Sorry for the french speakers (at least for now), but this article will be in english for our Norwegian friends at Pstereo organisation. At pixiel, we try to make you discover new things from all around the world. This time, we´ll present you THE electro-pop-rock festival of Trondheim, Pstereo. Two days of concerts (a pic nic and film projections starting slightly before), on three stages. This year, most of the artists came from Scandinavia. There were nevertheless some people from outside, among which the highly anticipated Calexico. Pstereo is the good opportunity to discover some artists which are quasi-unknown in France. Open your ears.

Well organised, Pstereo has always a band on scene so the music is always being played on one scene. If you don´t like what you see, just jump in another gig !

Friday, on the main scene (Elvescene) you could  enjoy Jaga Jazzist, Motorpsycho, Ane Brun and Röyksopp. I really liked the guys from Jaga Jazzist and Motorpsycho.

Jaga Jazzist

The first ones deliver an interesting and seducing (eletro-) free jazz which would have been a perfect set during the night. Nevertheless, the guys are interesting.

MP3

Motorpsycho is an alternative rock group from Trondheim. They have a very good sound which sometimes remind Dream Theater.  Their set was effective with a very good sound mixing. The one hour set was picking up songs in several albums. For those who might not know Motorpsycho, listen to their recent album Children of the Future.

Motorpsycho

The last big band of the day, on this scene, was Röyksopp.

The first time I’ve seen Röyksopp live, was someting like 5 or 6 yrs ago as first part of Moby in France. I really love their electro. The evolution between this year´s Junior and The Understanding albums  shows that the group is able to evolve. Live, Röyksopp is not as good as on tracks. No mix, no evolution of the playlist… For an eletro group, this is far from total satisfaction.

On the Kanonscene, I was a King, uphus, Skambankt and Ulver showed up.

Ruphus is classic old school pop-rock. Classic but nice, even if not a master group.

Rufus

The followers on this scene were the  guys of Skambankt. The Trondish public does like these guys which throwed a powerfull pop-rock sound all over the place. If you like hard rock or soft metal and are interested in Norwegian bands singing in Norwegian, they are for you.

Skambankt

Ulver was the last on this scene. With power problems, they could not do the set they wanted. Ulver is more in the experimental branch of indie music, with projection of videos behind the dark scene. If you like reworked sounds and strange instruments, Ulver should be of interest (I have some pictures I´ll add when I´m back from Russia).

During the evening, the very small basstionen scene was assieged by punk rockers from Fjorden Baby. The Bergen-originated group is full of energy. They are followed by techno king Kim Hiorthøy. This dude is crazy behind his decks and knows how to make people move.

Kim Hiorthøy

KH is also graphic designer, for Motorpsycho among others.

I could not attend all the concerts the saturday. Nevertheless, I could see Calexico on the main scene, after the funny guys of Black Debbath. Great performance for a great band. I was so glad to see them at last.

Calexico

On Kanonscenen, it´s THE big electro-shock Slagsmålsklubben. The swedish youg DJ blowed up litteraly Pstereo´s public with their set. Birdy Nam Nam, the french 4 djs playing together do not deliver such energy.

Slagsmålsklubben

Pop-rock guys of Late of the Pier are also a good surprise in this Pstereo festival. The UK musicians are pretty famous in their home land and they should tsunamize Europe very soon. Their album is a must have.

Late of the Pier

Lets end this article with the voice which touched my heart, the vibrating warm voice of  Marina and the Diamonds. And she´s damn sexy.

Pstereo festival is definitely a nice festival. The homogeneous programmation and thoughtfull selection of artists is remarkable. 6 hours of continuous music in a very good organisation. If you are around Trondheim in the last days of mid-august, you should definitely come to Pstereo, despite its quite high price (100 eur for the 2 days). It´s definitely worth it.

Armand

Check out the pictures on my flickr HERE. Once I m back from Russia, I´ll upload some remaining material. Stay tuned !