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SALEM

New album under construction!

About Me


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The Needle In The Butterfly
(Lars von Trier/Anders Bøtter/ Thomas Scavenius)

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SALEM BIOGRAPHY:
Salem have their own unique sound and style. Part soundtrack to an imagined previously unreleased Spaghetti Western, and part existentialist symphony packed with literary references, mariachi trumpets, banjos, bells and a Russian army choir, Salem are impressive! Through bombastic landscapes of sound ingeniously orchestrated to intimate cabaret-like night club gusto, Salem combine a vast variety of genres and styles and refuse to be pigeon holed in one particular direction. A common denominator, however, is the superb vocal that shies no comparison to the greatest crooners of all times and the songs that, though founded in a pop-context, dare wrestle the great philosophical themes of our time with poetical flair and lyrical beauty.
In 2000 Salem was formed by singer Mikkel Risbjerg and composer Kasper No Behrens. Manifested in the release of the band's first album 'I Kicked the Dog' the duo had established one of the most exciting and unconventional acts on the Danish rock scene.
With the release of the Trilogy - "I Kicked the Dog" (2002), "The Anatomy of Pain" (2003) and "From the Riverbank" (2005) - Salem has taken the Danish critics by storm, receiving two nominations to the most important and highest ranked Danish music award, The Steppenwolf 2006, and several top 10 album-of-the-year rankings by an agreeing unity of Danish written medias.
In 2006, Salem released "Nord1" - an album celebrating the Scandinavian folklore tradition, hence sung in their native language Danish. Nord1 was nominated for Danish Music Awards 07 and ranked top 5 album-of-the-year by the newspaper Information.
As a result of substantial airplay on various international radio stations, along side with requests from the European and American movie industry, a need emerged for an album designed to an international audience. ”The Rest of the West” (2007) is Salem’s first international album and contains – besides material from the duo’s first three albums – new tracks as well.
A historical step was made with the brand new track “The Needle in the Butterfly“ as Salem was given permission by Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, etc.) and Zentropa to use sequences from the director’s masterpiece “Europa“ (1991) as basic tapes for a music video - hence, engaged the young talented underground director Anders Boetter as converter between the two universes. The music video "The Needle in the Butterfly" was nominated for a HUGO-award - the annual award donated by the Danish Department of Film and Media (AFM) - and on June 29th, it won not only the HUGO, but also The Technical Prize 2007.
“The Rest of the West” manifests Salem’s awesome potential and would suit any motion picture - especially the one within your mind - so lean back, enjoy and check out more on www.houseofsalem.dk and www.coperecords.com
APRIL:
Release "The Rest of the West" (DEN)
MAY-JUNE:
Release "The Rest of the West" (SWE/NOR)
JUNE:
Release "The Rest of the West" (GER)
AUGUST:
Release "The Rest of the West" EP/Singles (MEX)
SPRING 08:
Release "The Rest of the West" (MEX)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 1/17/2006
Band Website: houseofsalem.dk
Band Members: Mikkel Risbjerg
Kasper No Behrens

Sounds Like:
I KICKED THE DOG
Passion
Cope Records 2002
COPECD 025

THE ANATOMY OF PAIN
Pain
Cope Records 2003
COPECD 059

FROM THE RIVERBANK
Pleasure
Cope Records 2005
COPECD 117

NORD1
Cope Records 2006
COPECD 128

THE REST OF THE WEST
Cope Records 2007
COPECD 134

Record Label: Cope Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

LONDON TOUR DIARY OCT. 07 - in Danish

Søndag den 14. oktober Salem er et af de orkestre, der har nydt godt af digitale muligheder for at bryde landegrænser og andre traditionelle analoge barrierer. I London har vi fået en del kontakter, h...
Posted by SALEM on Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:23:00 PST

THE MONGLOID SIRE

In short, The Mongloid Sire like Abraham in the Old Testament is the ultimate father figure in Salem's universe. In the band's complex web of interrelated mythical characters he is by far the most eli...
Posted by SALEM on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:37:00 PST

THE USE OF PLEASURE - on the creation of "From the Riverbank"

By the first glance the choice of 'Pleasure' as theme for the rounding off of the Trilogy might seem a bit odd; compared to the notion of doom that lures in themes like 'desire' and 'pain', the choice...
Posted by SALEM on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:36:00 PST

INTENSE WEEKS IN VILLA MARTHA - on the creation of "The Anatomy of Pain"

The Anatomy of Pain was recorded in The Salem Studios in Hareskoven, a small suburb to Copenhagen. The house was built in 1919 and has 18 rooms. In the basement Salem occupy a few rooms. As opposed to...
Posted by SALEM on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:33:00 PST

THE SOUND THAT FOUND THE MEN - on the creation of "I Kicked the Dog"

In the summer of the year 2000, things needed to change in the lives and surroundings of singer Mikkel Risbjerg and composer Kasper No Behrens. Behind them, left to die in the roadside, were careers i...
Posted by SALEM on Thu, 15 Feb 2007 06:30:00 PST