EXIT 2005, ENTER 2006
31.12.2005
Looking back back at 2005 I'm amazed of how much happened and how I found time for it all. I travelled and toured five continents, was involved in some 30+ releases, helped organize two festivals, moved to a new apartment and did a healthy amount of design work in between. I even managed to finally get my driver's licence! The downside was loosing our friend Koji so much too early. World politics are not improving either, but that's somewhat expected. Anyway I wish you all the best possible 2006! I think it will be good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
21.12.2005
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, wherever you are!

SONIC NORTH
19.12.2005
The Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) has just published a book called "Sonic North" which zooms in on norwegian noise and experimental music as it stands in 2005. Articles and interviews by or with Rune Grammofon, Are Mokkelbost, Fe-Mail, Anne Hilde Neset and your truly. Editors are Sindre Andersen, Ute Meta Bauer and Christiane Erharter. It's a 100 pages, in english and available from OCA. Perfect reading for the holidays.

SEE THE TESTICLES
12.12.2005
Here's a site with photos of our Testicle Hazard performance at Avanto. Happy men with brown shirts.

THIS WAY
06.12.2005
My pal Håvard Gjelseth, aka This Way Design, who did this, the All Ears and the Jazzkammer websites has relaunched his own website showcasing his (excellent) designwork. Go see it. It offers a sneak preview of the new Jazkamer grindcore logo. Håvard is now in the process of redesigning the Jazzkammer webiste, to launch in january with our new album.

NASH MP3
24.11.2005
Here is a taste from the Nash CD.

NASH KONTROLL
22.11.2005
The band which has existed for a year and a half already is finally making it's debut on disc: Nash Kontroll - a powertrio of me, Dror Feiler and Mats Gustafsson. The CD "Your Left Hand Just Exploded" is out of Sweden's hottest label for intense music: Ideal Recordings. If you're only getting one of my records this year - this is it. Heavy with a capital H.

BIG BALLS IN FINLAND
21.11.2005
Me and Tommi Keranen's new 'new old school' wall-of-sound happy noise duo Testicle Hazard made our live debut at this weekends Avanto festival. Here are the first five minutes of the performance. Stay tuned for more testicle action.

BACON TRIBUTE
26.10.2005
Danish label Vital has put out a CD of yours truly, Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, Contagious Orgasm and Hentai paying tribute to the painter Francis Bacon. Each of us does an audio interpretation of a Bacon painting we like. My piece is "Figure in Movement" from 1978). Handsome digipack splatter design, limited to a mere thousand copies. Get it here.

NEW TWR RELEASE
26.9.2005
After two years of low activity, TWR Tapes is finally back with an exciting new cassette: BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL / A.M. / DEL "Live at Cuba Street Carnival & Huttstock - 2005". Sixty hallucinogenic minutes of seducing out-no-post-pre-wave drone rock recorded at DEL's New Zealand rampage this february. One side is live at the Cuba Street Carnival, Wellington, february 26th 2005. Flip the tape and you're treated to a delirious freak-out at the Huttstock Festival in Lower Hutt the following day. Performed by Petter Flaten Eilertsen, Antony Milton, Campbell Kneale, Lasse Marhaug, Per Gisle Galaen and Kjell Runar Jenssen. Recorded directly to cassette, in glorious dolby mono. Official release will coincide with Birchville Cat Motel's Oslo gig october 5th at Dans for Voksne, but copies are available via mailorder as of tonight for the hefty sum of 8 american dollars, which includes postage and packing to whatever corner of the globe you are hiding. If you run a mailorder or a shop, write for wholesale prices. This could be a limited edition, we don’t know yet, so don’t hesitate to order.

GOVERNMENT ALPHA REMIXED
25.9.2005
I was thrilled when my pal Yasutoshi Yoshida asked me to remix a track of his Government Alpha project earlier this year. Now the disc is out on Alienation.

TALK TALK TALK
22.9.2005
Here's an interview I did last year for Rare Frequency. And when you're done there's an interview with the godesses that are Fe-Mail.

NEW (SMALL) RELEASE
11.9.2005
Lady Godiva has a new sub-label called Elefantkvinnan (The Elephant Lady) which is doing a series of those small 3" CD-R cards. I've done a short drone piece which is the third in the series. Available here.

THE BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS ON DISC
10.9.2005
Japanese-norwegian folk-psych-out-acid-schlock band The Birds has their debut album out now on Important Records. One of the tracks on "Bird birds birds in the World" is produced by your truly, but don't let that put you off - it's a really good record. The first 1000 copies comes with "deluxe 3D" covers that will make you dizzy looking at it.

CHIMICHURRI RETURN
9.9.2005
Back from an amazing time in Argentina (with a small trip to Uruguay). Everything went extremely well and we had a really good time. Thanks to all the people we met.

GOING TO ARGENTINA AGAIN
22.8.2005
For the second time in less than a year I'm going to Buenos Aires again. Playing at both the Decibel Festival 2005 and the No Spaghetti Edition 05 Festival. Exciting. This also marks the beginning of the unraveling of a formerly unknown Buenos Aires-Bergen connection, to culminate in the next edition of the Borealis festival next march. Stay tuned.

KNING DISK ARE OLD FRIENDS
21.8.2005
I now join the ranks of proud artists in the Gothenburg based superlabel Kning Disk "Gallery Edition" releases - a series of lavishly packaged 3" CD-R's in a sadistic limited edition of 8 copies. So limited it's a small wonder I got a copy myself. Probably the first release where you could invite all people who own the record to dinner. The rest of you are condemned to listen to it online, here. It's called "Old Friends".

THE PASSING OF A FRIEND
1.8.2005
Our friend Koji Tano died yesterday, sunday july 31st.

My information is limited, but what I know is that Koji was diagnosed with stomach cancer in may, but after surgery the doctors could only conclude it was too late, the cancer had spread too far, and he was given maximum a year left to live. It lasted only two months.

Koji did more in his short time (I belive he was only 43) than most of us can hope for in a full lifetime. He had many friends around the world. As an organizer of shows and tours in Japan he was the key to almost everyone in the noise/experimental community coming to Japan. He seemed tireless, as he was constantly networking and helping people out (myself included).

As a musican Koji made a name for himself with his project MSBR, with countless releases and tours all over the world. (On his tours he always took with him younger acts, giving them exposure). Koji also launched the first extensive website for noise music, up and running in 1996. He published a magazine, ran an online mailorder, booked shows and tours, ran several labels, and in the last two years had his own store in Tokyo. His dedication and support for the music he loved was something extraordinary and his passing leaves a huge void in the noise scene.

I have been corresponding with Koji for over ten years and met him in person on a handful of occations. This april I was in Japan, touring with John Hegre and John Sharp. During our time in Tokyo we stayed at his apartment, Koji sleeping on the livingroom floor, insisting we use his bedroom. He guided us around and made sure our stay was the best it could be. I belive the show he set up with us at Shibuya O-nest on April 16th was not only the last show he ever set up, but also his last MSBR concert performance.

Usually when people pass away people remember the good stuff, but I can honestly say I've never heard anybody say a single bad word of Koji. He was, simply, a hero. Rest in peace Koji, we will miss you.

My condolences to Koji's close friends and family.

(The picture on the left is Koji in his store/office, taken while I was in Japan in April).

NEW RELEASE: JAZKAMER IS NO FUN
25.7.2005
My third release on the Utech label in half a year is out: "Ninguana Diversion" is a raw mono cassette recording of Jazkamer's set at april's No Fun festival in Brooklyn, now yours to enjoy in the digital format. Mindless screaming, broken electronics and the first sign of metal to come. The CD-R comes in the kind of tasteful packaging we've now come to expect from Utech. First edition is limited to 150 numbered copies.

MIX TAPE BOOK
24.7.2005
The wet dream of cassette tape fetishists like myself has now materialized in the form of a beautifully designed coffee-table book titled "Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture". Edited by Thruston Moore and published by Universe Publishing it features contributions by a wide selection of interesting people, as well as yours truly, in the form of a garage-punk mixtape I got from DEL's drummer Kjell Runar Jenssen. Highly recommended and available at reasonable price from Amazon.

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS
8.7.2005
Please note that I have a new email address: lasse.marhaug@chello.no - the old 'broadpark.no' is no longer.

MOVING: CHANGE OF ADDRESS
26.6.2005
This week I'm moving to a new apartment. If you intend to send me something please take note of the new address.

NEW RELEASE: CARNIVAL OF SOULS
6.6.2005
Portugese label Thisco is this week releasing "Carnival of Souls" - a 20 minute track CD made out the soundworks from "The Letter" - a short film directed by Tom Løberg which I scored last year. Not a soundtrack to the film, but a piece made to stand on its own. It has a strong cinematic quality to it, coloured by the surreal and creepy images of the film. Scary stuff.

BRAKHAGE TALK
25.5.2005
I don't normally post about reviews here (I just put them straight on the discography-pages), but there's an interesting piece on my "Brakhage" record on groove.no. It also features some e-mail correspondance between me and the writer. In norwegian.

JAZKAMER JAPAN TOUR ONLINE
09.5.2005
The entire Japan tour of Jazkamer from last month is now online to download. All shows were recorded on a portable cassette tape recorder, so it sounds pretty rotten and primitive - quite unrepresentetive of the actual events, but that's the way we like it.

NEW RELEASE: PERSONAL HYGIENE
06.5.2005
Utech Records, who also did my "Spaghetti Western Rainbow", have now released "Personal Hygiene" - a lavishly packaged CD-R containing a live performance me and drum maestro Paal Nilssen-Love held in Stavanger in 2003. Brutally limited to only 75 copies (really not my choise!), of which a handful are available from me.

MP3 ARCHIVE UP
03.5.2005
Today I'm putting ten hours of my music/sounds online, in high quality mp3, free to download. This includes: • Previously unreleased studio material, including a B52 cover song • Radio sessions and interviews • Location recordings • Compilation tracks from out-of-print releases • Live recordings, including collaborations with Leif Elggren, André Borgen, Per Gisle Galaaen, Kouhei and Carlos Giffoni • Various remix tracks, including an rejected remix of Kim Hiorthoy • Albums that have been unavailable or out-of-print for a while, like: • My '99 solo album "I can't remember silence" • Jazzkammer's "Turntable Surface Fireball 2" LP from 2001 • The split CD-R with Ring from 1998. I will be adding more material later in the year, but this should do for now. Feedback appreciated. The MP3 archive is here.

NEW LP: JAZZKAMMER/OPEC
20.4.2005
Danish label Reverse Recordings have just released a Jazzkammer/Opec split LP. Our side is a 20 minute turntable freak-out, while Opec offer a more subtle but no less intense soundscape. 323 copies, silkscreened covers and a proper vinyl mastering by the good Rashad at D+M in Berlin. A limited number of copies available from me.

BACK FROM JAPAN
19.4.2005
Back from Japan tour. It was a great time, shows went well and we drank a lot of calpis. I will post a 'photo diary' for both this and the New Zealand tour in the not too distant future.

JAPAN TOUR DATES
29.3.2005
The dates for the Jazkamer Japan tour are here. There will be a tour-only 7" Jazkamer/Mr. Natural single available for this tour + we have brand new Jazkamer t-shirts available.

NEW RELEASE: MUSIC FOR FAKING
23.3.2005
It's here! The third installment in my ongoing duo collaboration series with the tireless lady of sound and good friend Maja Ratkje; "Music for Faking". Released by C3R Recordings, with wild pop-art visuals and songs like "Nihilist Ace Blues for Time Travel" and "Pop Up in Strange Beds with a Smile", you should know what you're in for. Pop music the way we think it should be.

NEW RELEASE: BRAKHAGE
22.3.2005
My friends at Melektronikk have released a split CD with me and my good pal Andreas Meland, titled "Brakhage". The title is of course refers to legendary experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage, as the CD features two long pieces by each of us; both intended as 'alternate' soundtracks to classic Brakhage films. This was originally a live performance in 2003, and I'm very pleased that it now has become a release as well. With cover design by Grandpeople.

TONS OF FUN
15.3.2005
Getting ready to go to New York for No Fun festival. Only in its second year No Fun is looking to be the festival for noise music. This year's line-up is incredible; with acts like Whitehouse, Fe-Mail, Runzelstirn & Gurgelstock, Double Lepards, Sudden Infant, Dave Phillips and lots more. I'll try and not spoil it with my apperanses with Jazzkammer and duo with Peter Rehberg.

TERRY RILEY IN BERGEN
8.3.2005
Minimalist composer and legend Terry Riley will be the festival-composer at the Borealis Festival in Bergen next week. I'm the graphic designer for the festival, but sadly I cannot attend this year festival. It's a fantastic programme, and all shows are dirt cheap, so there's really no reason to not get yr ass to Bergen. Jpgs of the catalogue and poster posted in the visual section.

IDEAL FESTIVAL
8.3.2005
I'll be doing a collaboration with Mats Gustafsson and Lotta Melin at the Ideal Festival in Gothenburg this weekend. The festival has a great line-up, with artists like Whitehouse, Fennesz, Keith Rowe and others, so well worth the visit if you are located nearby.

CORNUCOPIA REMIXED
8.3.2005
Locus of Assemblage have released a double CD set of Cornucopia; disc one is a re-issue of their "C" album from a few years back, while disc two is a collection of remixes, including one by me.

BACK FROM DOWN UNDER
7.3.2005
Returned yesterday from a fantastic trip to Singapore and New Zealand. Many thanks to all who helped make it such a great time. A bit jetlagged after the 36 hour travel home, but it's worth it.

JAZZKAMMER GOES COW
10.2.2005
New release: Jazzkammer is now a part of Staalplaat's long running series of "Mort Aux Vaches" CDs. Get it from Staalplaat. I will have copies in stock in a few weeks as well.

LORDS OF THE SHEEP
9.2.2005
The dates for the DEL New Zealand tour are ready. Although DEL has been going since 1997, this is the first time we play outside Norway. So we figured when we finally go, we should go as far as possible. Of course the NZ music scene has been an influence on us from the first day we started rockin', so even better. On the way down we'll be making a stop to play a show with our pals in Singapore. We'll have a lathe cut 8" single, a CD-R card and new sexy t-shirt available for the tour.

NO SUNN
4.2.2005
Sunn0))) have cancelled their gig at No Fun, so I won't be performing with them there. Instead I'll be doing a duo with Pita, and also Fe-Mail has been added to the bill, so it should be a good night even without the sunshine. But - it seems I will play with Sunn0))) at the Inferno Festival here in Oslo the week after. Other bands include Morbid Angel, Dissection, Grave (old death metal favorites of mine) and Candlemass.

SO LIMITED
3.2.2005
New release: my one-string violin duo with Tom Løberg called Two Limited has a limited edition CD-R release on UK label Kabukikore. This is a one hour mix of all the recordings we did in 2002 on various locations in the Trondheim area. This mix was made for Resonance.fm and aired last september.

SCUM FROM HUMBUG
21.1.2005
New release: Lasse Honoré Bøe/Tore Marhaug "Scum Noise Renditions" - a 7" lather cut in 60 copies released by the ever busy Humbug label. This is a live recording of me and Tore from someone's apartment in Antwerpen, Belgium in the summer of 2003.

SHAPE OF ROCK IN STOCK
11.1.2005
I now have copies of "The Shape of Rock to Come" available for sale.

"SHAPE" NOMINATED
7.1.2005
Funny bit; "The Shape of Rock to Come" has been nominated for the norwegian Grammy award (Spellemannsprisen). Anyway, Deathprod is also nominated for his excellent "Morals and Dogma"; one of my favorite albums of last year, and he deserves to win.

NO UNION ALL IMPROV
5.1.2005
Next week is the all Ears festival, which I'm organizing with Maja Ratkje and Paal Nilssen-Love. All improvised music, and this year celebrating the 100 year anniversery of the dissolvement of the Norway-Sweden union, it's all norwegian and swedish artists. To kick-start the festival me, Maja and Paal will be doing a show at Blå tomorrow.