about a-ha, based on the experiences of fans during the “Ending On A High Note” tour.

In a longer message posted in the “fan corner” section of a-ha.com, he writes:

“I am, therefore, writing to ask for contributors to such a book who would be interested in sharing not only their thoughts on a specific concert but also why your love for a-ha took you to that concert (particularly for those travelling quite a distance).

Initially, I would like to get as much feedback as possible in terms of whether this is a book that would be welcomed the a-ha fraternity.

Were that to be the case, I would then ask for people to volunteer their interest to write about a particular concert (to make sure all bases could be covered).”

To read the whole message, which includes contact info, visit a-ha.com.

Lansdowne has also created a thread about this on the WOTM forum.

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Hits 2010 book

Posted by Jakob S on January 19th, 2011
Hits 2010 - book cover

Book cover

Norsk Noteservice, a Norwegian publisher of music books, recently published Hits 2010 – the latest in an annual series of books featuring some of the biggest Norwegian and international hits from the last year, complete with tabs and chords for guitar and keyboard, as well as lyrics.

a-ha’s final single “Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)” is among the 36 songs that can be found in the book. “Den Stilleste Timen”, the charity single for Haiti that featured Morten on vocals, is also included.

And as you can see, Morten is on the cover of the book.

Hits 2010 can be ordered from Norwegian online book stores such as Haugen Bok, Bokkilden or directly from the publisher at Notebutikken.no.

 

Speaking of books; don’t forget to pre-order Just Loomis’ new a-ha photobook, which will include a foreword written by Magne.

The book can be ordered from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, with a March 31st publishing date.

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