Yes I know I'm a bit early but I would like to wish all the readers of Planet Salem a very happy new year, and hope that 2010 brings you all good health and happiness.
Thanks to all of you for your support during the past year. It's been a fantastic year for this blog, and for me personally. I hope you will all continue to visit in 2010 which is guaranteed to be an exciting year as Salem continues his musical adventures. Planet Salem will be following his progress all the way through 2010.
Finally, Salem - I just want to thank you again for making 2009 such a special year for me, and I want to wish you and your family all the best for the new year ahead.
(By the way I can't wait to hear the new album and would love it if we could meet up again in Sweden next year!!)
Best wishes!!!
/Laura.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Poll closing soon
Remember you only have a few days left to vote in the poll about Salem's participation in Melodifestivalen 2010, so if you haven't voted yet, remember to cast your vote!
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Merry Christmas everyone!
Tonight I would just like to take the opportunity to send my best wishes to all the readers of Planet Salem. Whether you're celebrating Christmas or not, I hope that you enjoy this festive season and that it's a very happy and fun time for all of you. See you soon!
/Laura
/Laura
Monday, 21 December 2009
Salem on Morgonpasset on Christmas Eve
Salem has been a regular guest this year on Swedish Radio P3's Morgonpasset, so it's no surprise that he'll be back on the show again soon - he'll be joining Hanna, Martina & Kodjo for a very special show on 24th December. More information at http://www.sr.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2024&artikel=3322822
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Off Beat are back at Berns on 26th December
Berns Salonger in Stockholm is hosting the "Dance All Night" event on 26th December and Off Beat (pictured above) will be appearing live at Stora Salongen along with Daniel Boyacioglu and DJ Cut Killer. More information at http://www.berns.se/extra/news/?id=1128&template=/dmfl_templates/concert_subpage.html&lang=se
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Grammis 2010: two nominations for Salem
The final shortlist for the 2010 Swedish Grammy Awards has been revealed today - more info at http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/article6301262.ab
Salem is nominated in the best male artist and best composer categories.
Salem is nominated in the best male artist and best composer categories.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Berwaldhallen
Dan Backman in Svenska Dagbladet has written a very positive review of one of Salem's Berwaldhallen concerts. The review can be found at http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/charmig-duett-far-staende-ovation_3927125.svd
If you were at any of the concerts at Berwaldhallen I'd like to know what you thought of the shows. If you were there last year and this year, how did the concerts compare? Were there any new songs played this year? What did you think of "Manfreds Dans" performed by Salem and Sami? What was your favourite song in the set? Remember to leave your comments, views and set lists here!
If you were at any of the concerts at Berwaldhallen I'd like to know what you thought of the shows. If you were there last year and this year, how did the concerts compare? Were there any new songs played this year? What did you think of "Manfreds Dans" performed by Salem and Sami? What was your favourite song in the set? Remember to leave your comments, views and set lists here!
Sunday, 6 December 2009
New interview with Salem in Dagens Nyheter
There is a long, detailed and very interesting interview with Salem in Dagens Nyheter today which can be found at http://www.dn.se/livsstil/salem-al-fakir-jag-har-hittat-tillbaka-till-det-lekfulla-1.1008592
I was very happy to see Salem's description of his new music as more "playful" and that he feels a lot of people are still not familiar with his music and that he's still got work to do to reach a new audience.
Interviewer Ingrid Carlberg first met Salem prior to the release of "This Is Who I Am" and she draws some good contrasts and comparisons between the old and new Salem and how the last three years have changed him.
In the interview Salem also said that his brothers Ayman and Sami will be part of the orchestra at Berwaldhallen this week, and that Salem has written and arranged a piece for violin and tuba which he and Sami will play at the show. All other songs have been arranged by Hans Ek.
I was very happy to see Salem's description of his new music as more "playful" and that he feels a lot of people are still not familiar with his music and that he's still got work to do to reach a new audience.
Interviewer Ingrid Carlberg first met Salem prior to the release of "This Is Who I Am" and she draws some good contrasts and comparisons between the old and new Salem and how the last three years have changed him.
In the interview Salem also said that his brothers Ayman and Sami will be part of the orchestra at Berwaldhallen this week, and that Salem has written and arranged a piece for violin and tuba which he and Sami will play at the show. All other songs have been arranged by Hans Ek.
Saturday, 5 December 2009
It will soon be time for Berwaldhallen once again!
Salem will be reunited with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, once again under the direction of Hans Ek, for three concerts this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Berwaldhallen in Stockholm. Jojje Wadenius will be the special guest artist this time round.
If you are going, I hope you all enjoy the show and remember to leave your comments all about it on Planet Salem! If you haven't got your tickets yet, these are selling fast but I think there are still some available, so get them as soon as you can.
Now here's the really good news - the concert will be broadcast on 6 January on Sveriges Radio P4, between 15:03 and 16:00 Swedish time. (Unfortunately I won't be able to hear it live as I'll be back at work, but it should be available on listen again).
If you are going, I hope you all enjoy the show and remember to leave your comments all about it on Planet Salem! If you haven't got your tickets yet, these are selling fast but I think there are still some available, so get them as soon as you can.
Now here's the really good news - the concert will be broadcast on 6 January on Sveriges Radio P4, between 15:03 and 16:00 Swedish time. (Unfortunately I won't be able to hear it live as I'll be back at work, but it should be available on listen again).
My thoughts on that Grammis nominations list.
The first full list of nominations for the Grammis 2010 have been announced, which are on my other blog: http://europecrazy.blogspot.com/2009/12/grammis-2010-first-list-of-nominations.html
Firstly the good news: Salem has been nominated in three categories: Best male artist, best composer and best producer. These are particularly important nominations as they were the three categories which he won at the 2008 ceremony - the other was, of course, best newcomer which he is not eligible for anymore!!
However, I'm not happy that Salem has been overlooked in two very important categories: best artist and best album. Particularly the latter category: why was the album of the year - "Astronaut" of course - left out of the list? I can't understand this decision at all. Even if the album wasn't as commercially successful as "This Is Who I Am", it was critically well-received and absolutely deserved a nomination.
(Something also puzzling me this week: Salem has not been nominated in any of the categories in the P3 Guld 2010 awards. I really don't understand this either!!)
Anyway, good people of Sweden, once again you know what you have to do - vote for Salem in the 2010 Grammis!!!
Firstly the good news: Salem has been nominated in three categories: Best male artist, best composer and best producer. These are particularly important nominations as they were the three categories which he won at the 2008 ceremony - the other was, of course, best newcomer which he is not eligible for anymore!!
However, I'm not happy that Salem has been overlooked in two very important categories: best artist and best album. Particularly the latter category: why was the album of the year - "Astronaut" of course - left out of the list? I can't understand this decision at all. Even if the album wasn't as commercially successful as "This Is Who I Am", it was critically well-received and absolutely deserved a nomination.
(Something also puzzling me this week: Salem has not been nominated in any of the categories in the P3 Guld 2010 awards. I really don't understand this either!!)
Anyway, good people of Sweden, once again you know what you have to do - vote for Salem in the 2010 Grammis!!!
Thursday, 3 December 2009
"Go' kvall": when Salem met Tina
Here are some screencaps from Tina Ahlin's interview with Salem on Thursday night's "Go'kvall" on SVT.
You can see the interview with Salem at http://svtplay.se/t/102930/gokvall
The interview is about 17 minutes into the programme and includes the two musicians duetting on a piece of music called "Country" by Keith Jarrett; and Salem also gets to play his favourite instrument (the drums) later in the interview...!
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Planet Salem's second birthday!
Yes that's right, this blog is two years old today so that's a good reason for a celebration.
It's been a very busy, exciting and personally rewarding 12 months for me doing this blog: the absolute highlight of the past year for me was of course going over to Gothenburg, back in April, where I finally got to meet Salem and then saw him and his band play live. I won't go over it all again as you're probably bored with me talking about it all the time (!) but it was a truly fantastic experience to meet Salem, who is not only an outstanding musician and artist, but who is so genuine, down-to-earth, warm-hearted and friendly. It was an absolute pleasure not only to meet him but also to see him perform live.
Once again, thank you Salem, and I hope that we can meet up again soon, when I come back over to Sweden to see you play live again! (My special thanks also to Magnus, Salem's tour manager, who helped to make it all possible: it was much appreciated and I hope things are going well for you.)
Over the past year, Salem has also continued to support Planet Salem which is included as part of his official website, which I was delighted about!
The release of the "Astronaut" album meant that I was kept busy for most of the year, thanks to all the reviews/media articles/television/radio appearances and of course Salem's live appearances.
To each and every one of you, whether you have visited Planet Salem whether it was only once or a hundred times (!) - thank you all for your support, friendship and continued encouragement. Every one of your emails and comments gives me the inspiration to continue with the blog for a long long time to come. Through this blog I have got to know some lovely people - you know who you are! - who share my enthusiasm for all things Salem, keep in touch!! This blog has an audience from all over the world, who all want to know about Salem's music: Planet Salem will continue to campaign for his music to be released in Britain, continental Europe and beyond....
The majority of Planet Salem's readers are from Sweden: as you know I am not Swedish and I don't live in Sweden, but I hope that I can continue to do justice to your wonderful country and its greatest musical talent, so please let me know if I get anything wrong! ;)
So what about the next 12 months?
2010 now looks as if it will be another busy year for Salem, with Melodifestivalen and (hopefully) the release of his third album, so there are some very exciting times ahead. So Planet Salem will "keep on walking" into its third year and will continue to bring you all the news about our favourite Swedish musical genius!
It's been a very busy, exciting and personally rewarding 12 months for me doing this blog: the absolute highlight of the past year for me was of course going over to Gothenburg, back in April, where I finally got to meet Salem and then saw him and his band play live. I won't go over it all again as you're probably bored with me talking about it all the time (!) but it was a truly fantastic experience to meet Salem, who is not only an outstanding musician and artist, but who is so genuine, down-to-earth, warm-hearted and friendly. It was an absolute pleasure not only to meet him but also to see him perform live.
Once again, thank you Salem, and I hope that we can meet up again soon, when I come back over to Sweden to see you play live again! (My special thanks also to Magnus, Salem's tour manager, who helped to make it all possible: it was much appreciated and I hope things are going well for you.)
Over the past year, Salem has also continued to support Planet Salem which is included as part of his official website, which I was delighted about!
The release of the "Astronaut" album meant that I was kept busy for most of the year, thanks to all the reviews/media articles/television/radio appearances and of course Salem's live appearances.
To each and every one of you, whether you have visited Planet Salem whether it was only once or a hundred times (!) - thank you all for your support, friendship and continued encouragement. Every one of your emails and comments gives me the inspiration to continue with the blog for a long long time to come. Through this blog I have got to know some lovely people - you know who you are! - who share my enthusiasm for all things Salem, keep in touch!! This blog has an audience from all over the world, who all want to know about Salem's music: Planet Salem will continue to campaign for his music to be released in Britain, continental Europe and beyond....
The majority of Planet Salem's readers are from Sweden: as you know I am not Swedish and I don't live in Sweden, but I hope that I can continue to do justice to your wonderful country and its greatest musical talent, so please let me know if I get anything wrong! ;)
So what about the next 12 months?
2010 now looks as if it will be another busy year for Salem, with Melodifestivalen and (hopefully) the release of his third album, so there are some very exciting times ahead. So Planet Salem will "keep on walking" into its third year and will continue to bring you all the news about our favourite Swedish musical genius!
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