New European dates for Danish noisepop act Death By Kite:
03/27 - Steinbruch, Duisburg (GER)
03/28 - Mariaberg, Rorschach (CH)
03/29 - Kiff, Aarau (CH)
03/31 - Zwölfzehn, Stuttgart (GER)
04/03 - Yeah! Club // Rockhouse Bar, Salzburg (AUS) w/The Jessica Fletchers
04/04 - Das Bett, Frankfurt am Main (GER)
04/05 - Cube, Paderborn (GER)
04/06 - Damen Und Herren (Accoustic afternoon concert), Düsseldorf (GER)
It's the 29th of the month, so that means it's time once again for a new mp3 single from Adrian Recordings artist Dmitry Fyodorov. Download "1987" here: http://www.adrianrecordings.com/1987.mp3
Umeå-based act Cocoanut Groove has signed with Fridlyst and will be releasing their debut album "Madeleine Street" in April along with a new 7" single on UK label Phonic Kidnapping Records. In related news, look for a new record from Bolywool on Fridlyst in the near future as well.
Norwegian psych-rock act Gravel Control has posted some new material on myspace from their forthcoming full-length, due out this fall: http://www.myspace.com/gravelcontrol
Check out a short, but silly video documentary on Danish hardcore act The Psyke Project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phla5ABNG_k
IAT.MP3 artists The Grand Opening have confirmed that the excellent new album "Beyond the brightness" will be released on April 4. Check out the new website for more details or head to myspace to hear some new songs: http://www.myspace.com/thegrandopening
Also check the sidepanel for updated tourdates.
Remember De Stijl? They were one of the many Swedish garage-rock bands that got hyped on the coattails of The Hives' success. At least that's the way it appeared to me, though Sweden has a long tradition of great bands in this vein, stretching back to scene godfathers the Nomads. Like many people (I imagine), I first became aware of the stuff through The Hellacopters before discovering the superb "Swedish sins '97" comp which of course led to more and more bands. But that's a post for another time- today we're talking about De Stijl and the single "Date times" off the 2003 record "Yeahvolution!". It's snotty, brash and undeniably catchy, especially with those tuneless frat-rock backups. It's not the kind of thing that'll change your life, but it'll certainly brighten up 90 seconds of your day. So where are these guys now? I know they released a follow-up in 2005, but I haven't heard anything since?
De Stijl - Date times
Looks like my suspicions about the return of Zeigeist were correct - the Swedish pop/electro/art-rock group who first rose to prominence by including the track "Tar heart" in an early leak of The Knife's "Silent shout" is back and now signed to Imperial Recordings in cooperation with previous label Spegel. Look for the single "Bunny/Humanitarianism" on April 2 with the album "The Jade Motel" to follow on April 30.
New tourdates for I'm From Barcelona:
04/24 - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
04/25 - Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
04/27 - Coachella
04/28 - El Rey, Los Angeles, CA
04/29 - The Independent, San Fransisco, CA
05/01 - Masonic Temple, Brooklyn NYC
05/09 - Nuits Botanique, Brussels (BEL)
05/10 - Ten Vrede, Diksmuide (BEL)
07/03 - Quartfestivalen, Kristiansand (NOR)
07/04 - Bygdalarm, Oystese (NOR)
07/18 - Les Arts á La Champagne, Poupet (FRA)
07/19 - Festival de Thau, Thau (FRA)
DownstairsThis record released an outpouring of nostalgia from my experiences in the early 00s. Almost an extension of the sound At the Drive-In (minus Cedric Bixler-Zavala's trademark vocal range) were carving out with their last record "Relationship of command", Downstairs continue the experimental and embracive attitude numerous post-hardcore bands adopted to further a sound that was beginning to stagnate. One can hear a touch of an Arcade Fire influence at the end of "Shudder shudder", as well as the affect of hours of listening to punk and angular indie rock, especially bands like ¡Forward, Russia!, throughout the record. It is nearly impossible to pin "Oh father" down easily or successfully, a credit to the musicians behind its craftsmanship, nor is it fair to rely on comparisons alone to define the album.
"This is so five years ago," my roommate just commented as he walked by my open door. Indeed, Downstairs are much more aligned with the end of the hardcore and post-hardcore movement than they are with the contemporary Scandinavian scene, but they bring an awareness of the years that have passed since then to the table as well. Trips down memory lane aren't usually accompanied with a soundtrack as good as this.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Universal Poplab's new album "Seeds" is confirmed for release on May 7 via Wonderland Records. Look for videos for the singles "Fame & hate" and "On the run" to be released in the near future.
Swedish rock'n'roll label Bootleg Booze will be putting out two new 7"s on March 14, one from Gbg-based act Four Flamingos and a split featuring The Ruling Class from Västerås and UK band Black Radio. Check the Bootleg Booze site for samples and more details: http://www.myspace.com/bootlegbooze
Swedish female-fronted indiepop act Ironville has posed a bunch of new tracks on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ironville
Swedish artists Erik Devahl is offering up a collection of old recordings for free download: http://www.erikdevahl.com/home/news.html
He says about them: "Some of them are silly, some songs are not very well treated and a few are unfinished since I've lost the recordings. Just some old rejected recordings, decent mistakes, sincere failures etc."
