Per Aksel Lundgreen, a 53-year-old electronic musician based in Sarpsborg, Norway, says the compact disc is by far his favorite physical format. He got his first CD player in 1986 for his 17th birthday, a top-loading Sony Discman D-50, the world’s first portable CD player. The first three CDs he bought were Kraftwerk’s Trans Europe Express, The Cars’ Greatest Hits, and The Best of A Flock Of Seagulls. He’s been collecting CDs ever since, and we’re happy to feature him in 360°Sound’s CD Junkies series.
360°Sound: Where do you typically buy CDs?
Per Aksel Lundgreen: I’ve always been a fan of physical stores, and I always check out if there are any stores around if I’m in a new town or country. I prefer secondhand stores because I already have most of the new albums I want. The new stuff I try to order directly from the bands on their homepage or Bandcamp page to support them directly, but I also use online retailers.
For a lot of older releases, I’ve bought from Discogs. I also like Discogs to keep track of my collection. Before Discogs, I would sometimes end up buying two or three copies of the same album, forgetting I already had it [laughs]. Discogs says that I currently have 3,431 CDs, and I am sure that will continue to grow considering reissues and great new material coming out!
What are some of your favorite genres? Who are some of your favorite artists?
I’m very much into electronic music, everything from ambient and synth-pop to EBM [electronic body music] and industrial. I also like a lot of goth, new wave and alternative rock. Some of my favorite artists are Kraftwerk, Devo, Cabaret Voltaire, New Order, The Sisters Of Mercy, A Flock of Seagulls and Yazoo.
Which CDs have been getting lots of spins lately?
I just got a 2023 remastered edition of the debut album of A Flock of Seagulls, and that has been played heavily. It’s probably my favorite new wave album of all time! The three opening tracks must be the best opening of any album ever.
I have also been spinning the brand-new album Signs by Delerium, another favorite act of mine. It’s a mix between dream pop and electronica. Hard to describe, but maybe an updated and more electronic version of Enigma.
Speaking of electronica, I cannot help but mention that Röyksopp released Profound Mysteries I, II and III earlier this year. These are three fantastic albums! How they create enough material to put out three albums at the same time is beyond me, especially considering the high quality of it all.
I also went to see an old favorite act of mine just three weeks ago, The Mission, and it was my first time seeing them live, and they didn’t disappoint. Prior to that, I listened a lot to their latest album, Another Fall From Grace, which is one of the best albums released since 2010!
Where and how do you listen to CDs?
I have a CD player in my car, so there’s a lot of CDs spinning there. But I’m always afraid of leaving them in the car and that they get scratched. So great albums I love that I find at flea markets for cheap I usually buy a second copy just for my car [laughs].
I also listen to a lot of CDs at home. I work from home, which means I can listen to music while working. A lot of hours of the day is spent with music, which is amazing. I wish I had the chance to listen more to music via headphones, but my work situation doesn’t allow for that, but I always think that I really want to hear this album in headphones but never get around to it unfortunately.
Tell us a little about the electronic music you make.
I was in a band called Apoptygma Berzerk back in the early ‘90s which is kind of EBM/industrial. After that, I had a one-man project called Angst Pop, which was also pure EBM. With a friend, Preben Bjønnes, I started the band Cronos Titan, which is pretty similar to the early works of Delerium. We also did a synth-pop project called Chinese Detectives in the ‘90s where we did covers of ‘80s songs.
All of these projects got released on CD, and some of them also on vinyl. I have also been involved with Shatoo [synth-pop band from the ‘80s] and Rossetti’s Compass [synth/darkwave]. They were also released on CD.
How do you feel about the future of the CD? Do you think we will see a revival similar to what has happened with vinyl?
Actually, I think we’re seeing a revival already, especially in the electronic music scene. Vinyl is too expensive and takes way too long to be manufactured. CDs are easy, accessible, and can be shipped for a low price. CDs are also durable. They’re a great physical format.
Here in Norway, we’ve had an amazing project going on in the last two-and-a-half years called Norwegian Album Classics on CD. That was a crowdfunding idea by Christer Falck. They had to pre-sell 150 copies of an album for it to be printed. There was a lot of old Norwegian classic stuff that had only been on vinyl and/or digital or had been released on CD in the ‘80s in very small numbers. Those discs are now super expensive. They were in dire need of a CD reissue and remastering.
This project has financed and released 425 different albums on CD, and it has been a huge help for artists and labels, too. So, the CD format is far from dead, and I think we will continue to see CDs in the years to come!
