Finnish indie/DIY/experimental label Rabbit Ilsn has a bunch of new netreleases posted for free download: http://www.myspace.com/rabbitilsn (scroll down)
Sophie Rimheden has put out an open call for remixers: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=70440842&blogID=406748979
Ida Maria's new video for "I like you so much better when you're naked" is now online: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=36259121
NW Music Blog interviews Powersolo: http://www.nwmusicblog.com/2007/11/26/interview-with-kim-kix-and-atomic-child-of-powersolo/
Robyn will support Madonna on tour in Europe:
08/26 - Stade Charles Ehrmann, Nice
08/28 - Olympic Stadium, Berlin
08/30 - Military Airfield Dubendorf, Zurich
09/02 - Arena, Amsterdam
09/04 - LTU Arena, Dusseldorf
09/09 - Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt
09/14 - Parque da Bela Vista, Lisbon
09/23 - Danube Island, Vienna
09/27 - Olympic Stadium, Athens
I may not have been able to see Haust last night, but Aversionline does have a review up on their new album: http://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2008/06/17/haust-ride-the-relapse-cd/
Last Days of April is now confirmed for the next It's a Trap! Clubnight at Debaser Malmö on July 19.
Beta Satan's debut full-length "Girls" is finished and confirmed for a September release via Crunchy Frog. Hear the lead single "666" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/betasatan
Swedish pop act Oh Laura will have their debut album "A song inside my head, a demon in my bed" released in Australia and New Zealand on July 5 via BNM Records.
Check out the video for the new First Floor Power single "The jacket": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uYVsTqs11M
Swedish d-beat crusties Wolfbrigade will tour the US again in September. Tentative dates at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/wolfbrigadeofficial
MP3: Like Rats From A Sinking Ship - Smash the crystal larynx!
Yesterday's adventure started off nice enough. My hosts and I walked a bit around Malmö in the AM, stopping in at Rundgång to say hello to the Deleted Art crew and such and also stopping to eat some of (what I'm told to be is) Malmö's famous falafel. From there it was off to Copenhagen for a quick trip through the national museum and then a rendezvous with Stytzer from Hits in the Car which meant enjoying a beer on the harbour. See- so far, everything was very, very nice. We even managed to find a decent restaurant for a proper dinner before exploring Christiania and heading to Loppen to see Norwegian act Like Rats From A Sinking Ship. Nothing really bad happened to us I guess, but the other band Haust canceled the show so that meant there were only 18 or so people in attendance. And then there's the Like Rats tour story: robbed twice in 4 days, freaked out and camping in the woods for 3 days, a broken kick pedal. All things considered, they took it in stride and put on a great show, but I think their bad luck rubbed off on us as our train back to Sweden broke down, making our trip home take 3x as long as it should've. Not a nice way to end the evening, y'know? Anyhow, the music of LRFASS is raw, discordant hardcore interspersed with little electronic bits not too unlike "Shape of punk..."-era Refused. Also, the best use of theramin in hardcore I've ever seen. Obviously I haven't had a lot of time to absorb their debut release "Sxy Sxy Gsw EP" yet, but here's a track that I like, especially the slower coda part. Good times!
Like Rats From A Sinking Ship - Smash the crystal larynx!
The new Andreas Mattsson-produced Hello Saferide album (title tba) is currently being mixed by Pelle Gunnerfeldt.
Finnish shoegazers On Volcano have posted a new live track on their myspace page called "The blizzard of 1888": http://www.myspace.com/onvolcano
Also check the blog section for some live video footage as well.
Majessic Dreams
Beautiful days
PonyRec
The influence of 1960s folk music is wrapped perfectly around the mechanism of Scandinavian pop music with Majessic Dreams. Finger-picked acoustic guitars find themselves awash in a sea of warm keyboards and distinctly Scandinavian voices, sometimes echoing the themes of The Radio Dept., other times recalling more Americana influences, especially with tracks like "Wish he was you". Like Promise and the Monster, this act crafts magnificent dreamscapes with their stratified instrumentation, the guitar strings retaining their staccato appeal without coming across as coarse or brash. The only failing of "Beautiful days" is that its emotional core seems rather stagnant -- tracks flow too easily into one another, and soon the entire affair becomes a beautiful blur instead of a collection of beautiful, individual songs. With repeated listens, this failing may slip away for some. Definitely worth a listen, if nothing else.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
