Check out a video from Marybell Katastrophy showing all the work that went into painting the covers for her new 10" record "You are the two": http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32173294
Here's the new video for "Never gonna make it" from Norwegian rockers The Wonderfools: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmKoQnxNqCM
Daniel Hansson, the CEO and co-founder of Swedish electronic musical instrument company Elektron, passed away last year and now a selection of artists from the Elektron community are giving back with a tribute in his honor: http://www.45tribute.com/
$5 for 30 tracks? Hard to go wrong there, especially when the proceeds go to charity, not to mention some of the big names involved such as Autechre, Dntel, Venetian Snares, Daedelus, Kim Hiorthøy and John Tejada. For a handful of free tracks and more info, go here: http://45tribute.com/node/8
Check out the new video for "Action" from Finnish indierock act Blanket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX_ueCwf1Q0
PSL pays tribute to Anders Göthberg (Broder Daniel): http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2008/04/11/minnen-med-anders-gothberg-910-1975-303-2008/
Malmö-based act Housewife Lovers have made it on the Pitchfork Forkcast: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/49634-the-housewife-lovers-out-of-school-mp3stream
If you're curious about picking up a copy of the band's 10", I should be getting copies for resale soon.
The new Hellacopters album "Head off" is streaming on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hellacopters
MP3: Cadillac - Locomotive
I posted Cadillac's cover of "Arabian knights" by Siouxsie and the Banshees way, way back when the album "Magnetic city" first came out, but now with the band broken up and moving on to new projects (New Violators and The Moving Ooos, for example), I figure it's time to revisit 'em. Opening track "Locomotive" provides the best example of what the band was capable of- killer fuzz riffs, breakneck drumming and surprising melodies. I love the rhythm section breakdown on the verse; the toms are so ridiculously busy, but that's what gives the track its tremendous momentum, thus befitting the title. If you dig quirky hard rock like countrymates Motorpsycho or even Queens of the Stone Age, you'll dig this too.
Cadillac - Locomotive
PSA: I'll be on the road all next week, so if you were thinking of purchasing something from the mailorder, I'd suggest you do it by the end of the day. Otherwise, nothing gets shipped out until I return. As for site updates, they'll continue as usual, but perhaps a bit more sporadically. Thanks for your understanding!
I Am Bones
The greater good
Morningside Records
My only true criticism of this album is that it should have followed the delightfully dirty, (dare I say it?) grungy direction that opener "Home is the one corner of hell that didn't catch fire" suggested. There is absolutely no underestimating the depth of my nostalgic descent that occurred as "The greater good" bled alive. I missed that Nirvana shirt that I left carelessly behind at a friend's house in Sweden like I have only ever missed lost loves before... but anyways, sorry about all that. Don't get too caught up in those first few lines, for what follows on I Am Bones' album is quite fantastic, and, to be honest, probably much better than a redefinition of that 'Seattle Sound'. "Leave the city" is yet more evidence that Denmark is home to some of the best indie songsmiths in the world, ones that seamlessly tie the dark to the light, the softly serene to the guttural and distorted, and producing fantastic pieces through this synthesis. Oh, and if you do have a soft spot for Mudhoney, there's more grunginess on "The masterplan", continuing a little into the following track "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing", a song that feels as though it could have been on "Incesticide" or Dinosaur Jr.'s "Bug". The standout, in my opinion, is "Baby, together we can live with ourselves": the most complete amalgamation of the varied influences - grunge, retro-rock, and indie - and individual voice of I Am Bones. "The greater good" functions as a remembrance, a forwarding of these memories, and a strange marker by which to see the progression of the music of my lifetime. While I hope these words inspire you to investigate these Danes and their craft, they do pale service to the music itself. Find a song, any song, and you'll be sold.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Patrol Mag interviews Mathias Stromberg from The Bell: http://www.patrolmag.com/index.php?id=364
Swedish act The Animation is giving away their new single "Overboard" for free: http://theanimation.se/
Look for their debut album in late May/early June.
Renown author/talking head Ian Christe is publishing a US version of Daniel Ekeroth's revered "Swedish Death Metal" book via his newly started Bazillion Points publishing company. Link: http://bangbangblog.info/2008/02/26/swedish-death-metal-awaits/
Check out the video for the new Hellacopters single "In the sign of the octopus": http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=31625298
Germany's Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra has refused to perform Swedish-Israeli composer Dror Feiler's piece "Halat Hisar" ("State of Siege") due to concerns about the work's volume: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/09/worchestra109.xml