Bel Canto is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

duo, originally a trio, fronted by vocalist

Anneli Drecker Anneli Marian Drecker (born 12 February 1969, in Tromsø, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and actress from the city of Tromsø. She is the frontwoman for the dream pop band Bel Canto. Life and career Drecker's father Peter, a German from Biele ...

, and signed originally to

Crammed Discs Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 375 albums and 275 ...

Biography

Bel Canto was formed in 1985 in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

by Geir Jenssen (synthesizer, programming), Nils Johansen (synthesizer, violin, bass guitar, guitar) and vocalist

. The group was one of the first Norwegian bands to sign a record contract abroad. The trio moved to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1986 and had their debut album '' White-Out Conditions'' released by

the following year. After a second album, '' Birds of Passage'' (1990), Jenssen left the band for a solo career as

Biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also ...

. The group had a commercial breakthrough with '' Shimmering, Warm and Bright'' in 1992, and won the

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizat ...

award twice, in 1992 and 1996. Their style evolved over time from an ethereal

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

sound to synth-based pop influenced by world music. The group's first two

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

were licensed to

Nettwerk Records Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

Records in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and its second album was licensed to IRS/MCA Records. During the years from 1985 to 2009, Bel Canto occasionally took breaks in order for Anneli Drecker to pursue a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

career and to perform with other bands and

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

, as well as performing in films and theater plays. Nils Johansen composed music for film and television as well as working and performing with his other band,

Vajas Vajas (meaning ''echo'' in North Sámi) was a Sámi- Norwegian band with Kristin Mellem on violin and vocals, Nils Johansen on guitars, computers and synthesizers and the famous Sami ethnic yoiker Ánde Somby on vocals and yoik (or joik, a type ...

. In 2007 Bel Canto continued to work together, both by writing new material and by doing more gigs. At the same time, both Drecker and Johansen continued on other projects, Johansen with Vajas and Drecker on her solo work. '' Side-Line'' reported in March 2007 that Bel Canto would start work on a new album. On 6 February 2009, ''Side-Line'' reported about a planned double album package called ''Maskindans: Norsk synth 1980–1988'' that was to be released on Hommage Records. This release holds 158 minutes of music, 41 tracks, of which only one song was released on CD before. Included is also one previously unheard Bel Canto song, "Flowerbeds," which dates from 1988. In 2017 Bel Canto performed at

Øyafestivalen Øyafestivalen is an annual Norwegian music festival held in the Tøyen Park, Oslo. It has grown quickly since its modest start in 1999 and has become one of Norway's biggest and most important music festival The festival has previously feat ...

in Oslo, playing some of their careers best known songs in a near hour long set. In an interview Anneli Drecker said that the band was keen to do more live work and possibly record new songs.Bel Canto live review and Anneli Drecker interview
Side-line.com 16 August 2017

Discography

Albums

* '' White-Out Conditions'' (1987) * '' Birds of Passage'' (1989) * '' Shimmering, Warm and Bright'' (1992) * '' Magic Box'' (1996) * '' Rush'' (French release titled ''Images'') (1998) * '' Dorothy's Victory'' (2002) * ''Retrospect'' - compilation album (2001)

Singles

Drecker's solo albums

* ''

Tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

'' (2000) * '' Frolic'' (2005) * ''Rocks and Straws'' (2015) * ''Revelation For Personal Use'' (2017)

References

External links

; General
BelCanto.no – Official page

AnneliDrecker.com – Official fan page of lead singer Anneli Drecker
; Discographies * Bel Canto discographyat AMG
Bel Canto discography
at Music-City {{Authority control Norwegian electronic music groups Norwegian musical duos Dream pop musical groups Spellemannprisen winners Lava Records artists EMI Records artists I.R.S. Records artists Columbia Records artists Musical groups established in 1985 1985 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Tromsø