PSL talks to Britta Persson: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/03/11/prat-med-britta-persson/
Worth noting even for those of you who don't understand Swedish because they preview a few songs from Britta's forthcoming album.
is giving away the new Nom de Guerre track "Everybody knows" as a free download: http://www.tapeterecords.de/index.php?id=706
After banging my head against CSS coding problems for five or so hours yesterday, I need to hear something that adequately reflects the state of my brain. Something noisy and repetitive. Bonus that it fills the gap between this week's other postings of Monument and Du Pacque. That something: Ikons. Monotonik beats meet loud guitars under a black shroud of destructive noise. "The hawk" is way more Kraut than goth, but they have those tendencies, let me assure you. Keep on droning, let me forget my problems, clear my mind; melt away the cobwebs, the fuzz. Block/black out the world around me.
Ikons - The hawk
Looptroop Rockers are hitting up the West Coast this month after SXSW:
03/23 - Mount Tabor Theatre, Portland, OR
03/24 - Roxy's Vets Club, Mt Shasta, CA
03/25 - Club 6ix, San Francisco, CA
03/26 - Viper Room, Los Angeles, CA
03/27 - Boomer's Bar, Las Vegas, NV
03/28 - Garage Theatre, Long Beach, CA
I believe that Chords, Timbuktu and Adam Tensta are on this tour as well.
Apparently The Radio Dept. cover Sade's "All about our love" as the b-side on their new "Heaven's on fire" single and you can check it out right here: http://www.lagasta.com/the-radio-dept-cover-sade/
PopMatters reviews the latest Midaircondo album "Curtain call": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/120981-midaircondo-curtain-call/
Discobelle is counting down to the release of the new Teddybears album "Devil's music" with a bunch of mash-ups and remixes: http://www.discobelle.net/2010/03/10/teddybears-rocket-calculator/
Aversionline on Swedish metalcore act Yersinia: http://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2010/03/10/yersinia-lejonhjarta-cd/
Definitely not my thing, but like Scarred By Beauty I can't deny that they're good at what they do.
Jens Lekman will be heading to Indonesia and the Philippines for a few shows with Kings of Convenience:
03/27 - Sabuga, Bandung (IDN)
03/28 - Ritz Carlton Ballroom, Jakarta (IDN)
03/30 - Saguijo (Jens only), Manila (PHL)
03/31 - NBC Tent, Manila (PHL)
EP's Trailer Park will release the new full-length album "Scissors & knives" on April 12 via .
Swedish indie/punk/funk act The Je Ne Sais Quoi will release their new album "Transparent for you all" on April 5 via the band's own label and will only be available either as a digital download or vinyl. This will be the band's first recordings with new drummer Pontus Levahn (Tiger Lou, Torpedo, etc.) and you can hear a few sample tunes (and read more about it) at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thejenesaisquoi
Vanhelgd will be going into the studio on March 19 to record 10 songs for their sophomore album. Says the band, "Hopfully we will get a crappier sound than on our hifi nu-metal album Cult of Lazarus."
Nikola SarcevicMillencolin have written some very catchy skate punk songs during the 16 years they've been around, but unlike some of their contemporaries (e.g. NOFX) you can't give them any credit for much lyrical flare. Back in the day when CDs were all the rage it happened to me more than once that I bought a new Millencolin CD and reading the lyrics in the booklet on my way home totally killed all the excitement I'd built up in shop when buying the album. Usually I tried to ignore the lyrics when listening to the CD and most of the time it still sounded alright, but I couldn't completely ignore their crassness. This problem has only increased with the years and it really came to show when in 2004 Nikola Sarcevic released his first solo album "Lock-sport-krock" (with English lyrics, it very much sounded like an acoustic version of Millencolin). I liked a couple of songs on it, but the cheesy lyrics make it quite a hard listen. "Roll roll and flee" that was released two years later and was an improvement, so I'm a bit disappointed that Sarcevic now has decided to sing in Swedish on this, his third solo album ("Nikola & Fattiglapparna"). By having Swedish lyrics Sarcevic really puts them in the spotlight (if you're Swedish that is; if you're not, it probably has the opposite effect). Even though there are one or two good moments to be had on the album, most of it sounds like a poor man's Kristofer Åström with kindergarten-like lyrics and some terrible rhymes. I heard in an interview that Sarcevic wrote the lyrics first in English then translated them to Swedish which, to be honest, doesn't sound like such a great idea. It's a bit of a shame that the album is so dire, since Sarcevic's got a bit of knack for a melody and I kind of like his voice.
- Stefan Nilsson
Live music at PSL with an acoustic performance from Johan Borgert & Holy Madre: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/03/08/musik-med-johan-borgert-holy-madre/
Absolut Noise has been going on and on about Du Pacque for years, but until I heard this song, nothing clicked. The difference? As Absolut Noise correctly points out, they've upped the intensity, both in terms of their performance and also sheer noise level. Perhaps I was blind to their potential before, but let it be known that I have been enlightened. I'm on the bandwagon; this is an act to keep an eye on.
Du Pacque - Walk straight
