Örnsköldsvik, 06.02.2010.....

Today the first list of artists taking part in the 2010 Melodifestivalen heats was announced. Of course we already knew that Salem will be in the contest and will sing his own composition "Keep On Walking", but now we know that he will be in the very first heat on Saturday 6th February which will take place in the Swedbank Arena in Örnsköldsvik, the northernmost destination on next year's Melodifestivalen tour!

He will be competing against a mixture of unknown and familiar names that week - Jenny Silver, Jessica Andersson, Pain of Salvation, Anders Ekborg, Linda Pritchard, Ola and Frispråkarn.

Full list of songs on my other blog EuropeCrazy.

Some pictures of Salem from last night's Gothenburg show...

If you go to http://www.rockfoto.nu/artists/Salem%20Al%20Fakir/gig/20091128/12099/photos you'll find some nice photos of Salem and the band from last night's concert at the Stadsteatern Foajebar.

Salem's Gothenburg show last night - reviews wanted

Did any of you go to see Salem play in Gothenburg last night? I noticed that he played not one but two shows - after Stadsteatern he then went on to Nefertiti to play a show with the Off Beat Band!

Anyway I haven't found any reviews on the internet yet so if you were at any of the shows I would love to read your comments.

Salem's next live shows will of course be at Berwaldhallen next month - are any of you going? (Sadly I won't be able to make it over to Sweden, so I would appreciate all your comments and reviews following his orchestra concerts).

More links about Salem in Melodifestivalen

Some more links about Salem in Melodifestivalen:

http://nt.se/noje/artikel.aspx?articleid=5633916 (article)

http://www.gp.se/gptv?path=gptv.abcdn.net/TV-ARKIV/Noje&playfile=18870_Salem_Al_Fakir_ny_schlagerjoker_104430.pls&autostart=1 (video interview)

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/melodifestivalen2009/article6134550.ab (article)

Svenska Dagbladet interview / New album in 2010!

I found another link at www.salemalfakir.com to a very interesting interview in today's Svenska Dagbladet: http://blogg.svd.se/tvbloggen?id=16672

In this interview Salem says that "Keep On Walking" is a song based on his own personal experiences, but he didn't want to say any more than that.

What I was really interested to read was that the song is from his third album which he is working on at the moment - and which he hopes will be released around the time of Melodifestivalen - February/March 2010! This is fantastic news, isn't it?

One more fascinating fact from this interview....Salem may be competing in Melodifestivalen, but he revealed he doesn't watch it much!

Salem in Melodifestivalen!!!! (and that's no joke)

It has been announced today that Salem will be competing in the 2010 Melodifestivalen: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article6129219.ab

I only found out about it whilst checking the internet during my afternoon coffee break at work today and was so excited at the news that I couldn't concentrate on any of my work for the rest of the afternoon :)))

This morning Salem was announced by SVT as the second "joker" (wildcard entry) in next year's competition. He will sing his own composition "Keep On Walking" which is described as a mid-tempo song played on the piano, the theme of which, he told Expressen is "about trying to get up and move on once you have fallen". He said that he thought for a while before he accepted SVT's invitation, but he's now looking forward to the challenge. Salem told Expressen: "I have had a free hand, it feels great. It was time to experiment with new ways now and find a new audience".

The MF semi-finals begin on 6th February and the final takes place in Stockholm in 13th March. For those readers of Planet Salem who are not familiar with Melodifestivalen, this is the annual Swedish song contest. The winner represents Sweden at the annual Eurovision Song Contest (next year's contest will take place in Norway) but the Eurovision aspect has, I think, become less important in recent years - as both new and established acts realised that it's not just a song contest but it provides an unrivalled marketing opportunity - appearing in front of massive audiences in huge stadiums, watched by the biggest TV audience of the year in Sweden. Many Melodifestivalen songs become massive hit singles and are guaranteed huge radio airplay. Thanks to the internet, Melodifestivalen has many fans outside Sweden, who watch the show live on SVT's website, so an appearance on the show also provides the chance to reach a worldwide audience.

In recent years Melodifestivalen has provided a major breakthrough for many acts in Sweden: and regardless of how he does in the contest I think it would be the perfect opportunity for Salem to showcase his music to a wider audience. According to one of the articles I read today, Salem was approached to participate in the 2009 contest, but this did not fit in with his schedule (this was around the time of the release of "Astronaut")

Here are some more links you might want to check out:

http://svt.se/2.79702/melodifestivalen_2009?lid=puff_1772426&lpos=lasMer - where you can find a short video clip introducing Salem as this year's second joker entry.


http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/salem-al-fakir-andra-jokern-i-melodifestivalen-1.995142 - Dagens Nyheter article

http://www.expressen.se/noje/musik/1.1781309/salem-al-fakir-joker-i-melodifestivalen-2010 - Expressen article


Here are a couple of pictures from this morning's press conference, courtesy of Aftonbladet and Expressen:



Congratulations Salem - I'm so happy for you! Planet Salem will be supporting our favourite singer all the way in next year's contest and I'll be reporting all the news on this blog.

So, readers, what do you think about Salem appearing in Melodifestivalen? Yes it's time for a new poll, which I'll be running on this site until the end of this year. As he's not a traditional Melodifestivalen-type artist I'm interested to find out if you agree with Salem's decision to compete next year. It's just a bit of fun so remember to cast your vote!

Vote for Salem in P3 Populär's "25-00" poll!

Swedish Radio's P3 Populär is running a poll on the top 25 Swedish songs of this decade.

If you go to http://www.sr.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2785&artikel=3231729 there is a list of 200 songs and you can vote for your top 10 favourites. The list includes "Astronaut" and also the Salem vs Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso mix of "It's True".

There are also a couple of Snook songs in there too - "Längst Fram i Taxin" and "Mister Cool", and so many many more good songs (but not "Good Song" - it should have been on the list!) - this list proves yet again that Swedish music is the best!!

Fernando spreads the word about Salem in the USA!

Occasionally I feature some other musicians on this blog who are connected in some way to Salem. This time I thought I'd mention one of Planet Salem's readers, who also happens to be a multi-talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from the USA. Fernando Perdomo's band Dreaming In Stereo recently released their album of the same name and it is full of deliciously melodic songs which they describe as 'progressive pop' and which I think would appeal to fans of Salem's music, with its combination of retro and contemporary influences.

Anyway, Fernando has been in touch to let me know that he has been spreading the Salem love in the USA. Fernando has been interviewed by Keyboard Magazine, which is America's number one magazine for keyboard players.

The interview is at : http://keyboardmag.com/story.aspx?id=102523&terms=perdomo

I particular like this little part of the questionnaire...

Favorite artist we’ve probably never heard of: Salem Al Fakir of Sweden, who is like Todd Rundgren meets Stevie Wonder meets Prince.

A wonderful description don't you agree?

Salem in Lund tonight / Uppsala tomorrow

If you live in or around Lund or Uppsala, then you can check out Salem playing live this weekend. Tonight he will be at Mejeriet in Lund with his band, and he moves on to Katalin, Uppsala tomorrow.

If you are going to any of the shows, remember to post your thoughts, comments and set lists here!

Nyköping review in Södermanlands Nyheter

Olle Söderström has written a warm and positive review about Salem's show at Culturum in Nyköping, in Södermanlands Nyheter - go to http://www.sn.se/kulturnoje/2.737/1.525096

I want to share a few things from the translation of the review as the reviewer makes some very relevant points.

The reviewer says that Salem is "... still a joy machine" and describes the newly-bespectacled Salem as "a young musical clone of Elvis Costello" going on to expand on this comparison.

He goes on to say that "Salem must be heard live. For his greatness lies not in a great singing voice, neither relies on some amazing songs, but on stage he fills them with so much musical magic, mischief, shifting harmonies and rhythmic drama that grows several feet". I'd also like to highlight the reviewer's closing words: "...he is charming, and charming you rarely get enough of. Particularly if they are a musical prodigy who distributes the entire pharmacy of antidepressant pop pills".

I think we can all agree with that description!

Salem at Vara Konserthus tomorrow / Nyköping Culturum on Thursday

Salem - I hope you had a wonderful birthday! However it's now time to get back 'on the road' and there are two more live dates coming up this week.

If you live in or around the Vara area don't forget that Salem will be playing the Vara Konserthus tomorrow night. More information at http://www.varakonserthus.se/lankar/kalendarium.4.6b1c356118bbebc68780001729.html

Meanwhile if you live in Nyköping you will finally get the chance to see Salem on Thursday, when he will be appearing at the Culturum Kulturhuset. This show was originally scheduled to take place back in April but had to be cancelled due to a double-booking at the venue, if I remember rightly. More information at http://www.nykoping.se/sv/Kultur__Fritid/Culturum_-kulturhuset/

(I didn't realise that Skavsta airport was so close to Nyköping, as I could have booked a flight from my local airport and gone over to see Salem play live again!)

Happy birthday Salem!!!

Yes it's Salem's birthday tomorrow (27th October) but as I won't be back on this blog until tomorrow night I thought I'd mention this just now.

Salem - if you are reading this, I just want to wish you a very happy birthday! I hope you have a great day and that the coming year brings you happiness and good times - you deserve it :))))

Love and best wishes!

/Laura

Review of Salem's Kristianstad show in Kristianstadsbladet

Kristianstadsbladet's Lisa Appelqvist has written a very positive review of Salem's Friday night show in Kristianstad. This review can be found at http://www.kristianstadsbladet.se/article/20091025/NOJE/710259993/1009/&/Narvaro-och-kansla

Lisa describes Salem like a "mad professor of the keyboard" and praises his connection and communication with the audience.

It looks as if Salem has created new arrangements for the songs - notably "Dream Girl". The set also included "Mirror"/"It's True"/"This Is Who I Am"/"It's Only You (Part II)"/"Good Song"/"One of the Others"/"Astronaut"/"Roxy".

Here is a picture of Salem from the show - complete with glasses :)

(picture courtesy of Peter Åklundh - www.kristianstadsbladet.se)

Kristianstadsbladet interview

Prior to Salem's show in Kristianstad last night (I haven't found any reviews yet, but I'm still looking), Kristianstadsbladet interviewed Salem and you can find it at http://www.kristianstadsbladet.se/article/20091023/NOJE/710239893/1009/&/I-Salems-musikhuvud.

Very interesting news that Salem will now begin work on the songs for his third album!

Salem playing live in Kristianstad tomorrow / Botkyrka on Saturday

Tomorrow night (Friday 23rd October) Salem will be back on stage again with the first of his autumn series of concerts. Salem and the band will be playing Yllan in Kristianstad - if you are going to the show, remember to leave your comments here and tell us what you thought about it.

Salem will also be playing at the opening of Botkyrka Kulturskola on Saturday 24th October. According to the official programme at http://www.botkyrka.se/botkyrkakulturskola/blandat/49341.html, Salem and the band will be on stage at 14:30 Swedish time.

"Kattis & Company" now on TV4's website

If you missed Salem's appearance on yesterday's "Kattis & Company" (along with Andreas Johnson & Tomas Ledin) then you can watch it on TV4's website at http://tv4play.se/noje_och_humor/kattis_och_company?videoId=1.1282467&renderingdepartment=2.34736 The show will be available to watch for the next 6 days. I'll try and do some screencaps later on.

I've watched the show now and I'm glad that there are subtitles as I can follow written Swedish better than spoken Swedish, although I still couldn't follow all of it..

It is a very interesting and informal show with Kattis interviewing her guests eating and drinking at the dinner table rather than in the usual kind of studio talk-show format.

Oh, and here are some screencaps which I took from the show: some nice close-up shots of Salem here, I think you will agree?

Salem on "Kattis & Company" next Tuesday

Finally some news to report! Thanks again Karin for the info :))

Salem will be appearing on "Kattis and Company" on TV4+, next Tuesday 21st October, at 21:00 Swedish time. The programme should also be available at TV4's website shortly after it is broadcast.

Kattis will be chatting to Salem and also to Tomas Ledin and Andreas Johnson. This should be well worth watching - don't miss it! I don't know if Salem will be performing any songs on the show, but even if he's not, it will be good to see him on Swedish TV once again.

Remember if you have any news about Salem - let me know! It's been very quiet on the Salem-news front over recent weeks but things should pick up again from next week when the tour starts.

Salem on SVT's "Go' kväll" on 3rd December

As mentioned in a previous post on here back in August I can now confirm that Salem will be appearing on Tina Ahlin's music interview series on SVT's "Go' kväll" on 3rd December.

Fancy a Stockholm Saturday brunch?

If you are having brunch at the extremely stylish Story Hotel on Riddargatan on a Saturday during this autumn, then you will be entertained by the ‘house band’ - The Sound of Story.

If the name doesn’t mean anything, then the line-up definitely will: Salem Al Fakir, Adam Hagstrand, Jakob Birgersson & Nils Wallfält. According to this blog article, the music will be tailored to the hotel and will also feature some of the band’s favourite songs.

On the weeks that the band aren’t playing, there will be other guest artists and Djs featured. Brunch will be served between 11.00 - 17.00. Bon appetit!

If you were there yesterday or will be at a future brunch, then remember to tell us about it!

Plaza Kvinna interview

A nice little interview with Salem can be found at http://www.plazakvinna.com//news/entertainment/?ID=1736

Look what I found...

Hello again readers, I'm just back from a wonderful week's holiday in Turkey. So what's been happening while I was away? Well I decided to check for any news about Salem and I discovered these pictures (courtesy of www.mq.se) which I thought I'd share with you...

Now we all know that Salem is a very talented person but we can now add another talent to the list....modelling! He is featured modelling clothes in the 'Urban Nature' autumn advertising campaign for Swedish clothing retailer MQ, as is fellow Swedish artist Jonna Lee.

Time for another break!

Planet Salem is closing - but don't worry, it's only for a week, because I'm off to Turkey tomorrow for a week's holiday :))

This blog will be back on the evening of Tuesday 22nd September. In the meantime if you have any news, comments or emails please continue to send them and I'll publish/respond to them when I get back.

See you all again soon,

Laura.

Salem on P3 Populär

Tune into P3 between 11:00 and 13:00 (Swedish time) tomorrow when Salem will be appearing on P3 Populär and answering questions for an hour.

Once again....translation would be welcome from one of my lovely Swedish friends :)

Anyway here is a video courtesy of Sveriges Radio with Salem describing his ideal 1700s-outfit :))))

P3 Live Session: did you hear it?

As I said in an earlier post, I wasn't doing the things I usually do on a Wednesday night so I was able to listen to the P3 session as it was broadcast. I had a few problems getting online tonight and missed the first 10 minutes of the show, however I didn't miss any of Salem's set as he didn't begin until 21:00 UK time (22:00 Swedish time).

Set list:
It's Only You (Part II)
Good Song
Astronaut
Brooklyn Sun
Dream Girl
Solsbury Hill
It's True
Roxy

I didn't realise he would be playing so many songs so this was a very pleasant surprise. There was also an interview and a musical intros quiz which Salem and other guest Jennie Abrahamsson played. (I got the Melody Club and Erik Hassle intros correct, but the other ones were more difficult).

Anyway I'd better tell you about tonight's session..."It's Only You (Part II)" was a bit different from the usual version as out went the electronic looping background and in came a more traditional (and to these ears, a very complex) piano accompaniment. One unique thing about Salem's live set is the way all the songs flow into each other, there are no stops and starts...so it was straight into "Good Song", still (in my opinion) the best song that Salem has ever written. This version had a bit more urgency and bite, and some very good vocal harmonies in the chorus...flowing into a slightly different version of "Astronaut" which was more electronic piano-based than the recorded version which has more of an acoustic feel. Having heard a few live versions of "Astronaut" I always think Salem sings this song particularly well and tonight was no different.

If you have never heard "Brooklyn Sun" before, then the second part of Salem's set gave radio listeners the opportunity to hear this relatively new and as yet unreleased song which still has the ability to mesmerise and make you stop what you are doing. It is still incredibly moving, and I hope it won't be too long until Salem records and releases this song, either on his next album or maybe another EP?

Part 3, the closing section of the band's set, had some old (and new) favourites. "Dream Girl" is another song which Salem can be relied on to provide an excellent vocal performance. And as for that piano hookline....

I expected "Dream Girl" to go into "It's True" but Salem had one more surprise for us - we got "Solsbury Hill" instead. Fans and regular readers of Planet Salem will be well aware of Salem's brilliant performance of this song on the Polar Music Prize last week, of course he also played it on "Nyhetsmorgon" last week. And tonight, just as on "Nyhetsmorgon" he forgot some of the words. ;)))

The ultimate crowdpleasing song and fan favourite "It's True" was next, and cheers of recognition greeted the opening bars of current single (and Svensktoppen hit!!) "Roxy" - (Salem was of course asked about this song during his interview, I think he said he'd been asked the same question about 2000 times or something???)

All in all it was a very well performed 'greatest hits' set which I enjoyed very much.

P3 Live Session tonight!

Don't forget to tune in to P3 tonight at 21:30 Swedish time (20:30 UK time) when Salem will be appearing on the P3 Live Session along with Jennie Abrahamson. The programme will be presented by none other than Jonna Lee.

The P3 Live Session page can be found at http://www.sr.se/sida/default.aspx?ProgramId=3068 and the programme will be available for listening on the P3 archive.

I'm usually not at home on Wednesday night, but this week is different and I'll be able to listen to the show live on the internet. I'll post a review later tonight.

Salem's coming back to Gothenburg in November!!

Good news for everyone in the wonderful west coast city of Gothenburg!! Salem will be playing at Foajén at the Stadsteater on Saturday 28th November. Tickets go on sale Tuesday 8th September, more information at Ticnet - http://www.ticnet.se/html/evinfo.htmI?CNTX=16614157&l=SE&C= and also the Stadsteater website at http://www.stadsteatern.goteborg.se/Pa-scen/Konserter/Hosten-2009/Salem-al-Fakir/

Some screencaps from Salem's Polar Music Prize adventures :)

Firstly, there was the annual pre-show cocktail party thrown by Marie Ledin, which Per Sinding-Larsen blogged about at http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2009/08/31/salem-sjong-for-peter-gabriel-och-hans-mamma-i-natt/. Salem gave an impromptu performance of "Solsbury Hill" in front of the guest of honour Peter Gabriel. Someone very kindly sent me the link to this a few days ago during a comment to an earlier post. I meant to pass this on but better late than never - if you haven't seen this it is well worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz9EyAEnYXg

Anyway here are a couple of screencaps from that performance :-

OK now I have a few screencaps snapped off TV4's internet stream of the Polar Music Prize which is still available at http://nyhetskanalen.se/1.1171837/2009/08/31/tv_se_polarprisets_prisceremoni_igen:

My heart is still going boom, boom boom .....! :)))

Salem in Kristianstad on 23rd October

Salem has added yet another show to his October/November tour schedule. He will be playing the Yllan centre in Kristianstad on Friday 23rd October. More information at http://www.yllan.nu/main/default.asp?id=35&langid=1&area=nyheter.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Salem has played in Kristianstad before?

Salem on P3 Live Session next Wednesday

Salem and Jennie Abrahamsson will be the stars of Swedish Radio P3's Live Session next Wednesday, 9th September which will be broadcast at 21:30 Swedish time. More info at http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/p3/nyhetssidor/artikel.asp?programID=2663&artikel=3067959

Solsbury Hill: Salem's tribute to Peter Gabriel at today's Polar Music Prize

I've just been to TV4's website and watched today's Polar Music Prize ceremony.

Salem opened the show with "Solsbury Hill" and it was just perfect. I loved that little punching-the-air movement he did too!

Salem sat at his grand piano and looked as if he enjoyed every moment: I hope guest of honour Peter Gabriel also enjoyed it.

You can watch the show at http://nyhetskanalen.se/1.1171837/2009/08/31/tv_se_polarprisets_prisceremoni_igen, Salem is on at the beginning, I also liked the use of "It's True" as the backing music when the previous years' prizewinners were shown.

Well done Salem....who knows, maybe someday in the future it will be your turn to be presented with this very important award :)))

EDIT 04.09.09: I've watched this a few times since Monday and I hope TV4 keep it on their website for a while and don't delete it - it just gets better every time I hear it. I've done some screencaps and I'll post these this on here this weekend.

My heart going boom, boom, boom

I've just been watching a clip of Salem singing Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" on Sunday's TV4 "Nyhetsmorgon". I guess that he will also be singing this tomorrow at the Polar Music Prize? This was always one of my favourite Peter Gabriel songs, so I think that's a very good choice Salem! The clip is now available on TV4's website: http://tv4play.se/aktualitet/nyhetsmorgon?videoId=1.1169611&selId=1.923808&currPage=0 of course there's a little moment when he forgets the words, that's happening quite a lot these days lol :))))

Salem also sang "Roxy" this morning, you can find that clip at http://tv4play.se/aktualitet/nyhetsmorgon?videoId=1.1169615&selId=1.923808&currPage=0

This was Salem and the band's second appearance on "Nyhetsmorgon" this year, and was of the high standard which we have come to expect by now. Was it just my imagination, or did Salem look a little bit unhappy? (Although I guess that he had to be up very early for his TV appearance which I don't think anyone would be happy about!) Just one more thing: I didn't like the grey pullover. Which has nothing to do with anything of course, but it wouldn't be a Planet Salem TV appearance post if I didn't mention what he was wearing :)

Salem on the Polar Music Prize tomorrow

Salem will be one of the guest stars on this year's Polar Music Prize award ceremony, which takes place tomorrow in Stockholm. This year's prize recipients are José Antonio Abreu and Peter Gabriel. Other artists appearing on tomorrow's show are Maia Hirasawa, Uno Svenningsson, Martin Stenmarck, Moto Boy, Andreas Johnson and Jojje Wadenius. If you're in Sweden you can watch the ceremony live on TV4 tomorrow between 16.45 and 17.55 - otherwise I hope it will be on TV4 Play to watch later.

Salem on Swedish Radio P4 Junior 29.08.09

Salem made a guest appearance on SR's "P4 Junior" on Saturday: keeping it in the family, as one of the show's presenters is none other than his brother Nassim!

Here is a clip (courtesy of www.sr.se) of Salem singing "Dream Girl" from this morning's programme. I still don't know how he remembers all those piano lines!

H3FK in Karlskrona tonight

If you are in or around Karlskrona tonight and fancy hearing some world jazz, then you might like to know that H3FK are playing the Jazzbridge festival tonight. Info at www.jazzbridge.se and www.myspace.com/H3FK

Salem in Lund in November

Salem and his band will be doing a show at Mejeriet, Lund on Friday 6th November as part of his short autumn tour. More information at http://www.kulturmejeriet.se/, and tickets will be available from Ticnet as usual.

What's next?

Almost a year ago to the day I did a post on here wondering what would happen next for Salem. Of course a lot has happened since that time: "It's Only You (Part II") released internationally and featured in the Volvo commercial; "Astronaut" released in Scandinavia; Salem toured Sweden and played some live dates in the USA.

However we are at that stage again when there will probably be less news/information about Salem in the next couple of months, so there won't be as many updates posted on Planet Salem between now and November, unless I do have anything to report (with the help of all my regular readers of course).

Salem - if you are reading this, I hope you are still enjoying the blog. If you have some free time (I know you're a very busy man!), would you be able to get in touch? I need to check out a couple of things with you, and I would really appreciate it if you could send me an email to let me know what you'll be up to in the coming months. (Remember all emails are confidential and I won't share any information unless you ask me to!)

Best wishes,
/Laura

"Roxy": P3 playlist news

"Roxy" is still on the P3 radio playlist and is B-listed this week.

I don't think it's going to make the Swedish singles chart now, despite all the recent promotion/TV appearances :)

I wonder if there will be any more singles released from "Astronaut"? Does anyone know?

Salem on SVT's "Go'kväll" this autumn

During this autumn's run of SVT's "Go'kväll", Tina Ahlin will be interviewing some well-known Swedish artists at her home in Värmdö. They include Timo Räisinen, Samuel Ljungblad, Babben Larsson, Caroline af Ugglas....and Salem Al Fakir!

I don't have any information as yet when Salem will be appearing, but I'll find out and let you know. The new series of "Go'kväll" starts on SVT on 1st September.

Morgonpasset i P3 (again)

Yes, once again Salem will be back on the airwaves of P3 this coming Wednesday, 19th August, as he's returning to "Morgonpasset i P3" for yet another special guest appearance. Remember to tune in! (And as usual, if anyone wants to translate what Salem said on the show, then it would be much appreciated as always!!)

Here's a picture of Salem having breakfast in the P3 studio (courtesy of www.sr.se/p3)

I thought you might like to see this too: Salem doing a foxy little dance whilst the weather forecast was being read out! :)))

Salem in Malmö

Anders Jaderup has written a very positive review of Salem's concert with the Malmö Operaorkester in Sydsvenskan. Find it at http://sydsvenskan.se/kultur-och-nojen/musik/konsertrecension/article538150/Ljudmassigt-later-det-fortraffligt.html

Salem plays Mariefred tonight / Malmöfestivalen on Monday

Salem will be on stage at 21:00 at the Pumpstockfestivalen taking place at Skottvångs Grufva in Mariefred tonight.

Then something very big is happening on Monday night in Malmö, as Salem will be getting together with the Malmö Operaorkester to perform at Malmöfestivalen. The show takes place at Stora Scenen on Stortorget between 21:00 and 22:30.

This will be Salem's second time at Malmöfestivalen (he appeared there in 2007) but this will be a very special show indeed, as a musical collaboration between Salem and the orchestra is not to be missed.

If you are going to either Mariefred or Malmö, remember to post your comments here!

Astronaut guitar chords - request

I received this request via email:

Hej!

Jag undrar ifall det finns några gitarr ackord att få tag på till ex. Astronaut? Har letat på nätet men inte hittat så många.Skulle vara super om ni kunde ordna det! Mycket bra musik Salem, såg dig live i kalmar, härlig känsla!

Mvh Pär

Can anyone help? If you know where to find guitar chords for the song I will pass this information on to Pär.

New Volvo XC60 commercial (if you live in the UK)

If you've been searching for the song from the new Volvo XC60 commercial which began being screened on TV here in the UK this week, you may have found your way to this blog and if so, I would like to wish you a very warm welcome!

However this is when it gets confusing!!

This commercial is not the Volvo XC60 commercial being screened elsewhere in the world, and which was screened very briefly in the UK at the end of 2008. That commercial ("from Sweden with love", with the car floating up into the air) features Salem's "It's Only You (Part II)" - a truly wonderful song - and introduced a lot of people in various parts of the world to the music of Salem Al Fakir, the magnificent artist whom this blog is all about.

The new commercial ("there's more to life than a Volvo") features another song entirely, which I don't know the name of, and which is sung by another artist and not Salem.

I hope this clears up the confusion.

I'm very disappointed that we're getting a different commercial from everyone else - this would have been a great way to introduce Salem's music to the British public and is yet another missed opportunity.

:(((

Last chance to see "Grattis Kronprinsessan" today

Just a reminder that if you haven't seen it already (and why not???), you only have a few hours left to see Salem's brilliant performance of "Astronaut" and "Good Song" on the "Grattis Kronprinsessan" concert from 14.07.2009, before this video is removed from their website at midnight Swedish time. You'll find the link at my previous post of 15.07.2009 ("By Royal Appointment").

As for "Lotta på Liseberg" this will be available to watch on TV4's website until Sunday (or maybe Monday, I'm not sure) and again you can find the link in my previous post. I watched the show again last night and absolutely loved Salem's songs and interviews. I would encourage you to watch the show if you're a Salem fan. Even if you're not a fan, you might still enjoy his performances! :)

Some screencaps from "Lotta på Liseberg" 10.08.2009

I've just finished watching "Lotta på Liseberg" on TV4's website. The full show can be seen at http://tv4play.se/noje_och_humor/lotta_pa_liseberg?videoId=1.1134736 and it's essential viewing for all Salem fans from beginning to end, as he is not only featured singing "Roxy" but he's also a very enthusiastic participant in an "Allsång", there's also an interview and then he sings a few lines of "The Winner Takes It All" at the end of the show. Fantastic, and yes I did get quite emotional watching this. I think it was because seeing Salem on a stage in Gothenburg brought back all the emotion of seeing him play live in Gothenburg back in April.... This was also Salem's last TV appearance of the summer (unless there are any more which I don't know about) so I felt rather sad about that too :(

However, watching Salem sing and perform on "Lotta" warmed my heart and made the sun shine through the rain. He is simply magical. And if SVT need a new presenter someday for "Allsång på Skansen" then they should look no further than Salem - he would be perfect!!

Strömstad/Kalmar: were you there? / Salem on "Lotta" tomorrow night

If you were at Salem's shows in Strömstad (Friday night) and Kalmar (last night) then remember to let us know what you thought of the show. Your comments are always welcome :)

Tomorrow is the last of the current series of TV4's "Lotta på Liseberg" and - of course - they've saved the best until last, because Salem will be appearing on the show!!

What's in a name?

Whilst shopping in the city yesterday I picked up a copy of NME (famous British music magazine). Inside there was a feature about the top 50 influential music acts/websites for the future of music. Suddenly, I just saw that name on the page.... Salem. I became very excited!!

But then I read on and I realised that it’s not (our) Salem (Al Fakir) but it’s a group - and here’s where it gets confusing. There is already a death-metal group called Salem, but it’s not them, it’s a completely different group.

So there are now three acts in the musical world called Salem (!)

But for me, only one of them is the future of music :))))))

I just wonder though, if maybe (our) Salem who shortened his artist-name with a view to an international career, may need to become Salem Al Fakir again, if only to distinguish himself from these other acts with the same name??

Salem plays Mosebacke, Stockholm tomorrow

I found this advert for Salem's outdoor concert tomorrow at Mosebacke in Stockholm (courtesy of http://calistore.blogspot.com) and I just had to share it here! A bright sunny day is forecast, with a temperature of 22 degrees, which should be just perfect for everyone going to the show. If you are going, remember to post your comments here after the show.

Oh and by the way, this is my 400th post on Planet Salem! :))

Kalmar Stadsfest next Saturday, and bad news from Karlstad

In case you didn't already know, Salem will play at next Saturday's Kalmar Stadsfest. He will be top of the bill on Saturday night's Stadsparken line-up and should be on stage at 22:00.

More information about the Kalmar Stadsfest line-up at http://www.vibbkalmar.se/kalender/2009/08/03/kalmar-stadsfest-2009/

Meanwhile it's not good news from Mariebergsskogen in Karlstad, where Salem was supposed to play last week but which was cancelled. There are no plans to reschedule the concert, according to the following article: http://nwt.se/noje/article564158.ece

Gynning is the one who gave it to me...!

LOL!!!!!

Salem was on last night's "Sommarkrysset" singing "Roxy": I've just watched it on YouTube so here are my observations...

1. He's had his hair cut again, and he was wearing his white shirt, tie and cardigan. Looked very good (as usual).

2. The way he sang "you're better off alone in bed" sent a little shiver down my spine for some reason ;)

3. The backing band was very good, but of course Salem's piano solo made it extra special.

4. I liked the "Gynning is the one...." lyric, but then Salem forgot the next line :))))

As usual if you have any comments on his latest TV appearance then remember to post them here! It should be available soon at www.tv4.se but in the meantime you can see it at this YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whpga-Y4FGo

Karlstad concert tomorrow cancelled

In case you didn't already know, here's a reminder that tomorrow's concert at Mariebergsskogan in Karlstad has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond Salem's control.

Helsingborgsfestivalen tomorrow

Salem will be headlining the Helsingborgsfestivalen tomorrow night. If you are in or around Helsingborg then you should get along there and see him! He will be onstage at Stora Scenen at about 23:45.

As usual, if you're going to see Salem's show tomorrow night I hope you have a great time...and remember to post your comments about it here.

Swedish Charts Update

I haven't had one of these for a while as the Swedish singles and albums charts have sadly been a Salem-free zone for too long :(

I thought I'd check out the Swedish iTunes charts tonight and found that "Astronaut" is no.33 and "Good Song" is no.39 in the singles chart, of course these were the two songs he performed on "Grattis Kronprinsessan" which was Swedish television's highest-rated TV programme of the week, with over 1 million viewers.

I get the feeling that there are still many people in Salem's home country who aren't very familiar with his music, so his appearance on this show will have provided him with very valuable exposure to the Swedish audience - and of course to those outside Sweden who watched the show on the internet.

(No sign of "Roxy" though : did it ever get an official release date in Sweden or has it still to be released as a single? I know Salem has an iTunes link for the song on his MySpace but I don't know if it will be download-only or will it also be available as a CD single?)

More good news: "Astronaut" currently sits at no.14 in Sweden's iTunes album chart.

Obscure Sound's review of "Astronaut"

I thought I'd mention this rather great review of "Astronaut" which you can find at http://obscuresound.com/?p=3064

The writer seems to completely sum up everything that is wonderful about this album, and also makes a few very interesting points during the review.

Well done! I love it when other bloggers spread the word about Salem :)

Some Salem screencaps from 'Grattis Kronprinsessan' as promised

Above: Salem sings "Astronaut" earlier in the show.

Above: Crown Princess Victoria and her fiance Daniel seem to be enjoying Salem's performance!

Above: One of the few moments during 'Good Song' when Salem stands still for long enough to be screencapped :))

Above: Salem looking very pleased with himself - and so he should be, he was terrific!

By royal appointment

After waking up this morning I headed to the computer to see if "Grattis Kronprinsessan" was available on SVT Play....

YES!!

I have just had a little "sneak peek" at the show (I'll watch it in full later today and will review it at EuropeCrazy) - and I thought Salem was fantastic. Just as he gave one of his best performances two years ago when he appeared at the very same concert and sang "It's True" and "Dream Girl", last night he was back by royal appointment and performed "Astronaut" and "Good Song". Of course Salem looked as appealing as ever, dressed firstly in his white shirt, black braces and black trousers, then for "Good Song" he changed into a blue and white check shirt.

The programme can be found at http://svtplay.se/v/1625278/kungahuset/grattis_kronprinsessan and will be available to watch on SVT Play until 14th August.

"Astronaut" is 35 minutes into the show whilst you'll find "Good Song" at about 50 minutes.

I also thought the 'house band' brought out the best in Salem: he gave one of the best vocal performances I've heard from him for a long time - soulful, jazzy and always distinctive. As he didn't have to play keyboards or guitar at the same time then he could put so much more into his performance. I think Salem will have gained a number of new fans after they saw him on this programme.

Now as regular readers will know, "Good Song" is my favourite Salem song (and my favourite song of all time!) so I was absolutely delighted with the performance he gave at this concert. If anyone had worried that Salem may have become too 'subdued' of late, then this was reminiscent of the 'old' Salem: running and jumping around the stage, a performance full of fun, exuberance and complete enjoyment.

And did you see him standing on the stage with all the other performers singing that song for Victoria at the end of the show :))

I'll try to do some screencaps tonight from the show and will post them here.

By the way I just wanted to mention that I've now been a Salem Al Fakir fan for 731 days :))))

Still no sign of the Victoriadagen concert on SVT Play :(

OK so it's five minutes to midnight and I had hoped that SVT Play would have made the 'Grattis Kronprinsessan' concert available to watch on the website by now, but it still hasn't appeared yet. Maybe tomorrow...! (I'm having a couple of days off work so I'll check SVT Play again during the day tomorrow)

If you watched the show, did you enjoy Salem's performance? What song(s) did he sing?

Folkbladet's review of Salem at Munken in the Park

You can find a review of Salem's Friday night show at the new 'Munken in the Park' festival in Norrköping at http://www.folkbladet.se/nyheter/artikel.aspx?articleid=4934293

Coming up next: Salem at Victoriadagen - the annual birthday celebration for Crown Princess Victoria (pictured above, courtesy of www.victoriadagen.se) this Tuesday night - I can't wait to see this on SVT's website. I feel quite emotional about this, because it was on the very same show two years ago that I saw and heard Salem for the first time.

Of course, a lot has happened since then ;) I didn't even imagine back then that I'd end up writing a blog about Salem, or seeing him live, or meeting him! I guess a lot can happen in two years! I hope Salem enjoys playing in front of the Swedish royal family again - they won't be disappointed!!

Uppsala gig - November 7th

Salem will return to the Katalin club in Uppsala later this year. He will play there on 7th November - go to www.ticnet.se for ticket information.

It's only you I think about

There will be a new version of the Volvo XC60 car this year, which means a new commercial, which means...the world will get to hear "It's Only You Part II" all over again!!

I hope this will be screened on British TV as the last one wasn't really on too often, although I think it was shown quite extensively in the U.S.A. and other parts of the world judging by the number of visitors who have found their way to Planet Salem (and of course, to discovering the rest of Salem's music) thanks to this commercial.

So if you are one of those people then thanks for visiting this blog: we need to keep spreading the word, all over the world, about Salem's brilliant music!

EDIT 10.08.2009: I was watching television tonight and a commercial came on for the Volvo XC60 - but it's a new one specially made for the UK market, which sadly does not feature "It's Only You Part II" but another piece of music entirely. Another missed opportunity :(

Salem at Munken in the Park

Salem will be appearing at the new "Munken in the Park" festival this Friday in Norrköping. He will be on stage at 22:00. John ME and Jonna Lee are among the other acts appearing this Friday.

Jönköping picture (courtesy of Jnytt.se)

Here is a picture of Salem (and guitarist Adam) from last night's Jönköping show, which I'd like to share with you courtesy of Jnytt.se. There is also a review of last night's show at http://www.jnytt.se/nyhet/25010/jonkoping-live-lyste-upp-regntunga-skyar.

Jönköping tonight: my review

Good news: the webstream worked and I was able to watch tonight's "Jönköping Live" concert. The music was quite good - I particularly enjoyed Jonas Sandvall: he didn't look like a rock star in his bow tie, but he definitely rocked!

We had to wait till the final half hour of the broadcast for the real star of the show of course - Salem!

Set list:

It's Only You (Part II)
Dream Girl
Good Song
Cold Shower
Astronaut
It's True
******
Encore: Twelve Fingers

Salem looked very good tonight in his white shirt and black braces, although he had a bit of trouble with his braces which were quite loose and a little bit twisted! (Don't you just love the attention to detail on Planet Salem???!!)

I'm not sure how the show sounded if you were there, but the sound mix was a bit uneven and sometimes some of the instruments got lost in the mix, maybe it was the webstream to blame - I don't know. I also thought that Salem and the band seemed more subdued than usual in their live performance - I don't know the reason for this, but I guess they maybe just picked up on the lack of atmosphere?

The main thing I noticed tonight was the lack of atmosphere coming from the audience. Again, maybe it was better if you were there, but from what I saw in the livestream I felt that many people in the audience looked bored, disinterested and unappreciative. (Although thankfully there were a few people there who did enjoy Salem's music and cheered and clapped to show their appreciation).

It was really great to see and hear Salem again, doing what he does best - playing live. A very interesting selection of songs tonight - some old and new favourites and I loved them all. Salem always sings "Dream Girl" perfectly, and there's always that moment in "Good Song" when he forgets the lyrics (!). Interestingly, new single "Roxy" was left out of the set list, but "Astronaut" was as lovely as ever and "It's True" finally got the crowd going (is this the only Salem song that some people know, I wonder?) My favourite tonight was the closing "Twelve Fingers" which the band played as an encore, and finally Salem let himself go with some old-style headbanging.

If you were at the show, please leave your comments and let me know what you thought of Salem's performance tonight.

Some pictures from Salem's Skellefteå show (courtesy of Västerbottens Folkblad)

These were taken by Robert Granström for Västerbottens Folkblad, but I thought I'd share them with you all as it's been a while since we saw any new photos of Salem :D

You can find the full set at http://www.folkbladet.nu/?p=150207

The truth about those "Roxy" lyrics

People are beginning to ask questions about the lyrics of "Roxy" and there is some speculation on the internet about the meaning of this song. :)

I would just like to clarify one thing about this song - IT'S NOT ABOUT SALEM :))))

When I met Salem before his concert in April I had to ask him about "Roxy". We had a good laugh about this and at that time he said that the lyrics of the song were not about him.

(But yes, it's about an STD in case you were wondering!)

Jönköping Live - Monday 6th July

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Salem will be appearing at the Jönköping Live event on Monday 6th July, which will take place from 18:00 - 20:00 on a stage at Hamnkanalen. There will also be a webstream of the event and of course I'll try to watch this, although I won't be home in time for the start of the show so I hope that Salem will be appearing nearer the end of the show so that I can watch his live performance :)

EDIT 06.07.09 : go to http://www.jonkoping.se/ovrigt/eu/eu/livestream.4.2d821378121e05d145a80006122.html where you'll find the live stream link. You will need Windows Media Player to watch the show.

Off Beat Band

Nils Wallfält, Jakob Birgersson, Gunnar Muvemba Lidström, Salem Al Fakir and Aaron Phiri are the Off Beat Band...and they will be playing on the terrace at Berns Salonger, Stockholm on the following dates:

8th July
22nd July
12th August
26th August.

More info at http://www.berns.se/extra/news/?id=978&template=/dmfl_templates/concert_subpage.html&lang=se

As I previously said on this blog, I think Salem is trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the amount of bands he is in! :)

Skellefteå Stadsfesten: review in Västerbottens Folkblad

If you go to http://www.folkbladet.nu/?p=150195 you'll find a short review of Salem's show in Skellefteå last night.

Salem's summer adventures begin tomorrow...

Salem will be back on the road again this summer for some live dates, starting tomorrow night at the Stadsfesten in Skellefteå.

If you are going to any of the live shows over the summer, have a great time and as usual, post your comments/reviews here! Planet Salem will be reporting on all Salem's summer adventures. I appreciate all the assistance I get from my Swedish (and international) helpers, so once again, thanks in advance - keep the comments and emails coming!!

I've said it before but I'll say it again - Salem is a brilliant live artist, and if you ever go to see any of his concerts, you will not be disappointed!!

Salem - have a great summer, enjoy the live shows and keep in touch!

Video: Salem sings "Astronaut" on "Hallå P3" this morning

Enjoy!

I don't think I'll ever stop loving that beautiful song...

Here's a picture of Salem (courtesy of Swedish Radio) which I found on the "Hallå P3" homepage today. You can find more pictures from this morning's radio appearance at http://www.sr.se/sida/default.aspx?programid=3184

Salem on "Hallå P3" tomorrow morning

Just a reminder that Salem will appear on Swedish Radio P3's "Hallå P3" tomorrow morning. The show starts at 10.00 am Swedish time. Hopefully the listeners will have sent in lots of interesting questions for Salem to answer!

As usual, I'm making an appeal to my Swedish-speaking friends - if you hear the show (or listen later online at http://www.sr.se/sida/sandningsarkiv.aspx?programid=3184) then I'd love it if you could translate it for me. :)) someday I will be able to understand every word of spoken Swedish, but that day has not arrived yet !!

"Astronaut" video review

I don't know how long this has been around, but I found it tonight:

http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/reviews.php?film_id=17111

It's a review of the "Astronaut" video, which was recently screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival. A very nice review too by James Benefield who describes it as "an almost magical experience" - which is a perfect description.

"Roxy" now A-listed on Swedish Radio P3's playlist!

Very good news - P3 have A-listed "Roxy". I'm very happy about this.

As you know, I live outside Sweden, but often listen to Swedish radio stations on the internet. I know that P3 have always been very supportive of Salem's music, however I wish that more Swedish radio stations would play his music, and spend less time playing the same old songs which are played on radio stations all over the world - Pink, Rihanna, Beyonce...etc etc.

Salem to appear on this year's Sommarkrysset

If you go to http://www.tv4.se/1.1019963/2009/05/28/artisterna_i_sommarkrysset you will find the full line-up of artists appearing on this year's "Sommarkrysset" series. A really strong line-up of the hottest acts in Swedish music, old and new.....and most importantly, Salem will be appearing on the show on Saturday 1st August!

H3FK on tour this autumn

I've just found these dates at H3FK's MySpace (www.myspace.com/h3fk)

Check out the band's unique fusion of world jazz this autumn...

27.08.09 Fasching, Stockholm
28.08.09 Jazzbridge, Karlskrona
05.11.09 Konserthus, Gävle
07.11.09 Vänersborg
08.11.09 Ritz, Arvika
11.11.09 & 12.11.09 Glenn Miller Cafe, Stockholm

Jönköping in July, and a couple of appearances from this week

As Sweden is holding the EU presidency, there will be a meeting of ministers responsible for employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs in Jönköping, which will take place between 6th and 9th July. But what does this have to do with Salem, I hear you ask? Well, to celebrate this event there will be some entertainment being provided on a big stage at the harbour...and Salem will be one of the acts appearing there on Monday 6th July. Those ministers are in for a treat!

Salem appeared at a couple of events this week - on Monday 15th he and his band played at the season-opening of Lisa på Udden on Djurgarden, which was a star-studded celebrity event. Pictures from this event can be found at http://www.finest.se/imageGallery/?igid=5409

Then on Tuesday 16th June Salem played at a party to celebrate the first birthday of CHIC which is (correct me if I'm wrong) a showbiz/fashion magazine. If you go to http://www.finest.se/imageGallery/image.php?igid=5413&iid=313585&pageNum=47 you'll find pictures of all the usual Swedish celebrities....but of course this blogger is only interested in the three pictures of Salem, who was looking nice and stylish as ever.

Gothenburg, March 2010....

Salem's Berwaldhallen shows in December - which I exclusively revealed on Planet Salem at the end of May - have now been officially announced in a press release today.

However I can reveal another exclusive today!!

Salem will be playing the Gothenburg Konserthuset with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on Friday 26th March 2010. Tickets for this show are not yet on sale, (see below) but check out http://www.gso.se/ for more info. This should be an amazing event - and I'm going to try and get over there to see this show (although it will depend on flight availability and whether I can get time off work).

Is anyone going to Berwaldhallen this year? Unfortunately I can't make it, but I'm determined to return to Gothenburg to see Salem again!!

EDIT 17.06.09: I've read that press release with the tour dates and it says at the end "more gigs to follow" - presumably that will include Gothenburg? I've also been wondering if Salem will be playing any shows outside Sweden in 2009/2010, or will he just continue to tour Sweden?

(And yes, I'm still impatiently waiting for Salem's big international launch/breakthrough .....!)

As ever, if anyone knows anything, please please please drop me an email!!

EDIT 29.06.09: Tickets for Gothenburg Konserthuset go on sale at www.gso.se on 29th August 2009. (I presume they will also be available via Ticnet?)

This week's Salem news....

Salem will be one of the acts playing the new "Munken in the Park" festival in Norrköping which will take place on 10th and 11th July. John ME and Jonna Lee will also play this festival. Info at http://www.folkbladet.se/kulturnoje/artikel.aspx?articleid=4911484

"Roxy" and "Astronaut" are still B-listed on P3's playlist this week. Come on P3 - get "Roxy" onto the A-list playlist!

Salem has not one, but two songs in this week's Swedish Radio "Tracks" chart. "Roxy" is a new entry at no 9, and after 13 weeks on the chart, "Astronaut" is at no. 10. Full listing at http://www.sr.se/p3/topplistor/tracks/

The "Astronaut" album has again dropped out of the Sverige Topplistan chart. :(

Finally (thanks Kalle for the tip!) Salem appeared on P3 Star on Swedish radio today and Linda Sundblad was the very lucky presenter who got the chance to interview him! Here's a link to the show: http://www.sr.se/webbradio/?Type=broadcast&Id=1797901&isBlock=1 and you can also find some pictures of Salem and Linda at http://www.p3star.se/default.ns?lngItemID=1019&intPageColor=2&intFolderID=310

Would anyone be able to translate any of the interview? My Swedish is still not good :))

Salem på Liseberg...

Some very good news today....Salem will be one of the acts appearing on TV4's new Allsång-show "Lotta på Liseberg" which will be broadcast every Monday night from Gothenburg beginning on 22 June.

More information about this year's line-up for Lotta's show and its SVT rival "Allsång på Skansen" (which Salem appeared on in 2007) at my other blog: http://europecrazy.blogspot.com/2009/06/allsang-vs-allsang-let-battle-commence.html

EDIT 17.06.09: We'll have to wait till 10th August to see Salem on Lotta's show. As the saying goes...they're saving the best for last :))) and of course he will be worth waiting for!

Salem to play Vara Konserthus in October

Salem will play Vara Konserthus on 28th October. More information at http://www.varakonserthus.se/

I notice that the date of Salem's show at The Cod in Strömstad has been changed from 26th June and will now take place on 7th July.

Find details of Salem's upcoming live dates at http://www.salemalfakir.com/tour/

Salem's Nokia-prize gig, and a P3 radio appearance in July.

If you remember I previously mentioned the competition on the Nokia website http://www.tubemusic.se/ which ran over a period of 30 days in the Stockholm subway. The winner would get the most amazing prize - a 'living room' gig by Salem and his band.

The lucky winner was Christopher Frånberg, who comes from Märsta... and last Saturday, May 30th, Salem and the band headed for Sigtuna Folkhögskola for their exclusive outdoor show for Christopher and his friends. I've found a little behind-the-scenes clip about this on YouTube tonight: go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g69SpJB7qVU. A great version of "It's True" followed by lots of fooling around by Salem and him being thrown into the air by the students! It looked as if everyone had a great time. :)

EDIT 03.06.09: The full version of "It's True" has also now been posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzmSDHcCjmQ

My other news tonight is that Salem will be a guest on Swedish Radio P3's "Hallå P3" on Wednesday 1st July, which will be broadcast from 10.00 - 11.00 am that day. I will mention this again on Planet Salem nearer the time.

Planet Salem is 18 months old today! / Poll results.

I just thought I'd mention this little anniversary tonight - this blog has now been going for 18 months!! It doesn't feel like a year and a half since I started Planet Salem but you know what they say, time flies when you're having fun....and I'm really having a lot of fun doing this blog!

Over the last couple of months I've been running a little poll on this site where you could vote for your favourite tracks on "Astronaut". 290 votes were cast - thanks to all of you for voting :)

So, by way of a little anniversary-celebration I thought it was time to publish the results!

1. Astronaut - 56 votes (19%)
2. It's Only You (Part II) - 43 (14%)
3. One of the Others - 38 (13%)
4. Cold Shower - 34 (11%)
5. Roxy - 29 (10%)
6. Mirror - 25 (8%)
7. Twelve Fingers - 23 (7%)
8. Black Sun Black Moon - 22 (7%)
=9. Bluest Eyes - 7 (2%)
=9. Now's The Time - 7 (2%)
11. Purple Lady - 6 (2%)

Once again, thanks all of you for voting. I've had good fun doing this poll and I'd like to do some more in the future. If you have any ideas for future Salem-related polls please let me know!

Salem returns to Berwaldhallen!

Exclusive news! Salem will be reunited with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (under the direction of Hans Ek) for three concerts in December 2009:

Thursday 10th December at 1900

Friday 11th December at 1800

Saturday 12th December at 1500.

More details at http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/berwaldhallen/program/index.asp?ProgramID=979 and tickets can be booked at http://www.ticnet.se/

This time around, the special guest will be legendary guitarist Jojje Wadenius.

Swedish charts update

"Astronaut" (single) is still holding at no.6 in Swedish radio P3's 'Tracks' chart - hopefully it will soon be joined by "Roxy".

The "Astronaut" album meanwhile has fallen to no. 60 in the Swedish album chart. Maybe the release of the new single, along with the various summer concerts will help the album to climb the chart again?

Meantime, "Astronaut" and "Roxy" are still on P3's B-list playlist this week.

Posting comments

Hi everyone

If you've posted any comments over the last few hours can you please post these again as these were accidentally deleted.

Thanks!

"Roxy" video

(Salem, I hope you don't mind me doing this but I couldn't resist posting it here tonight!)



With the right promotion, this song could (and should) be an international summer smash hit.

The "Roxy" video: get ready for Mr Universe!!

If you've been to Salem's official website today you will know all about this, but if you haven't, then here's where you can find the new video for "Roxy":

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/musikvideor/article5236825.ab

It may just be the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time....little Salem gets in training with all these big bodybuilders at Muscle Beach in California and becomes Mr Universe!

Salem completely sends himself up in this video, it's absolutely hilarious and proves that he has a great sense of humour.

What do you think of the video? Post your comments here!

Something old....

...which I found tonight, completely by accident. Salem and his band in the unlikely surroundings of the Swedish TV show "Bingolotto" from 21.01.2007, performing "Good Song".

It all seems so long ago now! (That's because it is...28 months ago!)

Anyway if you want to see this clip then get on over to http://www.folkspel.se/qbrickbingo/ and then click on 'Artister' and scroll down the list of clips till you find Salem).

(Going off-topic for a moment, that site is a little goldmine for Swedish music fans - you can also find clips of BWO, EMD, Martin Stenmarck, Sebastian, Veronica Maggio, Vincent, Tomas Ledin and numerous Melodifestivalen acts too).

"Astronaut" video to be screened at Edinburgh International Film Festival

I was delighted to see that Anders Jedenfors and Jamie Stone's highly inventive animated video for "Astronaut" will be screened on 20th June as part of an evening of animated short films at Filmhouse 2 in Edinburgh.

This event is part of the famous Edinburgh International Film Festival, full details can be found at http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/whats-on/2009/mclaren-animation-1

Hopefully this will bring Salem's music to a new audience and raise his profile over here, as well as demonstrating the work of these two talented animators.

More about Adam....

Once again, big big thanks to the person who answered my question in the previous post. Now I know the name of Salem's new guitarist, Adam Hagstrand, I decided to find out a little bit more about him...and I discovered that he was part of Vincent Pontare's band, Jalla Jinx, which is extremely cool as regular readers of my other blog EuropeCrazy will know that I'm a big fan of Vincent's music. Adam has also worked with Veronica Maggio and September - I like them too!

Adam, if you are reading this....welcome to Planet Salem!

Planet Salem readers: I need your help once again!

Does anyone know the name of the guitarist who played in Salem's band during his recent USA gigs at the Viper Room and at the Swedish Consulate? If you have any more information about this can you please leave a comment or email me?

Thanks!

Roxy is the one who gave it to me....

Yes, "Roxy" is the next single to be released from "Astronaut". I've been doing some detective work on the internet tonight and it already looks as if the single format (radio edit) is available for download in Finland and Denmark, where I also managed to find the single cover (pictured above).

I don't have a release date for Sweden yet, although the song is already B-listed on Swedish Radio P3's playlist ("Astronaut" is also on the B-list playlist)

According to Folkradio the video for the song was filmed in Venice Beach during Salem's recent trip to the USA, and features musclemen and models, in keeping with the '80s spirit and retro character of the song'.

Musclemen? Models? Never mind them, I just hope we see a lot of Salem in the video too!!!

If you have any more information regarding the release date for the single, or when we will be able to see the video....please email me or leave your comments here.

New interview (in English) on YouTube!

I just found this on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOS_top1N_o

It's an interview with Salem (in English!) and gives a nice little insight into his musical upbringing and there are also clips of him in the studio - being a perfectionist!

I love this clip. It's great to hear Salem speaking English again and it just reminds me of when I met him!! :)

Some screencaps...

Dagbladet Sundsvall concert review

Another review of Salem's Friday night show. Reviewer Jens Höglin gave it 3 and seemed to enjoy the show, however expressed some reservations. Read on..

The reviewer stated that Salem bounced onto the stage and started with "Twelve Fingers" and apologised for the cancellation of the gig in April. "Judging by the audience reaction, he is forgiven and the band embark on "Cold Shower". Mr Al Fakir is undeniably a special stage personality: one second he is a mixture between a classical musician and a professor, the next he bounces around between the instruments with great enthusiasm - as pleased as a child. Preferably, he would probably like to play all the instruments at the same time. Unfortunately I felt that at regular intervals, the evening's main character carried the entire burden alone. The band consists of a bunch of skilled musicians that do not show the same enthusiasm...The atmosphere is good, the audience loves their Salem, but the real spark is not really appearing. Maybe it's because it is a bit sparse in the Spegelsalen...the band never put into final gear without playing in security, without sharp edges. But on the whole, it still sounds really good. Salem Al Fakir's enthusiasm, quickness, skill, and magnificent falsetto would probably be able to lift the half boring evening at any time. And the set list is really good. The focus is on the last disc, adulterated with all the hits from "This is Who I Am". We hear a new song, "Brooklyn Sun." However, the star lost the thread and forgot the text, but what makes it when he rescues it with his customary charm".

(I would disagree with the reviewer's comments about Salem's band - having seen them live I would say that they are very sharp indeed and they always provide a harder edge to the songs. Each to their own opinion though. Planet Salem is, of course, a fansite but I am always interested in hearing everyone's different views about Salem and his music, even if I don't always agree with them).

Sunsdvalls Tidning review of Salem's concert

There's a review of Salem's show at Sundsvall Stadshuset on Friday 15th May at http://st.nu/noje/recensioner/konsertrecension/1.1049082 and you can also find some pictures from the show there.

Reviewer Janne Hallman gives it a rating of 3....

"Swedish pop's most perfectionist front man took to the Spegelsalen stage last Friday....He is insanely talented, but when Salem al Fakir is with the band on stage it feels like something essential is missing. Although his hair is now a little calmer and the explosive symphonic moments a little less so, it would be wonderful if the classically trained inhibitions could be released completely. Salem is a wonderful stage personality. Warm, genuinely nice and with a natural charisma....Although he is charming, I wish nevertheless that small horns could grow out the curly hair. As it is now, so he stands up in the middle of songs that he forgets a line of text. Taking it over and over again. Guitar tuned to perfection.... The band exclaims musical explosions, and it gives a taster of how good it could be if we dared to let the sky high ambitions go a little. Salem al Fakir should learn that you do not die if the guitar is microscopically out of tune or a line of text will disappear, because when he drops everything and lets the music take over, he is a joy spreader unprecedented."

Some very interesting and constructive comments there!

Summer tour dates

Please go to www.salemalfakir.com and click on the 'tour' tab, where you will find details of Salem's summer tour dates.

Of course I just had to mention them here too :)

26.06.2009 Strömstad

03.07.09 Skellefteå

24.07.09 Helsingborg

27.07.09 Karlstad

05.08.09 Stockholm

08.08.09 Kalmar

15.08.09 Mariefred

17.08.09 Malmö

Interview in Sundsvall Dagbladet / Sundsvall concert tomorrow

If you go to http://dagbladet.se/kulturnoje/1.1039553 you can find an interview with Salem. (I'm not sure if this has been published anywhere else already).

Salem will of course be playing the Spegelsalen in Sundsvall Stadshuset tomorrow night - this was one of the concerts which was originally cancelled due to his U.S. trip.

If you are going to the concert, remember to leave your comments here - let me know what you thought of the show.

Something very special at Malmofestivalen 2009...

I have some big news today! Salem will be playing this year's Malmofestivalen (which takes place between 14th and 21st August) - and he will be doing something very special indeed.

For once again, he is collaborating with an orchestra! This time, it's the 60-strong Malmooperorkester. I don't have any more information yet on the actual date of the concert so if anyone has any more information can you leave a comment here and I will pass it on.

Isn't this exciting!!

Salem on "Morgonpasset" this coming Friday!

Yes, if it's Friday it will mean only one thing....Salem will be back on P3's "Morgonpasset" this Friday, 15th May, and this time he's bringing a drumkit to accompany Kodjo's guitar playing!!

I'm back!

Hello everyone and welcome back to Planet Salem. I enjoyed my trip to Dusseldorf, Germany and I'll be posting my travel diary over at my other blog (http://europecrazy.blogspot.com) over the next few days.

So what happened while I was away? Well...lots of lovely video footage has been uploaded to YouTube from the recent Musexpo event in Los Angeles. If you go to http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=virginmusicbrigade&view=videos you will find lots of live footage of Salem from the Sunday brunch ("It's Only You"/"Astronaut"/"It's True"), the Viper Room ("It's Only You"/"Astronaut"/"Good Song"/"Dream Girl") and also a couple of 'unplugged' songs from day 2 of the Musexpo event ("Astronaut"/"Brooklyn Sun").

All I have to say is....enjoy!

Salem in Kalmar, 7th August

According to Barometern.se http://www.barometern.se/noje_o_kultur/berghagen-och-emd-till-kalmar(1312516).gm Salem will be one of the acts appearing at this year's Kalmar Stadsfesten which runs from Thursday 5th to Saturday 7th August: Salem will appear at the City Park on the Saturday.

Time for a break!

Salem has had an extremely busy schedule over the last 8 weeks - all the media promotion/TV and radio appearances/interviews which accompanied the release of the album, followed by the Swedish tour, followed by the trip to the USA.

(Salem - You have worked so hard so I'm glad that you are finally getting the chance to relax for a while. You deserve it! I hope you enjoy New York, and that it gives you the inspiration to write some more songs which are as beautiful as "Brooklyn Sun" which you wrote on your last trip there.)

As for Planet Salem, it's also been a busy and highly successful couple of months too, the high point of which was meeting Salem before his Gothenburg concert, as I said in a previous post, that was the best night of my life!

To know that Salem and those closest to him value and appreciate the work I do on this blog, completely touches my heart and gives me the motivation to continue with this site for a long long time to come.

Thanks to Salem and doing this blog I've also got to know a lot of lovely, special people, your emails and comments mean so much to me and I'd love you all to keep in touch. (Remember all emails are treated as confidential so you can email me about anything and I'll keep it a secret!)

However, I need to let you know that Planet Salem is taking a break between Monday 4th and Friday 8th May, as my boyfriend and I are going on holiday to Dusseldorf, Germany for a few days. This blog will return on Saturday 9th May.

(One more thing: after all the recent activity, I would anticipate that there will be less news to report about Salem over the next couple of months or so, therefore if it will be a bit quieter on this blog with less regular updates, then that's the reason!)

Best wishes....and see you soon!

/Laura.

Swedish charts update

"Astronaut" (single) falls one place from no.3 to no.4 in this week's Swedish Radio P3 "Tracks" chart.

As usual, keep voting so that the song remains in the chart for as long as possible!

Salem in Washington DC

Something which happened last night, which I only found out about today:


One of Scandinavia's top artists indeed. Salem played the House of Sweden in Washington DC last night. I haven't found any reviews of the show yet, but if by any chance you were at the show then post your comments here.

Lucky American audiences, getting the opportunity to see Salem play live - possibly the best live show you will ever see, by the most creative musical talent of our generation.

(And $10? That must be the bargain of the century).

Swedish charts update

"Astronaut" is no. 34 in this week's Sverige Topplistan album chart.

Salem in Los Angeles: new interview

I'm still chasing up information/reviews/feedback about Salem's Los Angeles show on Tuesday night. In the meantime here is a new Swedish press article at http://hd.se/noje/2009/04/30/salem-al-fakir-hoppas-paa-lyft-i/ about Salem's trip to California.

EDIT 30.04.09: There's a very nice review of Salem's Tuesday night showcase at the Viper Room at http://beatcrave.com/2009-04-29/musexpo-2009-ar-worldwide-artist-showcase-coverage-tuesday-night/

....and guess what I found tonight at YouTube? Only some footage of Salem and the band playing "Good Song" at the Viper Room!!

Körsbär/Karlsson

I thought it was time for one of my occasional slightly-off-topic posts about Salem's circle of musical friends.

You may remember that Jesper Lagercrantz (a.k.a. Jeppe Körsbär) and Mats Karlsson were on backing vocals during Salem's recent appearances on "Popcirkus" (SVT) and "Musikplats Stockholm" (SR P4).

Mats is of course a long-time musical collaborator of Salem's as he is a member of FakirKarlsson and H3FK, whilst Jeppe is a member of urban electro-soul outfit Swedish Love Story which also features highly rated Swedish artist Kaah (www.myspace.com/swedishlovestory)

I've just discovered some musical collaborations by Jeppe and Mats, two very talented artists, at their MySpace: www.myspace.com/korsbarkarlsson : "Skylark" is particularly wonderful. I love Jeppe's voice so much I could listen to it all day (that's when I'm not listening to Salem of course).

Meanwhile...another Norwegian review of "Astronaut"

There's a review of Salem's new album in Romerikes Blad: http://www.rb.no/lokal_kultur/cd-guiden/article4292572.ece

Quick translation of course (what would I do without Google Translate??)

Reviewer Ola Einbu describes Salem as the "good boy in the soul-pop class...he is the artist who does everything; he composes, plays, sings and made the recording and production itself. But he sure can work".

The reviewer goes on to say..."he gives the listeners pop pearls like 'Bluest Eyes' and the film noir-like, orkestrale, fragile and beautiful "Purple Lady". Not to mention of "One of the Others", which just as easily could have been written by Stevie Wonder. Only the name Salem Al Fakir sounds like a party. It is basically what he has to offer also".

Preview of USA-debut in today's Expressen

There's a good feature in today's Expressen, all about Salem's trip to the USA, previewing tonight's appearance at the Viper Room in Los Angeles. There is also a photo from his outdoor lunchtime show on Sunday at the Swedish consulate. Find it at:
http://www.expressen.se/noje/musik/1.1549701/salem-al-fakir-gor-usa-debut-i-natt

In this interview Salem says he's not nervous about tonight's appearance at the Viper Room, where he will play a selection of songs from his first two albums. He says the purpose of his trip is to find out how his music will be received in the USA, and that his show on Sunday was well-received.

Talking of Sunday, if you go to http://www.swedenabroad.com/News____7666.aspx?slaveid=88511 you'll find a picture of Salem, looking cool in his shades :) along with Adam Tensta and Addeboy vs Cliff, the other acts who appeared at Sunday's music brunch at the Consulate General of Sweden, in Los Angeles.

Good luck for tonight Salem....now get out there and show the American audiences what they've been missing!

Salem in Stockholm this August

Thanks Maria for the tip!! :)

Salem will play Mosebacke in Stockholm on 5th August 2009. More information at http://www.mosebacke.se/ver2/events.asp

"Astronaut" no.3 in this week's Tracks chart!

Some very good news to report as "Astronaut" has climbed to no.3 in this week's P3 "Tracks" chart.

You know what you have to do... keep on voting and let's get the song even higher in next week's chart!

Damernas Värld: a request!

Whilst in Gothenburg last weekend I couldn't resist checking out this month's Damernas Värld magazine which has an interview with Salem (page 38 if I can remember correctly!!) anyway I wanted to buy this magazine but as I was only travelling with already over-packed hand luggage, I had no room in my bag to carry it home with me :(

Along with the interview, there is a particularly amazing photo of Salem standing in front of this old Volvo car and I would really love to see it again :)

So....if any readers of Planet Salem have this magazine, would you be able to scan the interview and the photo and email it to me? I would really appreciate it!!

Salem in the USA: some more info

MI (Musikindustrin.se) reports here about some of the promotional material and activities around the Musexpo music industry seminar which begins this Sunday in Los Angeles.

Apart from his appearance at the Viper Room on Tuesday 28th April, Salem will also be one of the artists specially invited to perform at the Swedish Consulate General on Sunday 26th April for a "music brunch" in front of 250 specially invited music industry guests. Salem is also featured on the USB promotion "The Absolute Best New Swedish Music In The World" which also includes Anna Ternheim, Hello Saferide, Kleerup, Titiyo, Backyard Babies, Miss Li, Andreas Tilliander and Dungen. (Export Music Sweden has done a really good job here - more info at www.exms.se.)

Musikindustrin.se will be reporting on the Musexpo event , where a strong Swedish delegation will be in attendance along with music business delegates from all over the world.

In the meantime...best wishes, Salem, for your trip to the USA!

Swedish charts update

Good news this week as "Astronaut" has climbed to no. 25 in the Sverige Topplistan album chart.

Salem singing for Victoria on 14th July (again!)

I forgot to mention this before I headed for Gothenburg, but in case you didn't know, I thought I'd pass on the good news that Salem will be appearing at Crown Princess Victoria's annual birthday concert which will take place, as usual, on 14th July on Öland.

Also appearing this year: Malena Ernman, Måns Zelmerlöw, Lena Philipsson, Orup, Jill Johnson, Kalle Moraeus and Bengan Janson.

Two years ago Salem appeared at the same concert, which was the very first time I ever saw and heard him (and life was never the same again!!) I guess this means that everything has come full circle: particularly as Måns is also appearing again this year!

I'll put a reminder on Planet Salem nearer the time: I'm sure that SVT will be transmitting the show as usual.

One more thing...

I just want to thank everyone for all the comments and emails I received yesterday following my return from my trip of a lifetime to see Salem. Also there was a massive increase in my visitor numbers yesterday, so again thank you!

Unfortunately I didn't have time to reply as I was too busy updating the blog with all my adventures, so I'll definitely get back to you all tonight!

Much appreciated.

/Laura

A message for the Norwegian girls!!

I meant to mention on the blog yesterday that not only did I get to meet Salem and have a fantastic time at the concert, but then I had something else amazing happen to me - after the show I met the Norwegian girls who had previously emailed me! (This wasn't planned and had happened purely by accident!)

It was really great to meet you and I'd love it if you could email me again so that we can chat some more about the concert.

Thanks!

Salem at Trädgår'n, Gothenburg, Saturday 18th April 2009 - My review.

Set list:

Twelve Fingers
Cold Shower
Devil Look
Good Song
It's Only You (Part II)
Mirror
Brooklyn Sun
Astronaut
Bluest Eyes
Now's The Time
Dream Girl
It's True
Roxy

***************
One Of The Others
Thank You

Since I became a fan of Salem Al Fakir and his music almost two years ago, I had dreamed of this moment - to see him live in concert. On Saturday night, that dream finally came true.

Of course a perfect evening was made even better by my other dream coming true - meeting Salem. (But I'm not going to talk about that for a change....this post is all about my review of the concert!)




The venue for Saturday night's show was the Trädgår'n club (pictured above) which was just 10 minutes walk from our hotel. It's a great big wooden building which hosts the club, the bar and restaurant. The capacity is maybe about 1000 or so (I think?) and it was certainly a well-attnded show. What particularly pleased me was the wide age-range of the fans, which just proves that Salem's music appeals to all age groups.

Missed the support act, Jonna Lee, as I was chatting to Salem at the time :) anyway I'm sure she put on a very good show as she's received good reviews from the critics during the current tour.

I was glad it was a standing rather than seated venue, as this enabled us to get very near the front of the stage (about three rows back from the stage anyway). It was great to be able to see Salem and the band 'up close' on stage. Salem always encourages the audience to participate but most of the time we don't need encouragement! Needless to say, I was singing along with every song, dancing, clapping and jumping around - of course!

Unfortunately the photos I took of Salem and the band on stage were very blurry, so I've only included a couple here, sorry for the poor quality:



(There are many better and more professional stage photos from Salem's current tour at Rockfoto.nu and Festivalphoto.net - as well as on various other blogs of course - check them out!)

Salem and the band came onstage at 10.00 pm and launched into "Twelve Fingers" which is such a great, lively start to the show: immediate proof that Salem has grown into such a strong and confident live performer. He is singing better than ever, and his charisma and talent is never in any doubt.

Salem was dressed in his tour-outfit of white shirt, cream braces and cream trousers. Of course I will have to mention his nice curly hair which has now grown a little: although it is still shorter than it used to be, but I like this new style and I hope he keeps it like that.

To begin with, Salem stood at the microphone but it wasn't long before he was moving around the stage like the Salem that we know and love. Although some reviewers have commented that Salem's stage act isn't as manic as it once was, he certainly doesn't sit still or stand still for too long....and he's still headbanging!!

"Cold Shower" next - and even though this is a relatively new song, it is already becoming very popular with the audience, many of whom were already singing along. Apart from Salem's skill and versatility as a live performer, much of the credit has to go to his wonderful band, all extremely talented and versatile musicians in their own right, who always support Salem with solid and effortless musical excellence:

Jakob Birgersson (bass)
Nisse Wallfält (drums)
Robert Östlund (guitar/keyboards)
David Nyström (keyboards)

Credit must also go to Salem's sound man Internal Dread who provided an excellent mix and I particularly liked those little dub-effects and echoes during various songs which gave a new slant on some old and new favourites.

The bulk of the current live set is made up with songs from the new album, but the next two songs were from "This Is Who I Am": Salem sat down at his keyboard for a deliciously fast and funky "Devil Look" - I couldn't stop dancing to this! Then, to my favourite Salem song of all: "Good Song", which was the cue for a massive audience singalong. If I only had one minor complaint, I would say that it was played too early in the set - it should have been played later on, but that's just my personal taste.

"It's Only You (Part II)" was next, with its distinctive keyboard loops and Salem in great voice. This song has clearly become an audience favourite too.

"Mirror" provided Salem and the band with a chance to rock out, this song has really grown on me now. I liked his little looks over at Jakob when he was singing some of the lyrics - I thought that was quite funny.

After this, the band left the stage and Salem put on his acoustic guitar, to sing the (unreleased) "Brooklyn Sun". When I met Salem I told him how much I liked this song, and how I found it extremely moving. Tonight was no different: Salem's voice ached with longing in the final chorus, and the lump in my throat just got bigger.

The band returned and it was straight into "Astronaut", the current single: an effortless and lovely performance of the song.

I got the feeling that many in the crowd may not have been as familiar with "Bluest Eyes" although this is one of my favourite tracks on the new album. This was a chance for Salem's band to really shine, and they did: special mentions here for David's sparkly keyboard lines and Robert's excellent guitar solo towards the end of the song.

The rock-theme continued with "Now's The Time". It was great to see Salem absolutely hammering his guitar too - he totally rocked!

One particular aspect of Salem's live show is the effortless way that one song leads directly into another - and the segue from "Now's The Time" into "Dream Girl" was particularly inspired.

Aah, "Dream Girl". Another one of everyone's all-time Salem favourites: and another exceptional performance with Salem sitting at the piano, playing that refrain. Fantastic....and it led right into "It's True" which of course is the ultimate fan-favourite. Everyone clapped and sang at the top of their voices, and there was a very funny moment when Salem mixed up the order of the verses and totally confused everyone!!

After two established classics, the show was brought to a close with a future classic...."Roxy" which has crowd-pleaser written all over it. I love his cheeky little smile when he is singing the first verse, and his hand-gesturing at "just use your hands instead".

After an hour, it was all over, bar the encores. The first encore-song being "One Of The Others". I just screamed when this came on, as it's my favourite song on Salem's new album. A great performance too, and I loved the middle-section which Salem played on the piano in a totally classical style, and just like Salem I was smiling all the way through that part too.

Salem and the band left the stage again, but the audience just wouldn't let them go....so they came back for one final number, the traditional concert-ending "Thank You", which really was the final song. "...I just wanna thank you all for listening/and I hope we all can get back again".

And I do too Salem.

As I said in an earlier post, this was probably the best night of my life, and it's the best live concert that I've ever seen. A fantastic show packed with past, present and future hits crafted by a truly unique and magical performer: Salem Al Fakir. The world's best kept musical secret.

Uppsala concert review in Uppsala Nya Tidning

There's a review of last Friday's concert at Katalin, Uppsala at http://www2.unt.se/avd/1,1826,MC=5-AV_ID=896876,00.html

Reviewer Andreas Jakobsson said that he saw two of Salem's concerts during the same tour, two years ago, and was amazed that both concerts were different and spontaneous.

He went on to comment that Salem's curly hair has grown out a bit since the album was released, reminiscent of Salem Al Fakir from the past, before he started calling himself just Salem. He said that Salem's excess energy is now gone, with the focus now on the music; Internal Dread's live mixing offers a surprise extra dimension without making too much impact. The reviewer noted that "Bluest Eyes" was the evening's highest peak, and he also highlighted Robert Östlund's fierce guitar solo on the song. The reviewer stated that there was a carnival atmosphere in the packed Katalin club on Friday night. He described Salem as exuding cool rock star, mother-in-law's dream and crazy music professor all in one, but noted the hard discipline behind the mask.

Stockholm Cirkus review in Svenska Dagbladet

OK catch-up time starts now...

Kristin Lundell in Svenska Dagbladet was at Cirkus in Stockholm and gave the concert 3 out of 5. Find the review at http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/artikel_2755593.svd

Translation time ...
New album 'Astronaut'...displays a more thoughtful and mature side of Salem....perhaps not as family-friendly in its atmosphere, but enough for the teenage girls to celebrate the enthusiasm of the cute pop hit 'Astronaut'. Backed by his four-strong band - strings are prerecorded - Salem makes a surprisingly soft start, but fortunately, it takes only a few songs, until the first tracks from This is who I am before it tightens up, and 'Dream Girl', 'Good Song' and 'It's True' beds feelgood-feeling in Cirkus in fluffy cotton candy clouds. The 27-year-old multi-instrumentalist,wearing a white shirt, white trousers and matching braces looking like a character role in an old film, marches and moves happily along the stage. His famous hairstyle has begun to grow again, and he switches between playing the piano and guitar or stands in front at the stage edge with microphone in hand. Guitar rock mixed with piano driven soulpop and an unreleased song where Al Fakir is alone on acoustic guitar. It is a pleasant friendly concert and Salem Al Fakir is undoubtedly an equally charming and talented artist. But I wonder where the almost uncontrollable and contagious energy has gone. After forty-five minutes have Salem Al Fakir already played all his hits and a dozen songs too. With additional numbers the concert was an hour long, and then he gives his band members a hug, and then happily leaves the stage".

Swedish charts update

"Astronaut" (album) has re-entered the Sverige Topplistan album chart at no. 31 - let's hope it goes much higher this time!

Meanwhile the single of the same name remained at no. 6 in this week's SR P3 "Tracks" chart.

Some screencaps from Salem's latest TV appearance.

I hadn't done some screencaps for a while so I thought it was about time for some new ones, this time from Salem's latest TV appearance on SVT's "Babben & Co" on Saturday night.

He performed a lovely little acoustic-version of "It's Only You (Part II)" which was probably closer in spirit to the original version of the song which was on "This Is Who I Am". Anyway it's a very pretty little version of the song: Salem sings it very softly and gives it an almost lullaby-quality. You will find the show at SVT Play: go to http://svtplay.se/t/102906/babben_och_co, Salem appears 53 minutes into the show.

Remaining tour dates cancelled.

Expressen reports here that the three remaining dates on Salem's tour, in Örnsköldsvik (23.04.09), Östersund (24.04.09) and Sundsvall (25.04.09) have sadly had to be cancelled, due to Salem's upcoming commitments in the USA. New dates will be arranged for the concerts and I will let you know as soon as this information becomes available.

EDIT 20.04.09: Sundsvalls Tidning reports here that the Stadshuset concert has now been rescheduled to 15th May.

Saturday 18th April 2009: The best night of my life.

Regular readers of Planet Salem would know that I was going to Gothenburg on Friday. What you wouldn't have known was that the story wasn't over....

For just when I thought it couldn't get any better for me, something exciting happened, out of the blue on Thursday night...an email from Salem, asking me to contact his tour manager to arrange to meet him on Saturday!!

So I made my contact and it was agreed that I would meet Salem before his show on Saturday night. Here's my backstage pass....!

I thought he might only have time for a quick chat - but we ended up chatting for 45 minutes, we asked each other questions and shared lots of stories and it was a complete pleasure spending time in his company. I found Salem to be a warm, friendly, polite, down to earth and extremely kind person with a great sense of humour. And of course he was totally adorable too!

I was completely touched by his appreciation of the work I've done with Planet Salem; I'm just so happy that Salem enjoys reading my blog and that he has made it part of his official website.

Salem also introduced me to Robert, David and Nisse from his excellent live band - it was great to meet you guys!

I took my copy of "Astronaut" over with me and asked Salem to sign it, which he did. Like everything else he does, even his signature is unique and distinctive!

Before leaving, I asked if I could take Salem's picture as I needed evidence that I met him :) he thought this was quite funny, he mimicked me and said "I need evidence!" anyway here it is! (I've edited the picture a little bit as the dressing room had mirrors all the way round so the photo looked a little surreal to start with).


I will post my full review of the concert tomorrow, as I'm feeling very tired and need to get some sleep. "I can't sleep when all this spinning round" was a most appropriate lyric for me on Saturday night, as I hardly slept at all on Saturday night from all the excitement of meeting Salem and then seeing the greatest concert I've ever been to.

So I'll catch up with all the news tomorrow and there's a few more things I need to mention.

See you tomorrow! :)

Bye for now....

Planet Salem is now taking a break for a few days....because I'm off to Gothenburg tomorrow, to see Salem's concert on Saturday night!!

Current mood: excited and euphoric.

Planet Salem should return late on Sunday night when I'll catch up with all the news and reviews. I will also post my own concert review on Monday.

In the meantime if you are going to any of the concerts over the next three days I hope you enjoy them - I'm sure Salem will put on a wonderful show as ever. My one little problem (if you can call it a problem) is that my understanding of spoken Swedish is still not too good, so I won't really be able to understand what Salem is saying in-between the songs, although I've read before that he is quite amusing and entertaining. For me of course the music will speak for itself.

(And Salem, if you are reading this, good luck with the show...and please play "One of The Others" in Gothenburg!)

Stockholm, Uppsala and Gothenburg!

Salem resumes his tour tonight in Stockholm, then he's off to Uppsala tomorrow and Gothenburg on Saturday.

As usual, if you're going to any of these concerts please feel free to leave any comments and they will be published following my return from Gothenburg on Sunday night.

New interview...

Allt om Stockholm has a new interview with Salem in advance of his Stockholm concert tonight. Find it at http://www.alltomstockholm.se/start/article52676.aos

New interview in Göteborgs-Posten

I was particularly interested in reading this one (for obvious reasons): you can find the interview at http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=286&a=489316

In the interview Salem said that it was good to get his hair cut (yes they still have this obsession with the hair!).

The interviewer Emma Casserlöv stated that "it's not only the hair that has changed...musically speaking, it is also a new Salem Al Fakir making an entrance. His new album, "Astronaut", is more cohesive than the debut disc "This is who I am". Perhaps not so surprising since the first album was a miscellany of songs Salem Al Fakir wrote for several years, whereas most of the material for "Astronaut" was produced effectively over six months"

The article continues: "Salem describes his second album as a logical continuation, a Salem, season two ". Referring to playing the new songs live, he said "I do not know how I will behave myself on stage. I do not think I will run around as much".

"Salem Al Fakir likes the Gothenburg audience, which he describes as very open, and he looks forward to setting up on Trädgårn stage on Saturday. He recalls a previous show here at Nefertiti shortly after his first release. - It was a milestone, the audience was wonderful. For the first time I noticed that everyone knew all my lyrics! On stage, he has many times shown a seemingly inexhaustible energy. Ideally, Salem Al Fakir does everything himself; debut disc was a real one-man project, but now he has begun to enlist the help of others. Though he must still have control in order to relax, on stage and in other contexts. - I am sitting on an airplane, I must know where emergency exits are to be safe. "Astronaut" has been described as rock with influences from bands as diverse as AC / DC and Toto. But Salem refuses to try to define his music, does not want to talk genre or message. The text can convey a sense, music is another, and then the person listening can interpret music in a completely different way - which is exactly as it should be. On the new disc is his name only Salem, short. An international launch is imminent and Salem's surname is not easy to pronounce in English. He hopes to get on tour in Europe".

"Mention Salem's boat and his eyes light up. The boat, which he bought along with one of his brothers and a friend, has become a refuge where he can let go of total control. - For the first time I can take 45 minutes out just when I want".

I'm glad Salem likes the Gothenburg audiences: hopefully we won't let him down on Saturday!

Ritz, Arvika live review at vf.se

And a rather good review it is too: http://www.vf.se/Kultur--Noje/Varmland/Salem-Al-Fakir-spred-gladje-090414.aspx

(Sorry for the delay but I only just found this tonight)

Reviewer Elinor Hägg reported that Salem began with "Twelve Fingers" which "created a lovely environment for a great evening" whilst highlighted the unreleased "Brooklyn Sun" as "a song I hope will have a given place on a future disc".

She went on to say "Salem is making more splendid promises for the future" and that "his development is really in the right direction." In the reviewer's opinion the evening's best song is "It's True", which she describes as "magnificent and majestic", at the centre of a trilogy of songs which closes the concert, beginning with "Dream Girl" then "It's True" and finishing with "Roxy". Salem closed with the traditional end-song encore "Thank You" and then it was all over, but in the reviewer's words "the happy feeling remains for a long time. It's true. Life will smile for you".

Salem to appear on SVT1's "Babben & Co" this Saturday

As reported on Salem's Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salem/50286022803

Salem will be appearing and performing on SVT1's "Babben & Co" this Saturday night at 8.00 pm. (Of course he will also be appearing on a stage in Gothenburg almost at the same time, so myself and anyone else who will be there can catch it later at SVT Play - Salem has posted a link on his Facebook page).

I hadn't seen "Babben & Co" before so I checked out last week's show: I'm glad I did, as Moneybrother and H.E.A.T. were this week's musical guests and I like both of them.

Salem to play Helsingborgsfestivalen on 24th July

Salem has been added to the bill of the Helsingborgsfestivalen which takes place between 23rd and 25th July. Salem will appear on the Stora Scenen on Friday 24th July. More info here: http://www.helsingborg.se/templates/StandardPage.aspx?id=69001&epslanguage=SV

Jonna's blog...

As you know, Jonna Lee is the support act on Salem's tour. I like her song "My High" and I've checked out a couple of her other songs too. I'm looking forward to seeing her play live on Saturday night as she's been getting some good reviews so far.

Anyway she has a nice little tour blog going over at her MySpace - check it out here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=41450093

I think Salem should do a tour blog too!

H3FK to play Jazz in Karlskrona festival

The Jazz in Karlskrona festival will take place between 28th and 29th August and H3FK will be among the guests appearing this year. The programme is still to be finalised, but more information can be found here: http://www.sydostran.se/index.73874---1.html

My Gothenburg countdown...4 days to go!

Forgive me everyone if I get just a little excited...!

As this is my last "countdown" post, I should really play "The Final Countdown" by Europe, as it won't be long now until my boyfriend and I head over to Gothenburg for the weekend. We will fly out on Friday, then pick up the tickets on Saturday, do a bit of sightseeing and hanging out, then the big event....Salem's concert on Saturday night.

I can't describe how happy I am that I am finally getting to see Salem play live. It really is a dream come true for me. (The only thing better than that would be to meet Salem, that would be the icing on the cake, although I'm not sure how you go about doing that - unless someone would like to help me !!)

Salem - if you are reading this, I just want you to know that I'm really looking forward to the show, I'm sure it will be amazing. In case you're wondering...My name is Laura, I'm the lady with the red hair, wearing the black dress, hopefully standing near the front of the stage singing along with every line of every song!! Of course I will be writing my review for Planet Salem after I fly back home!

In the meantime of course Salem is playing Stockholm on Thursday and Uppsala on Friday. As I'll be away over the weekend I'll post any links to reviews/translations/articles following my return home.

New interview at nwt.se

Apologies for the lack of posts over the weekend, my internet connection was down yesterday :(

I found this nice and informative little interview with Salem at http://nwt.se/noje/article512690.ece

In the interview Salem said that his record collection is still 'non-existent'; he said that most of the ideas for his songs came whilst he was in the car, or on his boat during last summer; he travelled round Värmland on his moped, listening to Django Reinhardt. He didn't write any songs but was fascinated by the beautiful landscape.

Salem also said that he still doesn't listen to music, with few exceptions. "People always try to find references when they need to categorize me, but they fail. Sure, I have musical references somewhere, but when I make music I would not be fed with other music. I try to keep myself away from it. It works well for me".

Finally Salem said that he was a little worried and nervous about the new album, but he is relieved that the new album had been well received. Asked where he gets his inspiration, he replied "Life! Situations arising here and there, you can write music for anything".

Arvika concert tonight!

Salem is playing Ritz in Arvika tonight - if you are going, enjoy the show and remember to post your comments afterwards if you want to tell us about it!

After tonight, Salem will have a few days off before the tour resumes on Thursday at Cirkus in Stockholm.

A couple of reviews of last night's Gävle concert...

Gefle Dagblad's Stefan Andersson was at Salem's concert at Gävle last night and posted one of the best reviews I've read in a long time. Find it at http://gd.se/noje/musik/1.953248

He had some good things to say about support act Jonna Lee, comparing her to Nina Persson (high praise indeed!)

So here, as ever, is a brief translation of what the reviewer thought of Salem last night:

"Energetic Salem was a hybrid of the old Gilbert O'Sullivan and Moneybrother. Wow! Did I see the best concert of the spring last night? Yes, I think so. Must admit that I have not previously been a devout fan of Salem Al Fakir, as he called himself. But now, with only Salem as artist name, it sounds as he took another step. It is crucial. After a grand intro he went in and completely took over the stage. Strange that some seats were empty, but still, it was busy and everyone seemed to enjoy it. We want to really hear more of Jonna Lee - she and her side kicks, guitarist and bassist, gave extra spice. "The Light", first single, is a gem among many others.

Salem stands up for us, especially in the song "Twelve Fingers" where he could afford to head bang in the best hard rock fashion. He mixed the critically acclaimed album "This Is Who I Am" and new "Astronaut" and it was, excuse the language, damn good. The sound was perfect, both in the pop songs, occasionally reggae inspired, as in the ballads. Prolific songwriter Salem sang "Brooklyn Sun" and I have certainly heard a new hit....He seems to love what he is doing and it's infectious and now (after a small measure of apology), I will follow his career with particular interest".

In Arbetarbladet, reviewer Kristian Ekenberg gave the concert a three-star review - find it at http://arbetarbladet.se/noje/recensioner/pascen/1.953304:

A brief translation..."This thing with the hair may seem trivial, and it is funny how the articles on his new album have been as much about his new hairdo, but the change seems to be in the music. When I saw him last, a couple of summers ago, I was not impressed, to say the least. Salem will never be an artist who I listen to on my own but now I understand the score better with him. He is energetic live, although I will not be as enthusiastic as the clapping, foot-stamping audience."

The reviewer liked Jonna Lee and said he would have liked her to be on stage for longer. Meanwhile back to Salem...

"And I should ideally have a minimum of Salem's old material, because the new material is more in the right direction. "Astronaut" is a fine pop song. Even he sings better. My main objection remains: what does he want with his music? For me, Salem is still a chef, whose only goal, only artistic task is to get the food to taste good. Beyond this, no more dimension, not anything more to tell about life. The music never leaves the plate".

Everyone to their own opinion of course....!

"Astronaut" stays at no.6 on this week's Tracks chart.

Good to see that Salem is still in Swedish Radio's "Tracks" top 10 this week: he remains at no. 6 for a second week.

This is such a good and diverse chart - check it out at at http://www.sr.se/p3/topplistor/tracks/

Danish review of "Astronaut"

(I think) the album is released today in Denmark: Gaffa.dk has a review at http://gaffa.dk/anmeldelse/32003

Reviewer Erik Barkman gives the album 4 out of 6: Comparing "Astronaut" to "This Is Who I Am" he calls it "more stylish, but less inspired...the foundation is still funky pop centered on Salem's charming vocals....fortunately Salem manages to put a personal imprint on his exercises and he has an almost natural talent for turning catchy hooks".

Unfortunately my Danish-to-English translating site didn't make much sense so I couldn't translate all of it (!) if I find any more Danish reviews I'll post them here.

Gävle concert tonight!

Salem will be at Gävle Spegeln tonight for the latest concert on his tour. If you are going - enjoy the show and remember to leave your comments if you want to tell us anything about it!

Swedish Charts Update: I'm not happy.

What's gone wrong? I was over at Sverige Topplistan for my usual Friday check on the singles and album charts, only to discover that after only a couple of weeks in the album chart, "Astronaut" has now completely dropped out of the list. I know that it's a particularly strong time at the moment for new Swedish album releases - but I can't understand why the album has not done well, especially as it has been so long awaited and has been well-received by the critics. (Especially as it is a fantastic album: I'm not just saying that because I'm a fan, but because I genuinely believe that it is).

Salem does have a devoted and loyal fanbase who still buy his records and go to his concerts, but where has everyone else gone?

As a fan who lives outside Sweden, I can't really understand this! Maybe some of my Swedish readers could explain why this has happened?

Salem on Swedish radio this weekend.

Salem will be a guest on Swedish Radio's "P4 Premiär" show this coming Saturday, 11th April.
The show will be aired at 1.03 pm Swedish time, and of course it will be available later on www.sr.se.

More information at http://www.sr.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2963&artikel=2756799.

Nyköping concert cancelled :(((

I have just read tonight at Södermanlands Nyheter that Salem's concert at Culturum, Nyköping tomorrow night has been cancelled and rescheduled to 29th October. The reason for this is a double-booking at the venue. Tickets for tomorrow night will still be valid for the October show.

(There is nothing about this at Salem's official site so I hope my information is correct).

Linköping concert tonight / Setlists

Tonight Salem's tour reaches Linköping, where he and his band will be playing the Konsert & Kongress centre. If you are going ....enjoy the show, and remember to leave your comments here if there's anything you want to tell us about the show.

Also I'm looking for information about the setlist for this tour. I'd like to know about what songs Salem is playing - I know he's played "Good Song" and "It's True" and "Brooklyn Sun" but I'd love to know what other songs he is playing, I guess most of them will be from the new album.

Can anyone let me know - either in the comments or via email.

Much appreciated!!

Norwegian album review.

Found another Norwegian press review of "Astronaut" at http://oslopuls.aftenposten.no/musikk/cd/article182180.ece

It's 4 out of 5 (yet again!) and the reviewer Robert Hoftun Gjestad prefers this album to Salem's debut. He describes Salem as a "genius soul pop artist". He comments "the melodies are simply stronger, more robust and better developed, from the opening "Cold Shower" and the title track, through the rockier "Now's The Time," orchestrated soul of "It's Only You (Part II)", or throwing freely back to the 1970s glam in "Roxy."...a couple of the calmer songs at the end do not have the same captivating flavour, but most of this album is the type of boldly performed music that grows on the listener - and provides an increasingly broad smile on their face".

"Astronaut" on Norwegian radio playlist

I don't have much news to report today apart from finding out that "Astronaut" has been added to Norwegian radio NRK P3's playlist. It has been C-listed this week but we hope it will be A-listed soon.

Before I go, something personal and off-topic: if you're out there Darkfairy, please get in touch - missing you!!

Swedish charts update

"Astronaut" (single) has slipped 3 places from no. 29 to no. 32 in this week's Swedish Radio P3 Digilistan chart.

I would trade away the stars and moon...

I meant to post this earlier in the week: regular readers of this blog will be aware of how much I love "Brooklyn Sun". Here is Salem performing the song on Mix Megapol radio last Monday.



A fantastic song, you will agree.

Västerås concert review

VLT.se has a review of last night's concert at Sigurdsgatan 25 in Västerås here:
http://www.spanonline.se/ArticleTemplate.asp?version=883515

The reviewer, Staffan Andersson, gave the concert 3 out of 5. Here's a translation of some of the review:

"Most have noticed that Salem Al Fakir has cut off his characteristic hair. Now he is no longer a frisky newcomer, now he wants to prove that he is an artist to be reckoned with for many years to come. On Saturday, he came to Sigurdsgatan 25 and met a devoted audience.... The musical excesses of the first disc are completely gone....The concert is homogeneous and, yes, mature. But sometimes it becomes almost too standardized, "Good Song" is wasted and becomes just a song in the crowd. Overall, it's still a marked improvement. Salem Al Fakir is no longer at a piano and plays tricky rhythms. He runs aroud and dances, and the audience seems to like the new Salem Al Fakir, and it is to be hoped that he continues on this path".

"Astronaut" no.6 on Tracks chart this week.

"Astronaut" has slipped one place from no. 5 to no. 6 on this week's Swedish Radio "Tracks" chart.

As usual you know what you have to do....you have until Monday afternoon to vote again to keep Salem in the top 10 in next week's chart.

By the way, this is my 300th post on Planet Salem. Hope you are all still enjoying this blog, and if you have any ideas on how the site could be improved, please let me know.

Lund concert photos

If you go to this link you'll find some photos from Salem's Lund concert from 03.04.09: http://www.rockfoto.net/artists/Salem%20Al%20Fakir/gig/20090403/10393/photos

I liked the shirt/braces/trousers and thought Salem was looking very good indeed....!!

A nice little interview in Goteborgs-Posten

There is a nice little interview with Salem from Göteborgs-Posten which is more 'personal' than some of the more recent interviews. Find it at:
http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=200&a=487118

I thought you might like a translation!

In the interview, Salem said that he has a girlfriend. (Planet Salem says: Salem's girlfriend is the luckiest girl in the world!!!!)

Salem went on to day that his first real relationship was during high school, and his first kiss was when he was either 14 or 15 years old or maybe earlier!

Salem said that in the past he had been unlucky in love, as he'd been in love with people who hadn't loved him back :(

Salem was asked if he'd ever had a celebrity crush: he said he hadn't, and had never been interested in them in that way.

He said he'd been single for long periods in the past and was close to friends and family, he also has a best friend.

The interviewer, Emma Bergström Wuolo, commented on Salem's music being happy. Salem said that he has a fairly positive view of life and thinks he always will have, although you can be more cynical when you get older. He went on to say that "it is clear that one can write about sad things, but in a hopeful way".

When asked which decade do you think has the best music, Salem thought about that for a while and then said the 60's, although he thought it was difficult to say why.

Finally, the interviewer asked why Salem dropped his surname in preparation for an international career; Salem said that many people in Europe will know how to pronounce Salem, but can't pronounce Al Fakir !!

I really enjoyed this interview. :))

Lund concert review in Expressen

There is a review of last night's opening concert of Salem's tour in Lund, in Expressen: http://www.expressen.se/noje/recensioner/konsert/1.1522397/uppklatt-och-sakert-men-utan-det-subtila

The reviewer Per Hägred reported on the return of "Huddinge's Elton John" who played to a crowd of 350 people last night. The reviewer said that the music is now more elegant and subtle, and Salem no longer runs around the way he used to. However, the reviewer commented that in the live setting, the new songs lost their subtlety and at times the band were drowning Salem out :( Apparently the sound quality wasn't as good as it should have been - why is this always a problem at concerts?

I was glad to see that Salem played the unreleased and utterly gorgeous "Brooklyn Sun".

The reviewer said that the best moment was "It's True" which almost blew the roof off the venue!!

(I wonder if Salem played many of the "old" songs? As long as "Good Song" and "Dream Girl" are still in the set then I'll be happy - but I love the new and unreleased songs so I want to hear as many of them as possible!!)

Västerås concert tonight: post your comments here!

Salem is playing a show tonight at Sigurdsgatan 25 in Västerås. If you are going tonight, enjoy the show - and post your comments about the show here.

Norwegian review, Gilbert O'Sullivan, and Salem's fans' ages...

1: Another Norwegian review

In Livecity Magazine http://www.livecity.no/Anmeldelse/?p=BlogDetail&ublid=2995, reviewer Jon Vidar Bergen awards the album 6 out of 10.

"In the sequel he is now Salem and he has moved much from (the debut album's) old soul and Stevie Wonder-style. This is more straight and well-arranged pop music, still with a lot of keyboards....First single "Astronaut", which is great, catchy pop with stunning vocals.... Almost as good is "One Of The Others." On "Now's The Time", he unusually rocks à la Oasis, without forgetting the good melody. "Roxy" is inventive pop of the best 70s style (Toto, 10cc, Supertramp). Astronaut is a more varied album than the debut, but unfortunately, not better."

The reviewer recommends the album if you're a fan of Jason Mraz, and...Gilbert O'Sullivan.

2: Gilbert O'Sullivan

The Gilbert comparison is very interesting: whenever I've played Salem's music to anyone of my age group or older than me, they have all commented on the similarity of Salem's style to Gilbert O'Sullivan - if you're not familiar with Gilbert, he was a hugely successful singer-songwriter in the early 1970s (my childhood years!! :o), he wrote and sang very catchy piano-songs with extremely clever lyrics.

I don't know if Salem is familiar with Gilbert O'Sullivan's music or not, but it's interesting to see the reviewers also making this comparison.

3: Age of Salem's fans?

With only two weeks to go till I'm at Salem's Gothenburg concert, I'm beginning to wonder if me and my partner will be the oldest people in the audience!! It's interesting to see that Salem's music appeals to a much younger audience in Sweden, whereas I feel that in the UK he would probably appeal to the over-30s, as a lot of young people over here are only interested in r'n'b, dance music or emo-style bands and are too narrow minded to appreciate real talent. I'm glad that there are young people in Sweden with good musical taste, but I hope there are maybe some older people (30-40s age) going to his live concerts too!!

Lund concert: post your comments here!

If you're going to Salem's concert in Lund tonight, can you post your comments here after the show. All comments welcome! Tell us about what songs Salem played, and what was your favourite song and best moment in the show.

Looking forward to hearing from you :)

Swedish charts update

In this week's Sverige Topplistan chart, "Astronaut" (single) has climbed one place to no. 34. Meanwhile the "Astronaut" album has dropped from no. 7 to no. 21. I'm very disappointed about this of course, but I'm sure it will climb the chart again soon.

Salem's tour starts tomorrow!!

For anyone who didn't already know, Salem's tour of Sweden starts tomorrow night at AF Borgen in Lund.

During the tour, I thought it would be a good idea to have a separate post for every concert where you can leave your comments, setlists, and anything you want to say about the show. All comments will be very welcome :) It's ok if you want to leave comments in Swedish - these are welcome too ! :)

These posts will begin tomorrow.

Salem...if you are reading this...Lycka till på turnén och jag hoppas att det går bra för dig och din underbara bandet. Vi ses i Göteborg!!

/Laura

Yet one more Norwegian review of "Astronaut"

I didn't think I'd find any more reviews, but then I found this in Stavanger Aftenbladet: http://www.aftenbladet.no/kultur/plate/1009070/Hakket_svakere_enn_sist.html

The reviewer Kjetil Wold doesn't like this album as much as "This Is Who I Am" giving it four out of five rather than the five he gave that debut, but even if he's a little critical he's still got lots of good things to say about the album:

"Salem still has a solid grip on songwriting and he alternates from large ballads, through pop, cheesy discopop and soul to flimsy electronica-pop. But he sounds smoother and more superficial this time...it does not mean that "Astronaut" is a bad disc. The melodies are good - and he demonstrates a stronger grip on the ballads than the uptempo pop song. Best tracks: "Black Sun, Black Moon" and "Astronaut."

Lund concert this Friday...

Found this at www.tonofbricks.se (via www.afborgen.se) and I just had to share it with you all!

Curiosity time again...

Now regular readers will know that from time to time I get a little bit curious on this blog and I guess it's that time again.

We know that Salem was in New York in February, and we know he posted that little video clip on YouTube. Anyway tonight I was thinking a little bit about the caption on the video: "Salem fooling around on one of the Euphoria Studios upright pianos prior to working".

Well I just wondered what he was working on? Rehearsing? Recording demos maybe?

As usual....if anyone knows anything about this, please post a comment. ;)

Salem at Nokia launch in Stockholm, and another couple of great album reviews

Last night Salem played at the press launch of Nokia's new 5800 Comes With Music phone. The event was held in the Ambassadeur club in Stockholm, and Emilia and Marit Bergman also appeared at this event. Kulturbloggen has a video clip of Salem and his band performing the wonderful "Roxy" - check it out at http://kulturbloggen.com/?p=8175.

There is a fabulous 5 out of 5 review of "Astronaut" by Sven Ove Bakke in Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet:
http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/03/31/kultur/musikkanmeldelser/musikk/salem_al_fakir/5550541/

I liked it so much I've translated some of it as follows:

"From the Toto-replica "Roxy" via a retro futuristic twist on a Graham Nash / David Crosby-thing ("Bluest Eyes") to soul, funk, airy pop and even some lively rockers. "Now's The Time" could be a new Oasis song, had it not been that the refrain is more catchy than most from the last ten years. It smells mostly of the 80s, but Salem, illustrates that decade's sound with significant roots in the present. Even the most obvious pastiche (Toto song) has contemporary depth ...For you everything is possible. You can create things and you are 100 percent natural."

Back to Sweden, and Eskilstuna-Kuriren's Mikael Barani loves "Astronaut" too. Read the review at http://ekuriren.se/kulturnoje/1.7235 and again I thought it was worth a translation so here's some of the review:

"A sequel to Salem's acclaimed debut "This Is Who I Am" will receive the ovation and cheers also. Astronaut is an incredibly ambitious album, filled with both large and intimate moments to look back on the 60s, 70s and 80s. ...."Bluest Eyes...feels like an updated Riders on the Storm by The Doors, with a message about having a critical attitude to the broadcast on our televisions....Salem's voice carries a kind of vulnerability...and represents a large part of the magic of "Astronaut". In the orchestral "Purple Lady", Salem's ability to create with his voice a warm atmosphere....the journey here has been revolutionary".

So here we are at the end of March. What a fabulous month it has been, which began with the release of the "Astronaut" single and Salem's appearance on Popcirkus...and ended with the "Astronaut" album receiving universal critical acclaim and commercial success in Sweden.

And what will April bring?.....Salem on tour!!

Salem on Mix Megapol radio today

Salem appeared on Mix Megapol radio's "Antligen Morgon" today, and sang "Brooklyn Sun" live. There is a video clip of his wonderful performance at http://www.mixmegapol.se/program/antligen-morgon/livemusik-i-studion

I've said it before and I'm going to say it again: this is possibly the most beautiful song that Salem has ever written, and it would melt even the hardest heart.

10,000 reasons to say thank you...!

Today Planet Salem reached a major milestone - this site has now received 10,000 visits.

Once again I just want to thank each and every one of you who have visited my fansite for Salem. I hope you will keep on visiting as there is so much more to come. My mission remains the same....to let the world know about Salem Al Fakir and his wonderful music.

And Salem....thank you for all your support, it means so much to me.

Swedish charts update

"Astronaut" has climbed up to no. 29 in this week's Swedish Radio P3 Digilistan singles chart.

Planet Salem says: It would be higher if it wasn't for all the Melodifestivalen songs and numerous versions of "Tingeling" :)

"Astronaut" is no.5 on P3 "Tracks" chart!

Great news this week as "Astronaut" has climbed up to no.5 in this week's "Tracks" chart on Swedish radio P3.

As usual, you know what to do...keep voting and let's get the song even higher in next week's chart!!

"Astronaut" review in ABC Nyheter (Norway)

A long and detailed review by Johnny Andreassen, headed "Extraordinary pop".

The album gets 5 out of 6 and the reviewer says "This is the sound of pop with a large P for the year 2009".

"Much may suggest that he is an Elton John or Roger Hodgson of our time... pop music as effortless should appeal to 13-year-olds as well as 70-year-olds... you feel all the way there is a slight twist of genius that has roots in his identity as a musician. Pop with a soul feeling that Prince could reel off in his warmest moments".

The reviewer concludes: "Searching your soul a good pop with piano-based drama, you need not look further than just over the border. "Astronaut" comes to stand as one of the best pure pop albums in 2009...No hesitation - both thumbs up for Salem Al Fakir!"

And who could disagree? The review (in Norwegian) can be found at http://www.abcnyheter.no/node/86085

Another good review of "Astronaut"...

...can be found at Melodic.net http://melodic.net/reviewsOne.asp?revnr=7604. Check it out! (very good site by the way).

Salem to play Karlstad on 27.07.09

Varmlands Folkblad reports here: http://www.vf.se/Kultur--Noje/Noje/Allsang-och-konserter-i-Mariebergsskogen-090328.aspx that Salem will play Mariebergsskogen in Karlstad on 27th July. I'm sure some more summer concerts will be announced soon - and I wonder if he will play any summer festivals?

My Gothenburg countdown: three weeks to go!!!

Three weeks from today I will be getting on a plane and flying all the way over to Gothenburg and then three weeks from tomorrow I will be going to Salem's concert at Trädgår'n on 18th April.

I don't want to bore you all about this as I know you visit this site to read about Salem and not about me, but you know how much this means to me and I'm so excited about seeing him play live.

I've been talking to my friends about Planet Salem and my forthcoming trip and they seem quite fascinated by it all. Some of them have asked me if I will get to meet Salem.

I told them that of course I would love to meet Salem, but it would be his decision if he wanted to meet the person who runs his international fansite..!

Anyway this brings me to a reminder about something which I missed earlier. There is a competition at http://www.salemalfakir.com/tavling/ which Swedish fans can enter and win tickets for one of Salem's concerts in April and also get the opportunity to meet him. The closing date for the competition is 29th March.

Maybe Salem could invent a competition for me to win so that I could meet him!!! :)

Damernas Varld review of "Astronaut"

If you go to http://www.damernasvarld.se/damernas/koll/musik/2009/salem-al-fakir-astronaut/index.xml there is a short review, by Linda Nordeman, which like most of the other reviews I've already mentioned has been very positive.

"In "Astronaut" Salem lands his rocket into Prince's 80s-charming "Roxy" to later take the direction of shimmering pop-classical symphony with the orchestral-arranged "Purple Lady". With a backpack stuffed with recognisable influences and ....exciting productions in which texts move between seriousness and humour".

Interview at Groove.se

There's a short but very interesting interview with Salem at the following link: http://www.groove.se/site/artikel.asp?artId=491

I've done a brief translation of some highlights of the interview here, as I thought you might like to read it.

Louise Olsson interviewed Salem at his signing session at Bengans in Gothenburg last week. In the interview, Salem said that he wanted to change his hairstyle, and that he's become more calmer as he's got older. He also said where there were a lot of old songs on the first album, it's all new songs on the second album.

Salem also said that people abroad - particularly English speakers - found it difficult to pronounce his surname so he decided just to shorten it to Salem on the second album. Although Salem wants to succeed abroad, he said it's not the main focus right now and sees it as a "side project".

Salem said that not all the songs on the album are about him, but they are about things he has observed.

Swedish charts update...

"Astronaut" entered the Swedish album chart at no.7 today, whilst the "Astronaut" single has climbed to no. 35.

I don't know how Salem feels about that no. 7, but I'm a bit disappointed as I thought it deserved to go in at no.1. Second highest new entry isn't too bad though, and - remember this is only my opinion! - "Astronaut" will probably have a longer album chart run than that of this week's no.1 Caroline af Ugglas, as I reckon this is only doing well on the back of her Melodifestivalen success.

Anyway...it's still good news.

If you haven't bought the album yet then you need to buy it as it is utterly fantastic!! If you live outside Sweden you can buy it from the various websites listed on Salem's official site and his MySpace, I'd recommend www.cdon.com as this is where I got my copy from.

Album chart revealed tomorrow...

I can't wait till the Sverige Topplistan album chart is revealed tomorrow. Where will "Astronaut" enter the chart? (Hopefully at number one....fingers crossed!!)

After all the excitement of the past week, it's all gone quiet on the news front but if I hear anything I will report it on Planet Salem of course!!

Salem - have a good weekend, you need to have a good rest before before the tour starts next week. Take care! :)

Uppsala Nya Tidning's review of "Astronaut"

During my round-up last week I missed this one and only found it tonight: it's another 4 out of 5 review by Ulf Gustavsson and there are some very nice comments made in this review and I liked it.

"...it is easy to capitulate to Salem Al Fakir's great melodic pop...exciting for the ear, and extremely clever". Full review at http://www.untfredag.se/avd/1,1826,MC=15-AV_ID=885259,00.html

"Astronaut" review at Corren.se

Yet another positive four-star review at http://www.corren.se/archive/2009/3/25/k5qcr9lu5ov3x41.xml

"moving freely and unhindered in an open pop landscape...an 80's west coast vibe that is reminiscent of Toto and Chicago. To pick the best out of a slick genre without becoming dull and boring is an achievement".

Expressen interview

With all the news and reviews over last weekend I'd forgotten to mention Salem's nice new interview in Expressen - find it at http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.1503588/raknar-med-att-sagas

In this interview, Salem says "for me, it is important to be a good person". Which just proves once again that Salem is so "down to earth" and is not affected by his success or critical acclaim.

New Nokia promotion.

If you live in Sweden, go to http://www.tubemusic.se/ for details of a competition in connection with the Nokia 5800 mobile phone. The eventual winner will win a private concert by Salem at their very own home (this is probably the best prize ever!).

Norwegian press review of "Astronaut"

Rune Slyngstad in Avisa Nordland describes the album as "...a new round of dynamic and varied pop inspired by 70s names like 10CC, Supertramp and Toto" He calls the title track "...a great song. Many of the ten other songs also show a creative popman searching and looking for exciting solutions that are not common in 2009".

It's another 4 out of 5 review! Find it at http://www.an.no/kultur/cd/article4216099.ece

Swedish Charts Update

"Astronaut" (single) has climbed to no.37 in SR P3's "Digilistan" today, whilst as Salem has already revealed, he is at no. 9 in the "Tracks" chart - as usual, keep on voting!

"Astronaut" reviews round-up, part 2

Here are some more short translations of/links to various Swedish press reviews of the album which have generally been very positive.

Västerbottens Folkblad’s Niclas Holmlund describes "Astronaut" as "a musical journey: an exciting, varied and interesting one and Al Fakir is an extremely resourceful and knowledgeable guide...an astronaut in his own orbit" I would recommend that you read/translate this review as Mr Holmlund seems to perfectly describe the album, which he gives 4 out of 5.

Review at http://www.folkbladet.nu/?p=139732

Anders Dahlbom in Expressen calls it "a melodic space trip back to the 70s... Salem has not lost the ability to write songs that sounds annoying little melodic old hits...contagious choruses and shamelessly wonderful commercial production, so it smells like success again". (So why did you only give it 3 out of 5?) Review at http://www.expressen.se/noje/recensioner/skivor/1.1505811/melodisk-rymdtripp-tillbaka-till-70-talet

Aftonbladet’s Jenny Seth gives it 4 out of 5. She stated that there is a major difference in the music from the last album, listing influences such as Elton John, Paul Simon and the Zombies (I know what she means about "Bluest Eyes") and she feels that this album is "tighter and better than it’s predecessor...although some may miss the effervescent joy from the first album, the new music is just like Salem’s new hairdo - simply attractive". Review at
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/recensioner/article4703197.ab

NWT’s Lina Hard also awards 4 out of 5 but isn’t too happy with the "... less than cheerful manner. It is innovative and with a different gravity, but we should not lose the joy". She highlights however that "...Salem has developed and dares to try new paths in music. The songs feel like the haircut he wants, not the one everyone else wants him to have...Salem IS a musical genius". Who could disagree? Review at http://nwt.se/noje/skivor/article500613.ece

Ludvig Blix in Gefle Dagblad is another reviewer with a 4 out of 5 rating: "predictable retro-pop, neatly arranged and melodically brilliant...Salem walks completely unhindered through 1960s, 70s and 80s music." The reviewer also notes "this disc has the potential to hit internationally, every song has both hitpotential and depth", his only criticism is that "he is not the least original...he is a genius, but without his own expression". (Planet Salem will disagree....Salem is a true original in every way!!) Review at
Http://gd.se/noje/skivrecensioner/1.858595

Arbetarbladet’s Christine Oden awards 3 out of 5 and says "It is a mature Salem who reveals himself in the sequel to "This is who I am"... several songs lean strongly to something that closely resembles stadium rock...but still fine melodies and beautiful arrangements". Review at http://arbetarbladet.se/noje/recensioner/paskiva/1.854522

I think most of the reviews have now been published: however I will keep looking out for new interviews and magazine articles and as usual, if any of you hear anything...please let me know!!

Salem's new song...

There is footage on YouTube of Salem singing a new song in Bengans in Stockholm yesterday. I now know it is called "Brooklyn Sun", it is such a lovely song that you should check it out. I hope he releases this song at some point as it is just beautiful.

Come, come, come back soon
I would trade away the stars and moon
If you came, came, came back soon
My darker days would all be done
Oh Brooklyn sun....

Salem on TV4's Nyhetsmorgon today

If you missed this, don't worry - there are now clips from this morning's show if you go to http://www.tv4.se/samhalle/nyhetsmorgon. Salem sang "Bluest Eyes" and "Astronaut" and there was also a nice short interview.

Isn't it great to see him appearing on lots of Swedish TV shows to promote the album!

Lyrics now available on Salem's website

I know a lot of you are looking for the lyrics of Salem's new songs...well he's published them on his official website. If you go to www.salemalfakir.com then click on 'Discography' and follow the links to the lyrics for each song on "Astronaut".

I notice that some of these lyrics are slightly different from those in the actual songs so maybe Salem changed his mind along the way!

Now you can all learn the lyrics - I already know them off by heart :)

Astronaut: my review

The postman finally delivered my copy of the album yesterday and I’ve been listening to it non-stop since then!

The first thing you notice is that he’s no longer Salem Al Fakir, just ‘Salem’: the clearest indication yet that an international career is finally in sight (without anyone worrying how to pronounce his surname, and to avoid the narrow-minded attitudes of those sick and stupid people who may have a negative view of the origins of his surname).

On the CD cover, which I’d describe as ‘enigmatic’ Salem appears unrecognisable. However, when you put the CD on, you will get that reassuring feeling that despite any change in his look/name/musical style/songwriting themes, he is still distinctively....Salem.

Just like his debut album all songs are written, produced and arranged by Salem himself and he still mainly plays most instruments but this time he’s also involved members of his band on some of the songs too. (Check out the album sleeve notes for more info).

Much as I love "This Is Who I Am", the lyrics on that album were maybe a little bit simplistic in places. Salem has clearly developed as a lyricist since that time and his lyrics have improved so much. What we have to remember is that Salem is not a native English speaker yet he now writes as if he was one!

There is the well-known "difficult second album syndrome" which many artists suffer from, they can’t follow up a successful debut and the result is inevitable failure and disappointment.

Happily, Salem has managed to avoid this and has created an album which is more cohesive than the experimental "This Is Who I Am" - there are no instrumental interludes this time, for example - but it’s no less diverse; no two songs sound the same. My only criticism of this album is that it’s too short! A couple more songs would have been nice, or am I just being greedy now? :))
Anyway here is my track by track review, based on my listening to the album over the past 24 hours.

Track 1: "Cold Shower"
"I thought I was the greatest one/of course I wasn’t".

Wrong, Salem. Because it is very clear from the beginning to the end of this album that he clearly is. If the lyrics express a little self-doubt and anxiety, the piano lines running through this song are sophisticated and jazzy, the musical arrangements elaborate and effortless, and Salem’s voice is strong and confident.

The result is a very impressive opening track and it’s not surprising that it is already very popular with critics and fans alike. Salem plays all instruments on this song. I like the clarity of the production which brings Salem’s voice to the forefront.

Track 2: "Astronaut"
"I understood what she was up to/it was planned from the beginning and the plan was carried through/and I’m still in the middle"

The major change/development in Salem as an artist, for me, is the emotional depth which has come into his singing and songwriting since the last album.
The title track (and second single) is just beautiful. On this track, there is such sadness, emotion and regret in Salem’s voice that you can’t fail to be moved by it. At about 1:30 into the song there is a little moment where it stops and starts again ("...she left him to be with me") and that particular moment always gets me every time.

The best thing about Salem’s songs is that you can listen to them over and over and over again but you will never get tired of them: "Astronaut" is yet another example of that.

Track 3: "Now’s The Time"
"It’s beautiful/every little step they take"

I’ve known this song for a few months thanks to YouTube summer concert footage and I originally thought it was called "Beautiful". Anyway this is another completely different sound for Salem - the bassline and guitars always remind me of Kula Shaker (remember them?), and I keep thinking he’s going to go into "Hush" (!)

No matter what musical style he takes on, Salem never sounds out of place, and on this song he manages to succeed yet again.

Track 4: "It’s Only You (Part II)"
"If you ever will be mine....I will never ever let you down".

The first single released from this album. Not so much a re-recording of the original album track from "This Is Who I Am", more of a reinvention, although it still remains a beautiful and uplifting song. Much has been written about the ‘new’ Salem - how he’s cut his hair, dropped his surname and gone all "serious". What hasn’t changed is his unique ability to create music which makes you feel happy to be alive.

This song still sounds as fresh, wonderful and inspiring as it was the first time I heard it, and thanks to its use in the Volvo XC60 commercial has introduced Salem’s music to a wider international audience.

Track 5: "Roxy"
"I feel a burning sensation/in the region below"

Some other reviewers have suggested the massive summer-hit potential of this song, which will probably be his next single. This song musically transports you back to about 1984 (!), and the lyrics are very interesting indeed. I initially had about five different possible interpretations of what this song is about, but now I think I know - let’s just say it’s a very "infectious" song ;))

I could see this song being a hit in Britain because of our fondness for 80s music nostalgia, but I can imagine the British radio censorship police having a problem with some of the lyrics!! This song always makes me smile though, it’s cheeky, naughty and great fun. It will definitely become a favourite at Salem’s live concerts.

Track 6: "Bluest Eyes"
"We better all watch out/evil is hiding in the bluest eyes"

I only heard this (and "Cold Shower") for the first time last week when Salem played live on Swedish Radio and immediately I was hooked. Atmospheric, with an almost early 70s laid back rock sound to it.

The lyrics are darker than what we’ve previously been used to, but it’s most certainly not a depressing song: instead it’s extremely melodic, with a very memorable chorus. This immediately became one of my favourite tracks on the album and I just know it will become one of my most played songs.

I think that this song could surprise a lot of people who may not be fans of Salem’s music.

Track 7: "Twelve Fingers"
"For how long have you planned to hold me back?/I almost lost it but now I’m back on track/Hey!".

I cheered when I found out this was on the album as it had previously got a limited release on the "It’s Only You (Part II)" EP but as this wasn’t released everywhere, many fans missed out so I’m happy it didn’t get lost after all. This is one of my favourite songs and I never get tired of hearing it.

Musically it gallops along to a driving rock beat; lyrically it’s quite funny and nice. The "twelve fingers in the cookie jar" line can’t fail to make you smile. A great song to jump around and sing along to - please play this on your forthcoming tour Salem!

Track 8: "Purple Lady"
"It’s time for me to go/but I wanna play some more/can I stay until tomorrow morning?"

This is a live recording from last November’s Berwaldhallen concerts with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. It has the same sweet lullaby-quality as "Hymn" from the first album, only this is on a much bigger scale. Pretty, and moving, and sweet. The orchestral arrangement is amazing too.

Like "Hymn", this immediately makes me think of film soundtrack music. This definitely points towards Salem doing film soundtracks at some point later in

his career: I’m sure he would excel at this.

(I particularly love this song for the stupid reason that purple is my favourite colour, and I want to wear something purple when I go to Salem’s concert as a kind of tribute!)

Track 9: "Mirror"

"It’s all in a big blur"

I first heard this last summer when the usual phone-footage from Salem’s summer concerts found its way to YouTube. The lyrics are playful and funny, I’d guess that they are about looking back on a wild night out and trying to remember what happened ...lyrics that I’m sure many will relate to.

At the moment "Mirror" is my least favourite track on the album, only because I don’t like it as much as all the other songs, but I still like it though if you know what I mean!

Track 10: "One of the Others"
"They all stand in line, waiting for you to make up your mind"

Absolutely, without any doubt, my favourite song on this album. I first heard this song on YouTube after Berwaldhallen and immediately it became a classic for me. An uptempo piano-based song with some very clever lyrics. It’s an outstanding and timeless song which could have belonged anywhere in the last 30 years - and I say that as a compliment.

This sounds a bit stupid and hard to explain, but the first time I heard this song I was moved to tears even though it’s delivered in such a happy uptempo way. Then I realised it was not because I was upset in any way, they were tears of happiness at hearing something so fantastic. This song absolutely soars above anything else on this album, I guess it’s the point where "old" and "new" Salem collide and the result is four minutes of complete magic.

Track 11: "Black Sun Black Moon"
"It’s time to tell the world/a true angel is gone"

This is a demo which Salem recorded at his home studio: it needed to be on this album and personally I think there may have been riots if this had been left off the tracklisting.

The most moving, heartbreaking song that Salem has ever written, filled with

raw emotion. In one of the Swedish press interviews this week, Salem was asked about this song but found it too painful to talk about it (Someone once told me what it was about, but I won’t go into detail here, with respect to Salem). If you are not moved by this song then you have no heart or soul.

The verdict:

With "This Is Who I Am" and now "Astronaut", Salem Al Fakir has already created a body of work which more established and experienced artists can only look on and envy.

Salem is an artist who has been blessed with a unique and special talent: "Astronaut" is a diverse, ambitious, rewarding and timeless collection of songs.
Thank you, Salem, for sharing them with us.

Rating: 10 out of 10 !!!

My Gothenburg countdown: four weeks to go!

Yes, as promised, the countdown starts here - I'm going over to see Salem's Gothenburg concert four weeks from tonight !

Today I bought some of my Swedish currency, although they didn't have enough kronor in the shop for me so I will have to go back later for some more :))

Today I finally received my copy of "Astronaut".

Tomorrow I will review it on Planet Salem: all I will say is that I am listening to it right now and you can probably guess that I'm in a state of complete bliss ;)

I will also (finally) post the other links to album reviews from the Swedish press tomorrow: there have been so many of them but I promise I will catch up.

Remember to set your alarm clocks for Salem's appearance on TV4's Nyhetsmorgon tomorrow - I can't wait to see this and I'll be checking TV4's website for the video clips.

Once again thanks to everyone for all your support over the past week. Planet Salem has had a record number of visitors during the past seven days, and I hope you've enjoyed reading about Salem's adventures!! The story continues....

"Astronaut" climbs Sverige Topplistan singles chart

"Astronaut" has climbed from no.47 to no. 42 in this week's Sverige Topplistan singles chart.

Fingers crossed that the album enters next week's album chart - preferably at number one!!

Expressen video footage of Salem and Maria Lindal

Thanks to Gunilla Brodrej at Expressen who's sent me a link to an interview with Salem and Maria Lindal, who are doing that baroque musical collaboration tonight: http://www.expressen.tv/Kultur/1.1503911/skona-och-bra-tagningar

Enjoy!

Salem on SVT2's "Hype" tonight

If you missed this tonight don't worry, because you can see it at http://svtplay.se/t/102939/hype. Salem's interview starts about 7 minutes into the show and then he's back again later.

Of course my knowledge of spoken Swedish is virtually zero so I didn't really understand any of it...so if anyone could translate what he said in the interview then I would really appreciate this :)))

It was very nice to watch though......I think you will all agree.

Meanwhile if you search over at YouTube you'll find video footage of Salem doing a little classical musical collaboration with REBaroque, which is a trailer for Axess TV's "Det Handlar Om Musik" tomorrow at 20:00. Yet more evidence of Salem's absolute musical versatility.

Astronaut: release day round-up

Unfortunately I wasn't around tonight to post all the news/reviews, so sorry if they're late but here we go...

Fredrik Fischer in Trelleborgs Allehanda gives the album 3 out of 5, describing it as "a disc full of surprises...the only really bad thing in comparison with the music's high-level are the embarrassing lyrics". (Sorry Mr Fischer but I can't agree with this one - Salem's lyric writing has really matured based on the songs I've heard so far). Full review here.

Nojesguiden next, where Nicholas Ringsk isn't really happy with the album..."nice and pleasant pop songs but nothing more than that". Full review here.

Kristianstadsbladet's Lisa Appelqvist was much more positive, giving the album 4 out of 5. I liked this review - she seems to understand what Salem is all about.."in which a limited number of works reveal the artist's entire width, where no track was similar, and all equal. A musical treasure map for explorers. The only question is if the audience is brave enough to embark on the adventure game. I dare you!" Full review here.

At Allehanda.se it's another 4 out of 5 from Peter Carlsson: "perhaps there is no new "Dream girl" or "Good song", but the sequel is very much more equal in quality than its predecessor. You can see that Salem has taken the time in the studio". He goes on to highlight "Roxy", "It's Only You Part II", "One of the Others" and "Astronaut" as the best tracks. Full review here.

Smålandsposten's Jonas Allgulin only gives the album 2 out of 5: "sequel to the woefully overestimated "This Is Who I Am". But behind the fine title song is the same boring music college soul. The whole is notoriously more important than the parts." Full review here.

There is also a very good new interview at Stockholm City - link here. And not only that, there is a rather nice photo of Salem (by Johan Jeppsson) attached to the article, which I liked so much I wanted to share it with you all here, if that's ok.

I also found another nice picture (by Claudio Bresciani/Scanpix) which again I thought you might want to see:

I'll post more review links tomorrow.

Don't forget that Salem will be at Bengans in Gothenburg on Thursday at 5.30 pm doing a signing session so if you're in Gothenburg then get along there and say hello!

If any of you lucky readers get the chance to meet Salem at any of the signing sessions let me know! I'd really love to meet him some day....!

What's your favourite track on "Astronaut"?

Just for a bit of fun I've added a poll to the site so that you can vote for your favourite track on "Astronaut". I'm going to keep this running until the end of May so you've got plenty of time to choose your favourite - you can vote for one, or two, or indeed all of them!!!

(Of course I won't be voting until I've heard all the tracks).

Astronaut Day is here!!!

Yes, finally, the waiting is over and Salem's second album "Astronaut" is released. Since the very first day I started Planet Salem I've been waiting for this day!

There are many many reviews of the album on Swedish press websites - I'll post links to these later tonight as there are so many of them to go through.

There is also a fascinating interview with Salem in today's Dagens Nyheter, it's at
http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/rustar-for-rampljus-pa-nytt-1.823838