Mew (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mew | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Hellerup, Denmark |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Indie rock Shoegazing New prog Post-rock[1] Experimental rock |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Label(s) | SonyBMG/Evil Office |
| Website | http://www.mewsite.com/ |
| Members | |
| Jonas Bjerre Bo Madsen Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen |
|
| Former members | |
| Johan Wohlert | |
Mew is a Danish alternative music band consisting of Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen. Bassist Johan Wohlert was also a founding member of the band, but left in 2006. Whilst their music may be classified as indie and on occasion (like on And the Glass Handed Kites) progressive rock, they sometimes humorously refer to it themselves as "pretentious art rock", or in guitarist Bo's words, "the world's only indie stadium band".
Contents |
[edit] History
Formed in 1994 in Hellerup, an upper-class suburb of Copenhagen, they had a profound impact on the Danish indie scene, emerging alongside the likes of Carpark North, Swan Lee and Saybia, amongst others, in 2003. At the 2003 Danish Music Critics Award Show, Mew won the awards for "Album of the Year" and "Band of the Year".
Their first major commercial success came with Frengers, released in 2003, described as "a work of quiet brilliance, aiming for the epic without straying into the bombastic, offering cerebral arrangements while keeping things accessible."[2] The album was well received. After a European tour supporting R.E.M. they began to attract wider attention. Their next album And the Glass Handed Kites was released in Denmark on September 19, 2005, in the United Kingdom and rest of Europe on September 26, and in the United States on July 25, 2006. The album received critical acclaim, with Mew described as making "dreamy thunderstorm pop".[3] They were MTV Asia "Buzz-Worthy" as of January, 2006, and at the DMA06 (Danish Music Awards) they took home 4 statuettes.
On April 11, 2006, Wohlert left the band to spend more time with his girlfriend, Pernille Rosendahl from the now dissolved band Swan Lee, who was to give birth to their baby boy in May 2006. The two would later go on to form a duo, The Storm.
The band tours with Nick Watts (formerly of UK indie band Headswim) as their keyboardist, and Bastian Juel (who used to act as a studio and live bassist for Swan Lee and also played bass on Tina Dico's EP Far) recently joined them as their live bassist. However, he is not an official replacement for Johan and the band has said they will return to the studio with just the three original members.
The band finished touring for And the Glass Handed Kites in the summer of 2007 and have since been finishing up writing new material for their next studio album. They are scheduled to head to Brooklyn, New York in May 2008 in order to begin recording, and have tapped Rich Costey (who produced their breakthrough album, Frengers) once again as producer.
The band's fifth album No More Stories will be released on August 19, 2009[4].
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] Studio albums
| Year | Details | Peak chart position | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN [5] |
FIN [6] |
NOR [7] |
SWE [8] |
UK [9] |
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| 1997 | A Triumph for Man | 8 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2000 | Half the World Is Watching Me
|
34 | — | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | Frengers
|
2 | 36 | 6 | — | 102 | |
| 2005 | And The Glass Handed Kites
|
2 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 129 | |
| 2009 | No More Stories...1 | TBR | |||||
1 The name in its entirety is: No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away//No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away.
[edit] EP
- The Zookeeper's Boy EP (2006)
- Live Session EP (2007) Released exclusively on iTunes
- No More Stories EP (2009) (To be released on June 29th)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart position | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN [10] |
FIN [11] |
NOR [12] |
SWE [13] |
UK [9] |
|||
| 1997 | "She Came Home For Christmas" 1 | — | — | — | — | 55 | A Triumph for Man |
| 2000 | "King Christian" | — | — | — | — | — | Half the World Is Watching Me |
| "Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Mica" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Am I Wry? No" 2 | — | — | 16 | — | 47 | ||
| 2003 | "Comforting Sounds" | — | — | — | — | 48 | Frengers |
| "156" | — | — | — | 11 | — | ||
| 2005 | "Apocalypso" | — | — | — | — | 75 | And the Glass Handed Kites |
| "Special" | — | — | — | — | 46 | ||
| 2006 | "Why Are You Looking Grave?" | 20 | — | — | — | 53 | |
| "The Zookeeper's Boy" | — | — | 13 | — | 80 | ||
| 2009 | "Introducing Palace Players" | — | — | — | — | — | No More Stories... |
1 Re-released in 2000, 2002 and 2003. Peaked at #76 on the UK Singles Chart on 2002.
2 Re-released in 2003. Peaked at #137 on UK Singles Chart on its first release.
[edit] Other Singles
| Year | Single | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "I Should Have Been a Tsin-Tsi for You" | A Triumph for Man |
[edit] B-Sides
| Song Title |
|---|
| Animals Of Many Kinds |
| Bones (Song For Albert) |
| City Voices |
| Drown |
| Forever And Ever |
| In Time Do You Forget? (Daydream) |
| Killer |
| Like Chaser |
| Like Papercuts |
| Misplaced |
| Nothing Is Red |
| Quietly |
| Safe As Houses |
| Succubus |
| Superfriends |
| That Time On The Ledge |
| Watch This Space |
| Where Have All The Geysers Gone? |
| Shiroi Kuchiburu No Izanai |
| King Christian (New Version) |
| Mica (New Version) |
| She Came Home For Christmas (Acoustic) |
| Swimmer's Chant |
| Start |
| Owl |
[edit] Videography
[edit] DVDs
- Live in Copenhagen (2006)
[edit] Music Videos
- 1996 "I Should Have Been A Tsin-Tsi For You"
- 2001 "Mica"
- 2003 "That Time On The Ledge" (Unofficial music video)
- 2003 "Am I Wry? No"
- 2003 "156"
- 2003 "She Came Home For Christmas"
- 2003 "Comforting Sounds"
- 2005 "Apocalypso" (Promo video only)
- 2005 "Special"
- 2006 "The Zookeeper's Boy"
- 2006 "Why Are You Looking Grave?"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://stereogum.com/archives/album-art/mew-are-back-go-full-fiona-apple-with-this-new-alb_069752.html
- ^ Bang. Sony. 2003
- ^ Mew: And the Glass-Handed Kites: Pitchfork Record Review
- ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/35346-new-mew-album-details-extremely-long-title-crazy-tracklist/
- ^ "Denmark: search - Mew albums". danishcharts.com. http://danishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Finland: search - Mew albums". finnishcharts.com. http://finnishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Norway: search - Mew albums". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Sweden: search - Mew albums". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ a b "UK Chartlog : M : M – My Vitriol". zobbel.de. http://zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_M.HTM. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Denmark: search - Mew singles". danishcharts.com. http://danishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Finland: search - Mew singles". finnishcharts.com. http://finnishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Norway: search - Mew singles". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Sweden: search - Mew singles". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved on 2009-06-03.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Mew at Discogs
- Gaffas pedia about Mew (In danish)
- PopGurls Interview: Mew's Jonas Bjerre
- Interview with Jonas & Johan from Room Thirteen
- Podcast interview with band on Spinner.com's The Interface
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