Kings of Convenience
Kings of Convenience is one of the most well-known bands from Norway. Their beautiful and quiet folk songs have warm feeling and even when the tempo of their songs goes up, it's still all very relaxed and quiet. Their debut album's title 'Quiet is the New Loud' summarises perfectly what this band is all about. Their gigs are known for indie girl hoards who show up because of members' general cuteness.
Katzenjammer
This band is really difficult to categorise in any genre. They play peppy folk music with some gypsy music influences. The fiddle, banjo and excellent raspy female vocals create an indescribable atmosphere of a hoedown in a gypsy wedding. There's some hot jazz influences from 1930's speakeasies in the middle of all that.
Jens Carelius
Jens Carelius is one of the most interesting folk artists of today. His picking on the acoustic guitar is quite phenomenal, while his dreamy and trembling voice brings to mind the great folk sensations of the 1960's. The music is ageless, but at the same time you can hear from the production quality, that it's recorded with modern equipment.
Madrugada
This band sounded amazing even when I heard them for the first time. Melancholic folk tunes get a dreamy atmosphere from deep baritone vocals and the acoustic guitar strums hypnotically while the subtle strings creep in to bring shivers to my neck. Absolutely beautiful stuff.
Sivert Høyem
This artist could almost be titled The Phosphorescent of Norway. So similar is the tone of his voice and the songs have the same kind of relaxed country folk with melancholic, yet hopeful melodies. There's also some excellent use of subtle electric guitars in the background.
Midnight Choir
This indie band uses the known recipe of melancholic melodies, clean and airy electric guitars, soft baritone vocals and good studio production. I like the fact that all the instruments sound analog and just as they should, but the vocals have just the right amount of echo to lift it's effectiveness from the mass.
Minor Majority
Minor Majority makes easygoing indie folk pop songs with melancholic undertone and relaxed rhythm section. Where the Norwegian singers can usually hide their accent while singing English very well, in this band you can hear their origin in Norway.
Jenny Hval
Jenny Hval is quite well known in the indie circles. Her dreamy and personal voice is most likely the main reason for that. Her songs are hypnotically looping dream pop, where her voice gets the main stage. There are some similarities to Björk, but Hval's voice is a bit more seductive and softer.
Aurora
Aurora makes very traditionally influenced melancholic folk music. The simple acoustic guitar picking is the perfect background for her beautiful and etheric voice. I guess her voice is a prime example of a quirky indie voice that some people love and some cant's stand. I love it.
Your Headlights Are On
Despite the annoying name of the band, the music is really good. Quiet and melancholic folk pop with dreamy female vocals that crack in places. The background is very simple with just a piano and some subtle string arrangements here and there.
Monica Heldal
Monica Heldal's beautiful voice is the main instrument in this music, but still her excellent guitar playing deserves a mention as well. The picked folk guitars along with doubled vocal harmonies create a magical sound world.
Janove Ottesen
Janove Ottesen plays pretty basic singer-songwriter music with delicate and soft vocals and picked folk guitars. The subtle use of string arrangements on the background gives a nice spice to the concoction.
Gnom
Gnome makes absolutely beautiful quiet folk music sung in Norwegian. The language may sound a bit strange for someone who is not used to this language, but I assure you that it's worth listening to his singer-songwriter songs, because they're great even if you don't understand the lyrics.
Real Ones
Real Ones is a band playing folk influenced indie pop music. At best, their sounds are very authentic topped with instruments such as banjo, fiddle and wooden organ. The vocals are quite laconic, but they fit in with this kind of music very well.
Moddi
Modi plays very endearing indie folk. The lead singer's subtle Norwegian accent is very cute and his high pitched vocals fit perfectly in with the fretless bass and quiet stomping of a bass drum. The picked guitars and minimal piano gives it's own effect on the music.
The Opium Cartel
The Opium Cartel plays dreamy and relaxed melancholic pop with some electronic sounds and string arrangements. The subtle piano along with excellent male and female vocals make this sound quite magical.
The White Birch
The white Birch plays electronic music that is quiet and magical. They use interesting sounds of which some are analog and some electronic. The high-pitched male vocals are soft and etheric. This is great hypnotic music for relaxing times.
Panzerpappa
Panzerpappa makes mystical and hypnotic music with string arrangements and strange melodic percussion. This instrumental band uses some influences from post-rock, but instead of huge guitar walls, the sounds are quite clean.
Röyksopp
This is one of the most famous Norwegian bands of all times. This electronic band got famous after their album Melody A.M., but in my opinion their best album is the much darker album The Understanding. Great innovativeness in the sounds, but sometimes they can get a bit too plastic to my taste. They're at their best when they play dark melodies with hypnotic sounds.
Musique Le Pop
This electro band plays melodic indie songs with shoegaze influences. It sounds a lot like Beach House at times. The clean electric guitars give a nice touch to the otherwise quite electronic sound world.
Farao
Farao plays melodic and rhythmic, yet dreamy and hypnotic songs, where the clear female vocals fill most of the landscape. If you like melodic songs with buzzing and clicking sounds and some space atmosphere, this could work for you.
Sea Change
This electro band plays quite cold and melancholic music with strange electronic sounds. The vocals also have a strange quality of trembling and muffled style. This is quite hypnotic rather than something you would listen to at a party.
Lindstrøm
This is a bit too techno for my taste, but there's something appealing in this quite melodic, yet rhythmic music. I think it's the fact that despite of the obvious electronic instrumentation, it sounds quite analog at times.
Disaster in the Universe
Disaster in the Universe is an indie band that uses some strange instrumentation along with some electronic samples. The main sound though is bass and drum driven. Good music for indie discos and dancing.
Kakkmaddafakka
This indie disco band plays uptempo songs with catchy melodies. The vocals have quite strong Norwegian accent. The guitars are well-played if a little bit too mathematical to my taste with all their effects.
Grand Island
Grand Island plays uptempo indie rock with some post punk revival influences. It's not quite as dark as that genre in general. The disco rhythms make this band's music good for dancing. The choruses are catchy with simple melodies.
Vishnu
Vishnu plays quite old school melodic rock with some psychedelia and garage influences. The raspy vocals do not try to impress, but they still own the stage quite well. The guitars growl lightly, while the rhythm section keeps it simple.
Je Suis Animal
This lo-fi shoegaze band sounds a lot like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but with more lo-fi sounds. The melodies are catchy and sunny and the rhythms are upbeat. The production is very low quality, which may worsen the experience for some listeners.
The School
The School plays industrial post punk revival with some interesting synthesiser sounds. Their bass and rhythm section keeps the beat steady, while the baritone vocals sing fast lyrics while the electric guitars pound with simple riffs.
Comet Kid
Comet Kid makes melodic indie rock with some folk influences. They also use accordion on the background, which gives a nice touch to otherwise quite generic sound. Even though the main sound is quite produced, the acoustic guitar gives it nice authenticity.
Sondre Lerche
This indie rock artist plays music that sounds very 90's, even if it's made in the 00's. Bands like The Lemonheads and The Posies must have influenced him. The songs are melodic and the vocals are sung laconically.
Surferosa
Surferosa combines elements of electropunk, indie rock and post punk revival. The yelled out vocals remind me of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and CSS. The guitar riffs are sharp and the rhythm section is very tight.
Euroboys
Euroboys does what many Nordic bands did in the late 90's. They copied the sound of British alternative rock bands such as Oasis, Teenage Fanclub and Kula Shaker, to make melodic rock music that makes you nod acceptingly along. The vocal harmonies are quite well made.
Howl
Howl plays pounding indie rock, where the vocals, sounds and everything else is quite big. The choruses have catchy melodies and the rhythms make you want to jump up and down. There's an appropriate amount of raspiness in the vocals that makes it sound a bit like Stereophonics.
Serena-Maneesh
Serena-Maneesh makes loud and messianic rock music in the style of The Soundtrack of our Lives and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The guitars growl and riff beautifully, while the vocals are calm and cool.
My Midnight Creeps
My Midnight Creeps plays dark and melancholic indie rock with banging drums, rough guitars and heavy rhythms. It's all still very melodic and in the vocal parts they move more towards 60's garage rock in the sounds.
Heroes & Zeros
This indie rock band plays fast and intensive rock music with uptempo rhythms. The electric guitars riff beautifully and the choruses rise to stratosphere. This is foremost a band for people who love the sound of electric guitars on overdrive with great melodies.
Turbonegro
Turbonegro plays modern hard rock with melodic, yet quite heavy songs. They also use quite skilfully some deep string arrangements on the background. Everything is on overdrive, but it's still very melodic. It sounds a bit like 70's Black Sabbath at times.
Electric Eye
Electric Eye plays psychedelic garage rock with raunchy guitars and skilfully played tom-filled drums. There are long instrumental bits in their songs which makes this the kind of music that musicians tend to like. Lot's of improvisation and strange sounds form authentic band instruments.
Lukestar
Luke star plays fast and mathematically counted riffs with sharp electric guitars, while the high-pitched vocals scream melodic songs. The rhythms have many progressive elements switching from one beat to another.
Bushman's Revenge
This psychedelic progressive rock band plays innovative melodies with garage sounds. Special mention must be given to bass that is being played masterfully making up most of the melodic structures.
Grand General
Grand General plays rhythmic post-rock with raunchy electric guitars and some electric elements. They like to use progressive rhythms along with strange instrumentations. This is for people who like skilful playing and improvising on instruments.
Jaga Jazzist
Jaga Jazzist plays progressive rock with many direct jazz elements. Their sounds are quite industrial and dark though, which directs more into rock genres than to jazz. The songs still have many different parts where the beats change and instruments follow each other.
Kråkesølv
This indie rock band plays sharp electric guitars in the style of post punk revival, while the vocals sing in Norwegian. The vocals are not sung very skilfully, but the instruments are played well, so the instrumental pars kind of steal the show.
The Low Frequency in Stereo
This post-rock band plays beautiful instrumental songs with melodic and beautiful crying electric guitars. They have great sense of drama rising from ominous quiet bits to huge guitar walls of noise. This is for all the friends of bands like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky.
Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson
This post-rock bands plays melancholic and ominous songs good for that hypnotic feeling. The clear guitars are accompanied with some string arrangements and aggressive and skilful drumming. This is the kind of music that picks you up from this world and sends you millions of miles away.
Salvatore
Salvatore makes fast and dark post-rock where the electric guitars play the main part. There are some similarities in their guitar riffs to those of Sonic Youth's. The edges have not been polished perfect by production, which is perfect for this kind of music, so you can hear all the small differences in each guitar riff.
Team Me
Team Me makes indie rock with some progressive elements and big sounds. The vocals are high-pitched and strange. It all sounds a lot like the Danish band Mew. There's a disco beat, but it's not all in typical dance beat style.
Jim Protector
Jim Protector makes melodic post-rock with some electronic elements that have apparently taken influences from bands like Kraftwerk. The general sound is much more modern than that and there are many normal rock instruments involved, foremost the overdriven electric guitars.
Einar Stray Orchestra
This post-rock band combines heavy electric instruments with gentle acoustic instruments like ukulele, accordion and variety of string instruments. It's mainly instrumental, but they do sing English with heavy Norwegian accent, which kind of makes this sound in places like Sigur Ros.
Cold Mailman
Cold Mialman makes big and airy sound worlds with electric guitars playing sharp and clean riffs that intertwine into each other. The vocals sing in beautiful harmonies. It's all very beautiful and well produced.
iampsyencefiction
This strangely-named band makes almost as strange music as their name. There are strong elements from post-rock and from progressive rock, but the electric guitars are clean and airy and there are quite a lot of vocals sung with a baritone voice.
John Olav Nilsen & Gjenge
This music combo makes dark post rock music with Norwegian lyrics. The beats are sharp, even a bit disco, but the electronic synth sounds and clear electric guitars point towards other genres. This is quite typical 00's dark indie rock.
Atlanter
Atlanta uses shamanistic voices along with hypnotic guitars and some musical saw-playing. The melodies are dark and ominous. The vocals are not that well sung, but the sound actually fits quite well in this music where strange sounds and instruments take the main stage anyway.
Gazpacho
Gazpacho plays indie rock with classy sounds. They use instruments such as accordion along with glockenspiels and Rhodes stage pianos. It sounds a bit like Calexico or Beirut with those instrument choices.
Delaware
Delaware's music is dark and melancholic. The clear guitars and airy vocals are accompanied by harmonic rhythm guitars and simple but sharp rhythm section. This is the kind of music that I would listen to while sad about something.
Julian Berntzen
This singer-songwriter knows how to make catchy, yet quite complicated melodies that really change in mood. It goes from happy to sad within seconds and right back again. I guess this style of music could be rightly called baroque pop. Excellent songwriting.
Thom Hell
Thom Hell makes indie rock with ambitious string arrangements and excellent airy vocals. All the instruments are played skilfully and the studio production is seamlessly well done. Still there's authenticity in the sounds.
Ingrid Olava
Ingrid Olava is a fantastic singer. Her voice is strong, but raspy enough to portray wide array of different moods. The backgrounds are beautifully constructed with normal band instruments getting support from string arrangements.
Siri Nilsen
Siri Nilsen plays cute and acoustic folk music with dark melodies and beautiful string arrangements. The songs grow nicely with the support of some deep bass lines. She sings beautifully in Norwegian. The songs are very melodic and catchy.
Sandra Kolstad
This singer-songwriter uses normal band instruments along with electronic beats and samples. The result is a strange concoction of blinking sounds. The rhythms are steady and the vocals are quite strong.
The National Bank
The National Bank plays quite conventional indie rock. The vocals are sung skilfully and the rest of the band is there mainly to support those vocals. It's all played well, but it can be a bit boring at times. With some fine tuning this could become very interesting though.
Erlend Oye
50 per cent of the Kings of Convenience sounds quite different when it comes to style. Cute folk has been changed to pulsing and rhythmic indie pop, where the production sounds a bit overly done. It's ambitious, but at the same time it loses the effect of the beautiful voice of Oye.
Motorpsycho
Motorpsycho plays lo-fi folk rock. There are some elements that sort of remind me of grunge, even if the sounds are a lot softer. In addition to rough acoustic guitar strumming, there's a gentle flute-like organ sound in the background.
Kaizers Orchestra
Kaizers Orchestra's music could be described as some kind of gypsy blues sung in Norwegian. There are similarities to Tom Waits' darker 80's recordings. The sharp guitars are accompanied by industrial sounding instruments along with some raunchy horns.
Hvitmalt Gjerde
This indie rock band plays upbeat swingy surf rock songs with catchy melodies and rhythms that are good for dancing. The lyrics are in Norwegian. There are similarities to bands like The Libertines or Girls.
Bigbang
This band plays interesting and funky folky blues rock. The rhythm section is impressive with all the bongo and conga drumming in the background. The lyrics are not that interesting, but the groove is quite good.
A-ha
This is what Norway's music scene is foremost known after the death metal bands. A-ha is one of the essential 80's pop bands and their song Take on Me was a global hit. It's cheesy and sugary, but who cares. Excellent songwriting in all its campiness.
Dråpe
Dråpe's music draws influences from dream pop, post-rock and indie rock. They use a huge wall of echo, while the instruments stay quite sharp and recognisable. There's appropriate airiness despite the fast tempo.
Wardruna
Wardruna makes mystical and hypnotic shaman music. It has the same effect as ambient. It hypnotises the listener with low beating drums, clinking metal objects and a variety of strange horn instruments. One of the most original sounding bands out there.
Monkey Plot
Monkey Plot sounds very original. Their rhythm section sounds like working at the summer cottage. I'm sure there's a saw somewhere there. I could almost swear that they are using instruments they have made themselves.
Ephemera
Ephemera makes beautiful and melancholic indie folk with beautiful female vocals. They also use strange electronic effects and samples, but they don't steal the show. This is great music for train rides in the city.
Mari Boine
Mari Boine sings in Sami and the songs also sound very mystical and shamanistic. Marxophone and maracas create a strange sound world, while the vocals are hypnotic in their own right. There are also some string arrangements that sound like they would've been recorded backwards.
Pelbo
Plebo's music is quite mystical and very Nordic. There are similarities to some of Björk's songs. French horn is being used along electronic sounding drumming, while the echoey vocals zoom in and out with strange harmonies.
Nils Petter Molvær
This artist's music could be described as jazz, but it's quite modern when it comes to sounds. There are some electronic samples and it's difficult to know what instruments exactly are being used. Dark and innovative mix of melodies and rhythms.
Eivind Aarset
Eivind Aarset plays mystical and dark music that is some kind of hybrid of jazz and post-rock. There are some progressive rock elements in the mix as well. It's all very industrial and cold, while the melodies are purely hypnotic.
Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek is a saxophonist whose music sounds hypnotic and mystical. The melodies are usually quite dark and he also uses some electronic elements that remind me of bands like Tangerine Dream or Mike Oldfield.
Ketil Bjørnstad
This jazz pianist makes beautiful and calm piano pieces with elements from classical music along with jazz ballad sounds. His music is very soothing and relaxing. This is great music for easygoing lying on the sofa.
Terje Rydpal
Terje Rydpal makes strange and shamanistic jazz music with clear electric guitars, flutes, horns and innovative drumming. it's all very calm, but at the same time you can hear the virtues level of the people playing the instruments.
Arlid Andersen
This bass player has is one of the front figures of Norwegian jazz. his solo records include some funk elements along with artsy saxophones and jazzy vocals. There are some clear similarities to 70's progressive rock.
Sidsel Endersen
Sidsel Endersen makes ambient-style quiet music with hypnotising powers. it's all very simplistic with merely vocals, electric guitar and some electronic buzzes and clicks. This is great music for falling asleep.
Biosphere
This ambient band makes beautiful soundscapes where one sound follows another seamlessly. It's perfect music for relaxing and meditation, but if you truly listen, you can purely enjoy the quiet beauty of the songs.
Edvard Grieg
Norway's most famous classical musician is foremost known for his Peer Gynt compositions. I've known these melodies for all my life, so it's essential that I also include this musician on this list, even if I haven't usually added classical composers as such.
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