Karin Dreijer Andersson

ICE QUEEN: Karin Dreijer Andersson
BAND: The Knife
ORIGIN: Sweden
GENRE: Electronic razorblade
ACCOMPLICES: Olof Dreijer
DISCOGRAPHY: "The Knife" (2001), "Deep Cuts" (2003), "Hannah med H" Soundtrack (2003), "Silent Shout" (2006).
INFLUENCES: Kraftwerk, David Lynch

IMHO: In a time where musical creativity is a prehistoric concept and new bands dedicate more time to their looks than to actually make good music, The Knife is like a breath of fresh air to me. How intriguing and exciting is their music! I discovered them by chance on myspace by listening to "We Share Your Mother's Health" and my jaw dropped never to be shut again. This is what innovation should be all about, now that we approach the year 2010. Everything has been invented before, but sometimes you can still pull a new rabbit out of the hat. Congratulations, The Knife, for helping me hope that there is still room for music to grow, that there are musical lands still undiscovered.
"We Share Your Mother's Health" sounds like nothing you've heard before. It is a rhythmic combination of bleeps, and beats, and bloops and then Karin sings on top of it with a voice modulator... Even if you don't like the music for a while it transports you somewhere where you feel you've lost control. Nice! And then there are other songs like "Marble House", "Heartbeats" that proof that Karin and Olof can make music in a more conventional style... Mind is a razorblade... enjoy it!

(Warning: I might have had one too many glasses of wine when I wrote the paragraphs above.)

FAVOURITE SONG: "We Share Our Mother's Health", "The Captain", "Heartbeats", "You Take My Breath Away", "Marble House" and keep them coming.
FAVOURITE ALBUM: "Silent Shout"

SEEN THEM LIVE: Webster Hall, NY, Nov 1st 2006

WHAT OTHERS SAY: From Pitchfork Media, where their album "Silent Shout" was considered the Best Album of 2006: "The Knife have only just begun to break their ground: Ditching the springy Europop of 2004's Deep Cuts, the duo now pits super-dark, ghostly electro backdrops against Andersson's elastic vocals, which they then mash through a wringer of grotesque digital manipulation. A far cry from their friendly first singles, Silent Shout gorily births the Knife's mutant twin. The result is creepy enough to warrant its own genre: haunted house."