Japan!
November 1, 2011
Casiokids Japan Tour!
10.11.11 Tokyo, Marz
11.11.11 Tokyo, Unit – Nordic Night – 8pm
11.11.11 Tokyo, Chelsea Hotel/Milky Way – TokyoIndie Party – midnight
12.11.11 Nagoya, Party’z
13.11.11 Osaka, Shangri la
Aabenbaringen over aaskammen!
September 22, 2011
Cover art by Blank Blank & Jaakko Pallasvuo
‘Aabenbaringen over aaskammen’
by Casiokids
1. Aabenbaringen over aaskammen
2. Det haster!
3. Dresinen
4. Golden years
5. Olympiske leker
6. Dr. Tarzan Monsoon
7. Selskapets triste avslutning
8. Elefantenes hemmelige gravplass
9. Kaskaden
10. London Zoo
11. Aldri ska me ha det gøy
Download first single “Det haster!” for free and pre-order the album from Polyvinyl here!
to be released by the Un-United Nations; on Universal Norway Oct 14th (Available at the release party at EKKO sep 30th), Polyvinyl Records (USA) oct 11th, Flake Records (Japan) Oct 19th and Moshi Moshi (Rest of the world) Jan 16th 2012.
Here’s a little Q & A by Seth (Q’s) & Ketil (A’s):
Q: Why was “Aabenbaringen over aaskammen” chosen as the album title?
A: The song themes and sounds on the album are shaped around and inspired by the story of adventurer Dr. Tarzan Monsoon, and his discovery of a hidden rainforest. ‘Aabenbaringen’ translates to ‘the revelation’, and ‘over aaskammen’ as ‘over the mountain’, something that appears from over the mountain top. Two of the words are written in old Danish-Norwegian with the double A, instead of the more common modern-Norwegian Å, and a ‘B’ to replace the more modern-Norwegian ‘P’ in ‘aabenbaringen’. This gives the title a hint of being older, in Norwegian grammatical terms, 100 years or so.
Q: What was the writing process like? How did writing for an album differ from the past few years where you were just writing singles?
A: The writing and production are shared by Fredrik, Omar, Kjetil and myself (Ketil). This time around we did the main chunk of recording within a 3 month period, very different from our record-and-run schedule on earlier output. Doing the recordings within the same timeframe (bar a US-Norway-Mexico-Russia weekend tour in April) left us more focused in the studio, shaping ideas from sketches into the finished songs with the whole album in mind. We wanted this to feel more like an ALBUM, and we knew we had to finish it before friends started to forget our names (again).
Q: If you could pick one song on “Aabenbaringen over aaskammen” that you’re most proud of, what would it be and why?
A: This is the kind of thing that will often change, depending on when songs were made and the situations related to them, but if you ask me today I would say “Selskapets triste avslutning”. Not only was it the last song to make the cut on the album and perhaps then also most fresh for me, but how it came together was in many ways a bundle of luck and joy. I had the idea for a lyric and suddenly discovered a sketch Omar and Fredrik had been working on which had been filed away in the ‘maybe?’ pile. I browsed through some sketches to try my idea, and this ‘maybe?’ one fitted together almost immediately with the vocal melody and the build-up of my lyrics. Right after this little discovery the entire of Montreal collective was visiting our tiny studio in Bergen, and “Selskapets triste avslutning” was one of the songs Kevin Barnes, K Ishibashi, Bryan Poole and the others helped us on the most.
Q: There are new kinds of songs and instruments on this album compared to your previous output. What was the reason to expand your palette with new song styles and new instrumentation?
A: Our first release “Fück MIDI!” was done mainly in Fredrik’s father’s office in Stavanger, the second album “Topp stemning på lokal bar” was done in an old cantina and in the hallway of the Bergen Jazz Association, whilst on this record we wanted to sit in our little grotto at Bergen Kjøtt (Bergen Meat) studio and dig a bit deeper and experiment more with production possibilities. For me the production sounds richer, a natural development as all of us are more used to recording and more eager to find possibilities with the equipment we’ve gathered (stolen) over the years. Fans of our earlier recordings (and fellow workers at Fredrik’s father’s office) will not be disappointed though, as we´re bound to remain categorized in the lo-fi-electro genre (forever). Even though we’ve become more interested in production possibilities, we still want to retain the rawness of the first two records. The dulcet tones of the Casio will always be at the core of our manifesto.
(Wondering about something (anything)? Write to us at hotmail@casiokids.com)
Love
Ketil
US release and tour!
February 25, 2010
According to our Myspace stats the typical Casiokids fan is a 18-24 year old girl/woman from Los Angeles. We’re happy to announce that our new singles/remix/remakes compilation “Topp stemning på lokal bar” will be released on Polyvinyl records june 8th to accommodate her needs. The tracklist will be the same as the Norwegian one, but the cover (as usual done by our friend Petri, this time in collaboration with Aki-pekka Sinikoski) will be slightly different (sorry 18-24 year old girl/woman who has already paid loads of money to get the CD shipped from Norway!). But even better, the album will be out on double vinyl as well! Legendary, and when you buy it (on CD or Vinyl) you will also get Mp3 versions.
Preorder the album from Polyvinyl here
Also (news flash!) we’ll come back to the US in march. Confirmed shows so far are:
13.03.10 USA, New York, Piano’s
14.03.10 USA, New York, Littlefield
15.03.10 USA, New York, Moshi Moshi / Brooklyn Vegan party @ knitting factory
17.03.10 USA, Austin, SXSW / Celebration of sound
17.03.10 USA, Austin, SXSW / Shout it out out @ Creekside lounge
17.03.10 USA, Austin, SXSW / Thunderbird coffee @ Plush bar
18.03.10 USA, Austin, SXSW / Filter party (10:30 a.m.)
18.03.10 USA, Austin, SXSW / Moshi Moshi party @ Red House Pizzeria (15:00)
19.03.10 USA, Austin, SXSW / Lose control party
20.03.10 USA, Austin, SXSW / Polyvinyl showcase @ Galaxy rooms (20:00)
Hulen + Casiokids birthday party!
August 21, 2009
Tuesday september 15th we’ll throw a party in the honor of the best venue in Bergen turning 40 (and Casiokids turning 5!). The night’s program will include competitions, cinema (Police Academy 1), cakes, cookies and concert. everyone that bakes a cake comes in for free, and there will be awards for best costume. Info in Norwegian + time schedule at the end of the post.
Dont you know Hulen?
Basically it’s an old bomb shelter turned into a student venue already in the 60′s, and it’s the oldest rock club in northern Europe.
Hulen is quite rough, water dripping from the ceiling when it’s raining, and the beer is a bit flat and slightly warm and the sound system in the disco sounds horrible. Yet, there is something appealing about it all, a curiosity for this almost prehistoric (1960′s) cave site (also with cave drawing of man-drinking-beer on the white painted cave walls!).
Arriving at the venue, for a start, is special. One enters through a gate almost invisible behind some bushes near the student area at Nygårdshøyden, walks down the cave hallway into the main room which is divided into three sections: The disco, the stage and the bar. It used to be a wooden floor in the whole venue, but that’s changed most places now, making it slightly more clean (I fear people were trapped under it when they changed it which might be the reason behind the hint of death-smell apparent in the room).
I used to work there as a volunteer when I first moved to Bergen from my home town of Stavanger in 2001, being a guard, washing the toilets with fire hose (standing 5 meters from the actual toilet directing the fire hose towards it. Also an effective way of getting out the last guests who might have ended their night sleeping there). And I also DJ-ed there 2003-2004, the height of my Dj career being getting a pint thrown at me when putting on Justin Timberlake (after all, it is a rock venue). Its just one of those places where you feel safe, at home, and it’s more of a family working there instead of a group of students. It feels socially acceptable to go bananas on the dancefloor, and I guess, if you really wanted to, you could go there only wearing a barrel on saturday nights when it’s really packed without getting too much unwanted attention. Might want to leave your pink clothes and fez at home (they might get stained, and fez is likely to fall off at the low ceiling at the entrance). It feels a bit like a festival site there at all times (you’re allowed to come unwashed), and it has a really lovely shambolic unpretentious feel to it.
We’ve performed at Hulen many times with Casiokids, the most memorable concert being in 2007 where we had our friend Marte opening for us doing pantomime (politically charged!), and also having our shadow puppet group with us featuring shadow trainees from Poland and Mexico helping them behind the screen. That made for an interesting after-party, communication-wise.
Some people in Bergen never go to other places than Hulen all their life (this is what I like to believe anyway), and they live a happy life.
****************
INFO IN NORWEGIAN + TIME SCHEDULE
BURSDAGSSELSKAP MED CASIOKIDS + DIGITALTEATERET
HULEN TIRSDAG 15.SEPTEMBER
Hulen feirer sin 40-årsdag og Casiokids feirer sin 5-årsdag tirsdag 15.september! La oss alle møtes på Hulen og feire
dagen sammen! Kvelden vil bli arrangert slik vi selv husker bursdagsselskap da vi i Casiokids var unge på slutten av 80-tallet, med
rikelig mengde E-stoffrikt godteri, pink panter-brus, kaker, inkluderende selskapsleker og filmvisning.
Politiskolen 1 vises i Hulens kino (i diskoen) halv 10 etterfulgt av konkurranser og diverse selskapsleker arrangert av Digitalteateret. Vi kommer til å ofre en Pinata,
og blant annet leke “morder i mørket”. For øvrig blir det gratis inngang om du har med hjemmelaget kake! Husk glasur! Og for guds skyld – ikle deg noe minneverdig, fortrinnsvis et kostyme
(forslag til kostyme: Et dyr, vår nye statsminister (Siv Jensen?), politi, kjeltring++).
I løpet av konkurransedelen av kvelden (altså tiden mellom Politiskolen og konserten) vil det også bli premier for beste mustasj og beste kake.
Man får velge premier fra 3 ulike hyller:
1. hylle: Dagspass til EKKO-lørdag + billetter til Hulen-konserter
2.hylle: Casiokids-effekter
3. hylle: Klistremerker, buttons, frukt ++
Tidsplan:
21* dørene åpner
21:30 * Politiskolen 1 (96 min)
23:15 * konkurranser og prisutdeling
00 * Konsertstart
01 * Olli (Shake up) snurrer plater ut kvelden
CC: 150,-
Gratis styrkedrikk til de 30 første!
Mixxxtape 2
August 17, 2009
1. Moondog / Death When You Come To Me // 2. Paul Simon / Gone At Last (Demo version) // 3. Michael Jackson / Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough (1978 Demo version) // 4. Casiokids / Knust Hjerte (Cover of Magistrates’ “Heartbreak”) // 5. Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu / Magical World // 6. Arthur Russell / You And Me Both // 7. Jens Lekman / Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death (Cover of Scout Niblett)
(RRRRRRRespect to Dionne)
Mixxxtape 1
July 30, 2009
1. Dirty Projectors / Stillness is the move // 2. Casiokids / Den lange veien hjem (Cover of Lindstrøm’s “The long way home”) // 3. Toto / Africa (Rune Lindbæk edit) // 4. Lindstrøm / The Contemporary fix (Bjørn Torske remix) // 5. Hugh Masekela / Don’t go lose it baby // 6. Bjørn Torske / God kveld // 7. Loose Joints / Is it all over my face (Female vocal version) //
