In the Mean Girls universe, Norwegian pop princess Anne Lilia Berge Strand would be Public Frenemy Number One. Some girls get hated on because they’re too pretty. Others, because they’re too smart. Worse are those who are both pretty and smart. And if she happens to be popular with the boys, then you may as well call her Carrie and fetch the pig blood. On the surface, Annie seems built to order. But on the afternoon we caught up with her to discuss her long-awaited sophomore CD Don’t Stop, she had been up all night DJing, helped a friend in the morning, and stayed up waiting for our call.

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So hysterical, these architects and their brethren. Why on earth would an architectural paean to a Nazi sympathizer in the Arctic Circle be controversial? Knut Hamsun is one of the most highly regarded authors Norway ever produced; he also gifted his Nobel Prize to Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propagandist and one of Hitler’s besties. And then there’s the building, constructed in time for the writer’s 150th birthday. We examine the issues after the jump. Read More »

Sure, we’ve been talking about her for a while, but this week was a special one for our number-one Scandinavian sweetheart: at long last, Ida Maria’s debut record has arrived (it’s been out abroad for ages!). On the power-popping album, Maria makes good on the promise of her demos, ingeniously revamping summer party anthems like “Queen of the World,” “Better When You’re Naked,” and the unassailable “Oh My God.” And live she’s even more inspired: Whether rolling around the stage, slopping blood all over her strings, or just howling like a madwoman, Maria imparts her tales of sex and insecurity with unhinged emotion. In the wake of her long-coming ascendancy, we rang Maria up in her native Norway to talk sexual liberation, synestisia, and sore throats. Read More »