Country: Sweden
9
I didn't really expect an album consisting of melodic political punk anthems sung in Swedish to be my favourite album of the year, especially not the second album from a band whose debut I wasn't really that into, but Sweden's Masshysteri's "Masshysteri" is the album I've kept on returning to continually in the last 4-5 months. Despite the album only being 10 songs and about 28 minutes long, repeated listenings don't seem to do it any harm, only the opposite -- the songs now feel like an extension of my spine. Masshysteri are not doing anything new music- or lyric-wise, and there are a some similar Swedish bands (e.g. Pascal), but the frenetic energy and the heavenly melodies on this album are just mind-blowing. I'd rank this album alongside any of Swedish punk pioneers Ebba Grön, which is mighty high praise. It's just a great shame that more people haven't heard it!
- Stefan Nilsson
Slightly odd and unexpected, but Buddyhead of all places has an overwhelmingly posi write-up on an Alarma Man live show: http://www.buddyhead.com/show-review-alarma-man-get-some-corpse-paint-play-some-mathrock-and-start-a-revolution/
Guitarist Mathias Carlson has parted ways with Swedish death metallers Reincarnage, citing "personal reasons." The band is currently seeking a replacement, but will continue as a two-piece for the time being.
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Familjen
02. The Bear Quartet
03. CEO
04. Robyn
05. Kent
06. Shout Out Louds
07. Andreas Söderlund
08. Junip
09. Oskar Linnros
10. The Concretes
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Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Mindy Misty - Slippies
03. Fatboy - Bad news from pretty red lips
04. Viola - Puppies in the rain
05. Kite - Jonny boy
06. TALK 2
07. Code 64 - Progenitor
08. Familjen - Det var jag (This Is Head version)
09. Ved - Question for L Ron
10. TALK 3
11. Hope I Die Virgin - At crude garbage falls
12. Vidderna - Utanför
13. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Domedeijla mosse
14. TALK 4
15. Roll the Dice - Into the ground
16. Muxika77 - The mountain
17. Den Svenska Tystnaden - Afasi
18. Elmo - Young love
19. TALK 5
20. Bedroom Eyes - (Here's one for you) Underdog
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
The Radio Dept. will be bringing their lackluster live show worldwide this fall:
09/09 - Razzmatazz 2, Barcelona (ESP)
09/11 - South Pop Festival Seville, Sevilla (ESP)
11/04 - Internasjonalen, Oslo (NOR)
11/05 - Hulen, Bergen (NOR)
11/06 - Ungdomshuset 1880, Bergen (NOR)
11/27 - Boulogne-Billancourt- Carré Bellefeuille CONF, Paris (FRA)
11/30 - Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
12/01 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
12/04 - Strand, Stockholm (SWE)
12/05 - Scala, London (SWE)
PSL's "Musik med" series is back for fall with a new episode featuring Dungen: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/09/03/musik-med-dungen-2/
Håkan Hellström has reportedly collaborated with Swedish playwright Peter Birro on a film screenplay based on his songs. Look for it to debut in 2012.
New Alarma Man dates for November:
11/12 - Ikuwo, Greifswald (GER)
11/13 - Kastanie, Berlin (GER)
11/14 - AZ Conni, Dresden (GER) w/Chris Leo
11/15 - Conne Island, Leipzig (GER) w/Chris Leo
11/16 - Hafenklang, Hamburg (GER) w/Chris Leo
11/17 - Café Central, Magdeburg (GER)
11/18 - tba, Solingen (GER)
11/19 - Rocas, Luxenbourg (LUX)
11/20 - tba
Though we may be getting pretty close to fall, The Lemur Blog has just posted a new Swedish summer-themed mixtape for download: http://thelemurblog.com/2010/09/01/another-swedish-summer-day-with-you/
Ridiculous, but I don't doubt that the dudes in the band are stoked: Scottish distillery Glenfarclas has teamed up with In Flames for their own specially branded whiskey. Read more (in Swedish) at the band's website: http://www.inflames.com/News.aspx
Scraps of Tape will be doing a few German dates in November:
11/10 - AZ Conni, Dresden
11/11 - Schokoladen, Berlin
11/12 - Cairo, Würzburg
11/13 - Steinbruch, Duisburg
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Darin - Lovekiller
02. Drifters - Stanna hos mig
03. Robyn - Body talk pt.1
04. Oskar Linnros - Vilja bli
05. Kent - En plats i solen
06. Lisa Nilsson - 20 - En jubileumssamling
07. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
08. The Playtones - Rock'n roll dance party
09. Mikael Wiehe - Ta det tillbaka!
10. Lasse Stefanz - Texas
11. Timoteij - Längtan
12. Fancy Dan - Teenage sunset
13. Eric Saade - Masquerade
14. Brolle - Best of
15. Eddie Meduza - Rockabilly rebel
16. Lars Winnerbäck - Tänk om jag ångrar mig och sen ångrar mig igen
17. Takida - The darker instinct
18. Kalle Moraeus - Underbart
19. Salem al Fakir - Ignore this
20. Eric Gadd - Rise up!
Swedish act Solander will be touring Europe again in October:
10/19 - Café Video, Gent (BEL)
10/21 - Feinkostlampe, Hannover (GER)
10/23 - Café Galeo?, Stuttgart (GER)
10/26 - Stadtgarten, Erfurt (GER)
10/27 - Scheune, Dresden (GER)
10/28 - Ricarda-Huch-Haus, Jena (GER)
10/29 - Kreativfabrik, Wiesbaden (GER)
10/30 - Hafen 2, Offenbach (GER)
10/31 - Café Nun, Karlsruhe (GER)
11/01 - Südstadt, München (GER)
11/02 - Rhiz, Vienna (AUS)
11/03 - The Office Pub, Graz (AUS)
11/05 - Kraftfeld, Winterthur (CH)
They'll be travelling with Dutch filmmaker Iris Piers, director of the band's "Narcissus" video, who will be presenting live visuals with the band on stage.
Masshysteri