Mikkeller Highlights the Music
For a few months, we have been working on merging music with the concepts at Mikkeller's restaurants and bars, both in Denmark and internationally. A number of exciting playlists, events and musical collaborations have resulted from this effort, with artists including Trentemøller, Rick Astley, Aaron Dessner, Lowly, Chinah and others. The project is being launched today via Mikkeller's Spotify profile.
The next time you eat a bowl of ramen at Ramen to Biiru, enjoy a piece of smørrebrød at Øl & Brød, or drink a beer at one of Mikkeller's bars, do yourself a favor and listen closely to the music playing in the room. We have worked hard to make music go hand in hand with the beer and food experiences that you as guests get to enjoy at Mikkeller's locations.
Over the course of a couple of months, Mathis Schmidt – the driving force behind the music project – has visited each of Mikkeller's Danish locations: observing, listening to a wealth of bands, albums, and tracks, and curating a playlist for each venue. Each playlist is named after one of Mikkeller's beers and can be found on Mikkeller's profile on Spotify.
“Mikkeller has so many good concepts, and it has been very exciting to work diligently to fine-tune these ideas and follow them through with the music being played in these spaces”, says Mathis Schmidt.
Personal playlists from Trentemøller, Aaron Dessner and Rick Astley
Mathis is educated in Brand Management and Marketing Communication. Due to his great love of music, he has worked extensively within the field as a project manager, both in Roskilde Festival's management and with his own record label.
In addition to working on the music profile for Mikkeller's various locations, he has also put together musical collaborations under the title 'Mikkeller Mixtapes.' This means that a number of different artists and bands have agreed to curate personal playlists for Mikkeller, which they will each launch at an event at one of Mikkeller's locations. The playlist will then run for a week at all of Mikkeller's bars worldwide. This gives both bar guests and listeners of Mikkeller's Mixtapes the opportunity to hear ‘their favorite's favorites’.
Participants include current Mikkeller collaborators such as Aaron Dessner (of The National) and Rick Astley. Additionally, a number of exciting Danish artists are taking part in this venture, including Trentemøller, Lowly, Jacob Bellens, Chinah, First Flush and Blaue Blume.
Rick Astley and Aaron Dessner – partners in Mikkeller Bar London and Mikkeller Bar Paris, respectively – will launch their playlists by DJing at a local event at these bars during the New Year, while the Danish artists will present their playlists at selected Danish locations. First up was Lowly and next in line is Trentemøller, who will already launch his playlist on Wednesday, December 18, at an event at Mikkeller restaurant Vesterbro Chinese Food, located in Copenhagen. Trentemøller has just recently released the album ‘Obverse’.
Mikkeller Mixtapes x Trentemøller
Vesterbro Chinese Food
Wednesday, December 18
8:00pm - 9:30pm
The event can be found here
SELECTION OF LOCATION MIXTAPES
It's no secret that Mikkeller loves Japan. With four ramen restaurants in Copenhagen, a new bar on the way in Kanda, Tokyo (our second bar in Tokyo), as well as a recurring beer festival in the Japanese capital, our love for Japan only grows stronger. This playlist draws inspiration from the neon-lit passages of Tokyo's old fish market – where colorful water creatures lay out over the counter as the raw smells, confusion, tastes, colors, and noise work together to overwhelm the senses in the best possible way.
On the Yuzu playlist you'll find French songwriter Daniel Vangarde's cult album Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki, described on the back of the LP as “proto-psychedelic hip hop”. The playlist also includes Danish/Japanese artist Atusji, whose beautiful trap compositions are best described as a mixture of broken Japanese traditions and Scandinavian minimalism. These more niche songs are mixed with a selection of gloomy, metropolitan tunes by Beach House and Little Dragon, among others.
No Cow on the Ice (for smørrebrød restaurant Øl & Brød)
Here you will find a selection of surprising numbers from a completely underrated genre known as ‘Dansktop’ – smørrebrød (open faced sandwiches) and Dansktop are as connected as herring and snaps, and should not be separated. Danes all know the classics from both categories: the leverpostej (liver pâté) and Danish singer Birthe Kjær’s song 'Den Knaldrøde Gummibåd.' However, on this playlist we are not talking about Dansktop artist like Birthe Kjær, Four Jacks or Bjørn and Okay – but instead, the beautiful melodies and hymns of Grethe Ingemann, Liva Weel, and songs like 'Touch Me,' a Melody Grand Prix classic by Lucia and Lucienne from 1973. These old gems join recent Danish classics on this playlist, including hits by Loveshop, CV Jørgensen and Nik & Jay.
Say Hey Sally (for Vesterbro Chinese Food)
Much like the restaurant, the playlist for Vesterbro Chinese Food finds beauty in kitsch. It consists predominantly of some of the coolest female artists from the last four decades. The playlist breaks all the rules – much like Vesterbro Chinese Food's decor. This playlist highlights songs that never received the respect they deserved, songs you might have forgotten, and songs you didn't even know you really love. A night at Vesterbro Chinese Food means you can hear Enya in the toilet, Britney Spears at the bar, and Sugar Babes at the table. So, say hello to 'Say Hey Sally,' or come down to Vesterbro Chinese Food where she'll be playing day and night.
Find all Mikkeller playlists here
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