press
Dazed & Confused
# 93 September 2002
p. 88
by Tom Barlow
One Horse Town
Witness Even Johansen's blend of retro rock, avant-garde electronica and country folksiness and it's easy to understand why he's been dubbed the Bergen cowboy.
It's almost midnight where Norway's tunesmith, better known as Magnet, hits the stage at a renovated sardine factory in Bergen. As Magnet's black-varnished nails start plucking his lap steel guitar, a funky drummer and two avant-garde turntablists back him. "This," he declares, "is my anti-band,"
There's a twisted wonder to music-making in Bergen. The idyllic west coast location comes complete with toy-town houses, mountain gnomes and a national park. But it's also Scandinavia's answer to Music City: for a small town there is a disproportionate amount of talent (Royksopp and Kings of Convenience for starters), and a huge dose of open-mindedness.
Unlike the live show, in his country tinged Where Happiness Lives EP, he's not out to dazzle you with wild effects and hip hop glam. Instead you get pop melodies which ebb and flow over slide guitar.
Bergen is cool, but there's nothing like overseas recognition to kick you into the limelight. "It's instant karma," explains Even. The EP's title track was picked up for a sci-fi TV show Roswell High. "They thought it would be good for a snogging scene," laughs the one and only Bergen cowboy.