Eight tidbits from home and abroad

Booking confirmations and positive feedback are literally pouring in at the office these days, and here are eight Norwegian and international acts we’d like to share with you:

JOSE GONZALES (SE)
ANIMAL ALPHA (N)
BURAKA SOM SISTEMA (PT)
KID SISTER AND A-TRAK (US)
INGRID OLAVA (N)
TRULS AND THE TREES (N)
WE (N)
YEASAYER (US)

We dare say that you’ll be hearing more about these four Norwegian acts in the year to come – WE, Animal Alpha, Ingrid Olava, and Truls and the Trees represent a strong Norwegian addition to the bill. And since great artists like José Gonzales, Kid Sister and A-Trak (US), Yeasayer (US), and Buraka Som Sistema from Portugal also have gotten on the Øya wagon, it’s truly going to be a merry Christmas.

Read on and get happy!

JOSE GONZALES (SE)
This top-notch singer/songwriter has mesmerized the whole world with his incredibly beautiful melodies. Jose has been doing his very own thing all the way since he released his debut album, “Veneer”, back in 2003 and up to this year’s album, “In our Nature”. This spring he reached over a billion listeners through a Sony TV commercial.
His incredible talent for making original and beautiful harmonies has taken him all the way up to the premier league of contemporary songwriters. Sold-out shows in Stockholm, New York, London… lest we forget Oslo last Thursday. Be there when he performs at Øya in August!

ANIMAL ALPHA
When Animal Alpha played at Øya back in 2004 – at that point a relatively unknown act – Metal Hammer gave them 9/10 in their review. In 2005 AA played performed on our main stage, although they still hadn’t released anything but an EP. Later that year they released their brilliant debut album, “Pheromones”, and since then they’ve ravaged Europe several times and played the biggest festivals around, such as Wacken Open Air, Pukkelpop, Rock am Ring, and Rock im Park. Now they’re back with their second album – entitled “You Pay For The Whole Seat But You’ll Only Need The Edge” – and they’re heavier, darker, harder, and hungrier than ever!

BURAKA SOM SISTEMA (PT)
Buraka Som Sistema are from the outskirts of Lisbon and play so-called “kuduro”, a style that stems from Luanda, the capital of Portugal’s former colony Angola. The word translates into English as “hard ass”. Soundvenue from Denmark provided a closer explanation earlier this year: “Kuduro started out with a few Angolan DJs that tried to make techno music. In that way it’s a kind of anti-world music, a style which has evolved in Angola over the past decade. The technique is basically about treating everything as percussion and drums. For example, you can sample the synthesizer and use it as a part of the drum beat.” The three guys that make up the core of Buraka Som Sistema grew up with a mix of rock, rap, and dance music. Today they make party music in which they mix elements from the mentioned kuduro, as well as grime, hip hop, house, and baile funk. At the same time they mix African and European influences in their own distinct way. If you’re looking for something raw, energetic, and danceable, Buraka Som Sistema is a potential Øya 2008 highlight for you. Live they bring along a full line-up consisting of DJs, percussionists, rappers, and dancers. Party time in the park is guaranteed!

KID SISTER AND A-TRAK (US)
Kid Sister and A-Trak performing together in the Medieval Park… now, that’s wicked!

Kid Sister has looooong nails, shiny bling, hot rhymes, and a great, big dose of attitude. 27 years old Melisa Young from Chicago may have gotten her nickname because she’s the kid sister of Josh in the DJ-duo Flosstradamus, which also visited Øya last year. It may also be because she quite impertinently borrows from established genres like only a kid sister can, spits out cheeky rhymes, and dresses in neon colors. Among her fans we find Kanye West, who also contributes on the track “Pro Nails” – which is pure gold, or fool’s gold, just like the songs “Damn Girl” and “Control”.

If you want your party to be a success, the easiest way to go about it is to call A-Trak. This Montreal kid can bring any club to the boiling point with his dazzling DJ-skills. Back in 1997, at the tender age of fifteen, he became the youngest DMC winner ever. Since 2004 he’s been DJ-ing for Kanye West. Rumor has it that it was A-Trak who introduced Kanye to Daft Punk, and supposedly he also had a lot of influence on the direction “Graduation” took. A-Trak recently started the label Fool’s Gold, which is home to the upper crust of club-oriented hip hop, spearheaded by artists like Kid Sister and Cool Kids.

INGRID OLAVA (N)
In a time where Norwegian newcomers aren’t exactly a top priority among the big record companies, EMI is backing Ingrid Olava’s debut album heavily, which is due for release February next year. Ingrid has gained a solid live reputation as a choir girl and duet partner for Sivert Høyem and Madrugada, and as the lead singer of the critically acclaimed country-inspired band Shit City. But she has impressed a lot of people on her own as well, accompanied by nothing but her piano, at countless venues across the nation. It is our great pleasure to present an act that will surely be one of the really hot Norwegian names in 2008. Just you wait and see.

TRULS AND THE TREES (N)
We bow and make praise to the upcoming Truls and the Trees album. It is a dazzling display of heavenly indie: ultra-catchy, original, lo-fi, and tender all at once. For those of you who haven’t stopped by their MySpace page, we recommend that you do so once: they’ve uploaded the entire new album for us to listen to (!). If you are one of those who don’t experience immediate respiratory problems when the word “indie” is mentioned, you should add this album to your Christmas wish list at once, cross your fingers, and hope that somebody buys it for you. Or what the hell… buy it for your girl, ‘cause then you’ll have two!

WE (N)
We had to have WE on our bill. It’s that simple. Their new album, “Tension & Release”, will be out January 21. The guys themselves claim that the album defines everything that WE stand for in the universe of rock. On it, Thomas Felberg and his apostles rumble on with their particular brand of groovy and heavy rock’n’roll. WE occupied the second slot on the Øya 1999 bill, the very first Øya Festival ever, and this summer it’ll be four years since the last time they were unleashed on the Medieval Park. Based on past experience, we’re pretty confident that this will be one helluva a party!

YEASAYER (US)
A lot of people are excited about the album “All Hour Cymbals” from the Brooklyn-based band Yeasayer. Yup, it’s quite easy to get the feeling that you’ve gotten your hands on one of the best albums of the year when you listen to it. The album has become a critic fave on both sides of the Atlantic this fall, and many are looking forward to seeing the band perform live. Reviewers have used terms like indie, psychedelia, and world in their descriptions. Yeasayer might be just your thing if you’re a fan of TV on the Radio, Animal Collective, or Talking Heads – without, however, claiming that Yeasayer sounds just like any of the aforementioned. Their music sounds ambitious and makes you curious. Their songs offer quite a few surprises and at the same time suggest a band that may come to surprise a lot of people over the next few years. We were definitely surprised when we saw them at CMJ in New York in October. Over the past few months Yeasayer has played together with bands like Arcade Fire, Black Mountain, Oakley Hall, Health, and Gravenhurst. We, and many with us, predict that Yeasayer might become the band that everybody talks about in the summer of 2008. Make sure to catch this imaginative band at the Øya Festival in order to have some first-hand knowledge.

ARTISTS READY FOR THE MEDIEVAL PARK:
Animal Alpha (N) / Buraka Som Sistema (PT) / diskJokke (N) / Ida Maria (N) / José Gonzales (SE) / Kid Sister and A-Trak (US) / Silje Nes (N) / Okkervil River (US) / Ingrid Olava (N) / Raga Rockers (N) / Sigh & Explode (N) / Truls and the Trees (N) / WE (N) / Yeasayer (US)

TICKETS:
Festival Pass: NOK 1.695,- + tax
Order your tickets at www.ticketmaster.no