New entry in SR P3's Digilistan chart

In the other Swedish chart, Swedish radio P3's Digilistan, "It's Only You Part II" is a new entry at no.44.

(At no.43 is a Johan Palm track from "Idol". )

The singles chart used to mean something once upon a time.....we can't really say that any more can we!! Nevertheless it's good to see Salem's name on the list once more.

"It's Only You Part II" enters the Swedish singles chart

OK it's only no. 50, but it's a start :)

I'm not sure how much airplay the song is getting on Swedish radio at the moment though.

(As for the UK, well needless to say none of our radio stations had any musical taste and totally overlooked the song, in favour of the usual ten songs which are played morning, noon and night.)

See you all on Monday...

I'm off to Dublin for a weekend break so I won't be back on here till Monday night. Feel free to leave your comments in the meantime and I'll answer them when I come back.

Once again thanks to each and every one of you for visiting this site, I really appreciate your support.

See you all again on Monday! X

Christmas show!

Salem will be one of the guests in "Oh No....It's Christmas!" which is billed as an 'alternative Christmas celebration' with a number of acts playing their own unique versions of Christmas songs. I wonder what Salem will sing?

The show will take place at Nalen in Stockholm on 14.12.08. It will be hosted by Mange Schmidt and other guests announced so far include Annika Norlin, Veronica Maggio, Timo Räisänen and Markus Krunegård.

More info at http://www.nalen.com/KonsertInfo.aspx?HId=5&KId=2390

This should be a really fun show!

Benoît's review of the It's Only You Part II EP

There is a great review of the EP (in French) by Benoît, who is an old friend of this blog! Good to see that you still love Salem's music and are still spreading the word about him in France. http://www.lecargo.org/spip/salem/it-s_only_you_part_2/reviews-4597.html

Salem's job interview with Sofie & Sofia at P3!

Found this on the internet tonight, it's a good bit of fun from last week when Sofie and Sofia from Swedish radio P3 put Salem through a job interview!

He's certainly got a lot of appealing qualities and I wouldn't hesitate to hire him :)

http://www.p3star.se/default.ns?lngItemID=1088&intPageColor=4&objectID=4354

I think I've just heard my favourite song of 2009...

..."One Of The Others".

Whoever filmed and posted this (you know where), thank you, thank you, thank you.

Even though it's just an amateur recording, it's still so obvious that it's a brilliantly arranged, brilliantly written song which swings and soars and manages to be uplifting and moving at the same time. Stunning. Fantastic. I'm running out of superlatives to describe this :)))

This has got to be on the new album!!

Berwaldhallen reviews in the Swedish press

I’ve found a couple of reviews today from Salem’s Berwaldhallen concerts at:

Svenska Dagbladet http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/scen/artikel_2043335.svd

Expressen: http://www.expressen.se/kultur/1.1368817/salem-al-fakir-berwaldhallen

I translated these reviews, and neither of them seemed too positive about the mix of Salem’s music with an orchestral backing, however I’ve checked out a few Swedish blogs as well as Salem’s MySpace and I’m glad to see that at least the real fans did enjoy the concerts.

If you were there at one (or more) of these concerts, then why not post a comment here about it! What did you think of the new songs?

As one of my readers posted in an earlier post comment, SR P4 will be broadcasting one of the concerts on New Year’s Day at 15:00 Swedish time (14:00 UK time) and I can’t wait to hear this. It will be a great start to 2009 :)

There is also a very interesting interview with Salem along with his very talented siblings Aminah, Nassim & Sami in Svenska Dagbladet today :
http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/nyheter/artikel_2044269.svd

Thank you Salem!!

This might just be one of the happiest nights of my life.

I just found out tonight that Salem has posted a link to this site from his MySpace.

Well Salem, what can I say? I started this fansite purely because I have loved your music since the summer of 2007 and I just wanted to let the world know all about it. I can't describe how happy I am to know that you are visiting this site and reading what I've written, and I'm so glad you think it's accurate!

I hope that "It's Only You Part II" becomes a massive international hit. You deserve it!!

Thanks again for the link, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy what I write about you! Also, good luck with the Berwaldhallen shows...and can we have a live DVD soon??

And keep the "Kitchen Sessions" coming on YouTube, they are great fun!

Second album out in Spring 2009!

News from a couple of websites/blogs today:

1. Salem's second album - the follow-up to "This Is Who I Am" - will be released in Sweden in spring 2009.

Yay!!!!! Now I know that, you'll be spared me speculating over the next 4 or 5 months about when it's going to be released, as I'm happy just to know that it's going to be released anyway!!

2. "It's Only You Part II" is also going to be released in Sweden, and will be sent to Swedish radio on 12.11.08. The EP will be released in the UK, Holland, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, France and Germany.

Salem will be on Swedish radio this week.

He will be one of the guests on P3 Populär on Monday 10.11.08, which is broadcast on P3 radio from 10.00 am till noon, Swedish time. The show will also be available on P3's 'listen again' service for the next 30 days.

There is also an online chat being advertised on SR here which takes place on Wednesday 12.11.08 between 17.00 and 17.30 Swedish time - I won't be able to catch this as I'll still be at work, so I hope they publish the transcripts on SR's site. Or maybe someone would like to tell me what he said...?

"It's Only You Part II" release date confirmed

Big news!! I've been over at Amazon which has confirmed the physical release date for the EP as 17.11.08 (although it's already available to download from iTunes).

A very momentous occasion indeed and I don't think I can get much more excited about all this than I already am!!!

The artist formerly known as...

Such an exciting time right now, every day brings something new for me to post on here!!

Over at YouTube, Salem has posted the videos of some old familiar favourites, but if you're just getting into his music thanks to "It's Only You Part II" then you have just got to check these out:

"It's True" http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DdfM5OKks6Q
"Good Song" http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KaBcpkUX5pE (regular readers will know that "Good Song" is my favourite Salem song and, in fact, my favourite song of all time!)
"This Is Who I Am" http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nYFpU4fnm0E
"Dream Girl" http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gIx-a1EVBtM

I note that the little description on these says that he's "previously known as Salem Al Fakir" or "formerly known as Salem Al Fakir", this reminds me of when Prince changed his name to "the artist formerly known as Prince", well it's not quite as bad as that, at least Salem is still Salem!

EDIT 07.11.08: Salem has now removed some of these but "It's True" is still there.
FURTHER EDIT 07.11.08: "Dream Girl" is back... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sAH6hUR0ztA&feature=channel

The video for "It's Only You Part II" has only been on YouTube since 30.10.08 but has already had 1054 views - OK let's make that 1055 (but trust me, I haven't watched it as many times as that...other people have watched it too!!). The song has also had nearly 5000 plays at Salem's MySpace.

"It's Only You Part II" : here's the video

I meant to post this earlier in the week but here is the video for "It's Only You Part II", courtesy of Salem TV, his very own YouTube channel.



The EP is now available on iTunes and to all of my new readers who weren't aware of Salem before the Volvo ad, it contains "It's Only You Part II" and the brilliant new song "Twelve Fingers" but also two of his best songs from 'back in the day' :) "It's True" and "Dream Girl", which are rather fantastic too, as I've said on many occasions in the past - but even after all this time I still love them.

Salem, in the kitchen, with the Casio ???

There's a crazy little video clip which has been posted over at YouTube today, this is of Salem in his kitchen playing a cheesy little instrumental called "The Astronaut" on his Casio, whilst he puts on his cardigan and swapping some hats. Now that's what I call multi-tasking!! Posted by ItsAllManfred...a Salem alter ego!

The message next to the video says 'first of many to come, hopefully'.

UK viewers - where's the Volvo ad?

Over the past week I noticed that many more of you have been visiting the site, mainly because of "It's Only You" being featured in the Volvo XC60 commercial. Judging by the number of visitors from the UK I'd guess that the ad is being shown here but I haven't seen it on TV yet. Or is it being shown in the cinema?

(In the end it doesn't really matter where it's shown as long as it's shown as much as possible, so that everyone can finally realise just how wonderful Salem's music is).

Berwaldhallen on P4: we'll have to wait

I thought that one of the Berwaldhallen concerts would go out live on Swedish Radio P4, however I've just checked over at www.sr.se and I can confirm it's not going out live, but will be recorded and broadcast at a later date. I'll let you know on here when it will be broadcast :)

Exciting times :)))

"It's Only You Part II" now on iTunes and being released in many parts of Europe...

Full version of "It's Only You" video now available at www.youtube.com/salemtv... it's very psychedelic, and features not one Salem but two ...... (thanks to the previous poster for this info - you've made me so happy tonight!)....

Salem's MySpace has been redesigned once again and its look is based around the "It's Only You Part II" video...

It looks as if Salem is going to be on the Parlophone label in the UK. Although"This Is Who I Am" is being advertised in their online store there, it's via Amazon UK and at an inflated import-style price so I'm not sure if it's ever going to get a proper UK release or not....

A very special day today...

...it's Salem's 27th birthday!

Happy birthday!!!

I feel a celebration coming on: it may involve a visit to www.myspace.com/salem for yet more repeated plays of "It's Only You Part II" and "Twelve Fingers".....

As long as I'm needed I won't give up

Just dropped in to say that I've got "Twelve Fingers" on repeat over at Salem's MySpace tonight (and "It's Only You Part II", it goes without saying), I totally love these songs and I'm counting the days till I'm able to download them.

"Twelve Fingers" completely rocks, it starts off with a similar groove to The Ark's "Prayer For The Weekend" and keeps up the galloping beat all through the song with some distinctive piano lines.

Even though I was totally head over heels in love with the original version of "It's Only You" off "This Is Who I Am", I have to say that I am also...totally head over heels in love with the new version, as it's kept the warmth and sentiment of the original intact.

New songs on Salem's MySpace

Excitement!

I've just been over at Salem's MySpace - it's got a redesign and the four songs from the new EP in full including the brand new "Twelve Fingers" which is brilliant and I just love the lyrics of this song.

I love the new version of "It's Only You" (although I loved the old one too - oh well, I just love everything he does!!)

But, very strangely, his official website www.salemalfakir.se no longer exists and when you click on the link it automatically takes you to www.myspace.com/salem.

Now just get over there and check these songs out!

Volvo, It's Only You, and a mystery solved

This is a commercial for the Volvo XC60 car, and it could provide the link to Salem's international breakthrough at last. The ad features "It's Only You Part II".

After our news that the song will be released in Norway, I've been doing some detective work once again on the internet and discovered some online retailers in Germany and Italy which will be selling the EP from its release date of 31.10.08 (or 03.11.08, depending what you read) which featuring the following tracks:

1. It's Only You (Part II)
2. It's True
3. Twelve Fingers (new song? instrumental? don't know)
4. Dream Girl

It's like a mini-greatest hits isn't it! Depending on the success of this I wonder if "This Is Who I Am" will be repackaged for Europe with the new version of "It's Only You"? I also notice that on the cover of the EP he is being billed as Salem and not Salem Al Fakir, and it states 'featuring music from the Volvo XC60 commercial'. The cover picture is taken from that "It's Only You" video, with Salem out in the forest, strangely obscured by a big ray of sunlight.

Norway, Germany, Italy...where next?

Thank you Volvo. This could be the start of something at last...

"It's Only You (Part II)" out soon?

I'm a bit late bringing this, but have just checked out EMI Norway's site - yes, Norway, not Sweden - which says that "It's Only You (Part II)" will be released digitally on 27.10.08 and the EP of the same name will be out on 03.11.08.

There is no news about this either at Salem's official site (recently updated with info about Berwaldhallen), or at his MySpace, or indeed at EMI Sweden which hasn't even updated their page since "This Is Who I Am" was released.

Am I breaking some news here? Does anyone know anything about this? I'm getting really excited now!!

EDIT: Also the EMI Norway page said (according to a translation site) something about "It's Only You" (and not "Dream Girl" as I previously posted here) being in a Volvo commercial. Maybe that would be a good way to get his music noticed internationally. I wonder if that commercial will only be screened in Norway or will it go international?

The combination of contemporary music with an orchestra can be amazing. It worked for Metallica and the Scorpions in the past. The more I think about the three-concert Berwaldhallen residency, the more wonderful it sounds. Salem backed by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra: he has the talent, the ability and the vision to make it work. And no, before you ask, I can't get over to Sweden to see it for myself but it will be broadcast on P4 so I'll definitely be listening in.

I think one of the classical concerts would be a great idea for a live DVD - how about it Salem?

I need to figure out how this can be

Very intriguing indeed....

Salem's posted a brief 30-second video-clip on YouTube of "It's Only You (Part II)" which is a little-bit-techno and ,whilst not quite in Basshunter territory, it promises a very interesting re-vamp of one of my favourite songs (originally in acoustic form) from "This Is Who I Am".

The video sees Salem standing beside a tree and then heading off to get on his bike.

Could this be the start of something finally happening??

H3FK on tour

H3Fk are playing a few dates around Sweden at the moment and I've come across a couple of very positive reviews:

Munkkällaren, Visby - http://www.helagotland.se/noje/artikel.aspx?articleid=4322869
Nefertiti, Gothenburg - http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=220&a=451129

Tomorrow night they play the Konsthall in Malmö.

Our Berwaldhallen scoop!

Just realised today that I'd got a bit of a "scoop" and broken the news about Berwaldhallen before the Swedish internet press got to it, so I'm particularly proud and thrilled about that :))))))

I am really thrilled with the news about Salem's collaboration with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra on the following dates/times:

Thursday 13.11.08 at 7.00 pm (Swedish time)
Friday 14.11.08 at 6.00 pm (Swedish time)
Saturday 15.11.08 at 3.00 pm (Swedish time)

The more I think about this, the more amazing I think it will be....just imagine "Good Song" and "Dream Girl" and "Black Sun Black Moon" with an orchestral backing, just fantastic. And you know the best thing? One of the concerts will be broadcast on Swedish Radio's P4 channel. I don't know at the moment which of the three concerts it will be, but I'll post more information on here nearer the time so that you all know when to listen.

New (classical) concerts announced

No, we haven't gone away, and we certainly haven't forgotten about Salem!! It's only the fact that there has been no news at all since our temporary 'hibernation'. Salem has announced a series of three new concerts at the Berwaldhallen in Stockholm on 13.11.08, 14.11.08 and 15.11.08. Very different and, you could say, back to his classical roots: he will be performing with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, which should be fantastic.

What's next?

With no new live gigs announced, and no prospect of the new album any time soon, it looks as if there will be nothing to report for some time to come.

If you have read a couple of my other posts you will know that Salem has alluded to record company politics in recent interviews, and it hasn't escaped my notice that his record label has experienced difficulties this year, with other acts on that particular label expressing their frustration that their new releases have also been delayed:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20080820/ten-starsailor-agree-with-lily-s-label-w-ea4616c.html

As a fan who lives outside Sweden, I'm not only angry at the lack of support from Salem's record label, but I feel particularly frustrated that his record label has done nothing to promote him internationally and effectively organise international distribution of his material. By this stage, he should have been an international star, with "This Is Who I Am" released in as many worldwide territories as possible, capitalising on his Swedish Grammy wins. Instead, we don't know when - or even if - that launch will come. I wonder if things would have been different if he'd been with another record company.

(Remember, anything I've written on this blog does not represent the views of Salem or of anyone connected to his record company, I'm just a devoted fan from the UK who wants the world to know about him!)

The lack of action and information made me wonder where it leaves this little blog. Well, I feel optimistic about continuing. Our visitor figures continue to rise and I've received some very positive feedback over recent months. I want this to be a place for Salem fans to visit and share their love and enthusiasm for the man and his music. This blog exists to publicise and promote Salem Al Fakir to the world, and will continue to do so!

However I would anticipate a period of "hibernation" over the coming months, at least until we know what Salem's doing next. So until then ....bye for now!

Benoît spreads the word in France!

Benoît left these links in a comment on an earlier post, but I thought I'd mention them again here in case you missed these links:

Some great photos from Gröna Lund at http://www.lecargo.org/spip/salem_al_fakir/grona_lund_stockholm/photos-4454.html

Also an excellent review of the gig (in French) at http://www.lecargo.org/spip/salem_al_fakir/grona_lund_stockholm/lives-4455.html

Thanks Benoît - keep on spreading the word about Salem!

Another Gothenburg review

http://www.epochtimes.se/articles/2008/08/17/15545.html has a very nice positive review of last Saturday's show at Gotaplatsen, and some equally nice photos too.

New interview in Expressen

Just found this at http://www.expressen.se/kultur/skribenter/gunillabrodrej/1.1265737/spoksonaten

Very interesting interview with Salem, and some intriguing questions. The interviewer Gunilla Brodrej said that she had contacted Salem's record company EMI "who said something cryptic that you do not do anything together right now". Salem replied: "What? Is it true? Did they say that?"

She then asked "When will your big international breakthrough be? The world is waiting for?". Salem replied: "I wonder, too. Haha. But it will, it will only take a little time.".

About the next album: "In a perfect world, I would have released a disc by now. In itself, it is good that it takes a little time. The fact that people will have to wait a bit, said Salem, and laughs." Just don't keep us waiting too long!!!!!

He also revealed that he is a big fan of Humble Pie, and that Steve Marriott is one of his favourite singers. Salem also said that he and his brother Sami had bought an old fishing boat.

The new look...

I saw a few photos of Salem's gigs from this week on various blogs/websites, where he was wearing braces. I immediately wondered if his new look was influenced by Bobby Ball!!!


(If you have never heard of Bobby Ball, he is a British comedian who is half of a comedy double act Cannon and Ball who were very popular in the 1980s)


Judge for yourself:

(photo courtesy of www.comedykings.co.uk)

Now all Salem needs to do is grow a moustache and do a cover version of the duo's theme song "Together We'll Be OK" and then the transformation will be complete!!!

Gothenburg review at GT.se

There is a review at http://www.gt.se/nyheter/1.1267977/salem-kan-allt-men-slarvar-bort-rubbet of last night's Gothenburg gig played in front of a huge audience. The reviewer, Lennart Rehnman, wasn't too impressed by the number of new songs played, nor it seems by his new musical direction:

"In my ears, it does not sound like Salem Al Fakir, as I understand Salem Al Fakir."

Maybe so, but you have to understand that an incredibly talented and versatile musician like Salem wants to continue developing musically and also in his lyric writing, and you wouldn't expect or want him to release a second album of variations on, say, "It's True" or "Dream Girl". It is also unfair to judge new songs which have only been played live and haven't yet been released on record yet.

Still, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you were in Gothenburg, what did you think? Do you agree with the GT review? Is Salem playing too many new songs live?

Grona Lund tomorrow, Gothenburg on Saturday.

It's a very busy week for Salem as he's playing Grona Lund, Stockholm tomorrow night and then Gothenburg on Saturday.

If you're going to any of these gigs then why not post your comments on here and tell us what you thought of the gigs, and especially the new songs!

Tuesday 12 August

Salem was kicking off the Stockholm Kulturfestivalen tonight with a special concert presenting three of his favourite bands: Nils Berg 5, Domestic Bumblebees and of course, Tincan.

There is a new interview with Salem today at http://www.pastan.nu/konsert/festivalen-drar-i-gang-med-al-fakirs-favoriter-1.39123 which describes why he chose the three bands, and when asked what was happening next in his own career he answered the following (which as ever I have run through a translation site!):

"I am as curious as anyone else on what happens in the autumn, but I may well read about it in the newspaper, he laughs. I always want to play more, but if you do not have a new disc, it will be difficult. If I had to decide, I would have released a disc every month but I have had to reassure me a bit and devote myself to politics. Large record companies, small person. But hopefully it is resolved soon".

And indeed we hope so too. In my own humble opinion, I'm already feeling that record company politics have delayed Salem's international breakthrough and it would be a shame if this was also to delay the release of his long awaited second album in Sweden. I can't imagine anything being released until 2009 now, but it will be well worth the wait.

But just imagine how good it would be if Salem was to release a new album every month!! He's so prolific and talented that I wouldn't be surprised! Oh well, we can dream....

Putte i Parken reviews

Salem appeared on Thursday 31 July at this brand new festival and was on stage just after 7pm.

So far I've checked out a couple of reviews from the gig.

Värmlands Folkblad wasn't too impressed and stated "the overall impression is still somewhat weak" before concluding "it would have been better to step out while there was still hunger among the audience" referring to his last encore song. Find the review at http://www.vf.se/DDWebb/templates/Article.aspx?id=21144

Although the reviewer from the excellent Rockfoto.nu clearly wasn't a big fan ("he is a difficult and boring artist who absolutely can not be listened to. However, you can not deny that Salem is an excellent liveartist".), they did manage to highlight Salem's efforts to get the crowd going, and referred to his charming smile and huge charisma. This review can be found at http://www.rockfoto.nu/articles/2008/07/31/salem-al-fakir-overbevisar-misstron where you'll also find a link to some photos from Thursday night. This site also has lots of great photos from his gigs over the past couple of years and I would recommend that you visit.

A brief newspaper interview today.

Salem played the brand new Putte i Parken festival in Karlskoga tonight so I'll be looking around the web for reviews over the next couple of days.

In the meantime I found a short but very fascinating interview today: http://www.nwt.se/ArticlePages/200807/30/20080730230020_450/20080730230020_450.dbp.asp

in which Salem revealed that he would be watching other bands at the festival (but didn't know which ones yet); that he's going to his brother's wedding soon; that he would then be going on holiday out on his boat (!); and that he bought a brand new moped this summer. The interviewer also asked what's his favourite ice cream flavour but he said that he'd be having raspberry sorbet as he's lactose intolerant.

Like I said, I found this interview fascinating as I managed to learn a few new things about Salem which I didn't know before.

Another Norrköping review.

There's a review of Saturday night's show in Folkbladet. It's yet another positive review, written by Michelle Hallberg.

Salem played to an audience of approximately 300 at the Knäppingen courtyard and it wasn't long before the audience were singing along with a mixture of old and new songs. The reviewer highlighted the happy mood throughout the concert and stated 'Salem seems to spread an indescribable joy with the public'. He closed the show after 90 minutes with, of course, "Thank You" but the audience wouldn't let him go, so he returned for a number of encores.

Full review and photo (Salem's going through his black T-shirt phase!!) at http://www.folkbladet.se/nyheter/norrkoping/artikel.aspx?articleid=3994556

Gothenburg date confirmed.

I'd previously posted about Salem playing Gothenburg in August - just to confirm that Götaplatsen is the venue, and the date will be 16th August.

Some news about Brunkebergstorg line-up

As you know, Salem will be presenting an evening's entertainment on 12 August at Brunkebergstorg as part of the Stockholm Kulturfestival. Finally got some news about the acts: Nils Berg 5 (a jazz band), Domestic Bumblebees (some good time rock n'roll!!) and Tincan (whom we've mentioned on here before) - of course that's Salem's backing band who play some great Afrobeat/bluesy music.

A very unusual, diverse and interesting line-up, but that's not too surprising given the diversity of Salem's musical tastes (even though he never listens to music....! Wonder if he still says that or not??)

Norrköpings Tidningar review of Saturday night's Norrköping show

Just when I had given up on any coverage of Saturday's Norrköping show, along comes good old Norrköpings Tidningar with a short but very good review by Jesper Frilund. He rated the show 4 out of 5, and commented that Salem as ever was on good form, laughing and joking with the audience and bursting with energy and intensity.

The reviewer stated that it was quite a long concert, with several encores and a lot of new material but it was the 'old' hits which the audience loved best. According to this reviewer, his songs are already classics. And who could disagree with that?

The full review can be found at http://www.nt.se/nyheter/artikel.aspx?ArticleId=3992484 along with a photo of Salem on stage.

Træna/Krapperup videos on YouTube

Check out good old YouTube for live footage from Trænafestivalen ("Thank You") and Krapperup ("It's True"), both very good indeed. It's interesting to see that even though these are old songs now, Salem still performs them with the enthusiasm as if they were brand new songs.

Swedes...I need your help about the Grona Lund gig in August.

Would anyone know where you can buy tickets for Salem's gig at Grona Lund in August? One of my readers from outside Sweden would like to know.

I wondered if it was the same as Liseberg, where the entrance fee also lets you into the concert - or is it a separate ticket price?

Thanks!

Salem returning to Gothenburg in August.

It's no time since Salem wowed the crowds at Liseberg...and he'll be back in Sweden's second city to play during the Gothenburg Culture Festival. The festival runs from 12th to 17th August and the programme of varied and interesting events is available if you follow the link from http://www.goteborg.com/kulturkalaset although when I checked I couldn't find the actual date of Salem's performance. (It won't be on the 12th or the 15th as he'll be in Stockholm then.) Will bring more news when I get it.

One year ago tonight...

...I discovered Salem Al Fakir and his wonderful music for the very first time. If you've been to my other blog EuropeCrazy, you will know the story of how this happened. But if you haven't, well here goes!

14.07.07. Saturday night at EuropeCrazy HQ, and the usual late night journey around the internet. The 14th of July always meant one thing to me - Bastille Day - but in Sweden it has another significance, as it's Crown Princess Victoria's birthday, and this is usually celebrated with a big concert on Öland. I knew that Måns Zelmerlöw would be appearing, so I decided to check out the rebroadcast on SVT's website. Fast-forwarding through the show, I stopped at one point to watch this young man whom I had never seen or heard before, singing and playing the piano, and I was immediately spellbound by his performance and his songs - a medley of "It's True" and "Dream Girl". The next day I returned to watch the show again, and decided that he was the best singer/songwriter I'd heard in years. The same day I caught up with "Allsång på Skansen" from 10.07.07 - and there he was again, this time with the more than aptly named "Good Song". By this time I was completely hooked!

Over the subsequent weeks and months I trawled the internet for any information I could get about Salem and his music, his concerts, his life story. I bought "This Is Who I Am" and over the past year it has arguably become my most played album of all time.

By December 2007 I had decided that Salem-mania had taken over my blog to the extent that I didn't have room for anything else, so I decided to create Planet Salem, so called because it was my little parallel universe which I could completely devote to my favourite singer. My other reason for creating this blog was that I couldn't find any fansites for him, so I thought I'd make my own.

To all of you who've ever visited this blog: many, many thanks to each and every one of you! And even though there has been little news to report this year, I hope you've enjoyed what you have read and that you will keep on visiting, as there will be lots of news once he releases his second album...whenever that may be!

Salem at Berns, this time with PH3.

Does this man never rest? Found some info on the internet that Salem, Gunnar, Jakob and Nils will be doing their thing as part of the PH3 Orchestra at rapper Eye'N'I's "Klubb Offbeat" at Berns in Stockholm tomorrow.

Two gigs, two countries, in twenty-four hours.

Salem was back on stage this week - in two countries.

Friday 11.07.08 saw his appearance at the Trænafestival in the north of Norway, and 24 hours later he was closing the 'Musikveckan' in Krapperup in Sweden.

Helsingborgs Dagblad (www.hd.se) has a feature and a couple of photos from the gig, but I haven't been able to find anything else yet. Salem still looked good considering he hadn't had any sleep for 24 hours....!

"It's True" on (yet another) Ibiza compilation

No, I haven't gone away - there's just not been any news about Salem in the last couple of weeks but this should change soon as he's got a couple of live appearances coming up this week, notably on Friday 11th July at the Trænafestival which takes place on a small island off the coast of northern Norway and has to be the most unique festival location I've ever seen!

I get a major kick out of going into a record shop and seeing Salem's name in the tracklisting. Last year the brilliant Axwell and Ingrosso remix of "It's True" appeared on almost every dance album around - and there's still no stopping this track as it's now on "Azuli Presents Ibiza 08". This time it's the Roog and Prom remix, which I don't like as much as the original.

One year on I'm still wondering why this track never really got a full single release in the UK - it should have been the follow-up to Axwell's "I Found U" and I'm sure it would have been a massive hit. Maybe it needs another summer of word-of-mouth promotion on the dancefloors?

Norrköping gig announced

Salem will be playing live at Norrköping Stadsmuseet on 26 July.

No other news to report this week...

H3FK Autumn gigs

Courtesy of H3FK's MySpace (www.myspace.com/H3FK), here is a list of the band's upcoming gigs this autumn.

9 Oct 2008
Munkkällaren, Visby

10 Oct 2008
Nefertiti, Gothenburg

11 Oct 2008
Kulturmejeriet, Lund

11 Oct 2008
Konsthall, Malmö (yes that's right, they are playing two gigs in one day - Lund in the afternoon and Malmö in the evening!)

12.08.08: Salem presents....

As part of the Stockholm Culture Festival in August, Salem will be taking over Brunkebergstorg for one night only on 12.08.08 - but he won't be playing live. Instead he will choose the guests who will present an evening's entertainment! We don't have any information yet about who will be performing, but it should be very interesting.

Liseberg!!

Two days have passed since Salem played at Liseberg and I have just been catching up with everything that was written about that show.

1) Haven't been able to find any press reviews, but...

2) Three cheers for all the bloggers who wrote about the show, mainly positive reviews. I found one blog which commented that the audience was not very responsive. I wasn't really happy to read that as Salem and his band do such a great live show that even non-fans should have been won over! And if they weren't fans then what were they doing there anyway?

3) Videos: I see that a couple of phone-videos have been uploaded to you-know-where: a brilliant "Dream Girl"/"It's True" which still sound good and fresh even after all this time, and someone has also uploaded a very brief clip of a new song - which sounds rather fabulous, how can I describe it...I'd say it's maybe in a similar vein to "Good Song". Yes, that good.

Hurry up with the new album, Salem.....I think it's going to be fantastic!

"...But he's only in my dreams...." :)))

Believe it or not, the whole not-being-in-Gothenburg thing must have been on my mind as last night, I even had a dream that I was in Gothenburg and I got to meet Salem and his band! A very nice happy dream, but unfortunately it was only a dream!!

Just realised that Liseberg was his first Swedish gig since Christmas 2007! Anyway I hope the gig tonight went well and will try to round up some reviews on here over the weekend if I find any.

I've just visited another blog which has published a picture from tonight. Big stage, new backdrop (the stripey one is gone) with Salem's name in big letters. Salem had his full band on stage with him and he was wearing a black t-shirt and pale blue jeans.

Will post more information when I get it. Very excited already!

If things had been different...

... I would have been travelling to Gothenburg this week to see Salem play at Stora Scenen in Liseberg this Thursday night, a real dream come true. However, there are a couple of reasons why I can't be there, the main ones being that I've already been away on short breaks a couple of times this year and I couldn't make it this time.

On the subject of live gigs, I notice that Tincan, whom I mentioned a few posts ago, will be playing at London's Notting Hill Arts Club on 27th June, so if you live in that area and you'd like to hear some cool Afro-beats then check them out. (And before you ask, I won't be able to go to this gig either as I live very far from London).

Anyway, Salem ....when are you coming over to the UK to play live????!!!!

Salem @ Spot Festival in Aarhus, Denmark: some reviews

Salem played his first Danish gig on Friday night at the Spot Festival in Aarhus.
I found a couple of reviews on the internet which I thought I'd share here.

At www.undertoner.dk the reviewer compared a Salem Al Fakir concert to a cake with whipped cream and strawberries!! (funny that, because that’s my favourite kind of cake), but the reviewer went on to say that there is also a lot of bite!

Anyway although the reviewer described Salem's music as cheesy, AOR-like softrock, they went on to say that even the hippest music fans must admit that the main reason to listen to music is melody, and there is no shortage of that in Salem's music.

Over at www.gaffa.dk there’s another positive review (which gave 4 out of 6) and which described Salem’s seven song half-hour set (which concentrated on songs from "This Is Who I Am", just released in Denmark) as "pure retro" The reviewer namechecked all the usual 70s influences who are always mentioned when reviewers write about Salem! The reviewer stated that Salem had a rich voice and was a very capable keyboard player who charmed the crowd. This reviewer did feel that there was a lack of originality in his songs (?), but they were melodic and full of hit potential. There was no time for an encore although the crowd wanted one. At the end, Salem said that this was his first gig in Denmark but he would like to come back again. I'm sure he will!

Anyway, readers of this blog will be well aware that I haven't been too happy that Salem's been keeping his lovely big hair hidden away for the last few months. As you will see from the two pictures above (courtesy of www.gaffa.dk) from Friday night's gig: the hair is back! Hooray!

Salem in Aarhus this Friday/Danish album reviews

Just a quick mention that Salem will be playing the Spotfestival in Aarhus, Denmark on Friday 6th June. He will be on stage at 7.00 pm.

I notice that "This Is Who I Am" was released in Denmark last month. I've been reading a few of the reviews on the internet so far and all are positive, repeating and reflecting the reviews that the album received on its initial Swedish release in January 2007. All of the Danish reviews also refer to the album's extreme musical diversity and Salem's extraordinary talent as a multi-instrumentalist, with the potential to become a massive star. Indeed!

Salem at Rockkarusellen

So Salem was special guest at the Rockkarusellen competition at the weekend. Someone's posted a couple of photos on Flickr, Salem is dressed in a black T-shirt and his (not too flattering) new headgear of choice. Oh well each to his own!!

I don't expect anyone to stay the same for ever, and maybe it's just me, but I miss Salem's old look - the hair, the shirt, the tie, the nice suits. :(((

Salem to guest at Rockkarusellen final

www.newsdesk.se reports today that Salem will be a special guest at the Rockkarusellen final on 31 May. This is a national 'battle of the bands'-type competition.

What's Salem been up to this past week?

I'm catching up with last week's events as I was away on holiday. Last week Salem was a guest at the SKAP event in the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, internet reports stated that he played a new song, however no-one mentioned the title.

Then on Friday 23 May, Salem played an open-air live show in Uppsala and according to various blog/MySpace posts this was a great show and Salem played a number of new songs. This sounds very promising: could there be a new album on the way?

Back soon...

I'm taking a break for a few days and heading off to the Latvian capital, Riga, tomorrow for a short holiday.

This blog will return on Saturday 24th May!

Uppsala next Friday

Uppsala Nya Tidning reports that Salem, along with Veronica Maggio, will be playing in Uppsala next Friday 23rd May, as part of the Linnéveckan festivities. Haven't got much more information at this time but whenever I get it I will post on here.

A couple of pictures from the Stavanger show

Courtesy of the Rogalands Avis newspaper, here are a couple of pictures from Salem's live show in Stavanger last night, although I haven't been able to find any reviews yet.

Just one question....will Salem's "big hair" ever return? I hope so!!!!

Stavanger tomorrow, and a video interview clip.

If you happen to be in or around the lovely Norwegian city of Stavanger tomorrow night, then why not go and see Salem playing at the MaiJazz festival. Wish I was there (as ever)...

Hopefully some lovely Norwegian people will review this on the internet and if I find anything I'll post it on here.

Talking of Norway, if you go to http://www.abctv.no/63128 you will find a recent interview with Salem, in which he is as animated as ever (!) and this is also punctuated by clips from the "Good Song" video. I love the part when the interviewer mentions his 4 Swedish Grammy wins, and Salem's ecstatic response at winning the best composer/producer awards.

Introducing...Tincan!

I recently found out that Gunnar, Jakob and Nisse, Salem’s brilliant backing band, also have a band of their own, along with keyboard player Kalle. They are called Tincan, and they play a mixture of Afro-beat, blues and rock which can be heard over at their MySpace (www.myspace.com/tincantincan).

Tracks include "Pick It Up" (that’s my favourite), "Hold On Strong" and "Leave The Keys". The band is influenced by African music, notably the legendary Fela Kuti. Gunnar is the lead singer - not only is he a brilliant guitarist but he has a great voice too. They played their first gig at Landet in Stockholm on 30.04.08 but plan some more gigs in the next few months both in Sweden and overseas. Hope to hear more from them.

Proud and standing tall.

I have finally seen and heard "Black Sun, Black Moon", from last week's TV4 appearance, and all I can say is ......wow.

I don't usually like this type of slow ballad, but Salem managed to produce three moving, compelling minutes (and a very abrupt ending!). I thought he sang brilliantly too.

This song is totally different from anything he's ever done before, it's quite a sad and emotional song, but the chorus was stuck in my head after just one listen. (It really has an anthemic, Robbie Williams 'Angels'-type quality to it, I can imagine people waving their hands in the air from side to side...!) I'm not sure how the final version will sound: on this occasion Salem was at the piano, backed by three violinists and two backing singers, but I think this song has the potential for a massive orchestral arrangement. (Or maybe that's just my mind wandering again).

Verdict: I like it, maybe not as much all my favourite tracks on "This Is Who I Am", but it shows a new emotional depth to Salem's music. It's just great to finally hear some new material from him. Well done.

Salem was on Swedish TV tonight...

on TV4's "Humorgalan" which I don't know much about but it sounds like a Swedish equivalent of a big charity TV show like "Comic Relief" which takes place here in the UK every couple of years. The proceeds of this comedy & music show go to Unicef, so it was all in a good cause.

No videos available just yet, I was trying to get some info about what he was singing. Putting two and two together in the absence of factual journalism it may have been "Black Sun, Black Moon" as I saw a comment on MySpace about that song. Does anyone have any more information about this? I'll keep checking TV4 and YouTube in my search for video evidence!!

EDIT 02.05.08: Yes it was definitely "Black Sun, Black Moon", lots of people searching for this today - and so am I!! Will someone somewhere post the video on YouTube if they have it? I must hear this song!

Oh and by the way...thanks for visiting!!

Can we build an international fanbase ?

I've made a couple of changes to the blog today - it's still called Planet Salem, but I'm now billing it as the international Salem Al Fakir fansite. No matter where you live in the world, if you're a fan of Salem and his music then I'd like to welcome you to Planet Salem - and your comments are always welcome!

Apologies in advance if I've ranted and raved about this before, but when is Salem Al Fakir going to be launched internationally and become the worldwide star that he deserves to become???

It hasn't escaped my attention that there are many people all over the world who have discovered Salem thanks to the Axwell and Ingrosso version of "It's True", and its various remixes which are still turning up on dance compilations and getting a worldwide audience.

What this tells me is that there is obvious potential for an international fanbase for Salem's music - so why hasn't his record company (or their partner record companies in other countries) taken the opportunity to release his music in as many overseas territories as possible by now? I know that "This Is Who I Am" was released in Norway, and that Salem will be playing in Denmark this summer, but apart from this there is still no news of an international launch.

For example, here in the UK there are many Swedish acts - mostly in the 'alternative' genre - whose music has already been released or is scheduled to be released very soon (Lykke Li, Oh Laura and Those Dancing Days for example) - but considering the wide appeal and radio-friendly nature of Salem's music, I still can't believe that "This Is Who I Am" hasn't had a UK release yet and as time is moving on, this now seems less and less likely :( Maybe we now have to wait till the second album.

If you are a Salem Al Fakir fan, whatever country you live in, spread the word about his music and how wonderful he is. Let's build an international fanbase on this blog, and make it a truly international fansite for this brilliant musician.

"Sommar i P1" revisited

On 26 July 2007, Salem Al Fakir appeared on Swedish Radio P1's "Sommar i P1". This programme is a great Swedish summer tradition in which a variety of Swedish public figures - everyone from politicians and journalists to TV presenters, actors and musicians - present their own radio show, share their memories and play some of their favourite music.

Salem's musical choices ranged from classical music, to jazz, to rock. No surprises there!

It can't be easy to sit at a radio microphone and speak eloquently about your life, but Salem managed to do this perfectly. My understanding of spoken Swedish is still practically non-existent, but I understood little bits here and there.

This programme is still available on Swedish Radio's website and here is the link:

http://www.sr.se/laddahem/p1/sommar/mp3/2007/SR_sommar_i_p1_070726.mp3

Putte i Parken line-up confirmed

We already knew that Salem Al Fakir will be playing the new Putte i Parken festival in Karlskoga this summer, but today the full festival programme was announced and we can now confirm that Salem will be playing on the first day of the festival - Thursday 31st August. Other acts on the bill that day: Magnus Uggla, Pugh Rogefeldt, Those Dancing Days, Maia Hirasawa and Sirqus Alfon.

Salem to appear at Gröna Lund in August 2008

Another day, another new concert announced - Salem's summer adventures will continue at the Stockholm amusement park, Gröna Lund. He will play live there on 15th August.

That will explain why Markoolio, Hakan Hellstrom, Salem, Adam Tensta, Mange Schmidt and Eric Gadd are all sitting in a giant teacup. (Photo courtesy of Svenska Dagbladet)

But will he play "Allsång pa Skansen" this year? I hope so.

H3FK on TV4's Nyhetsmorgon

H3FK appeared on yesterday's TV4 Nyhetsmorgon, and you can find clips of the two tracks performed - "Allt Väl På Tallbacken" and "Lilledror" at http://www.tv4.se/ and follow the Nyhetsmorgon link. Salem, with his hair tied back, is sitting on a stool at the front of the stage, playing the violin, tapping his feet and looking very serious.(Unlike Nassim, who was grinning throughout!)They are certainly a group of very talented and accomplished musicians who excel at their unique blend of Arabic/world/folk/jazz music.

There was also an interview, but Salem didn't appear in this - Nassim did though, and was his usual cheerful self :)

Oh, and it just wouldn't be a Planet Salem post if I didn't describe what Salem was wearing...just for the record, he was dressed in a stripey grey jumper, blue jeans and white trainers.

20.04.08: Here are some screencaps from this TV appearance.


Above: H3FK in action.

Above: Jazz violin genius at work.

Above: Salem looking very serious!!

Find more H3Fk stuff at www.myspace.com/h3fk.

The 100th post!

I just noticed that I've already written 100 posts on this blog, which is rather good considering I haven't really had anything much to write about since the beginning of December.

Just think how much I'm going to write when Salem starts playing live again and releasing new music and appearing on Swedish television...I'm going to be very busy!!

Penguins!

Today's update from http://www.salemalfakir.se/: Salem's been checking out some penguins in Gothenburg and he's put a picture of them on his site. I visited Berlin Zoo last year and also took some photographs of the penguins there, which are the same as the ones in Gothenburg!!

So here are some Berlin penguins!!

Another live appearance in Gothenburg

Salem will be appearing at a special concert in Lisebergshallen, Gothenburg on June 13th along with Eric Gadd and Sanna Nielsen (presumably it won't be in an "Empty Room" ...sorry, I couldn't resist this ha ha) during the "Volvo Weekend" which will take place from 13th to 15th June.

We know just how much Salem loves cars so I suppose it's quite appropriate that he's involved in this event!

With two appearances in Gothenburg (12th and 13th June) I guess this means that he probably won't be playing Sweden's biggest rock festival, Hultsfred, which he played in 2007).

Salem's Scandinavian Summer

Salem will be playing the following live dates in Sweden, Norway and Denmark in the coming months:

10.05.08 Mai:Jazz, Stavanger, Norway
07.06.08 Spotfestivalen, Aarhus, Denmark
12.06.08 Stora Scenen, Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden
11.07.08 Træna Festivalen, Træna, Norway (this was the one I mentioned last night)
12.07.08 Krapperups Slott, Nyhamnsläge, Sweden
31.07.08 Putte i Parken, Karlskoga, Sweden

Information courtesy of http://www.salemalfakir.se/.

Norwegian festival appearance announced for July 2008

It looks as if Salem will be playing a few summer festivals this year after all....he will appear at the Traenafestival in Norway which will take place between 10th & 12th July, presumably he will play this either on 10th or 11th July as he is already booked for Kullabygden (Sweden) on 12th July.

Salem featured in a photographic exhibition in Visby.

Check out http://www.helagotland.se/noje/artikel.aspx?articleid=3468595 which today has a feature on an exhibition in Visby, Gotland by innovative photographer Thorn Ullberg. Salem is one of the subjects featured and you can see the photograph if you click the above link. Amazing photo too, Salem looking rather fabulous as usual in a suit, and just look what they've done to his hair!!

Salem to play at Liseberg in June

The summer concert programme for Liseberg in Gothenburg has been announced, and the line-up includes Magnus Uggla, Amanda Jenssen, BWO, Amy Diamond, E-Type, Jill Johnson, The Poodles and Eric Gadd. Best news of all is that Salem will be playing there on 12th June.

Another Swedish gig announced for July 2008

Salem and his band will be playing live in Kullabygden, which apparently is in southern Sweden (no, my Swedish geography's still not getting better) at their 'Musikveckan' from 5 - 12 July. Lots of opera, jazz, classical music....and then on Saturday 12 July, Salem will be performing live.

No time to do the washing up - why???

In his latest posting on www.salemalfakir.se, there's a picture of Salem's unwashed dishes, which have now piled up to an alarming extent.

Why has Salem not done the washing up?

Is it because:

a) he's too busy writing/recording a new album
b) he's too busy rehearsing new material
c) he's too busy planning world domination
d) he's too busy reading this blog (if only!!)
e) ...any other reason is unacceptable!! So get that washing-up done NOW!!!

:-))))

Salem entertaining the corporate suits this week....

At last some news. On Wednesday 2 April, Salem will be providing the entertainment for the businessy-types of the West Sweden Chamber of Commerce at a big event called the "Industri och Handelskammardagen" at the Scandinavium in Stockholm. Well there has to be something to look forward to after all those boring speeches I suppose!!

"Grattis Victoria" revisited, yet again, in the absence of anything else to write about.

So there is no news at the moment about Salem, and I am now having to accept the fact that this will probably be the case for most of 2008.

Still no sign of any material being released in the UK either. Maybe I'm wrong but I think that his record company will now wait till the second album is released before releasing anything over here - I had really hoped that "This Is Who I Am" would get a UK release early in 2008 but that doesn't look like happening now, but as ever I hope I'm proved wrong. This blog will continue though! Even if we don't have anything to write about :(

In the meantime, the "Grattis Victoria" concert from 14 July 2007 is still available over at http://www.svt.se/. As if anyone needs reminding, this was the night when I discovered Salem Al Fakir and my life was never the same again!!!

If you haven't seen this yet (and why not???) check out http://svt.se/svt/play/video.jsp?a=867294 and at 25 minutes and 30 seconds Salem sings "It's True" and "Dream Girl". I've watched this about 300 times now but still love it, because he is such an entertaining performer who enjoys every moment of what he is doing. Brilliant!!

Salem supporting Alicia Keys in Stockholm this Saturday!

Amazing news on http://www.salemalfakir.com/ today that Salem Al Fakir will be the support act at American soul superstar Alicia Keys' Stockholm concert at the Hovet arena this Saturday 08.03.08. Am I right in thinking that this will be Salem's biggest ever live audience? (Not counting last year's summer festivals or the Grammisgalan of course).

Anyway well done to Salem for getting such a high profile show, I'm sure he will rise to the occasion and deliver the usual fantastic live experience.

As usual I will post any reviews and further information on here when this becomes available.

EDIT 10.03.08: haven't been able to find anything yet, but will keep trying, as I do :-)

FURTHER EDIT 17.03.08: still haven't found anything of note, although a couple of video clips from the gig have now been posted on YouTube ("Good Song" and "It's True"). Can't really see anything but the sound quality isn't too bad considering it's the usual mobile footage.

Official site updated

Salem's updated his news page again with a post about his day out driving in Slottet.

Nice arty rear-view mirror photo too.

Oh, and....do I detect the return of the moustache????

Swedish Charts Update

44th week in the Sverige Topplistan and "This Is Who I Am" is still hanging on at no. 54!!

The return of H3FK

One of Salem's many other projects outwith his own career is H3FK. This is a band playing a mixture of instrumental Arabic/Oriental/folk/jazz/roots/world music and is actually made up of two separate groups - the Örjan Hultén Trio and FakirKarlsson. The latter of course features Salem on piano and violin and his big bro Nassim on percussion. They made an album in 2005 called "Ayouni" but are now set to return with the follow-up "Nubiska Nätter" to be released in March. Due to Salem's numerous other commitments over the past year he won't actually be appearing on this album but is still part of the group. They will play the famous Fasching jazzclub on 13th March, and I just wonder if Salem will be part of the line-up? (EDIT 02.03.07: yes he will be!!)

Whilst I'm typing this I'm listening to some of their music at their MySpace sites www.myspace.com/h3fk and www.myspace.com/fakirkarlsson. Whilst it's not really my type of music it is very well crafted and the musicianship is, as you would expect from anything involving any of the Al Fakir family, quite outstanding.

Oh, and here is a picture of FakirKarlsson from 2006, which I found tonight whilst I was doing my research!

"This Is Who I Am" revisited - tracks 16 and 17

We now reach the end of our journey through Salem's debut album....

16. "Thank You" (3.19)

Being the well-mannered individual that he is, Salem brings the album to a close in a rather unique and touching way. "I gotta go I gotta go/I got nothing more to say/but I just wanna thank you all for listening". Since I first heard this track, it screamed "Steely Dan" at me, and still does, as Salem's vocals are strongly reminiscent of Donald Fagen.

17. "End" (3.32)

The album ends the way it started, with a short, spacey instrumental piece. If you keep listening you will find the hidden track at the end, a bluesy guitar jam which, again, is completely different from everything that's gone before.

The Ones That Got Away:

"Bright Side of Life": Yes, in case you wondered, Salem can do reggae too, and very well. Uptempo, happy and good-humoured and does what it says on the tin. This is part of the album track listing on iTunes and that's where I got it, however can't find it on the CD unless it's maybe part of the Opendisc thing, I don't know?

"Friend": I still don't understand why this track - from the "Dream Girl" EP - was left off the album, as it's a real treat. Twinkling keyboards, sweet vocals and minimal lyrics all go to make up a particular retro-flavoured delight.

Oslo gig reviews "lost in translation" :-)

Salem played 2 gigs in Oslo at this "by:Larm" thing and I've already seen a couple of Norwegian newspapers' websites reviews which would appear to be good, although I can't really tell because (a) my knowledge of Norwegian is virtually non-existent and (b) the translation sites never really made much sense.

Anyway I will attempt to translate these and any other reviews and may just post my findings later. In the meantime here are a couple of pictures of Salem from one of the Oslo gigs, courtesy of www.abcnyheter.no and www.planb.no who both published reviews of the Oslo shows.

Norwegian TV screencaps as promised.

From yesterday's "Waschera" show on TV2 Norway. The other guys on the sofa were a couple of snowboarders.

Salem on Norwegian TV2 today

Salem is of course in Oslo at the moment for a couple of gigs at the By:larm event and he also appeared on Norwegian TV2's "Waschera" programme today, which is available at the following link: http://webtv.tv2.no/webtv/?progId=218458 .

He's got his hair tied back again, but I'm used to this by now so it doesn't bother me anymore :-) anyway he was looking lovely as ever, although I'm a bit concerned that he's maybe lost a bit of weight?

I've done some screencaps and will post these here tomorrow, and hopefully might track down some reviews of his Oslo gigs too.

Swedish Charts Update

In this week's Sverige Topplistan albums chart, "This Is Who I Am" has slipped to no. 49 but is still hanging on in there!

Salem in Oslo, Thursday/Friday

The by:larm thingy has finally arrived and Salem will be playing two gigs in Oslo - one tomorrow night (OK, tonight, as it's now Thursday!) and one on Friday. I will then go in search of reviews and will post anything I find on here. Hopefully the good people of Oslo will turn up in their numbers and enjoy the wild and crazy live experience of a Salem Al Fakir gig!!

"This Is Who I Am" revisited - tracks 13 to 15

The penultimate part of my review.

13. "Hymn" (2.24)
A real Disney-type feel to this one. This needs to get itself on a soundtrack album pronto. An impossibly pretty lullaby, irony-free and dripping with childlike innocence. Maybe too sugary sweet for some, but it will do for me.

14. "Damien and Bob" (1.36)
No track could be a bigger contrast than this one. The shortest vocal track on the album, and reminiscent of Nirvana-type grunge with a twist. Initially I didn’t like this, as I didn’t like the idea of Salem doing rock music. I did change my mind and now think this would be a very good idea indeed. (purely based on "Japanese Man", anyway!) It is the only song on this album to have its lyrics in the sleeve booklet, so that must have some significance. Demented brass and headbanging all the way.

15. "Good Song" (4.14)
And so to my favourite track on this album, my favourite track of 2007 and maybe even of all time, who knows? I've already said a lot on here and over at EuropeCrazy about this song, its feelgood factor and its clever and funny video. Interestingly it is the most fully formed traditional verse-chorus-verse song structure which Salem does not usually always follow. A modern classic yet it again sounds as if it was written in 1975 or thereabouts. Musically using everything at his disposal - notably piano and strings, and the ultimate singalong which always leaves me smiling.

Coming soon: the final two tracks, and the one that got away.

"This Is Who I Am" revisited - tracks 10 to 12

10. "It's True" (3.24)
Here in its original version with its blissful twinkling piano hookline. There is an incredible optimism running all through this album - if you're looking for sad songs, then look elsewhere. The lyrics say it all....

The grass is greener on the other side/I told some people now they know it/Forget your old lawn, come over to mine/Take your first step and you will get there in time/It's true, life will smile for you.

Reinvented last summer for the dancefloor by Axwell and Ingrosso of course: that, too, is sheer bliss.

11. Magic Night (3.11)
Initially I thought the album could have done without this instrumental, reminiscent of 70s party night at the working men’s club. However, over the past few months it has grown on me in a strange way. Fast, lunatic and completely manic. Played live, I would imagine that this crosses over to another place.

12. Baroon (0.52)
I still find this an unnecessary instrumental interlude, although accept that it has to exist as a chilled-out comedown from the manic "Magic Night". Doesn’t really go anywhere and like "Jussi" I haven’t really revised my opinion of it.

Coming soon: tracks 13 to 15.

Expressen culture prizes.

The Expressen newspaper's culture prizegiving ceremony took place the other day and (of course) Salem was one of the winners. Here he is pictured above with the other winners (photo courtesy of Expressen). Looking rather serious, don't you think?

He also sang "It's True" at the ceremony and one of Expressen's bloggers described him as "super snygg" - a description which we at Planet Salem would never argue with! (Although probably a couple of marks deducted for the hair tied back!!)

Salem also played live this week at the opening of Stockholm's biggest new hotel, the Clarion Sign. Sadly I haven't been able to find any photos of him from this event.

Yet another gratuitous pic of Salem at the Grammisgalan...

Looking rather delicious too, considering he was feeling unwell that night!

Swedish Charts Update

In this week's Sverige Topplistan, "This Is Who I Am" has slipped from no. 23 to no. 36. No real surprise as everyone in Sweden should own a copy by now. And if they haven't, then they should. And come to think of it, so should everyone outside Sweden too. :-)))

Supertalent!

At last a new item of news today.

Swedish business newspaper Veckans Affärer today published its list of the 101 "supertalents" in Sweden. The list includes the usual mix of business people and the ubiquitous (and overrated IMHO) Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Anyway - guess who's in 6th place on the list??? Salem !!! Congratulations yet again!!

More MySpace stuff for all the completists out there (ok, just me then...?)

I recently mentioned Salem Al Fakir's work with Linn Segolson so it would be a logical step to mention her brother Stefan whose experimental blend of soul music gets an airing over at his MySpace (www.myspace.com/stefansegolson). There is a reworking of Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal's 80s duet "Saturday Love" by his band The Ultimates - made up of Stefan, Linn, Red Astaire and none other than Salem!

Of course Salem is also listed as a member of Linn's band 'Linn and The Skin' which also features Stefan....are you keeping up with this? And let's not forget Freddie Cruger/Red Astaire's band as well! Is Salem trying to get into the Guinness book of world records for the amount of bands he's been a member of?????

"It's True" remix on new Hed Kandi "Twisted Disco" compilation CD

OK I think I've just about given up now on the Axwell & Ingrosso vs Salem Al Fakir version of "It's True" ever getting a full commercial single release in the UK and doing some serious damage in the top 40.

I'd like to be proved wrong though eventually, in which case there will be one big party on this blog.

Anyway Dabruck and Klein's remix of the remix (!) is now appearing on the latest Hed Kandi "Twisted Disco" compilation CD. To be honest it's not really my favourite mix, I prefer the original Axwell and Ingrosso remix and that's the one I'd want as a hit single. Someday!

"This Is Who I Am" revisited - tracks 7 to 9

7. "Jussi" (0.59): This is perhaps a significant nod to Salem's classical training and musical heritage, but apart from that it doesn't really sit well on this album. I haven't really revised my opinion of this one.

8. "Devil Look" (4.47): Propelled by funky guitars and honey-sweet vocal harmonies, the lyrics muse on the nature of temptation - "it's hard to say no when the devil looks at you". This could be about a relationship ("I gotta break up/before it's too late") or just life in general. This is like two songs in one - the last couple of minutes turn into an excessively mind-boggling psychedelic synth solo, with distorted voices in the background. I can imagine this just being fantastic in a live setting.

9. "Count Me Out" (3.23): Another real favourite of mine, and yet another one which clearly shows off a strong 70s musical influence - I mean that as a compliment! Soulful vocals, beautiful string arrangements (all Salem's own work of course), layered vocal harmonies and a truly brilliant brassy finale. The lyrics of this break-up song are again simple and straightforward and easy to identify with. All in all, a rather beautiful song.

Coming soon: tracks 10 to 12.

New photo on Salem's website

Check out the latest photo of Salem and the boys from his band having lunch after rehearsals. Umm....interesting headgear!

Anyway it's been a month since the Grammisgalan but there's still no news to report and nothing on the horizon apart from the two Norwegian gigs later this month. No news is good news? Or just, no news is .... no news?

"This Is Who I Am" revisited - Part 2

Today I'm featuring tracks 4 to 6.

4. Two Long Distance To Great Thoughts (2.33)
An instrumental where folk music meets prog rock now. No don’t switch off, because here is Salem showing us a couple more styles that he not only can do, but can do in a dazzling manner. It starts off sounding like a traditional Swedish violin folk tune and then turns into a Focus-style 70s prog number. By now you have learned to expect the unexpected.

5. Dream Girl (4.27)
And now to the first of the album’s three most significant songs, placed at tracks 5, 10 and 15. "Dream Girl", his first single, does not sound as if it was written in 2006, for it is far too accomplished and timeless to come from this throwaway decade. "Dream Girl" has no chorus, but has a spectacular piano hookline and when played live this song just soars. Magnificent may just not be enough to describe it. Some people have made rather negative comments about Salem's voice but I happen to love it, and it suits his songs perfectly.

6. It’s Only You (3.13)
Nearest thing to a ballad as it gets, this is just too pretty for words and Salem’s voice is so sweet and full of warmth. Although many of the songs on this album have complex layered musical arrangements, this is straightforward and simple and gorgeous. It is one of my favourite tracks on the album.

Coming soon - tracks 7 to 9.

"This Is Who I Am" revisited - part 1

I previously did a review of Salem's debut album over at EuropeCrazy back in July 2007, but now that I've got this site, and now that a whole new audience have discovered him since the Grammisgalan and put the album back into the Swedish Top 10, I thought it would be a good time to revisit this album and do a more in-depth review, track by track.

Tonight I'll start off with the first three tracks.

1. "Begin" (0.56)
We know that Salem Al Fakir is fond of structure, beginnings and endings. Therefore the album begins with a short, spacey, synthesized overture which provides no clue as to the album's direction. That's because there isn't one. Prepare for the most varied, crazy, brave and ambitious collection of songs and tunes on an album which defies convention.

2. "This Is Who I Am" (3.28)
Arguably the real beginning of the album, lyrically this is Salem's mission statement. Take him or leave him, this is who he is and he cannot do anything about it. And we wouldn't want him to. Salem plays every musical instrument on this album (apart from brass instruments, played by his brother Sami). Musically, this is a very accomplished track, with brass and strings keyboards and is an early indication of the 'retro' nature of his music, which I find appealing anyway.

3. "Tell Me" (2.52)
Another song brings another style - this time a strong soul music influence. At the time of this album's release, the Swedish media often labelled Salem as "Sweden's Stevie Wonder" which was a rather lazy comparison but still kind of understandable in a way. Anyway, this is just such a feelgood track despite the 'why did the sun stop shining/why did the fire stop burning' lyrics. I particularly like the line "too bad you stole the sun and froze it". Layered vocal harmonies and brilliant piano playing. This is one of my favourite tracks on this album.

Coming soon: tracks 4 to 6.

New summer festival appearance confirmed

In 2007, Salem appeared at a number of Swedish summer music festivals, but his name hadn't figured in any of the line-ups announced so far for the various festivals in summer 2008. Until today, when some of the acts were announced for a brand new festival in Karlskoga in Central Sweden. Salem will appear at the festival which is called Putte i Parken and will run from 31 July to 7 August.

Other acts in the line-up for this festival include Maia Hirasawa, Those Dancing Days, Adam Tensta, Fibes! Oh Fibes! and Timo Räisänen.

Hopefully Salem will be making some more live appearances during the summer!

New Linn Segolson video footage on YouTube

There's a live video of Linn Segolson been added to YouTube, in which she and her band are performing the extremely funky and jazzy "Say It Out Loud" which features Salem playing keyboards. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WstH99D4qOs and I guarantee that you will be dancing around the room in no time. It's impossible not to tap your feet to this!

Salem will also be working on Linn's debut album, coming soon. Check out her Myspace - www.myspace.com/linnsegolson - there's a great live version of "Be Thankful" on there too.

Swedish Charts Update

In this week's Sverige Topplistan album chart, "This Is Who I Am" has gone down from no.9 to no.16, but has still had an impressive chart run with a total of 40 weeks spent in the chart out of the last 52 weeks since it was released.

Salem appearing @ Stockholm Citypriset tomorrow

The Stockholm City newspaper will hold its annual Citypriset award ceremony tomorrow night at Nalen in Stockholm. Salem will be appearing there as will Maia Hirasawa and Swedish rap's man of the moment, Adam Tensta. I don't really have much more information about this show at present, but I'll keep my eyes open for reports/photos etc this time tomorrow.

UPDATE: well, nothing to report - couldn't find any reviews/photos but I'm sure that Salem was wonderful as usual.

Swedish Charts Update - This week's Digilistan

In P3's download-version of the Swedish singles chart, "It's True" has slipped from no. 25 to no. 34 whilst "Good Song" falls from no.33 to no. 51. I suppose that both songs will drop out of the chart next week, and that will be it until the next single is released. (Hopefully sooner rather than later, I'm getting impatient!!)

"Good Song" video finally on YouTube!!

Here it is - it's well worth the wait!!!



No other news to report of course, apart from the fact that we failed to mention on 24.01.08 that "This Is Who I Am" was released exactly one year ago, a fact well worth celebrating!!

No award tonight for Salem :-(

I watched the Rockbjörnen awards gala tonight (review over at EuropeCrazy) but anyway I had resigned myself to the possibility that Salem probably wouldn't get the Best Newcomer award. That award went to Måns Zelmerlöw but I’m not really complaining as I like him too, and as I said before it’s more of a populist award ceremony so it wasn’t entirely unexpected, as although Salem has gained many new fans he is still not at that level of mass popularity yet.

Anyway that's the Swedish awards season over till the same time next year. Fingers crossed that Salem gets his second album out in time for the next round of nominations, although I've also now resigned myself to the fact that it will probably be 2009 before the next one.

As I said last night, expect less frequent updates on this site, now that Salem will be taking some time out for a while.

Swedish charts update

In this week's Sverige Topplistan album chart "This Is Who I Am" has slipped from no.6 to no.9.

Whilst in the singles chart, "It's True" falls from no. 42 to no.56 and "Good Song" drops to no.59.

Rockbjörnen tomorrow / what happens next?

Hoping that Salem will take home the Best Newcomer prize at tomorrow night's Aftonbladet Rockbjörnen gala, although again I'm not 100% confident as (IMHO) I kind of get the feeling that this newspaper is not really too keen on him - I know it's the readers who choose, but again I've just got this vibe and I don't know why. Hope I am wrong though.

After tomorrow's ceremony - the last of the Swedish music awards for 2007 - it will be like the end of a chapter, closing the door on last year. I really don't know what's going to happen next for Salem, apart from the two Norwegian gigs next month. (I contacted EMI Sweden for info regarding future plans/possible UK launch/gigs but as yet have had no reply. Oh well.)

As Salem is (and always has been) such a workaholic, I'd guess that he'll now throw his considerable energy and talent into writing that eagerly awaited second album. No news on any Swedish tour dates or summer festival appearances yet, I could speculate on what that means ... but I won't. OK then, I will. Maybe recording new album? Maybe playing gigs outside Sweden? Maybe working with Snook again? Or maybe none of the above?

Whatever happens next, I'd anticipate that the postings will be less frequent over the next few months if Salem is taking some time out following what's been a high-profile, busy and successful year for him. Nevertheless this site will continue to post all the news, gossip and happenings in relation to Sweden's greatest living musical genius!!

(And don't forget to visit Salem's official site - http://www.salemalfakir.se/)

2 live shows next month in Oslo

The annual by:Larm music conference/festival takes place next month in Oslo and will feature live performances by lots of Nordic artists. It's described as a Nordic version of the South x Southwest event. Salem will be there, playing two gigs as follows:

21.02.08 Cosmopolite, Oslo - at midnight!

22.02.08 Sentrum Scene, Oslo, at 21.30.

Hopefully this will bring his music to the attention of yet another new audience.

Swedish Charts Update - This week's Digilistan

Three of Salem's songs have re-entered Swedish Radio's Digilistan singles chart this week, following his big success at the Grammisgalan.

"It's True" is at no. 25, "Good Song" is at no. 33 and "This Is Who I Am" at no. 39.

Google-searching "Related blogs"...!

Tonight I went to http://blogsearch.google.com/ as usual and typed in "Salem Al Fakir", to discover that this blog is the first one to come up on the page and has its own little mention under "Related Blogs".

My fifteen minutes of blogging-fame have arrived :-)))

P3 Guldgalan: empty-handed in Gothenburg, and I'm not happy.

I've been watching the P3 Guldgalan on SVT Play tonight (full review over at http://europecrazy.blogspot.com/) but all I want to say here is that Salem was robbed. Although I enjoyed the show, I was extremely disappointed that he didn't win anything at the P3 Guldgalan.

Next, and final, Swedish music awards ceremony for this year is Aftonbladet's Rockbjörnen (the Swedish people's music prize!) on Thursday 24th January, which is being broadcast live at http://www.aftonbladet.se/ on the night. Salem should, and must, win that best newcomer prize.

Back in the Swedish charts / P3 Guldgalan preview

Doing my Swedish charts update tonight for EuropeCrazy, I noticed that "This Is Who I Am" has gone back up to no.6 in the Swedish albums chart this week. It looks as if Salem has got himself a lot of new fans since the Grammisgalan, and people who didn't previously take much notice of his music are now beginning to listen and like what they hear. And so they should.

In the singles chart, "Good Song" has re-entered at no. 36 whilst "It's True" is no. 42 and "This Is Who I Am" is no. 43.

Tomorrow sees the P3 Guldgalan awards, Salem is nominated in two categories - Best Live Artist : other nominees are Säkert / Laakso / Mustasch / Timo Räisänen, and Best Male Artist: other nominees are Lars Winnerbäck: "Daugava" / Jens Lekman: "Night falls over Kortedala" / Mange Schmidt: "Känslan kommer tillbaks" / Danny: "Heart.beats". I'm not so confident about these awards as I was about the Grammys, because it's a more "alternative" kind of awards thing (well, apart from Danny !!), but nevertheless we wish Salem good luck for tomorrow night and will hopefully have some good news to report soon!

"You know it's true, I'm so good...!"

You know you've really made it when you get parodied. Meet Per-Arnez, a witty Swedish guy who has created a parody of Salem, named Sune Al Frisyr, with his own MySpace page (www.myspace.com/slemalfrisyr) featuring a song called "I'm So Good", the vocal and musical style of which should raise a chuckle and be very familiar to anyone who has ever heard the real Salem. :-)

I also had a right good laugh at the info section in this page, which should be a big in-joke to Salem fans, and will probably go over everyone else's head:

Band Members: Me and my frisyr and my brothers Göran Al Frisyr, Benny Al Frisyr, Sonny Al Frisyr and Åke Al Frisyr
Influences: The great Stevie Wonder, which I never actually have listened to...
Sounds Like: I don´t listen to music, so how would I know...???

Well I thought it was quite funny anyway. Obviously Salem does too, as he's one of Mr Al Frisyr's friends on his MySpace page!

Meanwhile over at the real Salem's website...I'm loving these little 'sitting here at home' posts, the last of which saw him sitting on the floor and wondering what he should eat. Can't wait for the next one Salem!

11th best selling album of 2007.

Today Expressen published the list of the 20 top selling albums in Sweden over the past year. "This Is Who I Am" was the 11th best selling album of the year. Kent's "Tillbaka Till Samtiden" is the top seller.