Sort Sol is a Danish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The band was formed in 1977 as a

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

outfit, originally under the name Sods (stylized as SODS). The name ''Sort Sol'' was taken in the early 1980s. It translates to English as ''black sun'' and is named after a nature phenomenon particular to Denmark, where huge bird flocks gather in the sky and appear to block out the sun. The Danish press often refers to their musical style as punk due to their origin, though nearly everything they have put out since 1980 is more reminiscent of styles such as

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

, art-rock,

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

and even industrial music.

Band history

Beginnings: Sods

Sods was formed in Copenhagen, 1977. The original lineup consisted of: Steen Jørgensen (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), Peter Schneidermann (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

; better known as Peter Peter), Knud Odde (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) and Tomas Ortved (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

). The band released their first studio album '' Minutes to Go'' in February 1979 which is considered the first Danish punk album. They went on to release '' Under en sort sol'' in 1980, a more experimental album, influenced in part by

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

Pere Ubu Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their ...

and

Television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. T. S. Høeg (

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

) entered the group for a short while in late 1980.

Renaming: Sort Sol

In 1981 the group released their first single under the name Sort Sol. The single "Marble Station" (with the b-side "Misguided") is only released in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

. In March 1981 the group played their first concert outside of Denmark. 1983 saw the release of the album '' Dagger & Guitar'', featuring punk idol

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

on two tracks. In 1985 Lars Top-Galia (guitar, previously in the band ADS) joined the group, and the line-up stayed intact until 1996, when Peter Peter left due to disagreements within the band, partly owing to artistic differences. In 1988 Sort Sol made the album '' Everything That Rises Must Converge'' which has been described as their artistic breakthrough. The album consists of 10 slowpaced tracks that rely heavily on the deep voice of Steen Jørgensen. In 1991 they made their first CD release which was '' Flow My Firetear''. This was the first of their records reaching a broad audience. They reached their peak popularity three years later with '' Glamourpuss'' which by 2002 had sold 122,483 copies in Denmark, more than all their previous records had sold. The Danish hit-movie '' Nattevagten'' used three tracks from ''Glamourpuss'' on the soundtrack, which contributed to the commercial breakthrough of Sort Sol in Denmark. In 2004 Lars Top-Galia left the band and Sort Sol's future in jeopardy. Tomas Ortved releases his solo debut ''Sun Pistol'' in 2008. All members are known from various musical or art project throughout the years, which can be found listed in Jan Poulsens biography of the band. In March 2009 rumours of a possible comeback began surfacing. On March 17, the Danish tabloid ''

Ekstra Bladet is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen.About
(in Danish) . Retrieved 22 Se ...

'' wrote that Steen Jørgensen have been in contact with all previous Sort Sol members to arrange farewell concerts. However, two days later Lars Top-Galia denied any planned concerts, but confirmed that there have been talks with the old band members. He also said, "It is not unlikely that we could do in the future, but as I said, there are no concrete plans". In 2011 Sort Sol reunited and toured Denmark with 50 concerts and released ''The Blackest Box'', a collection of all their albums re-mastered and toured again from April–August 2013. Sort Sol are back in the studio recording new material for the first time in over 11 years. With them in the studio was the american producer Randall Dunn who has recorded for bands like Sunn O)), Akron Family and Kinski. In 2017 Sort Sol released '' Stor langsom stjerne'', which was followed by a tour in Denmark. Internationally renowned artists who have performed and/or recorded with the group include

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

Link Wray Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr. (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s. His 1958 Instrumental rock, instrumental single "Rumble (instrumental), Rumble", reached the ...

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

, Sune Rose Wagner (of

The Raveonettes The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals. Their music is characterized by close two-part vocal harmonies inspired by The Everly B ...

Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø (; born 24 June 1969), also known abroad as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. She is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs to classical vocals and operati ...

and

Chelsea Wolfe Chelsea Joy Wolfe (born November 14, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Her work blends elements of gothic rock, doom metal, and folk music, folk. Growing up in Northern California with a country musician father, Wolfe began ...

Band members

;Current members *

Steen Jørgensen Sort Sol is a Danish Rock music, rock band from Copenhagen, Denmark. The band was formed in 1977 as a punk rock outfit, originally under the name Sods (stylized as SODS). The name ''Sort Sol'' was taken in the early 1980s. It translates to Eng ...

–

(1977–present) *Tomas Ortved –

(1977–present) *Lars Top-Galia –

(1985–2004, 2010–present) ;Former members *Knud Odde –

(1977–2001) * Peter Peter (Peter Schneidermann)– guitar (1977–1995) *Morten Versner - violin (1980–1982)

Discography

Studio albums and EPs

Compilation albums

Box sets

*''

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

'' (1997) *'' The Blackest Box'' (2011)

Discography (members)

;Steen Jørgensen *''Ginman/Jørgensen'' (Steen Jørgensen &

Lennart Ginman Lennart Ginman (born March 1960) is a Danish-Finnish bassist, composer and music producer. He has cooperated with artists like Steen Jørgensen, lead singer of Sort Sol in two joint albums, and Kirk Lightsey, an American jazz pianist with a ...

) (1998) *''Snedronningen'' (Steen Jørgensen & Lennart Ginman) (2000) *''Standards for Living...'' (2013) ;Tomas Ortved *''Sun Pistol'' (2008) *''Catch'' (2012)

References

Sources

External links

Blog page about Sort Sol when they were called Sods and played punk rock. The page includes photos, music and video from the beginning of the band's career.

Sort Sol fan site
{{Authority control Danish punk rock groups Danish gothic rock groups 4AD artists Musical groups established in 1977 Danish post-punk music groups