PinkBeltRage
Forget all your technicolour dreams
5 December 04 ¦ Permalink ¦ Comments [22]
I’ve seen Sondre Lerche a few times, but Friday’s (12.03.04) show at Cane’s was by far the best.
Situated on the beach, Cane’s was not the shithole bar it’s made out to be (to quote my new friend Marvin: Chain Reaction in Anaheim, now that’s a shithole!). It was clean, well-ventilated and spacious. There were no people pushing or shoving their way to the stage. I stood front and center with ease.
I didn’t even mind the completely off-key girl who stood singing every single song at the top of her lungs in my ear. Maybe it was the drinks I had, but I found it comically bad and became overcome with hysterics at certain points.
I also didn’t mind the group of apparently, native Norwegians, standing behind me screaming out for Sondre and holding up a giant flag of Norway between songs. It was precious…
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Is that a Norwegian in your lap, or are you just happy to see me?
1 June 04 ¦ Permalink ¦ Comments [2]
Yes! and Yes! Here are the pictures from Sondre Lerche’s show at the Troubadour, May 30th. He is the sweetest, coolest guy you’d ever want to meet. I was the envy of every fifteen year old girl in the place. 
I mean how often do you have a young talented rockstar sitting in your lap?! Sondre thought he was going to “crush me” but sadly, he didn’t. I tried my best to act cool, but you can see my extreme giddiness took over in the end.
It’s Over mini audio clip
My dearest friend J2 took the above photos
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To Sondre with love
1 June 04 ¦ Permalink ¦ Comments
I gave Sondre a card I made just for him. I even stamped butterflies in white ink over vellum for a subtle effect and added some silver embossing for texture. I hope he discovered the pull-out tag in the back of the card. I have a crafting obsession and a slightly unhealthy love of silver brads.
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Sondre's LA Times Review
1 June 04 ¦ Permalink ¦ Comments
June 1, 2004 Tuesday
HEADLINE: POP MUSIC REVIEW;
Vulnerability and seduction—oh, Sondre
BYLINE: Ernesto Lechner, Special to The Times
At age 21, Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche has just released one of the most mature and sophisticated pop-rock albums of the year. That makes you wonder: What will this young man be up to when he’s 30?
Lerche, who looks like a precocious 16-year-old, was in fine form Sunday at the Troubadour—his first local show—backed by a rollicking trio of fellow Norwegians named the Faces Down.
Combining songs from his 2002 debut and this year’s vastly superior “Two Way Monologue,” Lerche proved that his gift for pop craftsmanship transcends the limits of the recording studio. Sunday’s joyful performance combined the harmonic savoir-faire of a Burt Bacharach with the melodic exuberance of the Beach Boys, while at the same time replacing the new album’s baroque instrumentation with a vibrant touch of rock ‘n’ roll energy. Lerche’s only drawback lies in the lyrics. Because he writes in English, which is clearly not his native tongue, some of his musings on loneliness and romance sound awkward and disjointed.
But the occasional nonsensical rhyme was compensated for by deliciously unconventional phrasing and a richly textured voice that knows how to project vulnerability before breaking into a seductive falsetto.
Lerche’s oblique melodic sense has drawn comparison to the bossa nova. But there’s something inherently Scandinavian in melancholy vignettes such as “Stupid Memory” and “It’s Too Late”—the kind of sunny, wistful ambience that informs most pop acts from the region, from ABBA to a-ha.
Whenever he addressed the capacity audience, the singer made up for his broken English with self-deprecating wit. The songs themselves confirmed him as one of the most talented new names in contemporary pop.
Copyright 2004 The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times
All Rights Reserved
Los Angeles Times
Also, here’s the Rolling Stone review of his show in NYC.
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Suffused with love
1 June 04 ¦ Permalink ¦ Comments
Here are some of my older Sondre pictures. From his 2003 show at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, CA and his in-store performance at Amoeba records in LA. 
Once again, my dearest friend J2 took the photos
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Apple love
22 May 04 ¦ Permalink ¦ Comments
Is it wrong to judge people based on the kind of computer they use? I love Sondre and recently discovered he uses a Mac. So, yes, that makes me love him even more.
A girl named Jenna took the photo of Sondre with his laptop.
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