NEWS 2017

BEST AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR (10-11-2017)

In relation to the annual Book Forum in 2017 the host on DRK’s weekly literary review Crazy about books, Flemming Møldrup, has given DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) his list of this year’s best autobiographies. No. 1 on the list is Martin Hall’s 1971-1985.

You can see the list by clicking here.

GENERAL REVIEWS OF ‘1971–1985’

“Martin Hall writes unadorned, beautifully, often wise and most of the time relievingly funny about his youth and early days.”
( * * * * )
Politiken (Danish equivalent to The Guardian)

“Hall is brilliant in his depiction of a rampant Copenhagen in the seventies … the book is a sharp and observant snapshot.”
( * * * * )
Berlingske (Danish equivalent to The Times)

“Incredibly sharp … Martin Hall’s ability to reflect and convey his understanding is admirable.”
( * * * * )
GAFFA (Scandinavia’s biggest music magazine)

“Martin Hall has style, and with this book he manages to come close to the substance and the pain in the depiction of his early career’s harsh downside with suicides, drugs and chronic restlessness.”
Weekendavisen (Danish equivalent to New York Times Literary Review)

“The multifacetted artist Martin Hall tells a charming tale of his early, wild years.”
Jyllands-Posten (Denmark’s biggest newspaper)

“Insightful and amusing.”
Fyens Stiftstidende (major regional newspaper)


NEW BOX SET: ‘HALL CRONHAMMAR INDEX’ (05-10-2017)

On the 10th of October the book and double-LP box set Hall Cronhammar Index will be made available in a limited edition of 491 numbered and signed copies by Nordsø Records. The release contains two vinyl records with a total playing time of more than one and a half hour of music as well as a 48-page book in LP format featuring extensive photo material and an essay documenting the artists’ longstanding cooperation.

The records and book comes in a hardback canvas frame placed in a separate box that also contains a set of Ingvar Cronhammar’s newly designed “Hansha” metal cutlery with the artists’ names engraved (the cutlery is not available on the retail market and can only be purchased as part of the box set). This edition is numbered #001 to #300 and costs 200 Euro.

A standard edition “only” including the two vinyl records and the book in the hardback canvas frame will also be available. This version is numbered #301 to #491. The price for this edition is 80 Euro.

Both editions can be purchased and ordered on the Nordsø Records site as long as stock lasts. The music is analogue based and there will be no digital download codes available with the product. You can order the box via Nordsø’s shop site here:

The two vinyl records contain newly edited versions of the four major pieces of music Hall has recorded for Cronhammar in the period 2001-2017:

Side 1: Elia (23.14)
Side 2: Racing Cars (24.35)
Side 3: H (24.00)
Side 4: Design (19.47)

The first time the two artists collaborated was in connection with the inauguration of the Elia steel dome outside Herning in 2001. Next time it happened was in conjunction with the ARoS exhibition Racing Cars in 2006. In 2015 their cooperation reached its preliminary culmination with the subterranean reservoir installation H at the Cisterns in Copenhagen, an event that was visited by almost 100.000 people and won great appraisal from both the audience and art critics all over the world (such as The New York Times).

It is in relation to the newly opened retrospective exhibition Ingvar Cronhammar – Design at HEART (Herning Museum of Contemporary Art) that Martin Hall has written and recorded the last piece of music for the new box set, Design.

The album will be made available in digital form on the 31st of October.


Formally the box set was pre-launched on the 8th of September in a limited amount of copies made available to the guests on the day of the opening of the new exhibition at HEART. The remaining copies will be produced, signed and delivered during October.

REVIEWS OF THE NEW BOOK ‘1971–1985’ (04-10-2017)

The reception and coverage of Martin Hall’s new book 1971-1985 has been very positive. A short resumé go like this:

Politiken: “Martin Hall writes unadorned, beautifully, often wise and most of the time relievingly funny about his youth and early days.” ( * * * * )
Berlingske: “Hall is brilliant in his depiction of a rampant Copenhagen in the seventies … the book is a sharp and observant snapshot of a city that no longer exists.” ( * * * * )
Bogbobler: “Beautifully written, deeply personal, wildly entertaining and, not least, convincingly reflective.”
Weekendavisen: “Martin Hall has style, and with this book he manages to come close to the substance and the pain in the depiction of his early career’s harsh downside with suicides, drugs and chronic restlessness.”
Jyllands-Posten: “The multifacetted artist Martin Hall tells a charming tale of his early, wild years.”
Fyens Stiftstidende: “Insightful and amusing.”
Radio24Syv: ”Needle-pointed wit … the book kindles you and you’re moved as you enter its many rooms.”

On October 10 Martin Hall meets the renowned Danish author Kirsten Thorup in Tranquebar, a combined café and bookstore in central Copenhagen. On November 11 he’ll be appearing at Bogforum at Bella Center Copenhagen, the big yearly book fair in Denmark.

For a more complete list of features and interviews made in relation to the book release, please see this update.

HALL AT BOGFORUM NOVEMBER 11 (03-10-2017)

On November 11 (Saturday) at 2.30 PM Martin Hall will be appearing at Bogforum at Bella Center Copenhagen, the big yearly book fair in Denmark. He’ll be interviewed by Morten Lindberg in relation to his new book 1971-1985.

Among many other things Lindberg presents the weekly radio program Croque Monsieur at Radio24Syv, where Hall was a guest recently. You can hear the show here:

MARTIN HALL MEETS KIRSTEN THORUP (02-10-2017)

On Tuesday the 10th of October at 7.00 PM Martin Hall meets the Danish author Kirsten Thorup (born 1942) in Tranquebar, a combined café and bookstore in central Copenhagen. The evening is presented under the heading “A journey through generations and relations”.

Based on Hall’s new book 1971-1985 and with parallels to Thorup’s recent novel Remembrance of love, the two writers will try to identify some of the many questions that both books contain – such as the relationship between parents and their children as well as the massive influence the 70’s had upon both generations.

You can buy tickets at the price of 50,- DKK through www.billetto.dk or in the entrance on the evening itself.

HALL IN P2’S ’SUNDAY CLASSIC’ (01-10-2017)

On Sunday the 1st of October, at 3.03 PM, Martin Hall is invited to join the team in P2’s Søndagsklassikeren, a program on Danish National Radio focusing on Brahms – more specifically on the composer’s String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Op. 67.

Presented by the host Frank Jensen today’s guests features Martin Hall, soprano Camilla Toldi Bugge and classical guitarist Peter Oldrup. You can listen to the program here:

 

CURRENT INTERVIEWS AND FEATURES (02-09-2017)

The media interest in and coverage of Martin Hall’s new book 1971-1985 has been massive. After the launch of the book at Politikens Boghal, where Hall met the literary editor at Jyllands-Posten, David Jacobsen Turner, for a short interview, the following features have appeared:

The week after its release 1971–1985 went top 10 at Bog & Idé’s sales chart (Denmark’s largest bookstore chain)
On October 1 Hall will be guest in P2’s Søndagsklassikeren.
On October 10 he meets the renowned Danish author Kirsten Thorup at Tranquebar and on November 11 he’ll be appearing at Bogforum at Bella Center Copenhagen, the big yearly book fair in Denmark.

REVIEWS OF THE BOOK

“Martin Hall writes unadorned, beautifully, often wise and most of the time relievingly funny about his youth and early days.”
( * * * * )
Politiken

“Hall is brilliant in his depiction of a rampant Copenhagen in the seventies … the book is a sharp and observant snapshot.”
( * * * * )
Berlingske

“Martin Hall has style, and with this book he manages to come close to the substance and the pain in the depiction of his early career’s harsh downside with suicides, drugs and chronic restlessness.”
Weekendavisen

“The multifacetted artist Martin Hall tells a charming tale of his early, wild years.”
Jyllands-Posten

“Beautifully written, deeply personal, wildly entertaining and, not least, convincingly reflective.”
Bogbobler

“Insightful and amusing.”
Fyens Stiftstidende

“Needle-pointed wit … the book kindles you and you’re moved as you enter its many rooms.”
Radio24Syv

NEW MARTIN HALL BOOK OUT AUGUST 17 (01-08-2017)

On August 17 Martin Hall’s long-awaited book 1971-1985 will be published – his first in five years. The publication is an autobiographical depiction of his formative years as a boy and a young man.

The book is released by Tiderne Skifter (a subsidiary of Gyldendal releasing the works of authors such as W.G. Sebald, Jean Rhys and David Lynch). The publishers write the following about the book:

“1971-1985 is a high-speed portrait of the Danish artist Martin Hall’s childhood and early youth, a teenage chronicle that focuses on a period of great personal and cultural impact in a rampant Copenhagen.

From the rough black-and-white photos of the seventies to the following decade’s Polaroid pictures, from glam rock to punk and from Madame Arthur to Rockmaskinen at Christiania – the journey is long from General Franco’s catholic Spain, where Martin Hall lived as a young boy, to the liberated sex shops of Vesterbrogade.

Written in a simple, yet figurative language, he describes his parents’ reckless sense of adventure and the ruthlessness that characterized his adolescence, the alcoholic culture the seventies were soaked in as well as the sexuality and the political climate of the period.

As a new generation cuts through previous norms and values, Hall’s personal journey and following formation as an artist during the early eighties reveals a story of great personal hope and tragedy, spiritual ferocity and loss.”

The book amounts to 248 pages and is released with support of The Danish Arts Foundation.

HALL IN POLITIKEN’S BOGHAL AUGUST 17 (01-08-2017)

On the day of the release of Martin Hall’s long-awaited new book 1971-1985, an autobiographical depiction of his formative years as a boy and a young man, Hall visits Politikens Boghal for a talk and an in store-signing.

Between 5 and 6 PM on Thursday the 17th of August Hall will be interviewed by journalist and literary editor on Jyllands-Posten (Denmark’s biggest daily newspaper) David Jacobsen Turner. There’s free entrance.

You can read more about the book here.

HALL WRITES NEW CRONHAMMAR MUSIC (26-06-2017)

In relation to the retrospective Ingvar Cronhammar – Design exhibition at Herning Museum of Contemporary Art (opens September 9, 2017), Martin Hall has written and recorded a new piece of installation music for one of the exhibition’s rooms.

The museum writes the following about the upcoming event:

“The exhibition Ingvar Cronhammar – Design focuses on the field between design, architecture and art by showing a series of Cronhammar’s innovations of objects such as cutlery and lamps alongside a number of installations and architectural models. The exhibition will lead the visitor through a selection of Cronhammar’s most versatile designs and works, selected and curated in close collaboration between the artist and HEART’s chief inspector Michael Bank Christoffersen. ”

Martin Hall and Ingvar Cronhammar have worked together several times before – first in connection with the Elia sculpture in 2001, since then in conjunction with the ARoS exhibition Racing Cars in 2006 and most recently in relation to the great success H at the Cisterns in 2015. Concurrently with the upcoming exhibition preparations towards an overall release of the collected music Hall has written to Cronhammar over the years are on the go.

You can find more information about the Design exhibition at the HEART website.

One of the current designs at the upcoming exhibition is Cronhammar’s new cutlery and plate set, a design that the restaurant chain A Hereford Beefstouw has just launched. The cutlery has been named Hansha, which means “reflection” in Japanese. The knife looks like a mix of a scalpel and a saw while the fork assemble something in-between tweezers and a pair of Asian chopsticks.

Press photo reproduced with permission from Mingo Photo.

‘RANDOM HOLD’ ENTERS CHART AT #14 (05-05-2017)

In the week following its release on Record Store Day (April 22) Random Hold enters the Danish vinyl chart at #14.

For the full Top 40 please see this link: Official Top 40.

You can order the album here.

‘RANDOM HOLD’ 2017 VINYL EDITION (14-03-2017)

In relation to Record Store Day 2017 (April 22) Martin Hall’s Random Hold album will be released in a new vinyl edition. The record hasn’t been available on vinyl before. This 2017 album has been remastered by its original producer Thomas Li. The vinyl version includes download codes and the remastered version of the album will also be available via digital platforms such as Spotify and iTunes as well.

At its original release in 1996 Random Hold was proclaimed to be Hall’s most important record so far by the Scandinavian press. In Denmark it received quotes such as the following:

Politiken (Danish equivalent to The Guardian): “The grandiose and beautiful, dusty album Random Hold is the hermetic Hall’s most flawless pop work ever.” (*****)
Berlingske (Danish equivalent to The Times): “Martin Hall has rarely appeared more precise, serene and focused than on his latest release.”
Information (the Danish equivalent to The Independent): ”A damned good release from Martin Hall.”
Nat & Dag (major monthly magazine): “Martin Hall’s best record so far. A little miracle.” (*****)
Zoo Magazine (major monthly magazine): “Martin Hall’s peak as an artist.”
Undertoner (Danish site for independent music): ”An uncompromising and naked expression … intimate and attentive deliveries.” (*****)


Throughout the years the album has attracted more and more international listeners and still gains growing attention from music connoisseurs all over the world. Already at the time of its European release in 1997 the record received waves of appraisal, but whereas it back then primarily was the gothic and electronic scene that adopted Random Hold, the album has since enjoyed a much more varied audience in countries such as Germany, Italy and Poland.

Orkus (major German music magazine): “Beautiful music … art at its purest.”
Gothic (major German music magazine): “The perfect music!”
Zillo (major German music magazine): “Denmark’s multimedia artist faces his German breakthrough.”

Recently (March 2017) the Polish indie-band Hidden by Ivy has recorded a cover version of the song ”Another Heart Laid Bare”, one of the original singles from Random Hold.

You can order the release here:

ORDER ”RANDOM HOLD” VINYL LP (incl. download codes)

HALL AT COPENHAGEN MAIN LIBRARY (14-03-2017)

In relation to the re-release of Random Hold on Record Store Day 2017 Copenhagen Main Library presents a night about the album on April 20 (7 PM). On this occasion Martin Hall will be interviewed by Danish Broadcasting Corporation P6 Beat’s Anders Bøtter.

Although the remastered vinyl edition isn’t released before two days later, you will be able to both buy the record as well as getting it signed on the night.

You can find further information about the arrangement here: Copenhagen Main Library

POLISH BAND COVERS HALL SONG (14-03-2017)

On March 24 the Polish indie-band Hidden by Ivy releases the album Beyond, on which they’ve recorded a cover version of Martin Hall’s Another Heart Laid Bare. Originally the song was featured on Hall’s Random Hold album released in February 1996 (a remastered vinyl version will be available in April 2017).

The members in Hidden by Ivy are Rafal Tomaszczuk (vocal) and Andrzej Turaj (instrumentalist). The Band comes from Warszawa and has so far released two albums.

You can hear the band’s new version of the song here.

You’ll find further information about the current re-release of Martin Hall’s original Random Hold album here:
‘Random Hold’ remastered vinyl edition 2017 (Record Store Day 2017)

Copenhagen Main Library on April 20

MARTIN HALL AT BANDCAMP (02-01-2017)

Stream and listen to a large selection of Martin Hall solo albums and related side projects at Bandcamp. All titles are available as both physical and digital albums at the site. If you acquire a cd or vinyl version, you automatically get the record as download as well.

At Bandcamp you can furthermore buy downloads in the FLAC format (audio files in a much quality than the mp3 standard).

You can use Visa, MasterCard and several other credit cards on the site. Obviously it’s also an option to pay via PayPal.

Bandcamp quadrat