- Mew (band)
-
Mew 
Mew performing at the Virgin Festival Ontario on 30 August 2009Background information Origin Hellerup, Denmark Genres Alternative rock
New prog
Indie rock
Shoegaze
Post-rock
Dream pop
Experimental rockYears active 1994–present Labels Exlibris Musik, Evil Office, Sony BMG, Sony Music Entertainment Associated acts Apparatjik Website mewsite.com Members Jonas Bjerre
Bo Madsen
Silas JørgensenPast 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 progressive rock, the band's guitarist Bo Madsen refers to the band as "the world's only indie stadium band".
Contents
History
Mew singer Jonas Bjerre
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."[1] 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 19 September 2005, in the United Kingdom and rest of Europe on 26 September, and in the United States on 25 July 2006. The album received critical acclaim, with Mew described as making "dreamy thunderstorm pop".[2] They were MTV Asia "Buzz-Worthy" as of January, 2006, and at the DMA06 (Danish Music Awards) they took home 4 statuettes.
Mew signing autographs in 2006On 11 April 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. They returned to Brooklyn, New York in May 2008 in order to begin recording their next record, and tapped Rich Costey (who produced their breakthrough album, Frengers) once again as producer.
The band's fifth album 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 was released on August 17, 2009 in Scandinavia, August 24 in the UK, and August 25 in the US.[3]
In 2009, the band supported Nine Inch Nails for various tour dates across Europe.
On October 25, 2010, Mew released their first compilation album entitled, Eggs Are Funny, which featured 14 songs from previous albums as well as one new song, "Do You Love It?". The track list was compiled of what Mew consider to be their "best work".
On an episode of HBO's Eastbound and Down, airing 10/31/2010, "Comforting Sounds" from the album "Frengers" played over the end of the show and into the closing credits.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Year Album details Peak chart positions Certifications DEN
[4]FIN
[5]NOR
[6]SWE
[7]UK
[8][9]US
[10]1997 A Triumph for Man - Released: 1997, 2006 (reissue)
- Label: Exlibris Musik
8 — — — — — 2000 Half the World Is Watching Me - Released: 2000, 2007 (reissue)
- Label: Evil Office, Playground
34 — — — — — 2003 Frengers 2 36 6 — 102 — - DEN: Platinum[11]
2005 And the Glass Handed Kites - Released: 19 September 2005
- Label: Evil Office, Sony BMG
2 4 4 36 129 — - DEN: Platinum[12]
2009 No More Stories...1 - Released: 19 August 2009
- Label: Evil Office, A:larm Music
1 2 2 41 110 130 - DEN: Gold[13]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. 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.
EPs
- The Zookeeper's Boy EP (2006)
- Live Session EP (2007) Released exclusively on iTunes
- No More Stories EP (2009)
Compilations
- Eggs Are Funny (2010)
Singles
Year Single Peak chart position Album DEN
[14]FIN
[15]NOR
[16]SWE
[17]UK
[8]1997 "She Came Home for Christmas" [a] — — — — 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" [b] — — 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" [c] — — — — — No More Stories... "Repeaterbeater" — — — — — 2010 "Beach" [c] — — — — — - Notes
- a^ Re-released in 2000, 2002 and 2003. Peaked at #76 on the UK Singles Chart in 2002.
- b^ Re-released in 2003. Peaked at #137 on UK Singles Chart on its first release.
- c^ Released as music download only
Other singles
Year Single Album 2000 "I Should Have Been a Tsin-Tsi for You" A Triumph for Man 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 Paper Cuts Misplaced Nothing Is Red Quietly Safe As Houses Succubus Superfriends That Time On The Ledge Watch This Space Where Have All The Geysers Gone? Wherefore Are You Not There? Shiroi Kuchiburu No Izanai King Christian (New Version) Mica (New Version) She Came Home for Christmas (Acoustic) Swimmer's Chant Start Owl Nervous Videography
DVDs
- Live in Copenhagen (2006)
Music videos
- 1996 "I Should Have Been A Tsin-Tsi For You"
- 2001 "Mica"
- 2003 "Am I Wry? No"
- 2003 "156"
- 2003 "She Came Home for Christmas"
- 2003 "That Time On The Ledge" (Unofficial music video)
- 2003 "Comforting Sounds"
- 2005 "Apocalypso" (Internet promo video only)
- 2005 "Special"
- 2006 "The Zookeeper's Boy"
- 2006 "King Christian" (New version)
- 2006 "Why Are You Looking Grave?"
- 2009 "Introducing Palace Players"
- 2009 "Repeaterbeater"
- 2010 "Beach"
See also
References
- ^ Bang. Sony. 2003
- ^ Mew: And the Glass-Handed Kites: Pitchfork Record Review
- ^ New Mew Album Details: Extremely Long Title, Crazy Tracklist | News | Pitchfork
- ^ "Denmark: search - Mew albums". danishcharts.com. http://danishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Finland: search - Mew albums". finnishcharts.com. http://finnishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Norway: search - Mew albums". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Sweden: search - Mew albums". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ a b "UK Chartlog : M : M – My Vitriol". zobbel.de. http://zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_M.HTM. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "UK Chartlog: CLUK Update 5.09.2009 (wk35)". zobbel.de. http://zobbel.de/cluk/090905cluk.txt. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
- ^ "Heatseekers Albums, September 12, 2009". Billboard. Note: the Billboard 200 position is listed under "Also Charted On". 2009-09-03. http://www.billboard.com/charts/heatseekers-albums?chartDate=2009-09-12#/charts/heatseekers-albums?chartDate=2009-09-12. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
- ^ "Guld og platin i august" (in Danish). IFPI Danmark. http://www.ifpi.dk/?q=content/guld-og-platin-i-august. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ "Guld og platin i marts" (in Danish). IFPI Danmark. http://ifpi.dk/?q=content/guld-og-platin-i-marts. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ "Album Top-40" (in Danish). Hitlisten. IFPI Danmark & Nielsen Music Control. 22 January 2010. http://www.hitlisterne.dk/default.asp?w=2&y=2010&list=a40. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ^ "Denmark: search - Mew singles". danishcharts.com. http://danishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Finland: search - Mew singles". finnishcharts.com. http://finnishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Norway: search - Mew singles". norwegiancharts.com. http://norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
- ^ "Sweden: search - Mew singles". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/search.asp?search=mew&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-06-03.
External links
- Official website
- Mew discography at Discogs
- Gaffas pedia about Mew (In danish)
- MewX - a well-informed, multiple-language fansite
- PopGurls Interview: Mew's Jonas Bjerre
- Interview with Jonas & Johan from Room Thirteen
- Podcast interview with the band on Spinner.com's The Interface
- Interview and in-studio performances on The Alternate Side
- Synconation speaks with Jonas Bjerre of Mew
Mew Studio albums Demos and EPs 6 Songs • The Zookeeper's Boy EP • Live Session EP • No More Stories EPCompilations Eggs Are FunnySingles "She Came Home for Christmas" • "King Christian" • "Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years" • "Mica" • "Am I Wry? No" • "Comforting Sounds" • "156" • "Apocalypso" • "Special" • "Why Are You Looking Grave?" • "The Zookeeper's Boy" • "Introducing Palace Players" • "Repeaterbeater" • "Beach"Record labels Exlibris Musik • Evil Office • Sony BMG • Sony Music EntertainmentRelated articles Discography • Apparatjik • We Are HereCategories Albums • SongsCategories:- Shoegazing musical groups
- Danish post-rock groups
- Danish indie rock groups
- Musical groups established in 1994
- Danish alternative rock groups
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
