Entertainment For Lively Minds
Norwegian Blue(Paul)
Right, so in a couple of weeks time, Mrs W and I shall be heading up north, to the home of fiskeboller*, aquavit** and the fans of Liverpool Football Club***!
Yes, we're off to Norway, on a big eff-off cruise ship, to visit the heaving metrollopses of Stavanger and Bergen and a few big fjord-y things as well.
Naturally I shall be spending most of my time enjoying the sights, sounds - and smells - of the local environs, but inevitably there will come a time when I shall want to plug in the earphones and listen to some appropriate tunes.
But what to listen to?
I can fill up the iPod with lots of (obvious) Icelandic stuff, and of course I've a fair bit of Swedish pop in the collection - but it would be nice to have something evocative of both the country and the location to listen to.
Any thoughts? If you can't help, it's 'Take On Me' on heavy rotation. And we don't want that, do we?
Help ensure both Mrs W and myself are pining for the fjords on our return!
Takk Massive****!
*the most disgusting foodstuff known to man.
**beware. This stuff can make you go blind. Excellent straight out of the freezer, at room temperature it is the most disgusting spirit known to man.
***fact.
****did you know 'Massive' in Norwegian is 'Massive'? You do now!
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Not Norwegian..
Try some Beach House or Deerhunter. Neither from Norway, but both have a cool glazier type vibe to their music. Or maybe The Ice Maiden by Prefab Sprout. Enjoy your trip!
Ice-related songs
Good:
Iceblink Luck - Cocteau Twins
Ice Hockey Hair - Super Furry Animals
Bad:
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice
Cold As Ice - Foreigner
Ugly:
Town Called Mal-ice - The Jam
How about…
some Edvard Grieg?
Husky Patrol
Finnish? Very nice.
any relation to
Husky Rescue?
Wave to my ship Paul
On the 20th we fly to Oslo then we embark on an Arctic Cruise hoping to see some of those Arctic Monkeys everyone's going on about. Failing that some Polar Bears and King Eiders as we cruise to Svalbard and on to Iceland.
As we start at Oslo I'll be mostly packing Wilco, Costello and Gogol Bordello, and I'm looking for more bands/artists ending in "o".
Obviously some Sigur Ros as well - hope you have as good a time as I intend having.
Tenuous
(Siouxsie & The Banshees, Mirage)
Mirage from "The Scream", named after Edvard Munch's painting...
Oh and if heading North don't forget..
*edit* I fear this looks like flippant bad taste now but if you've ever been in a town where people carry guns for this specific reason you'll realise these signs are there for a reason..
Perhaps sir would care for some Thor?
When are you in Stavanger?
if I'm about I'll join you for a pint.
By the way, fiskeboller come quite far down the list of most disgusting Norwegian foods. Try lutefisk or smalahova if you really want to impress the girls.
Hi Sid
We're in Stavanger on the 15th.
Now I, as a confirmed 'Massive Mingler', would be delighted to meet up.
I should however point out that Mrs W is somewhat unsure about this 'meeting up with geeks off the internet' thing that I do and she might need some persuading!
I'll DM some contact details if that's ok, but in light of the above, don't rearrange any plans on our behalf!
Cheers
Paul
PS: I can't believe there is anything more disgusting in the WORLD than fiskeboller!
Is it worse than Hákarl?
That's really nasty. It's basically rotten shark, and it reeks of ammonia. Lovely.
Probably not.
But the story goes like this.
Picture the scene. It is my first time in Oslo, back in the mid-eighties. A friend of mine is working there and I'm over visiting. We go out for drinks and meet up with some of his colleagues, including a beautiful Norwegian girl, who I get chatting to. Wanting to come across as cosmopolitan and urbane (rather than as the Scouse kid about a million miles out of his depth/league that I am) I ask about the local delicacies - what should I be eating to experience the 'real' Norway?
'Fiskeboller' She says.
I can loosely translate that - fish balls. Easy.
So I shouts over to my mate Trevor, "Let's have fiskeboller for tea tomorrow night!'
His face falls. You cannot be serious. But I insist - they have been recommended to me by the lovely...let's call her Inge. Because that was her name. I think.
So we have fiskeboller. Or rather, I have one mouthful of fiskeboller, which my mouth considers and which my throat rejects.
Imagine a slimy, white ovoid thing that has a fleeting taste of fish but a texture reminiscent of phlegm. An ovoid that slips away from your attempts to bite or chew, like a live thing. A slimy, phlegmy live thing.
That, my friends, is fiskeboller.
Bring on the rotten shark.
Mmmm...fiskeboller ( fiskbullar in Swedish )
Seriously, did you really think it was that bad ?
It's not Micheline star quality food, but they're not as nasty as you describe them to be.
But the real reason for eating them is of course to mash your boiled potatoes with the sauce ( plain white sauce for me, thanks! )
Makes you feel five years old again.
A bit of artistic license there
But essentially yes, a couple of mouthfuls and that was it for me.
I do have a problem with food with a slimy texture generally, so I was always unlikely to get on with them...
And the lovely Inge insisted. And I think she genuinely thought I would enjoy the experience, I'm sure. As my mate said to me, "Of course she likes them - she was brought up on them!"
My mouth started watering
when I read the word "fiskebollar" - no, honestly! I used to make these but haven't for a long time.
Maybe my recipe book was anglicised, but haddock, cream, cornflour & seasoning (including nutmeg - yummy), all mixed up and shaped into, er, balls, poached in milk & served with a creamy prawn sauce - what's not to love?
The cornflour probably dates the recipe book and maybe gave them a firm rather than slimy texture, but I'm tempted to give them another try before the next NW Mingle & report back.
Paul
What you have to seek out the answer to the following conundrum.
What Daniel O'Donnell is to Ireland, ......... is to Norway!
There you will find happiness.
What you need
... is some Biosphere (otherwise known as Geir Jenssen. He hails from Tromso. He released one of the best ambient albums ever - Substrata - glacial in its beauty.
Kings of Convenience are also from Norway - beautiful acoustic stuff reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel.
Going to Bergen then it must be
Mayhem!!!
Aquavit
Have it with fresh out of the oven French bread and herrings (not the ones in tomato sauce
Thanks all
Some nice suggestions there - I'm particularly taken with Steerpike's 'Biosphere' suggestion - 'glacial' sounds right and proper!
Sid - got your message and I shall work on Mrs W's silly preconceptions. Will also depend on what time we are sailing in the evening, which I don't know yet.
Hoping to get down to a London meet soon so will see you there hopefully if not.
Sadly no response from Young Ola - but then, he'd only suggest some Iron Maiden...
Great Norwegian Folk
Excellent stuff. I was glad to read this post as it gives me the chance to preach about the wonderful Saint Thomas.
An ex-postie from Norway he released some of my favourite ever albums & would be a cracking accompaniment to your trip.
Here is a link :)
]
Saint Thomas - Cornerman
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
Ambient electro pop from a Norwegian duo
...and of course
not forgetting, in a similar vein and also from Tromso: