P, C & C and their rox-prom nights (III): dates and recordings

090909 the Beatles remasters were released today (by EMI), both in stereo and in mono, now EMI is releasing Roxette's entire album catalog remastered, albeit only in stereo… "The Rox Archives." Erik Broheden at Masters of Audio (former Polar Mastering) has remastered the albums. According to TDR, "very nice looking sleeves, quite disappointing booklets and the albums sound terrific in headphones."

Roxette is taking part in the Nokia Night of the Proms 2009 tour along with many other top artists. EMI Germany has released the full list of the NOTP concerts where Roxette will perform. Roxette's band will include Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle, Clarence Öfwerman, Christoffer Lundquist (P, C & C), Jonas Isaacson and drummer Pelle Alsing.

Belgium:

• October 23, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• October 24, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• October 25, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• October 28, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• October 29, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• October 30, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• October 31, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• November 4, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• November 6, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• November 7, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• November 10, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis
• November 11, 2009: Antwerp, Sportpaleis

The Netherlands:

• November 13, 2009: Arnhem, Gelredome
• November 14, 2009: Arnhem, Gelredome
• November 18, 2009: Rotterdam, Ahoy
• November 19, 2009: Rotterdam, Ahoy
• November 20, 2009: Rotterdam, Ahoy
• November 21, 2009: Rotterdam, Ahoy
• November 22, 2009: Rotterdam, Ahoy

Germany:

• November 27, 2009: Hamburg, Color Line Arena
• November 28, 2009: Hamburg, Color Line Arena
• November 29, 2009: Berlin, O2 World
• December 1, 2009: Oberhausen, Arena
• December 2, 2009: Mannheim, SAP Arena
• December 3, 2009: Stuttgart, Schleyerhalle
• December 4, 2009: Frankfurt, Festhalle
• December 5, 2009: Frankfurt, Festhalle
• December 6, 2009: Frankfurt, Festhalle
• December 8, 2009: Erfurt, Messehalle
• December 10, 2009: Munich, Olympiahalle
• December 11, 2009: Munich, Olympiahalle
• December 12, 2009: Munich, Olympiahalle
• December 13, 2009: Munich, Olympiahalle
• December 15, 2009: Bremen, AWD Dome
• December 16, 2009: Hannover, TUI Arena
• December 17, 2009: Hannover, TUI Arena
• December 18, 2009: Cologne, Lanxessarena
• December 19, 2009: Cologne, Lanxessarena
• December 20, 2009: Dortmund, Westfalenhalle
  

Check also these videos posted to YouTube:

• May 2009: Marie and Per coming to NOTP press conference, shooting promo photos
• May 2009: NOTP official Roxette clip with short interview
• September 2009: Per's video message in a recent press conference

TDR interviewed Per Gessle before his trip to New York September 23. Read it.

You can also read the final recording blog of Brandur Enni, the Feroe Islands' artist that has been at AGM Studios this year with Christoffer Lundquist.

LJdM

First of all 'Night of the Proms' is a great opportunity for Marie and myself to get back together again without trying to do a full-scale Roxette concert. At this point we'd like to take everything concerning Roxette step by step. We take everything step by step. Time will tell how much she wants to work the stage. I don't know yet. But I don't consider this to be a problem. Marie's voice and presence are still magical. Enjoy the shows. We certainly will.

It will be thrilling to perform some of our biggest songs (especially "Wish I Could Fly," "It Must Have Been Love" and "Listen to Your Heart") with a big orchestra & choir. Clarence's & Christoffer's arrangements are truly stunning. And the idea of having strings on "The Look" sounds very South Park to me. I love it.

I'm sure there will be DVD:s released with our Prom-performances. Full orchestral album? Not on the agenda at the moment, no. We're actually bringing a serious amount of equipment to Belgium & Holland to make some groundbreaking recordings in the hotel corridors… I'm born, raised and bred on 7"-singles. Every thing I create starts off as a "single" in my head. That's the way I am, that's how I work. But the decision what should/shouldn't become a radio-single or the lead teaser for an album is basically made by the various record companies. You have to trust that they know their own markets. At least, that's what you would expect in the olden days when we were having tea with the Queen.

I'm a writer. I love to write songs. Then I love to record them. So yes, I always find myself halfway into a recording situation and it would be lovely to make some new splendid landmarks with the divine Ms. F. We'll see what happens and check our pulses. But yes, we'd love to make some more recordings as Roxette.

Most of the stuff that Roxette's fans are interested in is owned by jolly EMI and at the moment it's really hard to get any answers or directions out of them. They're in a complicated state of business. We're still trying to grab a decent record deal in US for these two up and coming youngsters, Marie & Per. I guess big things will happen in due time. However, we try to be on the case as we'd love to have everything available just as much as you do. Trust me. We all shoot film all the time. We'll use the best parts down the road, like we've always done. I'd love us to do another great album and a world tour again. I won't promise it will happen though. But it certainly would be great fun. I'm sure that a Gyllene Tider reunion will happen one of these years too. It's a great little band.

I only make acoustic demos these days. No arrangements, no intros, no solos, no double choruses. I leave all that to the real studio sessions. It's more fun like that. Much more creative. I love the input I'm getting from C&C.

Per Gessle

My new album ("Sometimes truth needs a lie") was finished Friday night at 10pm - September 11th. It was a crazy feeling... something deep inside me said that this was worth a celebration, but we had worked 24/7 in an almost three-week-race, so Christoffer Lundquist wanted finally to be with his family which I totally understand...so I went down to the little house where I'd stayed, feeling kind of melancholic and proud at the same time - and extremely hungry for some crazy party - the only problem was that I was all by myself in a little house in the middle of a dark forest - not knowing a soul. I drank some bear and put some Swedish "snus" under my lip, what I never do unless something very special's happened...I tried to read a novel, the only one that seemed interesting for the time being, but I got restless and bored. Then I hear somebody's screaming/singing Gasolin songs somewhere in a distance. I go outside and find that my only neighbor is having one hell of party! But I'm too shy to go over and join them...I tell myself that I can't just walk in there if he's having a very personal party. I made pictures of the situation turning creepy with a stranger suddenly turning up. But after walking around my house for half an hour hearing their wild karaoke songs, I felt so alone that I finally built up some courage and grabbed my guitar and went over to introduce myself as the new neighbor! It turned out to be one of the very best parties I've ever joined...the hosts were the warmest people you can imagine...we played and sang all through the night. No club or magical bar could ever compete with that spontaneous garden party!

Brandur Enni

Stockfinster - Dead line

stockfinster is the artistic name of Sebastian Borg (a.k.a. Batti), a producer from Malmö, Sweden. He writes, plays, arranges and mixes everything, sometimes with a little help from his musical friends. One of them is Helena Josefsson, who has recorded the vocals of some songs in his recording studio, Gula Studion in Malmö.

stockfinster unofficially uploaded three works, Red wood (June, 2004), Sunset (January, 2005) and Car Crash (June, 2009) in Bandcamp.com. He also released his debut album, All becomes music (October, 2005), in Sutemos, an On-line label from Lithuania.

His second official album is Dead line and can be downloaded for free in Sutemos today. The album includes thirteen songs:

[01] Push Push .. 4:02 ; [02] Daypusher .. 7:02 ;

[03] Think Again .. 5:56 ; [04] Poly6 .. 4:52 ;

[05] Knuckle .. 5:39 ; [06] Gold Canyon .. 5:05

[07] Mitglieder .. 7:14 ; [08] Slow Ghost .. 8:36

[09] Don't Point Your Paw At Me .. 5:25

[10] Sailing Through The Bardo .. 5:38

[11] Seventeen Days .. 5:42 ; [12] The Cabin .. 2:50

[13] The Dead .. 8:28

This is what Sebastian Borg himself tells about the album:

"It's been four years since my last release at Sutemos. So what have I been up to? I guess the answer lies in the music you are about to download. My production rate just keeps getting slower and slower and I have reluctantly started to accept that this is just the way I am; I am simply unable to speed up the creative process. I have actually considered to stop making music altogether just to get rid of this frustration, but I know this is not possible. I have no choice but to keep on working and to try and at least finish something... anything ...

So why does it take such a long time? The answer is choices. Every idea, no matter how small, offers an endless amount of new ideas and possibilities that you must either choose to pursue or ignore. Some people are able to make this choice very quickly but I am simply unable to leave any stone unturned. I spend hours, if not days and months, working on a track just to scrap the whole thing and start over from scratch again. This is, of course, a time consuming process, but I can not have it any other way. I have found that if I do not let this process take place, the track will never sit right with me. It will feel unfulfilled and I will most probably not like it. I need to live with a track for a long period of time to be able to decide which direction to go next. So, in fact, it is not that I work on my songs for a long time, I just work on them for a long period of time. There is a difference.

I always try to do everything myself, but often I have to look to my dear friends for help. Without these people, my music would not be the same. Thank you, guys!

All tracks are mastered by Ola Strandh except on tracks 6 and 12.

All vocals are by Helena Josefsson except on track 11 .

• 01. 'Push Push' (from "Red wood", 2004)
• 02. On 'Daypusher', the spoken voice is Kerim Arhan. Some extra sounds were provided by Magnus Hedberg. Callin Ohrvall Delmar also contributed a lot to this track.
• 03. On 'Think Again' (from "Car crash", 2009), the trumpet was played by Petter Lindgard.
• 04. 'Poly6' (from "Sunset", 2005)
• 05. 'Knuckle' (from "Sunset", 2005)
• 06. On 'Gold Canyon', the Rhodes was played by Mats Bengsson. This song was mastered by Christoffer Leary at Melograf Mastering.
• 07. 'Mitglieder'
• 08. 'Slow Ghost'
• 09. 'Don't Point Your Paw At Me' (from "Sunset", 2005)
• 10. On 'Sailing Through The Bardo', the chord progression was written and played by Markus Slivka
• 11. On 'Seventeen Days', Callin Ohrvall Delmar is singing
• 12. 'The Cabin' was mastered by myself.
• 13. 'The Dead'
  

So here you have thirteen new tracks. They range from very old to brand new tracks, but I don't think it is obvious which ones are which. As I listen back to this collection of songs I feel happy. There are no stones left unturned. Everything is in its right place. I hope you will feel the same way." Enjoy."

So five songs come from previous works. Helena Josefsson's voice features in most of the tracks that include vocals, although it does not seem she has been in the studio again: many of the original recordings were made between 2003 and 2005 in Gula Studion. Anyway, a great opportunity to listen to Helena again.

LJdM

The DollyCamp (VIII): the trailer

LJdM readers can remember the story, but there are news and pictures about it.

In 2004, Nina Persson (from the Cardigans) gave Dolly Parton's biography to her friend Gudrun Hauksdottir to read and both grew even bigger Dolly fans then before.

They contacted the director Jessica Nettelbladt and together decided to record a film about five female singers from Malmö: Cecilia Nordlund, Lotta Wenglén, Helena Josefsson, Gudrun Hauksdottir and Nina Persson.

The movie, The Dollycamp (originally, "Dollykollot, Den långa resan till Dollywood"), with the five singers playing themselves, tells their musical love, friendship and music projects connected to Dolly for a time span of 4 years.

The documentary is trying to show what their idol, Dolly, or idols in general could mean to the singers, how it influences these 5 musicians and if you can succeed in "finding" your idol.

The trailer is now in Dailymotion and could be premiered very soon. Watch it, please!

LJdM

Martin is taking care of our baby during the days and I have started studying in Copenhagen. So there are quite some things to get used to time lacking and more love than I could ever imagine a baby could make me feel!

A little sneak-peak at the trailer of the music-documentary that is about to be finished! It´s about 5 female musicians from Malmö, of which I am one! Looki looki!

The movie contains music from me, new and old ones! All of us who are part of the movie have an equal part and all of us have music in it too!

Helena Josefsson - H.J.

Comments by fans:

The trailer of the movie looks very cool! I know Nina Persson very well, even saw her live in Petersburg in 2007, the Cardigans were fantastic, since I was in school we all sang "My favourite Game" and Cecilia Nordlund was supposed to shot the video for you, right? Hope this story would be released somehow soon, looks fantastic really!)))

Glad to know you're fine and everything goes well. I hope you have a splendid October and see you soon again on tour. The Party Crasher on the Road was fantastic, I saw a DVD trailer and almost cried! The German lives were amazing! How could you make such a brilliant music? ;))

All the best wishes and kind regards,
You're GREAT!!!! ))) Il.

Ilya Volkov -(a.k.a. Kreecher)- Roxette House

During the time while Helenas debut album "Dynamo" was released, when she had her promotion gigs all over Sweden, I notice a girl that was there filming sometimes. It was for a documentary about some Swedish female musicians from Malmö. Now you can se the trailer to the documentary.

Emma Sonesson (aka BiLLY) - HJ Fanclub Portal