Ane Brun opens Øya

ANE BRUN (N)
FAT FREDDY’S DROP (NZ)
EL GUINCHO (ES)

The festival and the Medieval Park will open with a bang this year. Norwegian artist Ane Brun will open the outdoor part of the 2008 program. In addition, El Guincho from Spain and Fat Freddy’s Drop from New Zealand are now confirmed.

ANE BRUN (N)
Ane Brun is one of Norway’s most respected and popular songwriters. Since her breakthrough with the album ‘A Temporary Dive’ (2005) she has gained a steadily increasing number of fans throughout all of Europe, and also fed the buzz with a live album, a duet album and also the super hit “Lift Me” (w/Madrugada). Now, the album ‘Changing of the Seasons’ is finally here, and we quite couldn’t resist inviting her back to the Medieval Park. Ane has accepted the honorable task of opening the outdoor part of the festival in the afternoon of Wednesday Aug. 6 – and thereby launch a wicked, solid and mighty bill that’ll stretch out over four days.

Ane Brun writes beautiful melodies with one foot in the traditional singer/songwriter genre, and another that steps outside the well-trodden paths. These melodies she sings with a voice that will shake the very marrow of the listener. On her new album she has been helped out by the Icelandic producer Valgeir Sigurdsson (Sigur Rós, CocoRosie, Björk, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and others) and musicians like Martin Hederos, Christian KJellvander, and Tobias Fröberg. Ane Brun has made thirteen solid pieces of music that we’re really looking forward to hear when she plays the Medieval Park.

Ane Brun on MySpace

FAT FREDDY’S DROP (NZ)
Fat Freddy’s Drop come from Wellington, New Zealand, and are inspired by the music from an entirely different island in an entirely different part of the world. This seven-piece has cooked up a wicked mix of dub, funk, soul, and reggae. Some of the members have previously been in bands like Trinity Roots and Ebb & Bongmaster Inc. Others have had solo careers, and DJ Fitchie is regarded as one of the best producers in New Zealand.

Their first album was a live recording from a night club in their hometown. After several years of building a solid live reputation, they released the studio album ‘Based on a True Story’ in 2005, which went straight to #1 on the charts in NZ. They’ve also released 12-inches and participate on a number of compilations. This is undoubtedly a true festival act. Come and check out party champs Fat Freddy’s Drop at Øya in August!

Fat Freddy’s Drop on MySpace

EL GUINCHO (ES)
Most musicians hate being labeled and limited by genre definitions, but they still have to put up with it. However, sly fox Pablo Diaz-Reixa, a.k.a. El Guincho, has managed to put money-grubbing market forces and comparison-loving critics at a total loss with his ‘Alegranza!’.

His sample-based debut album challenges most musical conventions. Is it pop? Is it electronica? Dub? Tropicalia or psychedelia, perhaps? ’Alegranza!’ is everything and nothing. And then some.

As the Pitchfork reviewer Tim Finney pointed out, El Guincho is similar to a lot of stuff that you dig, but still quite unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Panda Bear and Animal Collective have, understandably, reoccurred as (two of maaaaany) references, but El Guincho’s inspirational sources are many, and his main basis is tropical. No, he is still impossible to describe. In August you can try fumbling for adequate adjectives yourself, because then El Guincho will play the Medieval Park.

El Guincho on MySpace