is back again with their Advent Sunday Mixtape series where they let various guest artists remix their catalogue and the first edition for 2011 comes from Artisan Loyalist. Check it: http://www.adrianrecordings.com/default.asp?newsid=331
José Saxlund is resurrecting his legendary old Umeå sXe label to release a new 12" from his current band Out of Vogue. Listen/download the band's debut EP here: http://outofvogue.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-vogue-ep
The semi-finalists for the 2011 Nordic Music Prize have been revealed:
Sweden:
Anna Ternheim - The night visitor
Jonathan Johansson - Klagomuren
Loney Dear - Hall music
The Field - Looping state of mind
Mattias Alkberg - Anarkist
Lykke Li - Wounded rhymes
Anna Järvinen - Anna själv tredje
Deportees - Islands & shores
Veronica Maggio - Satan i gatan
Goran Kajfes - X/Y
Denmark:
Larsen & Furious Jane - Dolly
Michael Møller - A Month of Unrequited Love
Oh Land - Oh Land
Mikael Simpson - Noget Laant, Noget Blaat
The Late Great Fitzcarraldos - The Late Great Fitzcarraldos
Malk De Koijn - Toback To The Fromtime
Iceage - New Brigade
Thulebasen - Gate 5
When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie
Hymns From Nineveh - Hymns From Nineveh
Finland:
Von Hertzen Brothers - Stars Aligned
Röyhkä & Mattila - Kaksi lensi tuulen mukaan
22-Pistepirkko - Lime Green Delorean
French Films - Imaginary Future
Siinai - Olympic Games
Rubik - Solar
Regina - Soita mulle
Michael Monroe - Sensory Overdrive
Mirel Wagner - Mirel Wagner
Chisu - Kun valaistun
Iceland:
Sóley - We Sink
Lay Low - Brostinn strengur
Ham - Svik, harmur og dauði
Sin Fang - Summer Echoes
ADHD - ADHD2
FM Belfast - Don’t Want To Sleep
Gus Gus - Arabian Horse
Mugison - Haglél
Björk - Biophilia
Apparat Organ Quartet - Pólýfónía
Norway:
Razika - Program ’91
Lars Vaular - Du betyr meg
Jonas Alaska - Jonas Alaska
Team Me - To The Treetops!
Ane Brun - It All Starts With One
Stein Torleif Bjella - Vonde Visu
120 Days - 120 Days II
Montée - Renditions Of You
John Olav Nilsen og Gjengen - Det nærmeste du kommer
Martin Hagfors - I like you
This list will eventually be culled down to a final 12 on December 1 before the winner is crowned on February 16.
Pitchfork's best metal albums of 2011 list includes selections from Vanhelgd (#34), In Solitude (#9) and Circle of Ouroborus (#7): http://pitchfork.com/features/show-no-mercy/8717-best-albums-of-2011/
I don't normally do any crass ad/promo stuff aside from the ever-present/near-ubiquitous Google ad box below the fold, but I'm happy to make exceptions should the right opportunity present itself, so when Rock Science beckoned, I heeded the call. It wasn't a terribly hard decision: a Swedish-made rock'n'roll boardgame complete with a theme song by Imperial State Electric (included as a CDS in each copy) is totally right up my alley and is pretty much the perfect gift for your favorite rocker this holiday season (hint hint). So if you wanna hook it up, head on over to their webstore and use the promo code ITSATRAP when you check out. Do it!
A new video from Peter Bjorn and John off their latest album "Gimme some", still one of the year's best releases.
The excellent Swedish (mostly) jazz label has a nice new website: http://www.hoob.net/
It's also a good reminder that The Splendor's new album "Delphian Palace" is out now and available on Spotify.
The new Azure Blue album "Rule of thirds" is currently streaming in full on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/azureblue/sets/rule-of-thirds-for-the-fader/
PSL has the premiere of the video for Caviare Days' debut single "The awakening": http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2011/11/22/videopremiar-caviare-days-the-awakening/
Some decent psychrock vibes going on here, worth checking out.
From the upcoming EP "God morgon framtid".
Invisible Oranges gives positive marks to Swedish horror/prog/soundtrack act Anima Morte: http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2011/11/anima-morte-the-nightmare-becomes-reality/
Kent are posting pics from Southern France where they are in the studio recording a new album: http://kent.nu/
The Cardigans are the first band confirmed for the 2012 edition of Hultsfredfestivalen where they will be performing their 1998 album "Gran Turismo" in its entirety. This will also be the band's first live gig on Swedish soil since 2006.
Erik EnockssonSo, how does "Apan" sound, exactly? Like a mid-fi John Carpenter soundtrack with the odd bit of SunnO))) thrown in. There's not much else to be said, really. It's not as good as either, but it's a damn fine marriage that works and that holds attention for the duration of the album. This is Stockholm-based Erik Enocksson's third foray into the world of soundtracks, this time for the 2009 flick "Apan", directed by Jesper Ganslandt and, despite the fact that it's a contemporary film, the music is unashamedly ensconced in the low-to-mid budget horror of the '70s and '80s. Its adherence to that aesthetic ensures that it is both eerie and unsettling, much like Carpenter's early works and quite unlike Erik's previous efforts. There's something quite odd about this, too, which is as much down to the production as the composition. Original? No. Entertaining? Absolutely.
- John Norby
Fin Nettmagasin has a feature interview with Nina and Steffi from Berlin-based Scandinavian clubnight Nordic By Nature: http://www.fin-mag.no/saker/nordicbynature/index.html
