BBC on the best unheard albums of 2009
The BBC calls A Camp's "Colonia" one of the best albums you never heard in 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8426925.stm
Danish act Mew also gets a nod.
Country: Sweden
PopMatters reviews The Mary Onettes, William Blakes
PopMatters reviews the latest album "Islands" from Swedish indierockers The Mary Onettes: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/117937-the-mary-onettes-islands/
Also covered, the American release of "Wayne Coyne" from Danes The William Blakes: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/118115-the-william-blakes-wayne-coyne/
Agent Side Grinder
The transatlantic tape project
Enfant Terrible
You might wonder why Agent Side Grinder have decided to release two albums at once -- I certainly did -- but, far from this endeavour mirroring the Guns N' Roses "Use your illusion" double-whammy (two albums of the same type of music; one album's worth of decent music), upon cranking this up after giving "Irish recording tape" (see review here) a rattle I can see why. While its companion album offers a pretty conventional Krautrock/electropunk nostalgia trip, "The transatlantic tape project" is an entirely different entity, exploring soundscapes that appear infinitely more contemporary and more ethereal. At times akin to some of Red Harvest's electronic uneasiness, at times sounding off like Genghis Tron's ZX Spectrum moments, and at times simply sounding like pure, unadulterated dread, ASG succeed in outputting a little under a half hour of dark ambient electronica that's the perfect accompaniment to inebriation and candlelight. It doesn't get much bleaker than on "210-392", surely a track to herald the impending onset of a nuclear holocaust, while "008-199" could serve as the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic planet Earth, devoid of civilization bar a handful of desperate survivors clawing at some hope of redemption. Oddly enough though, it all winds down on a decidedly beautiful note with "090-219", signing off with a nice piano passage that shows us there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Or is there...?
- John Norby
Peter Morén - Esther
Peter Bjorn and John frontman Peter Morén is now streaming the first single from his forthcoming Swedish-language solo album at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/petermorn
Said album, "I spåren av tåren", will be out in February.
Ef - Sons of ghosts
There's a brand new track from Ef up at myspace for both streaming and free download (scroll down): http://www.myspace.com/ef
The Soundtrack of Our Lives live @ They Shoot music
Watch The Soundtrack of Our Lives play an outdoor acoustic live show for They Shoot Music: http://www.theyshootmusic.com/posts/the_soundtrack_of_our_lives
Fare You Well interview at RMP
Rock-Metal-Punk talks to the excellent Swedish indie/emo/pop act Fare You Well: http://rock-metal-punk.org/interview.php?band=fare-you-well
The Swede Beat #11
Swedish music/art newsletter The Swede Beat has posted their 2009 year-end edition (issue #11) for perusal: http://www.theswedebeat.com/blog/magazine/2009/
New Fredrik website, video
Swedish act Fredrik have a new website: http://www.frdrk.org/
Go there to check out their new video for "Vinterbarn".
The Giant's Dream finish "Canto III"
IAT.MP3 ambient/electronica artists The Giant's Dream have completed work on the third edition of their "Canto" album series and are currently streaming the entire thing at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thegiantsdream
Check the blog for physical CD ordering info.
MP3: Voices Break the Silence - Lost
Hell yes, Voices Break the Silence are back and apparently there's even a new album on the way. This is the first taste and it's a killer slice of Swedish noiserock, albeit also revealing a slightly poppier direction for the band. Whatever, makes no difference to me -- I'm stoked on it regardless. More details forthcoming?
Voices Break the Silence - Lost
Thee Gutted String - Christmastime In Hagarna EP
Thee Gutted String, the mellow solo alias of Johan Gustavsson (Scraps of Tape, Tsukimono), has an excellent new 3-song EP posted for free download: http://timecanvas.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/christmas-ep/
Definitely worth checking out!
Farewell to 2009
A few statistics for the year, should you be curious...
Total news items: 3880
Reviews: 77
Mp3s: 235
Top downloads (for tracks posted in 2009):
01. Florence Valentin - Spring Ricco
02. Ison & Fille - Jag skratter idag
03. King Diamond - No presents for Christmas (slightly cheating since I also posted it last year)
04. The Scrags - Psycho cyclone
05. Mercy - Heavy metal warriors
Top search terms:
01. Porno (no surprise, though I suspect most people aren't actually looking for the Swedish rapper)
02. Darkthrone
03. King Diamond
04. Melody Club
05. Black Uniforms
Remember, the mailorder goes on hibernation tomorrow so get your orders in now. Otherwise, I'm hard at work on revamping the site for 2010 and will be back with regular updates next week. Take care and happy New Year!