Festival Diary: By:Larm 2013

Hosting a festival in a Norwegian city when it’s guaranteed to be snowy, icy and atmospherically a bit tricky for music fans is a brave move – but that’s what Oslo’s By:Larm does year-in, year-out, to the acclaim of the festival’s many fans who battle such adverse weather conditions to return to this waterside haven again and again.

It’s not like one of those summer rave ups that we’ve come to associate so closely to the word ‘festival’, where girls and guys who’ve never listened to a record in their life don hot pants and a straw cowboy hat to stand in a pair of wellies in the blazing sunshine, holding a warm pint of Carling. No. This is a different proposition altogether.

By:Larm is a festival which presents an eclectic, dizzying line up in a host of beautifully suited venues. It’s a festival which offers true respite in the quiet moments, where wooden fishing huts play host to open fires, DJs and saunas (well, when in Scandinavia…). It’s a festival where post-show run downs are undertaken by the wooly-jumpered and pink cheeked rather than the sweat drenched and sallow faced. And it’s a festival that, in 2013, is presenting its sixteenth edition.

On offer in Oslo this year is a wide array of talent originating from the Nordic regions, with each and every genre covered in abundance. Be it in the tranquil, atmospheric hospitality of an age old church, or the futuristically lit, low ceilinged underground layer of Jaeger, the organisers have made sure to put carefully selected bands in all the right places.

We arrive on Wednesday to a stripped back schedule focussed around the WiMP tent in the Youngstorget square, found in Oslo’s city centre. It’s a fairly tranquil night, to ease gig goers into what’s sure to turn into quite a hectic event, so it’s there that we head to listen to Norwegian natives Young Dreams and their effortlessly cool take on tropical pop, closely followed by Retro Stefson who are not only in town to perform this weekend, but who are also contenders for the Nordic Music Prize (which is eventually awarded to Swedish sisters First Aid Kit). These hand picked bands have both performed energetic, welcoming sets and as we head off into the night, we’re sure that tomorrow’s going to hold some very special events indeed.

Young Dreams – by Tonje Thilesen

As Thursday’s shows begin to kick off, we find ourselves at Blå, a brilliant club situated in an old factory building on the edge of the town’s trendy Grünerløkka district. It’s here that a set by Hudson Mohawke is swiftly followed by one of Norway’s brightest and most interesting electronic artists, Cashmere Cat. Combining mellow electronica with the catchiness and cool of club anthems, Cashmere Cat’s an intriguing proposition, and proves himself to not only be an unmissable listen on record, but in the live arena too.

Next, we head up a slippery slope towards Crossroads (luckily, the festival organisers have sent us a handy email entitled ‘How To Walk On Ice’ to make this uphill ice trek a bit less dangerous) and we’re disappointed to arrive only in time to catch the closing notes of Billie Van’s set. Familiar faces grace the stage, with Mikhael Paskalev taking to bass duties for Billie Van, who we’re more used to seeing as Paskalev’s backing singer. From what we hear and from the reaction of the crowd, the set seems to have been well received, so we make a note to make sure to arrive earlier at one of her other scheduled performances this weekend.

Headlining the show at Crossroads tonight, and the man that’s caused a long line to form outside of the small, pub-like venue is Mikhael Paskalev. There’s a fair amount of hype around Paskalev at the moment, having just released his debut album in his native Norway and having been the name on everyone’s lips at this same festival last year. And just like when he headlined Ja Ja Ja last October, his set doesn’t disappoint at all. This boy can fuse blues, sublime harmonies and irresistible rock ’n’ roll hooks like nobody’s business, and as early as halfway through the first track, it’s abundantly clear to see why Paskalev’s doing so well. ‘Jailhouse Talk’ and catchy cult single ‘Jive Babe’ are particular highlights of the first of many sets for this sought after artist this weekend.

Rangleklods – by Tonje Thilesen

Friday’s festivities commence and it’s Taken By Trees that we head to see first in the centrally located WiMP tent – a spacious construction with remarkably high quality sound. Unfortunately, the sound quality does nothing to make this group’s set any more exciting, as the music doesn’t seem effortless for the artists so much as bothersome. With no time to waste, we head up the road to Jaeger to catch Best Fit favourites Rangleklods. It turns out to be a good move, as Ranglekods deliver an excellent set with a rendition of ‘Young and Dumb’ proving particularly rousing. This is a much more encouraging start to the evening than our previous selection, so feeling re-energised, we head down the road to Revolver to catch up and coming Swedish dream-pop group Colleagues.

Arriving towards the end of their set, we’re sad to not have had time to see more of the high energy, totally charming performance that has got the entire crowd bewitched. ‘Parents’ House’ stands out as a particularly strong track, with nonchalant yet endearing vocals partnered with 80s glancing tropical melodies. It’s a fun, completely packed vibe in Revolver for these guys, who we’re sure we’ll be hearing much more from in no time at all.

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Efterklang – by Tonje Thilesen

Next we tackle the treacherous path that leads us to Kulturkirken Jacob, a church that has been emptied out, warmed up and bathed in atmospheric, purple lighting to set the scene for the evening’s festivities. It’s here that Efterklang perform their second show of the festival, carefully selecting tracks from their lush back catalogue that will be sympathetic to their surroundings. The Danish collective work their way through numerous tracks from their latest album Piramida, whilst relaying how honoured they feel to be able to play this record in the land in which it was born, having recorded it last year on Norwegian archipelago, Svalbard.

As bassist Rasmus Stolberg grins his way through the performance, the crowd watches in a daze, enjoying the serene surroundings and the sonic complexity of tracks such as the beautiful ‘Black Summer’. The set is brought to an end, but not before the band have downed tools to play an unamplified version of ‘Alike’, embracing the acoustics and echoes of this beautiful building by letting their hand claps and foot stomps bounce off of the walls, as vocal harmonies drift up to the rafters. It’s a blissful, if altogether too short set from the band, who act as a gentle sigh before the thrilling, pulsating experience that’s to come next.

Well, we say that, but there’ s a pretty lengthy wait before we’re able to even get into the next venue, the only queue that we’ve really experienced at this whole event. But that’s to be expected when electronic royalty such as Todd Terje is headlining a club. The undoubted draw of the festival, the Norwegian native has packed out not only the inside of the club, but the outside too as avid fans queue on the icy ground to get inside and get involved. Entering the venue, it’s easy to see why so few people were leaving the club during the set. The main room of Blå is seeping with sweat-drenched dancers, as the crowd work themselves into a frenzy and Terje works his way through his highly touted live set. The vibe in the venue is one of pure party, but it’s towards the close of the set, when he unleashes the beat laden beast that is ‘Inspector Norse’ that excitement reaches its highest peak. Feeling well and truly lifted, we head out to the snowy exterior to head home and get ready for a final day of music.

We kick off Saturday’s activities by enjoying the snow laden, scenic beauty of the Oslo environs as we head to the hills to take part in that traditional, Norwegian family sport, Death Sledging, after which, we’re more than happy to return to the bright lights of the big city to check out the evening’s offerings.

Saturday evening begins with a set from Boska, who we’ve only managed to catch glimpses of over the weekend, yet who is undoubtedly one of the brightest propositions that we’ve come across at this festival. Fusing techno with touches of bass-led garage, Boska’s music is as hypnotic as it is consuming and although we’ve not managed to catch one of his sets in its entirety, we’re excited enough to travel far and wide to ensure that we can see this guy in his element very soon.

Mø – by Tonje Thilesen

From the dark and icily lit underground room of Jaeger, we head to the setting of Stratos, an impressive room located on the top floor of a building which stands on the city’s central square. The walls are made of glass, giving an outstanding view of the Oslo skyline, but it all feels a bit trendy around here. If Balotelli played football for Oslo, it’s here that he’d be found winding down after a Saturday match (or illicitly warming up for a match on a Friday night, as seems to be more his style). That said, it’s the perfect setting for CTM, who have a similar vibe about them – there’s an elegant cool that emanates from the stage, and a stylistic element to their music that seems, for the moment, to be a bit more refined that the songs themselves. It’s not a bad set, but it is disinteresting. That said, certain glimpses of certain songs lead us to believe that this band are worth keeping an eye on.

Next, it’s to Sentrum, a beautiful theatre nestled in the heart of Oslo where Nils Bech is already mid-performance. Dancing about the stage with a style that’d make Patrick Wolf envious, Nils Bech puts on an interesting show with his delicate vocals and visual performance combining to create something quite mesmerising. But the time is nigh to head off for the next show, for which we return to the tower top location of Stratos to witness Sweden’s NONONO unleash their melancholy, entirely blissful, twisted pop. It’s a positively enticing show, projecting excellent vocals and thoughtful melodies in front of an intrigued audience. The only drawback? It was too short, and we would’ve gladly hung around for another three or four songs.

Then comes the time to pick the act to close the weekend, so we go for a girl that has continued to impress us ever since we caught her live at Ja Ja Ja last November. Denmark’s MØ is playing the WiMP tent, so we head straight there to catch vocalist Karen Marie Ørsted at her most fiery and passionate. Tearing through ‘Pilgrim’ and recently unveiled track ‘Glass’, MØ impresses more than ever before, her head strong attitude and killer beats as strong and irresistible as ever.

And as MØ’s set reaches a powerful conclusion, By:Larm 2013 draws to a close – an excellent event combining all elements to ensure that the experience of not only Nordic music, but of the town itself has been as positive and inviting as it could possibly be. With some beautiful memories and some exciting new music tips tucked under our belt, the time is nigh for us to leave this snowy land. But from the quality of the music we’ve seen, the exceptional venues and the overall vibe and experience of this festival, we’ll definitely be among the first of the festival goers to be heading back next year.

Photos by Tonje Thilesen and Ja Ja Ja.