Norrköping review in Folkbladet / Salem in Svensktoppen

There's a very positive review of Salem's Saturday night show in Norrköping, in today's Folkbladet: http://www.folkbladet.se/kulturnoje/artikel.aspx?articleid=5557165

Reviewer Mikael Mjörnberg writes that "the sum is greater than the parts...(Salem) tripping excitedly on stage together with the conductor Hans Ek, and then they spend, the next more than two hours devoted to filling in any gaps and they lift the music a dimension higher. Responsive and challenging....Salem Al Fakir's pop music and the hefty orchestra is simply an equation that goes very well together."

The reviewer did not feel that it worked as well for special guest September: "she did a good job, there's no question about that, but her voice and character does not melt together with the Symphony Orchestra...the feeling is that she sings to the accompaniment of the orchestra rather than becoming part of it."

The reviewer goes on to say: "(Salem) stands for the really spectacular and it creates a whole in a completely different way when he pulls the strings. That his songs make themselves great with the orchestra should be clear by now, but some are obviously better than others...Salem sings beautifully and Hans Ek has made excellent arrangements for most of the songs."

"Hans Ek bounces like an excited football fan on the conductor's podium. He manages to sneak in some Ennio Morricone in the show and in the middle of the second act there's even an incomparable orchestral version of the old theme music to "Das Boot" (as the majority of humanity, of course, rather know as techno hit by German U96 with the same name from 1991...it is very heavy in comparison to Salem's otherwise pretty neat song material, but it's very good. That said, Salem Al Fakir and symphony orchestra fill in each other's gaps. The boundaries between the orchestra and gathering rock concert blur and then the sum is naturally greater than the parts".

In other news, "Split My Personality" is the highest new entry in this week's "Svensktoppen" on SR P4. A little interview snippet on http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2023&artikel=4366360 :"...my girlfriend complains right now because we never listen to any music any longer, as I'll soon get started writing new music. But I have just become a dog owner, a small puppy named Otis, so the plan is that I'm going to start working when he sleeps!". Of course Otis probably isn't so small anymore!!