NEWS 2009
SUBLIME REVIEWS OF MARTIN HALL’S 2009 CONCERTS (02-11-2009 14:49:34)
The reviews from Martin Hall’s first live-performances in more than three years have been absolutely fantastic. All features, reviews and articles report that Hall seems to be at his peak as both a singer and a performer at the moment. Add to this that his backing musicians – as well as the light and the live sound – at the shows are getting equally praised. You can read a short summary of each review with links to the relevant sites in the following survey:
Gaffa (Århus): “An absolutely outstanding evening … you couldn’t ask for much more.” (5 out of 6 stars)
Jyllands-Posten (Århus): “He let the highlights of his first 30 years of his impressive career speak.” (5 out of 6 stars)
Geiger (Flensborg): “Phenomenal: Martin Hall and his group weren’t just good; there were moments that can only be desribed as sublime.”
Transmission (Flensborg): “I’m about to give the event the “concert of the year”-sticker.”
Medienkonverter (Flensborg): “Für mich das bewegendste und emotionalste Konzert seit langer Zeit. Ganz, ganz groß!.”
P1/Europaklip (Flensborg): “Martin Hall’s in all probability best concert ever.”
Herning Folkeblad (Flensborg): “Hall-eluja, this was good!”
Grenzwellen (Flensborg): “A touching and impressive evening! Totally overwhelming.”
You can also read the response from the audience at Hall’s Facebook site.
UPCOMING MARTIN HALL CONCERTS (16-10-2009 21:31:56)
As you can read more explicitly about further down this page, Martin Hall performs three major concerts as a singer during this autumn, The concerts will be his first in three years and will feature current material as well as songs all the way back from the early days of his career.
Hall’s live ensemble features Johnny Stage (guitar), Mikkel Meyer (electronics), Henriette Groth (piano, würlitzer), Ida Bach Jensen (double-bass), Karoliina Koivisto (violin), Carla Kuotila (cello) as well as Sisse Selina Larsen (drums, percussion). Time and place of the concerts as follows:
Saturday the 24th of October: Hotel des Nordens (Flensborg).
Friday the 30th of October: Sankt Pauls Kirken (Århus).
Sunday the 8th of November: DR-byen (Copenhagen).
You can buy tickets here: Flensborg – Århus – Copenhagen.
REWRITING THE SCENE-REMIX
Hall is currently enjoying a minor club hit in London, ‘Rewriting The Scene’, a remix of the ‘Mirrorball’ single being released by English label Beat Monkey on October 26. A new video for the can be seen here:
New video available on YouTube: Watch the ‘Rewriting The Scene’ video here.
HALL COLLABORATES WITH DANISH PERFORMANCE ACT ‘TONE’ (07-09-2009 10:49:22)
Before the three Hall live-concerts with full backing band during October and November, MH collaborates with Danish electronica and video artist Tone in relation to the opening of two multimedia festivals, Robodays at Kulturmaskinen in Odense and Apart at Platfoirm4 in Ålborg:
1. Friday the 11th of September: Robodays (Odense).
2. Thursday the 17th of September: Apart (Ålborg).
Please note that these concerts will be instrumental performances, audio-montages blended with video and spoken word-recitations.
Tickets for the Robodays-performance is available at www.danbillet.dk
or at telephone +45 6614 0110. Tickets for the Apart-performance is available at Billetlugen or at Platform4.
NEW MARTIN HALL SINGLE ’MIRRORBALL’ OUT SEPTEMBER 7 (26-08-2009 11:11:30)
As a prelude to his first concerts in three years Martin Hall releases the new download-single and ep Mirrorball on September 7, a release on which he collaborates with three (very) different producers.
The radio-single and title track “Mirrorball” is produced and recorded with one of the new great talents of the period, Maskinen (one part of the duo Stoffer & Maskinen, an act that currently ranges on high-profile Danish music magazine Soundvenue’s ‘High 5’-list as well as receiving a fair amount of airplay on the National Danish Radio).
After this grandiose first version follow two radically different versions of the same song, ‘Patterns Of Waiting’ featuring producer Mikkel Meyer and ‘Forgetting The Details’ featuring long-time Hall associate Christian Skeel (both artists contributed to MH’s critically acclaimed album Hospital Cafeterias released earlier that year). In Mikkel Meyer’s version of the original song it’s being viewed through a set of almost clinically detached, electronically based optics, whereas Christian Skeel examines the song’s vocals and melody structure in collaboration with the orchestra The Vista Dome Ensemble. Last version on the ep is Hall’s own original recording of the song, a version on which guitarist Johnny Stage also performs.
The title will be available from Monday the 7th of September on iTunes worldwide.
’RELIEF’ AND ’CUTTING’ THOUGH IN NEW SPECIAL EDITION CD (26-08-2009 11:10:40)
The most requested album from Hall’s 80’s catalogue has always been Relief, MH’s first lp-release as a solo artist, an album on which he – apart from singing obviously – plays all instruments himself, everything from the drums to the string section. The lp was originally released in the spring of 1985 and has ever since topped most fan polls concerning the impossible question which album’s been Hall’s best ever (an impossible question since his career has been so many-sided and diverging as is the case). In the most recent voting among the members of yahoo-site The Martin Hall Society, ’Relief’ went straight in as #1.
Never before released in digital form ’Relief’ now finally appears on cd and download on September 21, remastered and issued alongside MH’s other grand electro-pop record 80’s, ’Cutting Through’. The new special edition contains both records on one cd and is released with a new cover and a booklet featuring lyrics as well as original photos from the period. As downloads the titles can still be purchased separately.
You can order a copy of the cd-release at info@martinhall.dk. The price per unit is 20 euro which includes postage and handling. The title will also be available from Monday the 21st of September on iTunes worldwide.
FIRST MARTIN HALL CONCERTS IN THREE YEARS (14-06-2009 15:46:55)
During the autumn of 2009 Martin Hall gives a series of rare live performances in both Denmark and Germany.
As interested parties will know, Hall has played surprisingly few live-concerts during his career, but in relation to his 30th anniversary as a performing artist it will be possible to catch the Danish legend at the following occasions (please be informed that the September 11 performance is instrumental, whereas the other concerts will feature MH as a singer with full live band):
1. Sunday the 8th of November: With 8-piece ensemble at The Danish National Radio (Copenhagen).
2. Friday the 30th of October: At Saint Paul’s Church (Århus).
3. Saturday the 24th of October: Premiere concert with full ensemble at Hotel des Nordens (Germany).
4. Friday the 11th of September: Hall + Else Marie Pade at Kulturmaskinen (Odense).
You can read more about each separate event in the following notices.
HALL LIVE AT HOTEL DES NORDENS IN GERMANY: OCTOBER 24 (14-06-2009 15:38:04)
On Saturday the 24th of October 19.30 CET Martin Hall plays his first of all in all three concerts as a singer during the autumn of 2009 at Hotel des Nordens in Flensborg, Germany. The hotel is situated very close to the Danish border, so obviously it will also be possible to book an overnight accommodation in one of the hotel’s many rooms.
The concert will, as already stated, be the first in a series of three concerts with full backing band after a three year pause from any live events. Each of these concerts (Hotel des Nordens, Sct. Paul’s Church in Århus and the final performance at the new concert house in The Danish National Radio, Copenhagen) will differentiate slightly – partly due to the mood and place of each separate location, but also in terms of the expected set-lists.
However, the concert at Hotel des Nordens will be a lot more than merely a concert. The enormous facility will also house a small Hall exhibition featuring original graphic works (where you’ll be able to buy an original piece of signed Hall artwork – a first time ever offer), present newly composed at different times in different parts of the hotel as well as offer the audience readings and minor performances before and after the concert itself. It will also be possible to enjoy a glass of correctly served absinth in the hotel’s strangely luring Tanzbar Marlene’s both before the musical performance as well as during the festivities of the night, since The Danish Absinth Association enriches the event with its presence.
A specific timetable for the whole of the day and the night will follow at a later point, but you are able to book one out of three “packages” for the concert already now:
A. Ticket for the concert only (19.30 CET): Kr. 199 DKK (26 EUR).
B. Three-course dinner with wines (17.30 CET) + ticket for the concert: Kr. 349 DKK (46 EUR).
C. Three-course dinner with wines, ticket for the concert + overnight accommodation including breakfast the following day: 499 DKK (66 EUR).
You can order your ticket and/or stay at www.billetten.dk. For non-Danish speaking you can contact the hotel for further information: info@hotel-des-nordens.com.
The nearest train station to the hotel is Padborg. From here you take a taxi to the hotel, which is situated 5 km. from the station (approximately 75 DKK/10 EUR including start fee).
HALL LIVE AT THE SAINT PAUL’S CHURCH IN ÅRHUS: OCTOBER 30 (14-06-2009 15:37:45)
On Friday the 30th of October 19.00 CET Martin Hall plays at the Saint Paul’s Church in the Danish town Århus in connection with the yearly Recession Festival where he will feature as the 2009 main event. The concert with Hall will be arranged as an independent event after which you then can go on to such venues as Voxhall to catch the rest of the festival line-up that night.
The concert at the Saint Paul’s Church will be the second of all in all three live appearances during the autumn featuring Hall with a full ensemble. Rumour has it that the live-set will vary a bit from concert to concert, and judging from the setting of the church you might expect a surprise or two on this occasion. Check out more details about the event at Recession 2009.
The concert is arranged in collaboration with the The Århus Academy of Fine Arts who also will be involved in the visual design of the arrangement. You can buy tickets at www.gaffabillet.dk.
HALL LIVE IN KONCERTHUSET IN DR-BYEN: NOVEMBER 8 (14-06-2009 15:36:32)
After three years’ exile from the live stage Martin Hall gives his first concert performance with full backing band in the capitol of Denmark, Copenhagen, on Sunday the 8th of November 20.00 CET. This event will take place in Koncerthuset in DR-byen, the brand new concert hall of The Danish National Radio.
This concert furthermore marks MH’s 30th anniversary as a professional musician and live performer due to the fact that a (very) young Hall made his debut as a singer at the legendary Danish punk festival Concert of the Moment on November 9 back in 1979 (at a long gone venue called Saltlageret, the place where acts such as Nico and New Order all played when visiting Denmark before the place was closed at the end of the 80’s). On this occasion MH gave his first concert with his new group Identity, a band which two months later changed their name to Ballet Mécanique. The rest is history.
The concert in DR-byen will take place in Studie 2 in relation to a later transmission. Like the two preceding concerts in Århus and Germay the Hall live-ensemble is said to feature Johnny Stage (guitar, keyboards), Mikkel Meyer (electronics), Henriette Groth (piano, würlitzer, viola), Ida Bach Jensen (double-bass), Karoliina Koivisto (violin), Carla Kuotila (cello) as well as Sisse Selina Larsen (percussion).
Tickets available via www.billetnet.dk.
HALL PREFACE TO NEW DANISH BAUDELAIRE TRANSLATION (28-05-2009 11:59:03)
On June 26 the independent Danish publishing firm Det Poetiske Bureaus Forlag (The Poetic Bureau) releases the so far most extensive collection of Danish translations of Charles Baudelaire‘s prose writings, Udvalgt Prosa (‘Selected Prose’).
The release has been translated by af Luna Tirée de la Brume and is illustrated by Thomas Faber.
The publication’s 515 pages is introduced with a preface written by Martin Hall, a writing about the artist entitled “The Poet, the Priest and the Soldier”.
THE NEW MARTIN HALL ALBUM ‘HOSPITAL CAFETERIAS’ MET WITH FANTASTIC REVIEWS (11-03-2009 14:22:17)
Martin Hall’s latest studio album Hospital Cafeterias has received a line of overwhelming reviews. In the following section we bring you a short overview of some of the quotes and appraisals Hall has received in relation to the release.
Among the list of participants on the album you’ll find artists such as Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial, Marquis Marcel de Sade as well as members of the renowned Danish band Efterklang.
Politiken (The Danish equivalent to The Guardian): “Exceptional: In the wild growing Martin Hall catalogue ’Hospital Cafeterias’ is both a concentrate as well as a climax in his production.” (5 out of 6 hearts)
Soundvenue (The Danish equivalent to Q Magazine): “A varied and beautiful album: Hall balances self-assured on the knife edge between decadence and humility, to a degree where you can be nothing but fascinated.” (5 out of 6 stars)
Information (The Danish equivalent to The Independent): ”Best album since 2001. Outstanding.”
Undertoner: “Hall is a pioneer who still searches for the absolute limit.” (5 out of 6 stars)
Geiger: “Without the shadow of a doubt a principal work in Hall’s already impressive line of artistic outputs”.
MetroXpress: “Magnificent!” (5 out of 6 stars)
Skopet: ”Grandiose and generous.” (4 out of 5 stars)
Voxhall: ”An extraordinary and spectacular experience. Wow!!!!”
Grenzwellen: ”Desolaten Atmosphäre und desperaten Intensität.”
Ernesto Tomasini: “’Hospital Cafeterias’ is a masterpiece! A beautiful masterpiece!”
You can hear a selection of the tracks from the album on the new Hospital Cafeterias Site.
You can order the cd here or download.
Please be informed about the newly released special editions of Random Hold, Apparently All The Same and Relief/Cutting Through as well.
SPOKEN WORD PERFORMANCE WITH ENSEMBLE ON APRIL 16 (06-04-2009 12:34:58)
Jazz N Poetry is a monthly arrangement at Copenhagen Jazzhouse presenting the best of Danish poetry and experimental jazz. On Thursday the 16th of April Martin Hall visits the club to perform one of his rare lyrical shows. He will be assisted by the conducting agent Lennart Ginman, Simon Toldam (piano and electronics) and Johannes Burström (bass and electronics).
The night will be presented by beat poet Claus Høxbroe and will further feature the two young Danish writers and poets Christel Wiinblad (born 1980) and Katinka My Jones (born 1983).
The doors open at 20.00, and the entrance is 90 kr. The adress is Copenhagen JazzHouse, Niels Hemmingsens Gade 10, city centre of Copenhagen.
The day before, on Wednesday the 15th of April, Hall visits Århus Hovedbibliotek in company with the Danish poet Nicolaj Stochholm in relation to their appraised spoken word release Færden (Geiger Records). This is arrangement is free of charge and starts at 17.00.
NEW HALL VIDEO: ’40 VERSIONS OF THE TIME BEFORE’ (09-02-2009 19:12:12)
After the fairly scandalous YouTube-ban of MH’s P.O. video, the latest piece of visualization from Hall and director hansen-hansen.com is a slightly more discreet piece of imagery.
The video made for ’40 Versions Of The Time Before’ is a documentary filmed during MH’s salon on January 15 this year featuring the home of infamous Danish pianist and connoisseur Marquis Marcel de Sade.
You can find further photos in the Danish magazine Citadel‘s latest issue where three pages are devoted entirely to this event.
Watch the video here: 40 Versions Of The Time Before.
WATCH THE YOUTUBE-BANNED HALL-VIDEO “P.O.” HERE (04-02-2009 10:50:58)
The new Martin Hall video “P.O.” that was banned from YouTube on January 31 can now be seen at the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladets site Nationen.
The video is made by Hall and Danish fashion photographer hansen-hansen.com) and merely features a shadowy girl posing in woman’s lingerie with a gag in her mouth. Apparently the video’s sexual content was too much for the site – at least it was removed and replaced with the caution notice “this video has been removed due to terms of use violation”.
The musical track itself is taken from Hall’s new and already highly praised cd Hospital Cafeterias and song features a collaboration with Danish avant-garde legend Else Marie Pade (now aged 84).
NEW ALBUM FEBRUARY 2009: ‘HOSPITAL CAFETERIAS’ (01-01-2009 18:53:34)
On February 2 Martin Hall releases his long awaited new album Hospital Cafeterias, a record that – alongside Hall himself – features a line of guest vocalists and other contributors on each separate track. The list of participants looks like this:
Claus Beck-Nielsen Memorial (led by a nameless writer, singer and director), Else Marie Pade (the grand old lady of Danish electronic music), Knud Odde (visual artist and musician in Sort Sol), Marquis Marcel de Sade (pianist and flaneur), Andrea Pellegrini (mezzo-soprano), Christian Skeel (musician and visual artist), Miss Fish (queer-performer and singer), Casper Clausen (singer and musician in the renowned Danish ensemble Efterklang), Herbert Zeichner (narrator), Mikkel Meyer (electronic musician), Sara Fiil (classical singer), Volkmar Zimmermann (classical guitarist), Katja Andersson (singer in Saccharin) and The Vista Dome Ensemble (orchestra).
The album contains 18 new recordings, songs as well as recitations, tracks written in collaboration with the other participants or by Hall alone. You can order the cd here.
You can also buy the album as download.
‘RANDOM HOLD’ SPECIAL EDITION (01-01-2009 18:53:03)
Alongside the new ‘Hospital Cafeteria’ cd, MH re-releases one of his finest works ever, his 1996 album Random Hold. Among other achievements the title still figures on the list over the 50 most important releases in Danish rock in Politikens Rockleksikon (the ultimate Danish rock encyclopedia).
Having been out of stock since 2001 ‘Random Hold’ will be reissued in a special edition featuring over 30 minutes of additional material from the original recording sessions. Outside of Scandinavia ‘Random Hold’ has also been released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it received excellent reviews as well. You can order the cd here.
You can also buy the album as download.
‘APPARENTLY ALL THE SAME’ SPECIAL EDITION (01-01-2009 18:52:19)
As the third and final release on February 2, MH also re-releases the Under For album Apparently All The Same – without doubt one of his most significant releases during the eighties. Originally launched in the spring of 1984, the 2009 version comes as a special edition featuring the group’s legendary concert at The ISCM World Music Days in November 1983 (a radical performance with some resemblance to Hall’s already canonized work ‘Inskription’).
‘Apparently All The Same’ was one of the very few Danish releases from the period that got hyped by both New Musical Express and Sounds. The re-release marks the album’s 25th anniversary. You can order the cd here.
You can also buy the album as download.