Broder Daniel will play Way Out West this year as a tribute to departed guitarist Anders Göthberg: http://www.wayoutwest.se/
MP3: Anders Persson och Carl Smith - Morgonsol i April
When people talk about 70s rock revival, they're usually talking about hard rock or prog or some other style in line with people's memory of 70s excess. They certainly don't mean wimpy AM gold like Anders Persson och Carl Smith (for non-Swedish speakers, och = and). But that's exactly what this is: a relic of another time. Soft fingerpicked guitars, wistful vocals and the kind of lazy afternoon vibe you just don't hear anymore. I know the whole Swedish ballad/visor tradition is still alive and well, but I can't remember any modern examples that have sounded so sweet except for maybe Sofia Karlsson, but I consider her to be more of a folk artist than anything else. Am I missing something? Let me know! File this one under pleasant surprises.
Anders Persson och Carl Smith - Morgonsol i April
Hybris is offering up the brand new Elias and the Wizzkids single "24" as a free download: http://hybrism.blogspot.com/2008/04/elias-and-wizzkids-24-new-single-for-dl.html
David Åhlén has resurrected his Namur moniker and released a brand new single "Draw us near", now available for free download w/b-side: http://www.namurmusic.com/
The latest "Show No Mercy" column at Pitchfork features interview content with Finnish artists Children of Bodom and Azaghal: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/50073-column-show-no-mercy
Borko
Celebrating life
Morr Music
The album cover and track titles would lead you to believe that "Celebrating life" is a lighthearted affair, but the actual material present on the record is much less jocular than one might expect. Borko are very much an Icelandic affair, sharing some aesthetic traits with Múm and, at times, Sigur Rós – especially on "Shoo ba ba" which oddly parallels features of the "Music for split sides" EP Sigur Rós released in 2004, sometimes referred to by its track names: "Ba ba / Ti ki / Di do". This said, Borko are less sprawling than Sigur Rós and, at times, more organically composed than Múm. These similarities and disparities, paired with the overly-apparent blitheness, allow Borko quite a bit of freedom. "Summer logic", one of the more demure tracks on "Celebrating life", flows into the playful, shifting "Doo doo doo" with little difficulties. "Spoonstabber" feels much more akin to an experimental Seabear composition than any of other the aforementioned Icelandic groups, yet not divorced from the rest of the material. As quirky as serious music can be, "Celebrating life" feels lost somewhere between an indirect, ambient Broken Social Scene and a more instrumentally-anchored Múm, and definitely worth a listen. m
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Finnish alt-country act Latebirds have finished recording their new album "Last of the good ol' days" and expect to release it this coming fall. Expect a US tour around that time as well.
Stereo Subversion interviews The Bell: http://www.stereosubversion.com/interviews-features/the-bell/
Promising Danish act Front and the Factory Lies Beneath (see here) have shortened their name to the much more manageable Front and the Factory and likewise streamlined their sound. Listen to four brand new tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/frontfactory
Listen to Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John) do a live performance on WNYC Soundcheck: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2008/04/21/segments/97157
Kning Disk will release the new Erik Enocksson album "With its dark tail curled ’round the garage" on May 11 in an exclusive run of 500 handmade copies. More details: http://www.kningdisk.com/02_releases_kd052.asp?id=1035
Isolation Years, Jennie Abrahamsson and Fredrik Fagerlund will play a record release show on April 24 at Scharinska in Umeå for the new Norrland music comp "Pure North". Find out more at myspace or see this article at Västerbottens Folkblad for a full tracklist.
Swedesplease talks to Those Dancing Days in anticipation of seeing them at Hultsfred and gets a bit of news about the group's forthcoming single + album: http://www.swedesplease.net/?p=1084
Detektivbyrån will release the album "E18" in Japan via P-Vine Records. Said album is a collection of everything the band has recorded so far including the brilliant "Hemvägen" EP plus "Lyckans undulat", the song from the split 7" w/Hemstad and one bonus track. Official release date is May 2 and cover art can be viewed here: http://detektivbyran.blog.com/3035608/
PopMatters reviews Kamera's US debut "Ressurection": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/56029/kamera-resurrection/