Swedish label will be doing a CD release of We Live in Trenches' full-length debut "Modern hex". The vinyl came out earlier this year via and is highly recommended for anyone into rocked-out punk ala Fucked Up.
is offering up Enforcer's excellent album "Diamonds" as a free download for 1 day only: http://www.heavyartillery.us/enforcerpromo/
Shout Out Louds recorded a Band of Horses cover, member Ted Malmros made a video: http://vimeo.com/13701417
The new Stefan Sundström album "5 dagar i augusti" will be released on September 1 via .
The title track from the EP, released earlier this year. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FziNGBTFoY
Interment, yet another quality act of Swedish death revivalists, will officially unleash their album "Into the crypts of blasphemy" on August 2 in Europe, August 31 in the US. Preview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARB2pEBYUdk
In addition to the CD on , there will also be an LP version coming out on August 13 via which will feature a bonus cover of "Torn apart" by Carnage.
Kaka's self-titled debut album from a couple years ago was a bit of a sleeper. A few really great tracks (such as "The hotspurs"), but it never seemed to get much traction. That is to say, I enjoyed it, but it lacked the stickiness I really need in my pop music. Not to mention, an atrocious name. C'mon... Kaka? Talk about hamstringing yourself from the get-go, might as well burn a few wads of cash while you're at it. Anyhow, the new single "Below this sun" is good, maybe even a little bit great, but like my wife just said to me, "this sounds really fun, but I can't recommend them to anyone." I've played it on my radio show a few times even though I'm loathe to announce it out loud and now I guess I'm recommending it you, here in print, despite my foolish trepidation. Once you get past the awful, awful name, there's actually a lot to like.
Kaka - Below this sun
Pitchfork is not into the latest Thieves Like Us album: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14483-again-and-again/
Trade an email address for a new song from Jens Lekman: http://secretlycanadian.com/blog/2010/07/jens-lekman-shares-new-song/
Culkin, Swedish indierockers la classiqué, have finished recording their debut album and are now beginning to mix.
Just to clarify one more time, rumors of Annika Norlin's musical retirement have been greatly exaggerated: http://razziarecords.se/news.asp?id=920
The new video from Supergruppen, aka Swedish hip-hop artists Lorentz, Alexis Weak and Lowitz. Good thing the clip is so nice to look at because the song is terrible. Direct link: http://vimeo.com/13646830
"Oh, vilken härlig dag!" Yes indeed it is a beautiful day, too bad I'm stuck inside working. Working far harder than a person ought to work during summer too, hence the lack of creative posts from me these recent weeks. Physically here, yet mentally gone, trying my best to embrace our small window of sunshine up here in the PacNW.
Ted Gärdestad - Oh, vilken härlig da'
Anna von HausswolffAnna von Hausswolff does an admirable job crafting a piano-driven album that takes unexpected turns instead of falling prey to clichéd pop structures, with a number of the tracks "Singing from the grave" giving full voice to the talents of its composer. In this way, von Hausswolff successfully avoids the fate of being pigeonholed as 'just another female singer-songwriter,' but her idiosyncratic style has the unfortunate affect of rendering entire portions of the album difficult to get into. While I applaud the fact she avoids a number of avenues already explored by other artists, tracks like "Pills" and "Lost at sea" feel like bizarre, stripped-down Björk-inspired compositions, and, while it is amazing to listen to the whirlwinds von Hausswolff creates with her voice and fingers, it is not an experience that grows more enjoyable with repeated listening. It is more than obvious that Anna von Hausswolff is a talented musician and vocalist, but instead of finding myself lost in the songs, as I did with the gorgeous and haunting "Track of time" and "Above all", I began to feel outside most of the compositions, often unable to forge any connection between myself as listener and von Hausswolff as artist.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Swedish death metallers Maim have finished work on their sophomore album, recorded once again in their hometown of Åtvidaberg with producer/engineer Niels Nielsen. Expect a fall release. And speaking of Niels, check out a couple new solo singles from him at Bandcamp: http://nielsnielsen.bandcamp.com/
