Sonic Ritual - Early graves
Swedish metal-punkers Sonic Ritual have posted the new track "Early graves" as a free download via Bandcamp: http://sonicritual.bandcamp.com/
Country: Sweden
New Yrsel album on Aurora Borealis
Yrsel, the collaboration between Swedish dark electronic artist Ondo and French counterpart The Austrasian Goat, have a new album called "Requiem for the 3 Kharites" out now on . More info and samples: http://www.aurora-b.com/band_pages/YRSEL.php
Pitchfork reviews "Tomorrow, in a year"
Pitchfork reviews The Knife's new opera work "Tomorrow, in a year": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13974-tomorrow-in-a-year/
Andreas Tilliander - Medication/Stay king (video)
Andreas Tilliander has a new video for "Medication/Stay king" up at R.fm: http://r.fm/artist/andreas-tilliander/
There's a new dub mix and a few other multimedia items on the page as well.
Sirius playlist week #9
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Shining - Healter skelter
03. Beem - Manka
04. Dmitry Fyodorov - Simcoe
05. TALK 2
06. Björn Kleinhenz - Dackes drabanter
07. Kråkesølv - Pirvat regn
08. Holiday for Strings - Favorite flavor
09. TALK 3
10. Disco Ensemble - White flag for peace
11. Trinacria - Make no mistake
12. House of Tomidas - The letter
13. TALK 4
14. Kite - Looking for us
15. Mikkel Meyer - Dyreryg
16. Susanne Sundfør - The brothel
17. TALK 5
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.
Familjen - När planeterna stannat
The brand new Familjen single "När planeterna stannat" is out now and can be previewed/purchased at Klicktrack: http://www.klicktrack.com/klicktrack/releases/familjen/nr-planeterna-stannat/1
Also be sure to check out Familjen's brand new website: http://www.familj-en.com/
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. The Playtones - Rock'n roll dance party
02. Björn Skifs - Da capo
03. Amanda Jenssen - Happyland
04. Zekes - En sån natt
05. Erik Grönwall - Erik Grönwall
06. Torgny Melin - Dansbandsnatt
07. Kent - Röd
08. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
09. Calle Kristiansson - Calle Kristiansson
10. Nordman - Korsväg
11. Divine - Divine
12. Freda' - Ett mysterium
13. Willy Clay Band - Blue
14. Lars Winnerbäck - Tänk om jag ångrar mig och sen ångrar mig igen
15. Irya's Playground - Irya's playground
16. Mando Diao - Give me fire!
17. Thåström - Be-bop-a-lula hela jävla dan (1989-2009)
18. Mustasch - Mustasch
19. Tomas Ledin - 500 dagar om året
20. Bo Kaspers Orkester - Samling
The Swede Beat #13
Issue #13 of The Swede Beat is now online: http://www.theswedebeat.com/magazine/swedes-worlwide/
The theme is "Swedes Worldwide".
Monostrip to Wonderland
has signed Monostrip, the indie/electro act with 5 members from I'm From Barcelona. Look for their debut single "Like a drug" to be released on March 4. In the meantime, preview here: http://www.wonderlandrecords.com/monopress/
NEI
New agenda
National
If System of a Down appeared in the '60s, prior to the invention of super-heavy distortion, this is probably what they would sound like. Swedish quartet NEI take that style and make it their own, offering an eccentric and upbeat collection of songs that envelops the sounds of the '60s in a pseudo-punk meets Queens Of The Stone Age infused veil. While this is far from a metal album, it's also quite reminiscent of Entombed's polarizing "Same difference" opus, the album that found the Swedish death metal stalwarts relinquish their characteristic grinding guitar tone in favor of a more alternative warmth. "New agenda" even offers whole chunks of music that wouldn't sound out of place on "SD" in terms of song construction and guitar sound -- take "The destroyer man" and "Hello" as prime examples. Variety comes in abundance on this album with a perfect amalgam of styles and a wealth of tempo changes, and it makes this one of the most enjoyable and exciting albums to emerge from Sweden in a long time. It must be said that it's a grower, though. First listen doesn't really make that much of an impression but on successive spins it gradually reveals its true genius. For the most part it's airy and driving with occasional pensive moments placed sparingly to inject a cool dynamic into the mix. A brilliant album indeed! One minor point, though: guys, what's with the 'cabaret-magician-meets-original-series-Star Trek' outfits? Jeez!
- John Norby
Halifax Collect on U.X. Vileheads
Halifax Collect gives high marks to U.X. Vilehead's debut EP: http://halifaxcollect.blogspot.com/2010/02/ux-vileheads-first-ep.html
Fixe signs two new acts
(New Found Land) has announced the signing of two new acts: Jacon and Johanna Nordström. Look for new releases from both in May, otherwise hear samples at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/fixerecords
MP3: Assid - Habibi
I've recently been listening to this track a lot, in kind of a roundabout sort of way. The story: my wife and I go to the gym every morning (well, at least I do, her schedule is more, um, intermittent) and she requested my help with putting together some good workout tunes for her mp3 player. Of course I'm content with a healthy mix of brutal death metal and hardcore punk, but that just won't do -- she wants something melodic, so I oblige myself to pick out a few choice selections from my collection, most of which she is unfamiliar with. The criteria: match the BPM of High Hats' "The end", a track she knows and loves (as should everyone). So yeah, "The end" clocks at 155bpm, so I scan my files for appropriate tunes to match... Laakso and The Hives seem to fit the bill pretty well, but I know that few things are better than a pounding techno beat and "Habibi" is a solid 156 according to my calculator. Perfect! Now I just have to contend with her shrilly shouting "Don't!" at me every time I do something she doesn't like. Which is surprisingly often.
Assid - Habibi
Boy Omega tour diary
Boy Omega is keeping a tour diary of his current jaunt: http://www.boyomega.com/
Also, if you haven't already gotten it, be sure to download the new Boy Omega EP I released via the It's a Trap! netlabel: http://www.itsatrap.com/releases/iatmp3014-boy-omega-follow-the-herd-ep
The Deer Tracks - Bless the waves
are giving away a new mp3 from The Deer Tracks from the band's new EP "Eggegrund": http://despotz.se/secret/
The password is name of the EP, all lowercase.