Swedish indie act Delacroix has posted the new track "Wait is all we do" as a free download: http://www.delacroixband.com/recordings.php
Listen to a couple tracks from Shaking King King, a new act signed to Dreamboat Records (Galento): http://www.myspace.com/shakingkingking
Norwegian indierockers Monzano have posted a number of the various bonus tracks on myspace from the Japanese version of their album "High horses and one trick ponies": http://www.myspace.com/monzano
New profiles at MIC Norway of experimental/jazz/avant artists Maja S. K. Ratkje and Mathias Eick.
Vocalist Jason Campbell has left Danish metalcore act As We Fight. The band's friend Esse aka Numbnuts will be filling in for the upcoming tour.
Another new Paragon track at Discobelle today: http://www.discobelle.net/2008/05/06/pretend-that-you-know/
Jonna Lee has hinted that her album "10 pieces, 10 bruises" will be getting a wider release in the near future: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=41450093&blogID=390621903
It also appears that she's making quite a bit of progress on her next album already.
Check out the new LaPuma video for "Chill chill", featuring what appears to be a very pregnant lead singer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD6PL9fny4A
Too bad they don't feature her body more in the video, it's pretty damn awesome I think to see a mom-to-be rockin' out.
MP3: Johan Heltne - Hjärta. Instinkt. Principer.
More Jesus rock today, except that Johan Heltne doesn't exactly rock. And I'm also not sure how religious he is, though he does say that his album "Vetenskapliga bevis för att Jesus lever" ("Scientific proof that Jesus is alive") was informed by religious experience, in a way. It's a fascinating work, made that much better by the fact that I can barely wrap my head around it. From the lush string arrangements on songs such as the one I've posted today to soft indiepop ala Vapnet, Heltne and his friends have put together quite a record. There's magic in the mystery, that's for sure. This track also has me thinking that more musicians should try to forgo classic rock instrumentation. I still love guitars, but there seems to be so much more subtlety and nuance here, especially when compared to the more traditional "indie" numbers he does. Regardless, it's all good, just don't let this one pass you by. It's got underrated hit written all over it.
Johan Heltne - Hjärta. Instinkt. Principer.
Download a couple King Of All The Animals remix tracks, courtesy of fellow Finns I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper and Regina: http://www.tigerbombs.com/koata.htm
The track "Concrete skyline" is available to download on that page as well and I recommend that you grab it too.
Pitchfork bestows the coveted "recommended" rating on Swedish artist The Tallest Man On Earth, a name you might be familiar with from the "Upp till kamp!" soundtrack: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/49623-shallow-graves
Peter Morén does the guest list thing for Pitchfork, throwing in shout-outs for Park Hotell and The Bear Quartet: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/49705-guest-list-peter-morn
Zeigeist
The Jade Motel
Spegel/Imperial Recordings
Listen to them once and you'd be forgiven for mistaking Zeigeist for fellow Swedish art poppers The Knife. The first few tracks certainly support this theory. But listen again and you'll start to notice the (admittedly minor) differences. For one, Zeigeist trade off vocal duties between Princess and Per (no surnames needed, apparently), giving their sound a little bit more variety. Secondly, though they wear their "artsy" label proudly on their sleeves, Zeigeist's music is almost always more direct and more pop. This would be an amazing thing if the songs on their debut had the kind of hooks needed to match their fantastic electro dance beats. The album improves as it goes on, but even with repeated listens, there isn't much to sink your teeth into. "Black milk" and "Cuffs" have some interesting ideas, while "Wrecked metal" is probably the most immediately catchy of all the tracks. The frustrating thing is that it's clear that the band has enough creativity to come up with something really jaw-dropping. I'm sure every song works better as a part of their reportedly theatric live shows, but on record it's a little less than inspiring.
- Nick James
