US dates for Disfear:
04/16 - Knitting Factory, New York, NY
04/17 - Rock n Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
04/18 - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
04/19 - Mr. Roboto Project, Wilkinsburg, PA
04/20 - Pirate's Cove, Cleveland, OH
04/21 - The Melody Inn, Indianapolis, IN
04/22 - Subterranean, Chicago, IL
04/23 - Mac's, Lansing, MI
04/24 - Sneaky Dee's, Toronto, ON
04/25 - Black Dot 7 pm show, Montreal, QC
04/26 - Palladium (New England Metal Fest), Worcester, MA
04/27 - Living Room, Providence, RI
I thought I saw something about West Coast dates in May too, but I don't think anything's 100% confirmed quite yet.
The new Looptroop Rockers (nee Looptroop) album "Good things" is now set for a late April release via Bad Taste Records. The first single "The building" will be out soon (as will European tourdates), but in the meantime, the label is offering up a different track for free download: http://www.mejeriet.net/badtaste/temp/looptroop_rockers_-_marinate.mp3
What are the chances this will be an international crossover success?
Swedish indie/alt-country act Rusty Flores has posted some nice live video clips on their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/rustyflores
64revolt has posted a new track on myspace from their forthcoming album: http://www.myspace.com/64revolt
The new El Perro Del Mar album "From the valley to the stars" is now streaming in its entirety at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/elperrodelmar
Action Biker's debut album "Hesperian Puisto" will finally be released on March 27 via Friendly Noise in connection with a special label showcase to be called "Friendly Night" at Debaser Slussen in Stockholm. Artists Testbild!, Most Valuable Players and Differnet will perform live and it will also celebrate the release of another new disc, "Splendid isolation", an anthology of all of Friendly Noise's mp3 releases to date.
"To her" is the lead single from Paper's upcoming debut album "An object", due out March 15 via Novoton Records. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is yet another one of my most anticipated new releases. The demo tracks were great (see here), but the album versions I've heard so far are even better. More intense, more defined. As before, the sound is deeply rooted in 1980s Swedish postpunk and you can also definitely hear little quirks that call to mind the members' other projects such as Audionom and The Bear Quartet. It's insistent. Maybe even a little bit sinister, though perhaps not as much as "My life is going under" as the 3rd person perspective of the lyrics here creates a natural buffer. Anyhow, it's good stuff and I'm sure I'll be talking about these guys a lot in days to come, so check it out!
Paper - To her
Pitchfork says the new Raveonettes album "Lust lust lust" is their best yet: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48756-lust-lust-lust
9
It was Jens Lekman's third time in Berlin and the venues keep getting bigger. When I saw him last, I was somewhat disappointed (which might have been influenced by having to dodge the trombone player's instrument half the evening) but this night clearly made up for it all. With a slightly reformed band including violin, cello, and Viktor Sjöberg (of Sonores and other projects) on "sounds and electronics", Jens quickly won over an audience that had previously had their enthusiasm dampened by a Placebo-soundalike opening band. Including the samples in the live-show not only widened the possibilities, but also allowed all musicians to take a dance across the stage during "A sweet summer night..." A truly memorable night was then rounded out with Jens thumb-pianoing charmingly through "A little lost" (see here) and then grinning happily while the audience came "running with their heart on fire." The best nights always end too soon, even if you can watch Erlend Øye dance by himself to Bob Marley's "Waiting in vain"...
- Arnulf Köhncke
New arrivals in the mailorder department:
Ef - Give me beauty... or give me death!
Immanu El - They'll come, they come
Ef - I am responsible
Copies on-hand are limited, so if you've been waiting for these I advise you to act fast.
Norwegian doom act Sahg will support Chicago-based legends Trouble on tour in Europe:
04/08 - Estragon, Bologna (ITA)
04/09 - New Age, Treviso (ITA)
04/10 - Rohstofflager, Zürich (SWI)
04/11 - Biebob, Vosselaar (BEL)
04/12 - Turock, Essen (GER)
04/13 - Markthalle, Hamburg (GER)
04/15 - Musikzentrum, Hannover (GER)
04/16 - Batschkapp, Frankfurt (GER)
04/17 - Roxy, Saarbrücken (GER)
04/20 - Dingwalls, London (UK)
Danish artists and "Reader's companion" alums Munck//Johnson will travel to Toronto, Canada to perform at NXNE in June. Look for additional Canadian dates to be announced as well.
Finnish electronic/multimedia artists Pink Twins will be participating in a group exhibition of Finnish artists at the MoMA affiliated PS1 in New York City, set to open this coming June. The Pink Twins contribution will be a multi-channel video installation. Other museum installations in the Pink Twins' future include something at Repeat All at El Museo de la Imagen y del Sonido in São Paulo, Brazil this April as well as a Helsinki City Art Museum exhibition set for August.
Pain is keeping a tour diary and if the pictures they've posted are any indication of what to expect, it's gonna be interesting: http://www.pain.cd/ontour/
Muxika 77 aka Musika 77 are currently at Kepner Treg Studios in Göteborg working on their third album with engineer Per-Ola Eriksson (Boy Omega, Björn Kleinhenz).
Jens Lekman