Tags
Casiokids, Casiokids Band, concert video, electronic music, indie music, kung fu necktie, live music, live philly concerts, Norwegian, polyvinyl, R5 Productions
The Casiokids of Bergen, Norway were at Kung Fu Necktie in Philly on October 18th and we feel very sorry for those who missed this exciting performance. Boasting 6 members on this night, the core group of Ketil Kinden Endresen, Fredrik Øgreid Vogsborg, Omar Johnsen and Kjetil Bjøreid Aabø blew us away with their delectable synth pop sound. Though the songs weren’t in English, we all understood what we were hearing – a sound that has truly gotten tighter and tighter in it’s evolution since 2005 and one which permeates the soul with electric precision.
Playing mostly tracks off their new album, Aabenbaringen Over Aaskammen, Casiokids made many new fans on this evening. We were fortunate enough to get a copy of the album digitally beforehand as it was just released this month in North America so we were very excited at what we might hear. This new collection of songs was written in conjunction with each other making it the most cohesive album yet. Hearing it come to life was truly an honor.
A little background on their new album title comes courtesy of their website. We loved this explanation:
Why was “Aabenbaringen over aaskammen” chosen as the album title?
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.
The show and the story of adventurer Dr. Tarzan Monsoon was immense fun and the Casiokid sound made dancing irresistible. The multi-talented band would switch off instrumentation duties culminating in a full scale switch finale wherein everyone changes instruments and jammed out (video to follow).
We hope that these Norwegians will return to the city of brotherly love soon as sounds like theirs seldom pass through. Casiokids played this final night in the states (outside of New York CMJ performances) and will next head to Japan for their first tour in that country ever. We hope you enjoy some video from the evening:
