Midnight Choir
Biography Midnight Choir
Midnight Choir
March last year marked the return of the legendary Midnight Choir when the band played two sold-out gigs at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo. Initially planned as a one-off gig, part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the venue where the band did their last gig together exactly thirteen years earlier. Due to overwhelming reaction from media and fans the band since then have done 30 gigs on all major stages and festivals, finishing off 2017 with Drammen Theatre on November 10th.
Midnight Choir has undoubtedly become the Norwegian artist most favored by the critics since their 1994 debut "Midnight Choir".
The follow-up "Olsen's Lot" (1996) was done amidst the post-grunge blues of Seattle, Washington with Chris Eckman producing. It received rave reviews and was voted best Norwegian rock album by the music press in their poll. The album was also nominated for the Norwegian Grammy that year.
The group’s commercial breakthrough came with their 3rd album and masterpiece Amsterdam Stranded (1998). Hardly a commercial album, it opposed most existing trends in music. The album was recorded at Estudios Valentim de Carvalho, outside of Lisboa with producer Chris Eckman, engineer Phill Brown (Talk Talk etc.) and Walkabouts drummer Terri Moeller. The reaction to the album was overwhelming. It received rave reviews, a Grammy for Best Rock Album 1998, a return to the official national chart 12 months after the release, sell-out tours and standing ovations, release in Europe via Glitterhouse, rave reviews in Sweden and continental Europe, etc. The album went gold.
In the spring of 2000 English magazine MOJO wrote the following about Amsterdam Stranded in its March issue: - « ... Anyone drawing a line from Hank Williams through Patsy Cline then on to Gene Clark, Wilco and Lambchop might flinch to see it suddenly veer across the Atlantic and wind up in Norway - but, for the moment, that's where the world's most heart-shreddingly tuneful, alternative country rock is being made. Vocalist Paal Flaata has a distinctive advantage over his contemporary US heroes in that, with a voice that makes Scott Walker sound like Little Jimmy Osmond, he can sing them all into a cocked Stetson.»
Unsung Heroine (2000) their 4th album, is 50 minutes of pure beauty, given the sensitive touch of writer Al DeLoner.
The album was recorded at Studio Metro Ljubljana, Slovenia and mixed at Swanyard, London, again produced by Chris Eckman and engineered by Phill Brown. Special guests include Carla Torgerson of Walkabouts fame (vocals), master guitarist Robbie McIntosh (Night, Pretenders, Talk Talk, Paul McCartney a.o.) and Nils Petter Molvaer on trumpet.
The initial pressing of the album included the band’s version of Spain’s ”Spiritual” as a bonus track. Unsung Heroine went straight into the Norwegian album chart at #3, and garnered great press such as Album of the Week in The Sunday Times. The album went Gold and later became the band´s third Grammy-nomination in a row. In July of 2000 Midnight Choir did ten dates in Germany as special guests on The Walkabouts European Tour.
UNCUT´s Rob Hughes wrote in his review of the album in the magazine´s February 2001 issue: - « ...Fourth LP from Norway's finest export - following the superb Amsterdam Stranded. Helmed by regular producer Chris (Walkabouts) Eckman and aided by the silky larynx of The Walkabouts´ Carla Torgerson and the cinematic sparkle of Talk Talk engineer Phill Brown (Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock), this is shining proof that heart-burstingly beautiful Americana needn´t be confined to the prairie. Paal Flaata´s voice - melding the deep luminosity of Fred Neil, the sweetness of James Taylor and the weary maltiness of Tindersticks´ Stuart Staples-soars over a collection of bruised, mostly piano-led songs that veer between Erik Satie minimalism and Willard Grant Conspiracy spellbound by the Northern Lights. Swoonsome».
Waiting For The Bricks To Fall (2002) was recorded at Sono Recording, Prague and Studio Metro, Ljubljana during April - September 2002 with Chris Eckman (producer) and Phill Brown (engineer). Mixed by Phill Brown at Sanctuary Westside London with Chris Eckman and Al DeLoner. The album is dark but more extroverted, and true to the band’s tradition of opposing most existing trends in music which has placed the band in the forefront among the most acclaimed Scandinavian alternative rock bands in Europe. The album features Talk Talk’s Lee Harris on drums and percussion. Tim Friese-Greene (Mark Hollis/Talk Talk ”sideman”, arranger and co-producer) did all the album’s choir and string arrangements while all words and music are by Al DeLoner except for “Motherless Child” (traditional) and “Calling The Land” words by Al DeLoner – music by Al DeLoner/ Ron Olsen.
Waiting For The Bricks To Fall was released in Europe on February 24th 2003, on the Glitterhouse label to tie in with the band’s European gigs with Richard Thompson and Jackie Leven.
