A surprise for those living in Copenhagen, and also for those foreigners who are already planning to visit this Summer’s Roskilde Festival. Mew are playing a special solo show at the Bremen Teater in Copenhagen on Wednesday, July 4th. For many of us, this means that we will have to leave the festival grounds for one evening during the warm-up period.

Tickets are on sale for the “usual price” of 156DKK plus 20DKK for fees (=176DKK). This looks like something that will sell out fast, so ONLY two tickets per buyer.

Original post from Bo Madsen:

“Yee all Frengers
This is the thing: We Orchestre are doing a club warm up show before Roskilde in Copenhagen Wednesday the 4th of July Tom Cruise. Only two tics pr person. For that special friend.

This is where its at:

http://burl.dk/ivmlab

b”

It’s time for our biggest contest of 2012 – so far…

Two lucky people will win a full festival ticket to this Summer’s Roskilde Festival in Denmark (July 5th-8th, warm-up from June 30th). The winners will be selected soon after the deadline which will be at noon (12:00 CET) on Friday, May 25th, 2012. Should you win, the ticket will be sent to you by the festival organisers themselves.

Rules

Write a haiku poem that somehow refers to Roskilde Festival. We don’t mind if Mew and/or Apparatjik (or any other act) are also mentioned, but the festival itself is the key here. There are different variations of a haiku, but we accept only those with 5-7-5 syllables. A very poor and simple example would be as follows:

Mew are the greatest
They will play at Roskilde
I want to be there

Be more creative than the one above. Not only in English, you are also allowed to write the poem in Danish language (seeing as some 60% of this particular festival’s attendees are local). Participate ONLY if you are able to attend Roskilde Festival (so, mostly Europeans). We will surely have future contests coming to your region when the time is right.

Simply subject your email as A Roskilde Haiku, show us your poem and add your full name and address where they can send your ticket (in late May/early June) if you happen to win, and in that case we will notify you personally on May 25th, 2012.

Email address where to send your entry: admin (at) mewx.info

Go creative, and good luck!

We have chosen the winner for You Drew Me(wx) Cartoons -contest. Only about twenty entries were sent, but it was still a tough choice. We awarded Kevin Exley (from UK) a prize this time, and you can see his artwork below. As an idea, Kevin’s drawing was so out there, still being Mew related. We have contacted the winner personally.

Thank you for everyone who participated, but more contests are coming up very very soon, and we will not rest until everybody has won something. Oh, well…

Jonas Bjerre answered a couple of questions for us about next Summer’s Roskilde Festival. Here goes…

If I’m not mistaken this will be Mew’s sixth show at Roskilde Festival. What has been the most memorable moment for you (as a band member)?

Oh man, that’s a tough question to answer. The very first show we had there was a little messy, and I remember the whole experience as confusing, rather than enjoyable. The second one too was also a little rough, we came right out of the studio somewhere in England and flew home at 5:30 in the morning and were all a bit woozy. But every one from then on has been an amazing experience. The show after Frengers was super gratifying, because we’d been touring all over for the first time, then came home to play Roskilde and were almost shocked at the attention we suddenly had at home. The Kites one and the No More Stories one were incredible experiences as well… I couldn’t really pick one. Although the NMS is fresher in my memory, of course!

You guys have probably visited the festival on your own as well, what bands did you get to see?

I went there the first time in 1993. I think that was the year I saw Afghan Whigs, which is probably the most memorable show for me. Seeing Prince two years ago was pretty breath-taking, I’d never seen him live before. I saw Sonic Youth one year, which was a really great show… oh, there are so many!

Despite having huge shows before, this is the first time that Mew are headlining Roskilde Festival. What can we expect from the show?

Good stuff!!!

Your side project Apparatjik will also play there, and it will be the band’s first ever festival show. Previously, you have played inside a visual cube with this band, but will the setting be different this time?

I’d rather not say too much about that. We’re still designing things. But it will definitely not be what you’d call a “regular” performance.

You are currently writing your sixth studio album, how is it going so far?

It’s going really well, we’re shaping things and discovering new sides of everyone, and inventing, Silas and Bo play like nobody else on this planet.

Text: Tero Heikkinen

Skyscraper was released on DVD in Denmark last week. The film is subtitled in Danish (for hearing impaired), Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and yes… English. You just have to click any of the Nordic countries in the top menu and change subtitles with your remote control. Simple as that, but make sure your player supports European system.

The Film

Fans of Mew have been following this film project for almost two years now, and – naturally – have listened to the soundtrack, but is the film itself any good? In short – yes it is. It’s quite excellent even. Wacky coming-of-age stories are what Scandinavians do best. There’s some sort of unique honesty in depicting adolescents in films from Nordic region. Sure, adults make the films, but they have not forgotten the awkwardness of puberty and they seem to treat younger characters in a more mature way. This is not American Pie you’re getting, but as in the aforementioned film, sexual content (mostly in dialogue) is very much present, so violence-free Skyscraper is rated 11 in Denmark. In USA this would surely be rated R… so, maybe not for the squeamish. Director Rune Schjøtt’s feature film debut was also written by him and the clever screenplay is the heart of the film.

Skyscraper is a story about two outsiders. Life is quite bleak in the countryside, and Edith (Marta Holm) works in her constantly smiling father’s (Lars Brygmann) grocery store and decides to lose her virginity as soon as possible. As she is blind, she is not the small town’s hottest item, but Jon (Lukas Schwarz Thorsteinsson) agrees to do it with her. He would just need a certain operation first. Jon has not been to a school in years and has befriended with considerably younger Ben (Lucas Schulz), who at times is the voice of reason (and our narrator). Everything that goes wrong in the town is blamed on isolated Jon, and it all started years earlier when he was a child and the rural town got its first traffic lights with tragic consequences. You’ll realise very soon that these two eccentrics, Jon and Edith are made for each other.

The director has wonderfully captured the sleepy town and its rather absurd community. Time stands still and city folks are an incomprehensible matter. Highpoints of the film are the overall great acting talents, well-thought-out screenplay, grim art direction, and – of course – its soundtrack…

The Music

Jonas Bjerre’s music and songs are almost constantly present, and often bring hope and optimism into the film, telling a sort of “side-story” apart from the dialogue. The first viewing of the film probably distracts you from the story when it goes all “song-spotting”. Now, the titles and lyrics of the songs start to make more sense. As we’ve been told, some of the tracks are mostly instrumental or alternative versions in the picture, but some songs get to shine for minutes’ worth. There’s a song called Something Sweet that didn’t make it to the soundtrack, and that definitely should have because it sounds absolutely wonderful. A short snippet from the track Bullets of Fear is also included in the film. End credits reveal that the song was written by director Rune Schjøtt with Jonas, and was produced by Jonah “Gunslinger” Bjerry (correct spelling). This track was taken from the album Tear This Sh*t Down by The Scrapers. Funny.

Supplementary / Closing Words

The DVD release also comes with the music video of There’s A Cloud In My Brain which is not even in the movie. In addition, there’s a 7-minute making of (accessible from Danish menu selection only) which is not subtitled in any language. Jonas is nowhere to be seen in this short documentary by director Gitte Høxbroe. Trailers for other recent Danish movies can be found.

Despite its positive critical response (raves even), the Danish audience didn’t find this film during its theatrical run. Apparently only some 500 people bought a ticket in its first week, but it should do pretty well on DVD. It deserves better. It’s not only for younger viewers, but adults may enjoy it as much. Jonas has composed music for other films in the past, but I’m so glad that he got to write a full-length soundtrack for a really good film. Mew fan or not, Skyscraper is highly recommended.

Tero Heikkinen

Original title: Skyskraber / Dolby Digital 5.1 / 16:9 letterbox 1.85:1 / Length: 85 minutes / Rated 11 / REGION 2 (PAL)

Additional comment from Jonas:

“Something Sweet was almost finished, like a whole length of a song, but I just didn’t feel it fit into the album. In retrospective I should probably have included it… Bullets of Fear was a short piece, in a late 70′s hard rock style with over-the-top singing. It was needed for the film and it’s kinda funny, but I chose not to put it on the album.”

Trailer for the film (subtitled in English).

Hey, you artistic frengers, you.

We are soon opening a new fan section with Mew-related drawings. Get creative and get busy. Most (if not all) drawings will be published for everyone to see, depending on the amount of works we get. If you can’t really draw, it can be something else, but it has to be 655px in width and in .jpg -format. Just send one entry, ok? Use an email address that allows you to be reachable from our side. We may have to contact you personally.

Send your artwork (that has not been previously published) to admin (at) mewx.info and clearly state your full name and country. You have until April 2nd, 2012. And – best of all – one of you will get a cool prize from us!!!

NEW DEADLINE: April 23rd,2012.

Roskilde Festival (Roskilde, Denmark) – July 2nd, 2009

Roskilde holds some very dear memories for me – The Raconteurs in 2006 and Roger Waters directly afterwards, The Who in inclement weather in 2007, and most of all, My Bloody Valentine’s demented onslaught destroying the Arena stage in 2008.

I suspected ’09 might have been anticlimactic following the previous year’s shoegazing heatwave. The lineup wasn’t immediately that attractive (and was borne out by tepid sets from Trentemøller, Faith No More and Nick Cave), but I was lured to Denmark anyway partly by blissful routine, but partly because I have no resistance to Mew, and any related opportunities for adventuring. They magnetised me a long time ago, at a key moment in my younger life, and as heroes fall one by one, slowly, they have never wavered in their limitless experimentations in what pop music can be. I’m aware that this sounds trite and corny, the ramblings of an idealist desperately clinging on to childish remnants – but it’s true, and hindsight changes nothing.

Photo by Tom Spray

The 2009 chapter centered around the forthcoming No More Stories, at the time unheard by the proles, it’s dense, difficult contents unveiled hesitantly. The Roskilde set wasn’t a showcase for change, wasn’t a particularly new statement – it was a reverie on a scarcely believable scale. Tapping into the atmosphere of theatricality that thirty thousand people spilling endlessly out of the Arena tent provided, Mew appeared in Sun O)))-esque robes and stutter into shaky versions of New Terrain and Introducing Palace Players, suffering from hollow, drift-laden sound. Technical merit was unimportant; it was cinema, amidst a blaze of light and rapture. In any case, the mix was swiftly sorted and Mew got on with the serious business of cranking out a greatest hits set, old friends abound. This was finely judged, and not the context where surprises would have been appropriate. With no expectations beforehand, I found it overwhelming, aided by liberal quantities of dangerously appealing white wine in cartons, and by the time Comforting Sounds has melted away to nothing, I’m the happiest kid imaginable.

The rest of the festival provided equally lasting moments – the unreal Jon Hassell, the joyous Friendly Fires and my personal farewell to Oasis, accompanied by unremitting blazing sun and dancing all night. Roskilde hasn’t ever been quite as carefree, spontaneous and lasting ever since, but Mew will make their return into the 2012 sprawl – mostly unannounced, but then they always have made a habit of conjuring everything from nothing in particular. The kids know, and wait, and where there’s increasingly less and less to get optimistic about, there will always have been this. Let’s fly.

Ally Winford

Photo used with permission. Visit the photographer’s official website.

Now that Mew have announced exclusive Summer shows for Denmark and Norway, we are anxious to know if they have planned to play festival shows in Finland and Sweden as well. These aforementioned four countries always go hand in hand, so the speculations are not completely uncalled for. Almost a year and a half (since the stunning Danish opera house shows) has passed when they will play the next shows…

Suomi

The last show Mew played on Finnish grounds was in June 2010 when Provinssirock (in the town of Seinäjoki) invited them for the second time. Earlier in 2010 they had played two solo shows in the fair cities of Helsinki and Tampere as well. We are predicting that if the beloved Danes decide to play in Finland, it will take place at Ruisrock Festival (in Turku) where they have previously played in 2003, 2006 and 2009. Every three years? Ruisrock (6.7. – 8.7.) clashes with Roskilde Festival, so they might play in Denmark on Thursday or Friday and either Saturday or Sunday in Finland.

Mew at Ruisrock Festival on July 4th, 2009.

Sverige

In the Summer of 2010, Mew performed at two festivals in Sweden. Siesta! (in the town of Hässleholm) and later in Borlänge at Peace & Love Festival, but what could happen in 2012? To begin with, Sweden is very difficult to predict. Even the bigger Summer festivals come and go (cancellations happen practically every other year) and it feels like they’d spend money on a local act rather than inviting a fellow Nordic band. Hultsfred Festival (in the town of Hultsfred, naturally) is now back on its feet and that sounds like a good bet, doesn’t it? This particular festival would take place already in mid-June (14th – 16th), and Mew have not played there since 2005 (if memory serves).

Where would you like to see Mew this Summer?

Tero Heikkinen
Photo by Pete Heikkilä