The New Facade of Creative Innovation in Copenhagen

The New Facade of Creative Innovation

Imagine A cafe where you can both sip coffee and Design real-life prototypes

The thoughts behind Copenhagen's first ever open prototype workshop cafe are as innovative as they are intriguing. Republikken, Vesterbro's creative workspace Mecca opened its long awaited cafe in a colourful ceremony on Friday that bodes well for the future of the design house.

As it is, Republikken houses over 70 professionals within fields such as design, graphics, communication and craftsmanship. With the newly opened cafe, Repubklikken hopes to open its doors to the creative community by giving small companies and creative entrepreneurs who aren't residents at the cooperative the opportunity to save both time and expenses in their design process by providing a creative environment within which they can construct real-life prototype models of unfinished concepts. “Rapid prototyping” machinery and raw materials for the process are provided on-site, allowing for a quick and straightforward production process and eliminating the hassle of designers having to sub-contract agents to do produce their prototypes. The time creative professionals spend on buying raw materials themselves is also cut drastically, giving more efficiency to the production process.

The need for prototyping facilities in the creative industry is in fact, quite significant according to the renowned industrial designer, Rikard Zetterlund. “If I didn't have the opportunity to use the laser knife and the other machines at Republikken, I wouldn't be able to construct as many prototypes as I do and therefore I wouldn't be able to test all my many ideas” Zetterlund states.

Friday's opening ceremony attracted quite a few of the city's creative talents and if preliminary interest is anything to go by, it appears that Republikkens new cafe will definitely attract quite a few creative professionals in the future. Designer or not, Republikkens Cafe, located on Vesterbrogade 24b is definitely a spot to check out, if for nothing else than a cup of coffee in a creative and inspiring environment.

Project Fable Sheen

I'm working on a new musical concept entitled Project Fable- a combination of poetry, organic sounds such as fire, ambient music and the piano. Ahead of my performance at Roskilde's Museum of Modern Art this April, here's a sneak preview of some of the basic fundamentals that i'll be using:


Project Fable Sheen

Concert Review | Crawford and Sample serve up simple perfection

Original article available at: (or in the physical copy of the paper) 

http://cphpost.dk/inout/reviews/concert-review-crawford-and-sample-serve-simple-perfection

Allan Mutuku-Kortbæk

March 24, 2012 - 20:09

***** (5 stars out of 6): March 22 at Store Vega

Randy Crawford sounded as good Thursday night as she did in her '70s heyday (Photo: www.the-caddy.dk)

Most people would connect Randy Crawford to her 1979 chart topper, ‘Street Life’,  a song that in many ways defined the ‘70s in a few, funk-filled verses topped by Crawford's unmistakable high-pitched vocals. There's much more to the Georgia-born singer though, as I discovered Thursday night at her performance at Store Vega. Backed by the jolly, endearing Joe Sample on the piano (along with his son on the bass) and a drummer, Crawford sounded as good as she must have way back when she started to carve out a name for herself in the annals of music history. Vega decided to make the concert a seated one shortly before it started, and the decision paid off. This was a show of a different nature, one that will be remembered for some time to come.  

 

Joe Sample and his backing duo set the stage for Crawford, with several lengthy pieces interwoven with hearty anecdotes of episodes from Sample's musical career. Sample sounded like a cheery old grandpa telling stories to his children (the audience) at times and at others like one of the greatest musicians of modern time, tapping away at the grand piano with picture perfect panache. 

 

Five songs in and Randy Crawford took to the stage, completely at ease and in her element, melting quite a few hearts with a couple of opening tracks. The second of these tracks was a cover of Anthony Newley's and Leslie Bricusse's hallmark piece, ‘Feeling Good’, a song which many people connect with Nina Simone, whose cover elevated the recording to the legendary status it enjoys today. 

 

Sample and Crawford are two well-seasoned veterans in the fields of jazz and R&B and the chemistry between them was palpable in the dimly-lit ambience. Both were technically as close to perfection as one would have expected, but it was the casual and laissez-faire sophistication with which both approached their performance that made the show one to remember. Nowhere was this more evident than in the performance of ‘The End of the Line’, a tune that saw Crawford back up her astounding vocals with a series of tongue clicks and giggles that added a dimension of spontaneity to the show. The same spontaneity emerged later on too, when Crawford, unassisted by any instrumental backing whatsoever, gave short renditions of random outtakes from songs such as ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’ in a wave of impromptu singing. 

War Not Good Enough For You ? Try Idealism

Here's a catchy video A mate of mine shared through social media earlier today: The message behind it is heartening, and it just goes to show everyone that likes making stereotypes that there are good people everywhere in the world, no matter what the media or politicians tell you.

A Ray of light

Said the light of day to the pitch of night, one fine day somewhere in the ether of time and space. 

I am but a ray of light 

Silent and quaint in the pitch of night 

I have been muffled 

My elegance questioned in this scuffle 

But my woes and whims vex me not 

For I am strong and solidly wrought 

And tonight I wander, sans any distraught 

Wander in the moment, for that is all there is 

Not yesterday's darkness nor tomorrow's obscurities 

They malign me not 

For I am strong and solidly wrought 

New Papaya out: Roll on Spring

Adieu winter , I bid you well on your saunter. Hello spring and hello life ! New Papaya magazine out: Check it out at

www.thepapayamag.com

Drop us a line at thepapayamag@gmail.com ! Happy Spring !

Ribe, Denmark's Oldest Town

Ribe ! I'm walking around your lonely streets 

Ribe ! I wanna get into my sheets 

I had the pleasure of turning off and leaving the big city over the weekend, swapping my Copenhagen for a hard earned weekend in Ribe, the cradle of life in Denmark. Like Guimares, Portugal's oldest town, Ribe has a distinct feel to it, rich in warmth and history. I was pleasantly surprised- it felt as if I was in another country entirely. 

Christiania Jamming

Concert Review The Cuban spirit takes over

Original article available at: http://cphpost.dk/inout/reviews/concert-review-cuban-spirit-takes-over

Or in this weeks physical issue of The Copenhagen Post, Denmark's leading English language paper

Concert Review | The Cuban spirit takes over

Allan Mutuku-Kortbæk

****** (6 out of 6 stars); March 10 at Store Vega

The dancing wasn't confined to the stage (Photo: Rasmus B.S. Hansen / www.terranaut.dk)

As something of a wild card in Vega's usual lineup, Los Van Van's concert Saturday night was clearly a show of a different sort. The 14-piece Cuban orchestra stepped onto the stage amidst shrieks and chants of excitement from a partisan crowd that had turned up with the very specific intention of dancing the night away - and dance they did.

Naturally, a group of the size and status of Los Van Van always have plenty of expectations to live up to from the word go. Last night's show saw Los Van Van outdo themselves. The merry-making Cubans were nothing short of perfect and the crowd loved them. 

Los Van Van didn't hold themselves back, as they served up a canny blend of songs hailing predominantly from their latest album, La Maquinaria. Their dance-friendly, heavily-instrumented fusion of irresistible songo (a mixture of Cuban and Caribbean rhythms) worked wonders on the crowd, who were more energetic and more impassioned than any other I have seen at Vega. This was one of those rare concerts in which everyone, on and off stage, seemed to be well and truly enjoying themselves from start to finish. This sense of collectiveness was most evident at moments during tracks like the distinct ‘Me Mantengo’, which was brought on towards the end of the show and summed up everything that was good and great about the night. 

As a 40-year-old orchestra, Los Van Van played with the mastery and perfection of experienced musicians doing what they do best, yet one has to give credit to their newer, younger band members who seem to have added even more liveliness to their show and who seem to blend seamlessly in with the rest of the troupe. It is rare to see so much chemistry between the members of a band, all the more so in one that contains 14 different people and rarer still to be part of an audience that doesn't hold back one bit when it comes to their enjoyment of the show. Credit due where credit is due: Vega deserve a pat on the back for booking one of the most talented music ensembles this reviewer has had the pleasure of seeing.

Force majeur

Spring is on the way and the studio never looked more impressive. We's inspired ! 

Rangleklods

My review of RangleKlods' concert at Vega last Friday. The original article can be found here :

http://www.cphpost.dk/inout/reviews/concert-review-meet-denmarks-home-grown-joy-division-rangleklods

Or in tomorrow's version of the physical copy of The Copenhagen Post

Concert Review | Meet Denmark's home-grown Joy Division, Rangleklods

Allan Mutuku-Kortbæk

March 13, 2012 - 11:30

**** (4 stars out of 6); March 9 at Lille Vega

Rangleklods's debut album Beekeeper is out this week

If Friday's performance was anything to go by, it is more than safe to assume that Danish electro experimentalist Rangleklods (aka Esben Andersen) may well become something of a household name in the not too distant future. The Berlin-based musician fired things up at a crammed Lille Vega with snippets of his upcoming debut album Beekeeper - which is due to drop this week- combined with older material off the 2011 EPHome as well as other single releases.

Rangleklods stepped onto the scene to an anticipatory crowd who didn't fully let themselves go during the concert, but who seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless. The light show and the acoustics were some of the best I have seen at Vega - complimenting the experimental, Joy Division- esque electronic sounds of the seemingly unstoppable Rangleklods, who performed behind a smoky haze of flashes and lightning-like shards that accentuated the hissing hi-hats and heavy bass lines of his music.

This time round, Andersen was accompanied by a guitarist who added a refreshingly innovative touch to his music, which was no more evident than during the 'Young And Dumb' tune, which features a hallucinatory, psychedelic electronic guitar sequence. At some points during the show, however, this mysterious guitarist seemed to be more of a spectator than part of the actual process - although when she did play, she played with enthusiasm and panache that glossed this over.

The new album is definitely a lot more rich in pop influences than their previous releases, which arguably makes it a more accessible work by virtue of it appealing to a broader audience. This notwithstanding Beekeeper does elicit a more musically mature sound that preserves the consistent organic sounds Andersen experiments with, whilst infusing more vocal renditions into the process. The heavy bass lines and pronounced synth stabs that constitute the rather distinct sound  people have come to associated with the band with are consistent and prevalent throughout the album, and found room to roam on Friday thanks to live-setup that allowed Rangleklods to inject a great deal of spontaneity and improvisation to his studio productions.

And while musically the show definitely had a lot going for it, the show did get a tad monotonous at times and the audience didn't really well and truly let themselves go. This notwithstanding, Rangleklods music can only get better with time. He is definitely an artist to watch out for this year.