Magne was interviewed by Janice Forsyth on the BBC Radio Scotland programme “The Radio Café” yesterday.
The 14-minute interview, which was mostly about Alpha Beta and Word Symphony, is available for listening on the BBC Radio Scotland website here until next Wednesday (starts after 1 min 30 secs).
The Apparatjik members are starting to look surprisingly similar
(Picture by Lydverket)
Apparatjik played their first concert at the WMF Club in Berlin last night, as part of the music and art festival “Club Transmediale”.
The concert lasted around 40 minutes, with the band members playing inside a specially constructed cube.
“This concert is as much an art performance, as a concert“, Jonas Bjerre told NRK’s Lydverket, which will have a TV-report about the concert next Wednesday.
The Berlin concert is the only Apparatjik performance that has been planned.
“We would like to continue our collaboration, but if that will result in more music or something completely different, who knows“, the band says.
Morten standing by the cube
(Picture by Lydverket)
Magne was not the only a-ha member in Berlin last night, as Morten had also come to witness the event.
“[This was] refreshing, and even though Magne doesn’t really have time to do this right before our own tour starts, I think this is the best preparation he could have done“, Morten tells Lydverket.
The Apparatjik album was also released yesterday. It’s called We Are Here and can now be purchased as an MP3 album or pre-ordered as a CD/DVD set here.
We Are Here album cover
Album tracklist:
1. Deadbeat
2. Datascroller
3. Snow Crystals
4. Supersonic Sound
5. Arrow and Bow
6. In A Quiet Corner
7. Josie
8. Antlers
9. Electric Eye
10. Look Kids
11. Quiz Show
a-ha.com has announced three a-ha concerts in New York and Los Angeles in May:
6 May: Nokia Theatre, New York, USA
7 May: Nokia Theatre, New York, USA
15 May: Club Nokia, Los Angeles, USA
An a-ha.com ticket presale starts on 2 February.
Yohan movie poster
The final movie poster for Yohan is now being sent out to Norwegian cinemas.
As can be seen in this larger version on the Yohan website, Morten is credited as one of the eight main actors at the top of the poster.
The children’s adventure movie, in which Morten plays the father in a travelling gypsy family, will premiere in Norway on March 26th.
Directed by Grete Salomonsen, Yohan also stars Kris Kristofferson, Dennis Storhøi and Agnete Haaland.
Single cover
The studio version of “Den Stilleste Timen” is now available for purchase from Norwegian download sites like Platekompaniet.no and musikkonline.no.
Morten can be heard singing the lead vocals on the first chorus and the third verse.
“Den Stilleste Timen” also features the voices of: Ole Paus, Lars Lillo-Stenberg, Ingrid Olava, Thom Hell, Elisabeth Andreassen, Askil Holm, Simone Larsen, Laila Samuelsen, Pål Angelskår, Anne Nørdsti, Benedikte Narum, Eldar Vågan, Helene Bøksle, Steven Wilson, Tommy Michaelsen and Tuva Syvertsen.
The song was recorded and mixed by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studios, and produced by Håkon Iversen. All proceeds goes to the Haiti relief work being done by the Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Church Aid.
Update: The song is apparently also available for purchase on iTunes across Europe.
According to a-ha.com the 2010 American tour dates will be announced next week.
Apart from the one-off show at New York’s Irving Plaza in 2005, these will be the first a-ha concerts in the U.S. since 1986.
a-ha receiving platinum awards in Munich, January 15th
While in Munich to perform at the Bavarian Movie Awards on January 15th, a-ha were presented with platinum awards for selling more than 200 000 copies of Foot Of The Mountain in Germany, trade publication MusikWoche reports.
Considering the fact that “no one” buys CDs anymore, this is an impressive number. The album is still in the Top 100 German album chart after 31 weeks, currently at number 65.
More news from Germany: a-ha have been nominated in the “Best international group”-category for this year’s Echo Awards, which will take place in Berlin on March 4th.
The other nominees are U2, Depeche Mode, Black Eyed Peas and Razorlight. a-ha will not be able to attend the award show, as they are opening their farewell tour in Buenos Aires on that day.
In Norway the nominations for this year’s Spellemann Awards were announced yesterday, but a-ha did not get any nominations for their final album.
Producer and Apparatjik member Martin Terefe has posted a news update on his official website which says that the long-awaited Apparatjik album will be released on the same day as the band’s debut concert in Berlin next Monday, February 1st.
Since there has been no info about a CD release, it’s fair to assume that the album will be available only as a digital download.
Some info about last week’s Pupparatjik workshop in Trondheim can now be found here. One of the students who participated has shared some of his thoughts on the Apparatchick forum and he has also posted a set of pictures on Flickr.
And of course you can see the results of the workshop at apparatjik.com/pupparatjik.
Morten on stage at the Opera House in Oslo
Morten took part in the “Dugnad For Haiti” charity concert at the Oslo Opera House last night, by performing the Christian hymn “O Bli Hos Meg”, which is the Norwegian version of the original English hymn “Abide With Me”.
This is a song that Morten has performed several times before, most recently at his church concert in Kristiansund in September.
He was accompanied by Kjetil Bjerkestrand on piano, Rune Arnesen on percussion and a string quartet.
At the end of the concert Ole Paus and all the artists, including Morten, performed the new charity single “Den Stilleste Timen”, which was written by Paus.
“It’s incredible what [Ole Paus] has achieved. The fact that he’s managed to turn around and deliver something like this. It’s really super“, Morten told VG Nett after the concert.
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Among the concert audience was Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. “I am impressed by all those who have made this happen, both the artists and those who work at the Opera House“, the Crown Prince told VG Nett.
All proceeds from the event goes to the Norwegian Red Cross and the Norwegian Church Aid, two organizations that are providing relief work in Haiti at the moment. More info about the important work they are doing can be found here and here.
People watching the concert at home could donate 200 kroner by calling the number shown on the screen, and initial reports show that more than 20 million kroner was raised during the concert.
Morten tells VG Nett that he hopes the concert can inspire an even stronger commitment to helping the Haiti earthquake victims:
“People’s reactions now are of vital importance. But it is also of vital importance that we decide on what can be called acceptable. The imbalance that exists in the world today is totally unacceptable. It’s a challenge that we need to face together. Everyone who wants to do something now once again has a chance to do their share. It’s easy to become disheartened, but it will make a difference. For many people it’s too late, but there is a lot of people who need help now.
What’s happened in Haiti is terrible. And Haiti’s situation through the years has also been unacceptable. But right now there’s a real disaster where people need all the help they can get“, Morten says.
If you didn’t get a chance to watch the concert, it is available on NRK.no here (Morten appears after 1 hour 43 minutes).
Morten recording his vocals at Rainbow Studios in Oslo tonight
In addition to performing at the concert for Haiti in Oslo tomorrow, Morten is also among the artists singing on a Norwegian charity single for Haiti.
The song, which is called “Den Stilleste Timen”, was written by Ole Paus this week. Yesterday Paus recorded a demo version of the song at Amadeus Studios, while work on the final version with all the artists started at Rainbow Studios today.
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Part of the song could be heard in a report from the recording sessions on TV2 tonight. It appeared to feature Morten doing the lead vocals.
Other artists participating on the single include Ingrid Olava, Eldar Vågan, Simone from D’Sound, Askil Holm, Tuva Syvertsen from Valkyrien Allstars, Thom Hell and Ole Paus himself.
Joachim Lund, who is responsible for the project, tells Dagsavisen: “It’s an absolutely beautiful song, which has the right balance between sober lyrics and a melody which will appeal to a large audience. You have to be pretty callous if you aren’t touched by this song“.
The single is planned for release both as a CD-single and download.
Yesterday, Morten appeared on “God Morgen Norge” on TV2 together with singer Elisabeth Andreassen and director Alexander Eik to talk about tomorrow’s concert for Haiti.
“I’m not sure what I’ll be singing, but I promise to make a decision before I go on stage“, Morten said when asked what he’s planned for tomorrow’s concert.
The interview can be seen on TV2.no.
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Morten is one of the artists who will be performing at a charity concert for the people of Haiti on Sunday, 24 January.
The concert is held at the opera house in Oslo and will be broadcast on NRK1.
“It’s important that we react as one people, across all layers of society, where everyone contribute where they can“, Morten tells Dagbladet today.
“I have for a long time felt powerless in relation to Haiti, because the problems are so huge that it will have to involve a determined and longterm effort on a global scale. [But] if the world society really decides to do so, we can get Haiti back on its feet“, Morten says.
Other artists performing at the concert include Ole Paus, Lars Lillo-Stenberg, Superfamily, Ane Brun, Kurt Nilsen, Minor Majority, Thom Hell, D’Sound and A1.
