Indie Rock Reviews interviews Danish act Shout Wellington Air Force: http://www.indierockreviews.com/documents/Shout%20Wellington%20Air%20Force%20indierockreviews1.htm
Gothtronic reviews the new Zeigeist album "The Jade Motel": http://www.gothtronic.com/?page=23&reviews=4884
Discobelle has new music from Sophie Rimheden's new sideproject Alela & DJ Fi: http://www.discobelle.net/2008/05/04/alela-dj-fi/
Also at Discobelle, the Licky remix of Biker Boy's May single: http://www.discobelle.net/2008/05/03/biker-boy-may-song-licky-remix/
Danish techno act Printer has posted their new video for "You need to" on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slz_WwuW3M4
Buy Printer CDs right here.
The Bombettes have announced that Jenka Nilsson has been added to the band as new guitarist, so expect them to start playing shows again soon starting with a local gig at Verket in Umeå on May 24. In other news, their excellent "What's cooking good looking?" 7" will be repressed on red vinyl with a new 4-track 7" to follow soon as well.
Swedish electropop act Alice In Videoland have signed with German label Prussia Records who will be releasing their most recent album "She's a machine" throughout Europe on June 20. Expect European tourdates to be announced soon as well.
Marit Bergman's nice new single "Straight into my lovers arms" is now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/maritbergman
Subscribers can download the track from the lounge section of her website or you can also purchase it from iTunes, et al. Also, let it be known that new Marit Bergman subscribers joining up this month are eligible to win a drawing for a new Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone, pre-filled with Marit's music.
Aversionline reviews the Lighthouse Project/Satura Lanx split "Come to accept": http://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2008/05/05/lighthouse-projectsatura-lanx-come-to-accept-split-7/
Here is the It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 tracks of the week:
01. Coldplay - Violet Hill
02. The Radio Dept. - Freddie and the trojan horse
03. Håkan Hellström - för en lång lång tid
04. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
05. Lykke Li - Little Bit
06. M83 - Kim & Jessie
07. Håkan Hellström - Sång I Buss På Villovägar 2007
08. Håkan Hellström - För sent för Edelweiss
09. Håkan Hellström - Tro Och Tvivel
10. Markus Krunegård - Jag Är En Vampyr
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
MP3: Namur - Draw us near
The best religious music is ostensibly about struggle. Not just the struggle between good and evil/heaven and hell, but the struggle of faith. Remember, the name Israel (as given to Jacob) literally means "to wrestle with angels" or, to extrapolate further, to wrestle with God or even to wrestle with the idea of God itself. The music of Namur possesses a yearning quality that exemplifies this, the struggle to put faith into song, to cleave to God in a meaningful way. There's no hokey sentimentalism, rather there is honest feeling and emotion. You'd never know it from the sound of most contemporary "worship music", but faith is not necessarily an easy thing. Heartfelt platitudes, however well-intentioned, don't do it justice. When faith is challenged and those challenges overcome, only then can be considered strong. Namur is sacred music, but not in the way you might expect, but in a way that I find eminently satisfying. It's glorious, but it is not so easily accessible. The title itself, "Draw us near", suggests an absence or a distance to be traversed. By burying his vocals deep in the mix, David Åhlén further muddles the contention of the subject matter. We struggle to do good, to be closer to God, but it is not easy. Or, to flip the biblical decree that "God made us in His image" on its head, perhaps we struggle to be more like God ourselves (if this is the case, may your God be benevolent and kind as opposed to angry and full of wrath). Essentially, an insurmountable task; a job that will never be truly finished. I hear this music as a way of reaching out and it moves me, even though we don't share the same faith. It's Namur's passion that is most important and, on this track, that passion is unmistakable.
Namur - Draw us near
Sorry, no new Gbg Spotlight content this week -- I have multiple interviews in progress, but nothing ready for posting just yet. Expect the series to return this coming Saturday.
Teitur
Live @ Health Sunday, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, 05/04/08
Seeing as how this was Health Sunday, the rating is obvious. However, for those whom are unaware, Health Sunday consists mainly of playing soccer, and that is just what we did. We were graced this past weekend by the Faroese band Teitur, who, amidst their US tour, could not turn down an opportunity to partake in a match. A lovely day it was, sunny and around 70°F, the the lads did not disappoint. Singer Teitur Lassen had quite the success at the forward position, both assisting and scoring; and bassist Mikael Blak was a stalwart in the midfield slot. WIth a majority of the tour to go in support of their new album "The singer" (out soon), perhaps you can coax the band into playing a match -- I don't think it would be too difficult.
- Matt Giordano
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Johan Heltne - Din alkoholism är ingen alkoholism
02. TALK 1
03. Doktor Kosmos - Doktor Kosmos spelar på Tensta torg
04. Oliver North Boy Choir - New folder
05. Firefox AK + Laid - Once I was like you
06. TALK 2
07. THe Eight Arms Around You - Guilt ridden
08. Efterklang - Step aside
09. Orjan Hultén Trio ft. Fakir Karlsson - Untitled
10. TALK 3
11. Kornstad Trio - Intornette
12. Dmitry Fydorov - Greetings, D!
13. Disfear - Live the storm
14. TALK 4
15. I Are Droid - Time on time
16. Ihsahn - Unhealer
17. Juvelen - Don't mess
18. TALK 5
19. Henrik Rylander - Information and disinformation for alien civilizations
20. Namur - Draw us near
21. Lukestar - Clockworks of tomorrow
22. TALK 6
23. DS-13 - Prechewed rebellion
24. The Kid - Mayhem troopers
25. Sophie Rimheden - Go away
26. Anders Persson och Carl Smith - Morgonsol i April
27. TALK 7
28. Masshysteri - Monoton tid
29. NSI - 12
30. Zanussi Five - Azrah illusion / Street woman
31. TALK 8
32. Washington - Landslide
33. The Grand Opening - Dark dark dawn
34. Bobby and Blumm - Hiss and rustle
35. Paragon - Aavisst
36. TALK 9
37. Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Bebopalulia
Swedish experimental/psych artist The Goner is streaming new tracks from his latest CDR release "Halartrallar": http://www.myspace.com/gonergonergoner
Nice stuff, well worth checking out.
Israeli webzine Metalist has a nice long interview with Finnish artist Niko Skorpio (Thergothon, Haeretici 7o74, Reptiljan, Some Place Else): http://www.metalist.co.il/InterviewPrivate.asp?id=303&lang=eng