Posted on 14 May 2012
Do the Tarantella!
Picture courtesy of Liv-Hilde Dimmestøl
When asked to contribute with a few bits and pieces for a set of songs in the period between 2009 and 2011, I could do nought but to gleefully accept. This band - which you may or may not have heard of before - have in fact been keeping it together for many, many years, during which many songs have been recorded, while, curiously enough, rather few have been released into the open, notably the wonderful single entitled "The Sea" which is available in digital form, and which was mastered by Mark Kramer.
Tarantella's made up of Liv-Hilde Dimmestøl, Taran Greni, and DeMonica Ruud, the latter also being very active with her two-piece band Kakke & DeMonica, and also Bøyen Beng, amongst a vast amount of sound production and projects.
Have a listen! And apparently Tarantella is playing at Sound of Mu in Oslo on the 30th of May.
Information about all the above mentioned: Fantasight website
Posted on 12 Nov 2011
Science of Sound
I've just been watching my good friend Tony Jacobsen's (We Are Monsters) new music video of "Trains passing by" - and I must say that it is a lovely piece! Have a look/listen.
Furthermore, he'll be releasing an album sometime very soon, on which I contributed to a song with a few bits of guitar and samples. Read more about his personal Science of Sound here.
Posted on 9 Nov 2011
2 short videos from 'Everything moves'
The 'Everything moves' EP, which currently is available on CD from the webshop, is a fully instrumental 6-trk release recorded spontaneously over a very short period early in 2011. Its main instrument is the classical (Spanish) guitar; making it entirely different from other Painted Romans releases. A dream and ambition come true!
Click on the thumbnails below for online listening...
Posted on 19 Dec 2010
Gratitude!
Dear Reader,
The year is coming to an end, and for me personally 2010 has been a long end exhaustive year, at least midway, but then recently it felt very short. . . How was it for you?
I sincerely feel that I should mark the coming of a new year somehow. . .
November and December have shown up as peak months on my statistics, meaning there's been many, many unique visitors here. Like I said in an earlier post; this means a lot to me because it tells me that many of you have had a sincere wish to find out more about this act, one that's painted but not quite Roman :) I do, of course, hope that it's been worthwhile, and there is nothing I'd like more than to see every one of you stop by again (and again and again).
As a small sign of my appreciation I'm offering a package of free music, one that includes many strange tracks that I've come across in some of the boxes "that's scattered around in my living room." They come from clean, digital mediums as well as from groooovy old demo tapes ("hiss hissssssss..."; said the snake), and they span the last ten years! (Wow, and I'm still around?? How old am I?) Needless to say they have not been mastered (which is the last sonic step in the process of making a commercial disc), thus presenting a varied sound quality and degree of completeness. . . They do, however, show both great diversity and some of my proudest achievements in songwriting throughout the years. Perhaps there always was a natural progression and matureness from then to now? Perhaps listening to these raw tracks first and then the album streams second will give some sort of meaning, an explanation of why the latter sound like they do? You tell me! Email
Also included in the package is a nice cover for your pc music library, portable player and such.
Download Painted Romans - December 2010; demos 2000 - 2010 here (42.8MB)
And so I wish you all Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year; - be it a silly 2011!
All the Very Best,
Mats D.
- by the fjord. . .
Posted on 12 Nov 2010
Review of 'Painted Romans ...and Time!'
On 11 Nov Mr. Leonard of the highly respected 'The Weblog Of Leonard?s Lair' published the very first review of the second Painted Romans album. I must admit to blushing while reading it . . . It's hard to explain the profound pleasure I take in writing, producing, designing and hand-making these items to people who appreciate my works: INDEED IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!
". . . he sounds like the Scandinavian answer to early Prefab Sprout."
". . . this gentleman deserves an award for being an honorary eccentric Brit. . ."
". . . there?s more creativity in one song here then there is in a whole albums? worth of many big name, so-called ?alternative? releases.
Available from this website from MONDAY 15 NOVEMBER
Posted on 8 Nov 2010
Free Track
Here's a chance to slip into the vibe of the new Painted Romans album; available here from 15 November 2010.
Download the jangly "60's" pop song 'Waiting for the Day' for free!
Looking forward, sideways. . . . .
Posted on 26 Oct 2010
Painted Romans . . .and Time!
The album will be available from mid-November 2010, only from this website.
'. . . and Time!' holds nine original compositions/songs, and is a more 'experimental' release than its predecessor 'Evil Wigs and Bedroom Moments' (which is still available)
'Waiting for the Day', perhaps the most radio-friendly track on the album, got its first airing on Blue Fred's Radio Session, Radio RheinWelle 92,5 in Germany last week. You can pre-listen to excerpts here.
The release will be on CD, and is personally made to each and everyone (read more about it in the article below). I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't become an international bestseller!
Posted on 23 Oct 2010
Narrow-minded?
As I'm gradually narrowing Painted Romans' prescence on the web, I have made music players available in the download section where you can preview both 'Evil Wigs and Bedroom moments' as well as the upcoming release 'Painted Romans ...and Time!'
But why should I want to narrow my prescence, you might ask? . . .
- The philosophy behind Painted Romans
The year (ca.) 2000 marked a huge change in the way that music is consumed. . . We all know that, don't we?
The 20th century saw the appearence of vinyl, tapes and CDs, all of them with sales that peaked sometime very late, but long before the turn of the century. Around 2000 a website called Napster appeared - a p2p site which allowed people to share music in completely new ways by letting a user enter another users computer from where music files could be downloaded. I'm sure every user of the internet knows how it works by now. . . Although the original Napster was successfully discontinued by Metallica (and they've been taking more than a few punches since), other sharing services was already in the crafting and were becoming increasingly available. Now, ten years after, CD sales are dropping with the speed of light and MP3 sales are following in that same downward spiral. Streaming has become the new platform for music, and even though Spotify (which I've gathered must be the leading streamer) is offering a fee-based account, only a low percentage of the users choose it - rather going for the free account that offers the same, only interrupted by advertisements.
It's clear to see that artists these days can't rely on music sales alone, as they will at its best cover the break-even for producing the sound carriers; studio time becomes ridicolously expensive (and hopeless) when placed in this realistic scenario. The only real options are playing concerts, getting lots of airplay, and possibly nailing a publishing deal - given that other successful artists use the songs, or advertisers and PR and such. . .
I, on the other hand, have not yet taken a genuine interest in publishing towards others, nor to making sounds that accompany the marketing of someone elses' product. To be honest I haven't yet established a performing ensemble either (although Painted Romans have been two on stage, and that have worked great!). . . All this might, however, change at some point.
Instead of producing pre-pressed CD's prior to a release (it typically costs a house, doesn't it?) I will be making limited, hand made items aimed at whomever takes an interest in the music. In other words; one cannot expect to find it on Spotify, or even in shops (there aren't really any CD shops left here in Norway. Mad I know!) However, MP3s might be an option if they're the best quality, but they will only be available from one provider in such a case.
Today mostly everything seems to revolve around all kinds of social network societies like facebook, twitter, linkedin, myspace, errr and what have you. . . Their common factor is indeed 'exposure', and at that they work really well. Or do they? I have chosen to go the opposite way by keeping just this dedicated website, (perhaps leaving the myspace page intact, dunno yet) and of course an email address. I made this choice not to exclude myself from the world, nor to play hard to get, act childish and so forth, but simply because I feel that the more options - the more fleeting everything is. This I know is true, but hey; I don't really think it's a choice at all because by limiting my online prescense I can only assume that you, the reader, are more likely to have taken a genuine interest in the music, because let's face it; personal websites are not the "hype" nowadays. Perhaps the internet should've ceased to progress a few years ago while most of the content were of some interest and all that overwhelming advertising everywhere weren't yet messing with our minds. . .
But here I feel that I need to balance something out: I am not criticising social networks and the use of such services. I am only saying that they are unsuited platforms for a project like this. If such an attitude stands in the way for massive exposure, then maybe this mathematical formula of an expected scenario can be explanatory:
But then again I'm not a grade A in mathematics!
Put simple: I want to concentrate on this specific website, where I am in control and don't have to go along with naughty and undemocratic changes in design and administration. . .
This might sound compelling in a sort of wicked way, but it is the way I want it, and since you are now visiting these personal websites I can only tell you how grateful I am that you are stopping by, and how flattered I am to know that you are spending some moments here, when there is so much else to do on the net. . .
Despite all this - sharing is everything!
Thank you!
Ps! Be not afraid to write me your thoughts. . .
Posted on 29 Aug 2010
Farewell to the first, the last, the only . . .
My early days were pretty much spent beside my father's vinyl collection, one that contained a healthy mix of obscure and commercial music; from Young Marble Giants to Tears For Fears, Portion Control to Simple Minds, Durutti Column to a-ha. And while I must admit that I gave the latter a fair amount of spins, I never really felt like a fan.
That aside; today I read about a-ha's performance in Bergen, and also watched the video recording of the two opening tracks that was made public on nrk.no, Norway's national TV and radio broadcaster. The article's author begins by claiming that "Rolling Stones' Bergen-visit was of course bigger/grander", and "MUSE and Coldplay are of course more exciting (than a-ha)" . . . Well, I say ha-ha! Respect is due.
a-ha had the world at their feet when they released 'Take On Me' and the album 'Hunting High And Low' in 1985. It became massive and stayed in the Billboard Charts' top 20 for a long time, as well as elsewhere. They stayed at the peak for many years. But what a-ha also faced was a kind of silence in their homeland; they fell victim for what we call "Janteloven". It's a law that came to be long after the Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose wrote it down in a book from 1933. It basically says that "you shall not think that you are better than anyone else". a-ha sort of left Norway and became an English/American product instead. Thank God for that!
a-ha WAS better than everyone else, they WERE bigger (or at least as big) as most international names at the time, they sold out a staggering 200 000 crowd in Brazil (while Guns'n'Roses, Prince and others drew some 60 000). a-ha was, however, met with silence from a relatively large amount of music journalists and other "key-people" in music biz, even though a-ha's collected record sales exceeds 50 million albums and singles worldwide!
We will never, ever witness this kind of "Norwegian" success again. Not to mention international success. The Stones may have had a 20-years head start over a-ha, but are not "bigger" for it. MUSE and Coldplay may have made music that lacks emotion and, more importantly; dynamics, and are therefore by no means more exciting than a-ha. Morten Harket's voice is one of the very few that matches that of the late Billy MacKenzie of The Associates; both of which makes my hair stand up.
Noone can ever compete with the first, the last, and the only a-ha, because as far as musical success goes; they are Gods. Period.
Here's one of the best ballads of the eighties:
"And in the distance I could hear a soft voice whispering: Bigger than Beatles . . ."
Posted on 04 Aug 2010
Music = fatigue ?
Now here's an issue that has been the talk among sound enthusiasts, mastering engineers, huge music publications and also, hopefully, bands and artists. It is the so called "Loudness War", and it talks about how modern mastering is damaging music, or put differently: Why modern CD's sound (please forgive me) awful. Mind you I'm not talking about modern music here!
Mastering music for CD purposes is not exactly rocket science, but requires skills. Although I'm sure that those skills are still present at every larger mastering facilities, I also fear that they are mostly put aside in repect for the record labels' or bands' own wishes; whom both want their CD to sound so loud it's ridiculous, just to be competitive with "everyone else".
The sad thing about this practice is that everyone who enjoy listening to music, but don't necessarily know anything about soundwaves and mastering, are the losers in this battle. Why labels and bands resist to take this into consideration is to me totally absurd. For example, the latest Metallica album was so loud that it contained continuos noise, ie clipping of the sound. This led to debates, and a storm of complaining and unsatisfied customers (fans!) who had gone out and spent money on this piece of junk. This is only one in a million examples, and it is a shame!
The facts:
When you, as a music lover more than anything, listen to a new CD, or an old remastered CD for that matter, you are more than likely to experience fatigue after extensive listening. The reason you do so is because the "sound-floor" in the music is raised in volume, so as to sound just as loud as a snare drum. The snare drum on the other hand is limited and cut, which means that it is clipping on every hit. They meet in the middle and squeeze the life out of 98% of all CD's (perhaps starting with Oasis back in 1993?) "When there is no quiet, there can be no loud" someone said, and were they right! The music sounds lifeless, dull, and just overall worse because of it.
When did the powers that be decide that listening to music shouldn't be a pleasurable activity??
Below you can see and hear a fine video by Matt Mayfield demonstrating how extreme loudness is killing music:
I am also a fan of (older) The Cure, and used to be a collector. Below you can hear the difference between the original 1990 CD-release of their fab live album "Entreat" versus the remixed and remastered 2010 "Entreat Plus" version. Just for the record: I'm glad I have the original CD and vinyl issues. . .
You might be wondering why I'm writing about this on paintedromans.com, and to answer that question I'm publishing a picture of a soundwave from Painted Romans's upcoming album. The picture clearly shows how I have chosen to master it with the natural sound dynamics intact, although the sound in general can be described as close to lo-fi. . .
The result makes you turn up your volume, hopefully without damaging your hearing or experiencing fatigue, because as Matt Mayfield says in his educational video: "You own the volume knob, not the record producer". . .
Revive the respect for CD-buying music lovers!
Happy listening !
Posted on 28 Jul 2010
Dr MeDeviate's Top Ten, still highly valid in 2010!
10 - Where can I get a record deal?
A: I've heard that they're handing them out smoking fresh at 7ELEVEN, but this rumour is yet to be confirmed. I could sell you one on a piece of paper for $50 000, or you could do it the hard way and 'lend' your body to some big shot, although the latter one is not recommended.
9 - I've heard that time will mend a broken heart. Is this true?
A: Unfortunately not. Time will only shred your heart until you're nothing but a nervous wreck.
8 - What is 'Kitsch-Pop Hell'?
A: It's a place similar to the website you're currently viewing. It's also a place you end up in if you don't believe in the revenge of the mighty doughnut.
7 - Do we really need to build a new world on Mars?
A: Not really, no.
6 - Can we believe what has been said and written about the music industry and its predicted downfall?
A: Certainly, you can believe whatever you like. That's the upside of having a brain that can separate meat balls from a dog's poo.
As it turns out, we are all individuals anyway with an exclusive right to think, feel, say, and do anything we like (except hurting others of course). So, do you really believe in the hollow earth theory?
5 - What has paint got to do with Romans?
A: Oh dear oh dear. . . The paint symbolises agricultural knowledge gone down the drain, whereas Romans are a kind of people, not too different from other people.
4 - Do rock stars really drink beer? I mean really?!
A: The latest reports indicate that the difference between a rock star and the rock stars elderly neighbour is in fact minimal, i.e. they are both happy to enjoy a sniff of port at Christmas. But the alleged debauched lifestyle of what you refer to as a rock star has never actually been confirmed. In fact most of them are merely just small, annoying kids who neither drink beer nor coffee.
3 - What's a Burrito?
A: It's a necklace you wear when you're high.
2 - Is it right to talk to your parents about sex?
A: Well yeah, if you are comfortable with it. After all, they should be in the position to answer your questions in a somewhat 'experienced' manner.
1 - Gee! You seem to know a lot. Can we call you Dr. Phil?
A: I'd prefer not.
Posted on 18 Jul 2010
Album due in 2010
It has become sort of a habit for P.R. to release something every 2-3 years, and the modern Romans of 2010 won't prove any different. Due later this year is the more experimental follow-up to 2008's 'Evil Wigs And Bedroom Moments', the album that "shook" the world with its strange poster slash download format. Yes, it was indeed a weird, yet genius way of releasing an album. General confusion seemed to soar high!
The process of making this album has been an ongoing, and head scratching(!) one for the last couple of years, and on this I've been joined by my dearest for vocals on my personal favourite song, and Mr Dahlø plays the drums on another (was extra with 'Evil Wigs. . .') Mr Jacobsen of We Are Monsters has indeed provided me with his kick drum idea on one, and myself have spent months and months glueing it together. Well, it is time, soon. . .
Winterscene Studio (the portable 1!)
Posted on 07 May 2010
Series Two Records releases "RETROSPECTIVE", a 5-disc compilation set
With a total of 118 song contributions from 118 different artists spanning the world, the compilations feature more than 380 minutes of original songs!
Painted Romans is featured on "Retrospective" disc #2 with a previously unreleased song entitled "Age Took Us By Storm".
The compilations are released on 11th May 2010 and are dressed in the cover arts which are seen below. They are, in my humble opinion, some of the best covers I've ever seen.
Please visit SERIES TWO RECORDS to find out more about these, and a whole lot of other indie releases. Purchases can be made from their convenient store on that same site.
Posted on 23 Feb 2010
Radio
Lovely Spanish radioprogramme El Cuartelillo (Radio La Cotorra) is playing Painted Romans from time to time, plus a range of other indiemusic. They broadcast on air as well as via the internet, and is worth checking out. And on March 7 Painted Romans will be featured on a German radio show called Blue Fred's Radio Session, which is also broadcast on air and via the internet.
Another Spanish radioprogramme called La Merienda (Canal Extremadura) gave Roman-tracks a couple of spins too.
I must admit that it's very flattering to be invited by radio stations, which was the case with all of these mentioned above.
Thank you!
Posted on 5 Feb 2010
Live Mood Swings!
When: Fiday 19.03.10
Time: TBA
Where: Kultursenteret ISAK
City: Trondheim
An evening featuring three VERY different local bands (duos):
We Are Monsters / Electro Italo-disco, funky, danceable
Kakke & DeMonica / Furious rock, loud
Painted Romans / Electroacoustic, ambient, classical
More information soon. . .
Posted on 11 Jan 2010
List-mania!
Every year there are top-10/50/100-lists made by people who have been observing and writing about music and, I would imagine, nearly everything else including movies, electronic gadgets, cars, etc.
2009 was of course no exception, and Painted Romans' album Evil Wigs and Bedroom Moments made its first list-appearence when Jon Leonard of the great Weblog Of Leonard's Lair featured it amongst his TOP 10 ALBUMS of 2009!
It was published on [sic]magazine along with several other Writers Top Ten of 2009.
Jon Leonard also wrote a lovely review of the album.