Musik med Rökkurró, First Aid Kit
Icelandic act Rökkurró plays live for PSL: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/11/05/musik-med-rokkurro/
And Swedish sisters First Aid Kit do the same: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/11/8/musik-med-first-aid-kit-4/
Country: Sweden
From Deathpunk to Xenu
I had no idea: Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby aka Hank von Helvete is a Scientologist? Total bummer. Burn him down.
Peter Jöback album details
The new Peter Jöback album "En kväll med Peter Jöback" has been confirmed for release on November 19 via . Cover art and tracklist: http://razziarecords.se/releases_details.asp?id=958&artist=Peter
Death metal as comfort food
Burning Ambulance reviews Swedish death act Interment: http://burningambulance.com/2010/11/05/interment/
Breakfast in America now available
Viktor Sjöberg's brand new solo LP "Breakfast in America" is out now via : http://elefanten.blogspot.com/2010/11/breakfast-in-america-is-out.html
I've yet to hear it, but I've never been let down by Viktor so far, so it's definitely going on the shopping list.
Electric Funeral - You're next
An audio/visual preview of the new Electric Funeral 7", out soon via .
MP3: Johan Heltne - Katarinas pappa ska dö
I find myself at a loss for words when faced with Johan Heltne's new album "Sara,", much like I did with his previous record "Vetenskapliga bevis för att Jesus lever". Beyond the issues pertaining to the obvious language barrier, Johan's music remains peculiar and enigmatic, albeit with a sharper, rawer edge this time out. Lead track "Krieg ist krieg und schnaps ist schnaps" (as first posted here) was a red herring with its easy-listening sax solo and gentle atmosphere, which is not to say that similar tropes aren't repeated/revisited, but the overall feel of the album is anything but "easy". Johan's soft, half-whispered vocals betray his intentions. "Sara, was written during a strange year," he says, "One of my best friends contracted cancer and was dead six months later. Another friend made a serious attempt to take his own life. Another friend was raped at an afterparty. At the same time, several conflicts raged around me, where I was more or less involved. They were concerned with gender roles, dissent and unability to understand others, something that resulted in polite non-relationships. During this time I also had unusually many and powerful epileptic seizures at night. I remember it as though I never was able to get a good night's sleep. The lyrics of Sara, are characterized by this." Nowhere are these feelings more apparent than on "Katarinas pappa ska dö", a Bergman deathbed scene set to song (see lyrics here). Images of blinding whiteness gives way to a harsh sustained chord, the inevitable pressing weight of darkness and the pain of reality and death, a feeling reflected in the music's brutal starkness. No, this is far from easy.
Johan Heltne - Katarinas pappa ska dö
Free music from The Open Up and Bleeds
is giving away a 3-track sampler from The Open Up and Bleeds: http://claudiomarino.com/soz/soz-007.php
Look for the band's debut full-length to be released on December 13 via .
Free EP from Shotgun Language
Swedish indie/twang act Shotgun Language is giving away a new 5-track EP via Bandcamp: http://shotgunlanguage.bandcamp.com/
I usually hate most stuff that veers into alt-country territory, but this stuff does a good job of avoiding most of the usual/obvious genre pitfalls. Helps quite a bit that the recording is very distinctive.
The Radio Dept. to release singles collection, tour the US
Pitchfork has the scoop on a forthcoming 2CD singles collection from The Radio Dept. called "Passive aggressive: Singles 2002-2010" which is coming out early next year via : http://pitchfork.com/news/40624-the-radio-dept-ready-singles-compilation/
Hit that link for the full tracklist plus some new US tourdates set for February, should you want to experience their reportedly tedious live show in company of other dupes.
Misantropic
Insomnia
Halvfabrikat
You know the score with the type of music that Sweden's Misantropic play; the crusty punkthrash that's rapidly becoming more and more popular to the point of oversaturation. Plenty of choice is, of course, a good thing, but that also means that there's an awful lot of crap to trudge through in order to find that elusive golden nugget. The problem with abundance in the genre in which Misantropic reside, is that it's a form of music that doesn't lend itself to much deviance from its foundations. In that case, much like the melodic death metal of Göteborg, we find a genre with countless bands that all sound the same. One might say that the inclusion of a female vocalist in itself serves to set Misantropic apart from most of the other bands, and it does to an extent, but unless you're aware of the fact that it's a girl on vocals you might simply assume it's a weak male vocalist at the helm. Musically, it's all above average stuff, but not to the point where "Insomnia" is something you'll be busting to tell people about. Rather, this is a decent listen with some interesting moments. It's like Rotten Sound meets Waklevören in places, only an incredibly weaker version of both that gets tired quite quickly. Next time I give this a spin will probably be in a couple of years when I'm stuck for something to listen to and can't quite remember what this Misantropic album sounded like when I last heard it.
- John Norby
Mix it up!
Whatever you do, don't bother with the comments on YouTube -- just enjoy it for what it is and try to ignore that there are Nazis trying to use this as evidence of a vast conspiracy against them.
Siena Root live in Spain (update)
The excellent Swedish hardrock act Siena Root will be touring Spain this month:
11/11 - Gruta 77, Madrid
11/12 - Dom Pedro, Gijón
11/13 - La Ley Seca, Zaragoza
11/14 - Jimmy Jazz, Vitoria
11/15 - Estudio 27, Burgos
11/16 - Bola 8, La Coruña
11/17 - Los Picos, Cantabria
11/18 - Universidad de León, Leon
11/19 - La Cueva del Jazz, Zamora
11/20 - Sala Mogambo, San Sebastian
11/21 - Taberna Belfast, León
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Bo Kaspers Orkester - New Orleans
02. Jill Johnson - The well-known and some other favourite stories
03. Håkan Hellström - 2 steg från paradise
04. Nanne - En rastlös själ
05. Eldkvarn - Kärlekens väg - en mässa
06. Robyn - Body talk pt.2
07. Caroline af Ugglas - Vad var det jag sa
08. Swedish House Mafia - Until one
09. Hoffmaestro - Skank-a-tronic punkadelica
10. Amy Diamond - Greatest hits
11. Georg Wadenius - Reconnection
12. Blackjack - Festival
13. Brolle - Best of Brolle
14. Robyn - Body talk pt.1
15. Pernilla Andersson - Ö
16. Fatboy - Overdrive
17. Oskar Linnros - Vilja bli
18. Magnus Carlsson - Pop galaxy
19. Kent - En plats i solen
20. Säkert! - Facit