More Britta Persson at Fluxblog: http://www.fluxblog.org/2008/04/memories-and-fantasies.html
I still have copies available for mailorder should you be interested: [click here]
Discobelle has a new Alvy Singer remix of "Goda dagars magi" by Petter: http://www.discobelle.net/2008/04/11/petter-goda-dagars-magi-alvy-singer-remix/
Swedish postpunk act The Je Ne Sais Quoi have a new 12" single called "Making love with time" out now on Knife Slits Water. Stream the title track at myspace and check the blog for more details: http://www.myspace.com/thejenesaisquoi
Renown Icelandic label Smekkleysa/Bad Taste is putting on a special showcase festival in Belgium on April 30 at Bozar Art Centre in Bruxelles. More info and sound samples: http://www.myspace.com/badtaste4ever
Danish act Cartridge is offering up a free download of their single "The woods" to coincide with their current German tour: http://www.tonspion.de/mp3.php?mp3=4710&stil=&seite=1&order=charts&chars=a
More tour pics and videos at the band's website: http://www.cartridge.dk/
Norwegian new-wave pop act Surferosa has added a few new tracks to their myspace player: http://www.myspace.com/surferosa
The band's new album "The beat on the street" is out now.
Norwegian act Pale Kids report that they are done recording their new album and getting ready for mixing: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=8785674&blogID=377396812
Danish indierockers Marvins Revolt are keeping a blog doing while they tour the UK: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=36067944&blogID=377795493
The new Cult of Luna album "Eternal kingdom" is done and confirmed for release on June 16 in Europe, July 8 in the US. Cover art and details: http://earachenews.blogspot.com/2008/04/cult-of-luna-announce-new-album-title.html
Songs I Wish I Had Written has posted the video for the new Moto Boy single "Ride my wild heart": http://songsiwish.com/motoboy/ride/
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Boys of Scandinavia - Worse than a girl
02. TALK 1
03. Markus Krunegård - Jag är en vampyr
04. Deathbed - Neon light fantasy
05. The Grand Opening - Dark dark dawn
06. TALK 2
07. The Bear Quartet - I have an itch
08. C.Aarmé - Dustin
09. Noxagt - Wall's end
10. TALK 3
11. Menfolk - Hell is in Texas
12. Detektivbyrån - Hemvägen
13. Folk&Røvere - Solveigs sang
14. TALK 4
15. Bobby Baby - Goodbye love
16. Häive - Raina: Yömyrsky
17. Peter Bjorn and John - All those expectations
18. TALK 5
19. Meleeh - Vittra
20. Rigas - The hardest pocket to pick
21. The Kid - Mayhem troopers
22. TALK 6
23. Cortex - Warrior night
24. Tiger Lou - The war between us
25. Sophie Rimheden - Stay the night (ft. Adam Tensta)
26. TALK 7
27. Moto Boy - Beat heart
28. Nina Ramsby & Martin Hederos - Kanske jag kommer hem
29. September Malevolence - Who watches the watchmen?
30. TALK 8
31. Säkert! - Sanningsdan
32. Paper - Before that day
33. Moonbabies - Walking on my feet
34. TALK 9
35. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
36. Stina Nordenstam - Trainsurfing
37. Red Moon - The height
38. TALK 10
39. Broder Daniel - When we were winning
Envelopes
Here comes the wind
Brille
Despite them paraphrasing Bonnie Tyler, sometimes cramming one to many ideas into a song, and a some general "wackiness", Envelopes are utterly charming. I love their first album, so it's great to hear that they've managed to get even better for their second one. They've got magnificent melodies, alternating boy/girl vocals (something that all bands would be better off with, as far as I'm concerned), original lyrics and they sound a bit like a mix between Beat Happening, Violent Femmes and Velvet Underground, but without coming across as dated (they sound very 2008, in a good way). I've been listening to this album now constantly for many weeks, and my love for it just grows day by day. "Here comes the wind" is a super fresh and varied album that deserves to be heard by everyone, and it makes me hope for a long and productive career from Envelopes.
- Simon Tagestam
MP3: The Violent Years - Embrace
I'm on the road this week for my dayjob, so contributor Nancy Baym has been kind enough to take on today's mp3 post:
The Violent Years are an Oslo band who play a dark, melancholic, alt-country influenced Americana flavored rock in somewhat of the same tradition of Midnight Choir or, at times, Madrugada. They were one of the better bands I saw at by:Larm last February. This song is rich in atmosphere, and laden with haunting melodies that are never too oppressive or heavy. The guitar is nicely twangy, the singing straightforward and expressive, the rhythm section spacious and solid, and the feel simultaneously gritty and pretty. It makes me optimistic about their debut ep due to be released this spring.
The Violent Years - Embrace
Various Artists
Elektronisk kompilation
Stupid Dream
This compilation starts up with a very annoying house song by Cotton Crew that could have put me off right away. Fortunately, this is one of the most inconsistent compilations ever, thus, there are still a few enjoyable numbers. The whole thing is a bit unsettling to listen to from start to finish as it jumps from straight house to a more lo-fi approach and to hip-hop influenced beats from one song to another. There's quite a bit of house on here though, which is a bit weird to me as I really thought people didn't listen to that shit anymore, same goes for a few drum'n'bass numbers that just felt so 1999. That being said, there are a few psytrance, drill and bass and psy-minimal tracks that are OK, but perhaps the most disappointing aspect is the lack of truly stellar tracks that would make me want to purchase singles or albums from any of these artists except for maybe Discolor.
- Simon Thibaudeau
MP3: Djembefitta - Lars Ulrich
When Djembefitta first wrote to me and outlined their treatise of hate with regards to "typical" Göteborg indierock, I knew I had to follow up with them and learn more. This week's entry in our ongoing Gbg-spotlight series does just that.
You guys have declared war on Gbg indiepop. What is it about that stereotypical sound that makes you so angry? What do you have to offer instead? What do you hope to accomplish?
Well, me (Ronny) and Sonny were talking the other day about older Swedish women going to Gambia in Africa to find their toy boys, and we figured out it's the exact same women who enroll into Djembe drum classes. It's probably lost on an American like yourself, but anyone from here would understand what we're talking about. Gross women who take advantage of young guys.
Now that we have a really lousy singer, like all big bands from Gothenburg, we are just waiting for the fucking money to roll right in! People are so stupid!
While your distaste for the sound of Håkan Hellström/BCQ/Broder Daniel/Jens Lekman/etc. is clear, are there any Gbg bands that you actually like? Is there another local scene there worth investigating, either now or in the past?
There's no scene worth investigating really. And when we are done there will be no other scene to talk about except for the new thrash/punk scene! You should investigate older swedish women going to Gambia though. They are really nasty! Is it even legal?
Actually the only scene worth checking out in retrospect is the bay area thrash scene from 1981-1986. We fucking love the big 4. Except for Anthrax with Joey Primadonna. Plus they were really from NY.
So who are you guys exactly? Have you lived in Gbg for a long time or did you move there from somewhere else? What keeps you there? What makes Gbg better or worse than other big cities in Sweden?
If we told you who we are we would have the fucking cops and kronofogden on our asses in a split second! Plus Siewert Öholm would accuse us of being satanists.
Gothenburg is really rainy and windy and it makes us pissed off. It's a good feeling!
Next question!
What other things do you hate that you haven't written songs about yet? Is there anything that makes you happy?
We hate a lot of stuff. Not all of our songs are about hate though. Some are about getting wasted. We are happy when we are wasted. Happy drunks. We might write a song about people who buy records by bands from this city with singers who sing out of tune. They are the ones who are REALLY stupid! And they're gonna love us! Now where's my beer?
Got a song to share with our readers? Want to tell us about it?
We have this song called "Lars Ulrich". He's such an easy target, but we had to do it anyway. It's about how he can be such a lousy drummer, and still be in polls for "best metal drummer". It's almost as funny as saying Håkan Hellström is the best singer in Sweden. I wish he still wore that funny fucking sailor outfit though. He used to be so cute. Håkan that is. A funny sailor dude singing out of tune about how he's drunk and lonely and the masses go: "We love this guy!" Ha, ha! Lars Ulrich is kinda the Håkan Hellström of Metal. A funny Danish guy who's drunk and plays drums like a fucking windmill.
One last thing, what can we expect from Djembefitta in the future? Any chance you'll play live? Or put out a proper record?
If we can stay out of jail and someone gives us a shit load of money we'll do it. We are only in it for the money!
Djembefitta - Lars Ulrich