Check out Nord & Syd, a new band from prolific Swedish indiepop artist Martin Abrahamsson (Vapnet, Siberia, Kommun) alongside David Nygård (Laakso), Julia Hanberg (Penny Century), Kalle Danielsson (Holy Madre) and Joel Linderberg (Ironville): http://www.nord-och-syd.blogspot.com/
Robyn's "Dancing on my own" is #4 on Pitchfork's top tracks of 2010 list: http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7895-the-top-100-tracks-of-2010/10/
More new stuff from . This is This Is Head's newest single; download the mp3 here and also grab the Dan Lissvik (Studio) remix here.
This is The Bear Quartet's brand new video for the song "Lovers goodbye" as directed by Alexandra Dahlström. For full details, go here: http://www.adrianrecordings.com/default.asp?newsid=302
I don't mean to be one of those sites who leaves you bereft of fresh content during the holidays, at least not yet, but the truth of the matter is that I've actually been working too damn much. As in dayjob work; the stuff that pays the bills. So while I have a rather large backlog of news item waiting to be posted that will still have to wait until another day, let me share with you a new solo track from Martin Senter called "Elak". It's got the bounce of his Per Egland remix, but it's also got the same sort of indie/electronic quirk as that other solo track of his I posted awhile back. Either way, it's good stuff and it'll be interesting to see what he does with a full album and I do believe one is coming. Whether it'll beat EL-SD to the punch, I dunno, but I'm looking forward to both.
Martin Senter - Elak
It appears that José Gonzáles will be doing a full tour with The Göteborg String Theory in addition to the previously announced show in London:
03/26 - Koncerthuset, Copenhagen (DK)
03/27 - Kampnagel, Hamburg (GER)
03/28 - Sendesaal, Berlin (GER)
03/29 - Herkulessaal, Munchen (GER)
03/30 - Theaterhaus, Stuttgart (GER)
04/03 - Festival Millenni @ Palau de la música, Barcelona (ESP)
04/06 - SUPER_MON AMOUR! Festival @ The gaite lyrique, Paris (FRA)
04/07 - L'Alhambra, Geneva (CH)
04/09 - Motel Mozaique festival, Rotterdam (NL)
04/11 - Barbican, London (UK)
04/12 - Domino Festival @ AB, Brussels (BEL)
04/15 - Konsert & Kongress, Uppsala (SWE)
04/17 - PK, Göteborg (SWE)
My Brother the Wind"Twilight in the crystal cabinet", My Brother the Wind's purported "live improv album" commences with "Karmagrinder", a ten-and-a-half minute psychedelic workshop that, with its silky electric guitar swoops and jazzy, repetitive, two-chord exploration, suggests a sonic cross-breeding of Pink Floyd's "Breathe" (albeit with some extra prog juice in the rhythm section and a tad more noise) and Talk Talk's majestic "The rainbow". It's entirely too long, but it works, pummeling the listener into a dizzy, euphoric numbness. Ditto the title track, a chilling exercise in moody atmosphere, maneuvering heavily effected guitars over mallet-grazed toms (and little else). Luckily, it's not all endless texture -- the brief, atonal "Precious sanity" whirs by in under two minutes, surging with a borderline-frightening King Crimson-esque hubris. Formed as a quasi Swedish prog supergroup (with members of Anekdoten, Makajodama and Magnolia), My Brother the Wind certainly has an excess of technical skill (and, obviously, all the right reference points). While their debut might be a tad aimless in stretches, it certainly suggests plenty of reasons to keep listening -- perhaps a bit of studio discipline next time out will foster a more fully realized sophomore epic.
- Ryan Reed
Swedish electro/pop artist Sophie Rimheden has a new 3-song Christmas EP and it's available for preview at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sophierimheden
Those Dancing Days will be hitting the road starting in late February:
02/21 - Heaven, London (UK)
02/24 - Molotow, Hamburg (GER)
02/25 - Zwischenbau, Rostock (GER)
02/26 - Rotow, Rotterdam (NL)
02/28 - Bitterzoet, Amsterdam (NL)
03/01 - Studio, Cologne (GER)
03/02 - Magnet, Berlin (GER)
03/04 - Flex, Vienna (AUS)
03/07 - Bronson, Ravenna (ITA)
03/08 - Mascotte, Zurich (CH)
03/09 - La Flèche d'Or, Paris (FRA)
Britta Persson's latest album "Current affair medium rare" will finally be getting an international release in 2011. Firstly, will be putting it out in Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg on January 17. Next up is Germany, Austria and Switzerland who will get the record on February 4 via . After that...?
"Some claim that American hardcore reached its pinnacle during the Reagan era. And it would not be too bold to claim that British hardcore was at its most exciting during Thatcher’s years in office. So perhaps we do have something to look forward to after all in the wake of the second successive election victory of the Swedish right wing government composed of upper class broilers, born again Christians and neo-liberal leftovers. Perhaps Swedish hardcore will rise up to the challenge and contribute as much as it can to the smashing of the cultural stalemate, the fucking status quo and TV imposed apathy. It’s make or break for hardcore as a counter culture. There needs to be a roll call from the underground, the sweaty cellar venues and the DIY factories: we’re not gonna take it."
Via I Just Can't Hate Enough, a streaming sampler of Swedish hardcore circa 2010: http://www.swehc.com/sampler-2010/
