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I finally did my Kent homework last year, meaning I dug out all the old records and listened to them all over again - everything to be fully prepeared when "Tillbaka till samtiden" hit the shelves. With the album being somewhat of a dissapointment, however just a minor one, and with the prevoius experiences (all bad) I've had with Kent live, I had no real expectations when I arrived at Skövde Hockey Arena just in time to catch opening act Familjen (nope, not the right place for Jonas T. Karlsson and his buddy for the night, Andreas Tilliander). Kent playing in a Hockey Arena, taste that one. All signs pointed towards the same thing - this was going to be a horrifying night to remember. And oh how I was right! On everything except for the horrifying part. Tonight Jocke Berg and co. totally blows my mind, Hockey Arena or no Hockey Arena. I've never witnessed the band so intense and concentrated - it's just brilliant! All the hit songs are included, both old ones and new ones, even though one might argue that just about all Kent songs are hit songs, and the visual part of the show is breathtaking. The pick of the night must be the upbeat disco version of "Dom andra", with the extended version of "Mannen i den Vita Hatten (16 år senare)" coming in close behind. This was truly a pleasant surprise.
- Christian Stenbacke
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I've got a soft spot for the type of pop punk that Punched Out (from northern Sweden) play. It sounds a bit like The Queers with some Social Distortion riffs thrown in for good measure, along with catchy choruses and predominately silly lyrics about being a loser. It's not very original at all, but executed well. The lyrics are perhaps Punched Out's weakness; I don't think there's a single sentence on the entire EP that I haven't heard in a song previously, but even though it sometimes verges on being just a bit too cheesy, it works okay most of the time. I'd definitely go to one of their shows and buy any forthcoming albums from Punched Out. One to watch for all you old school pop-punk fans out there!
- Simon Tagestam
This week's guest in our ongoing Göteborg spotlight series is Johan Gustavsson. Besides being a triumphant Guitar Hero player (seriously!), he keeps himself very, very busy performing music solo under the alias Tsukimono, as well as playing with groups such as Scraps of Tape, Viktor Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble, Alina, the new band The VIII Arms Around You and tons more. Keeping track of 'em all is near-impossible. Anyhow, I had questions and he was happy to supply some answers:
How long have you lived in GBG?
I've basically been living here for a year now. The first 6-7 months I kept working in Skåne, the south of Sweden, where I'm from. That meant a lot of driving and more or less living in my car, traveling between 3 different cities all the time.
But now I'm here and have been here full time since August 07.
Where did you move from and why?
I moved up here from Malmö for love. I met the greatest person and we decided to try and make it work out together. I was also losing my apartment in Malmö and I needed to get out of the situation I was stuck in at the time. Things have
worked out for the better.
Favorite part about the city? Least favorite?
I really like Gbg in general, I like walking in the city even though I do it a lot less than I'd like. I live in Majorna and
there is just a lot of nice things to look at and to take to heart.
Least favourite? The weather... for sure. Windy and rainy... but it's ok.
Do you think that there's a particular Gbg sound? If so, how would you describe it?
Nah, I think what's so good about the music from Gbg is that it's all really diverse. You can find anything here, and
most of the time it's pretty damn good too. And with people like Christian Pallin/Koloni around who organizes shows and happenings all year-round, you get pretty spoiled with
opportunities to see interesting and odd bands/artists from all over the world.
How would you say the city inspired you?
I've been getting more back into punk and hardcore/metal again... which is great! There's a good scene here.
Started a few new bands, played with great people, met wonderful people with a real desire to do good and who have their
hearts 100% in what they do. It's pretty hard to not get inspired by stuff like that. I've also been getting better at saying no
and to not go everywhere and not do everything. To have the ability to not do things is very liberating.
Is there a particular piece that you've done that you feel was directly influenced by and/or provides a good reflection of the city?
Well, there's also a compilation coming out entitled "Gothenburg 08", which will be released by Fang Bomb... it'll feature me, Viktor Sjöberg, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words and many others... the track on there is about Gbg but since it's not released yet I'm not sure that's a good idea.
However, my new album coming out on Kalligrammofon, the "Heart attack money" cd, kinda touches on Gbg a lot too, so let's go for "Gloomy Sunday". It's being mastered this week Henrik Oja (The Spacious Mind, Säkert!) and Jonas Rosén (Female Anchor Of Sade, Asterisk*) so I'm super-psyched to hear the results soon.
Look for the album to receive a proper release soon, but in the meantime, here's the unmastered version of "Gloomy Sunday" to whet your thirst. Highly recommended!
Tsukimono - Gloomy Sunday
The new In Flames single "The mirror's truth" is now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/inflames
Check out the 3-part documentary "So run the tears like wine" on (the self-explanatory) Jori Hulkkonen and His Experimental Piece For 10 Roland TB-303s: http://www.sahkorecordings.com/vid_303orchestra.php
Very recommended!
Plastic Strip and Jazzagression Records are collaborating on a CD and vinyl reissue of the two Guttorm Guttormsen Quartet albums "Soturnudi" (1975) and "Albufeira" (1979). They describe the material as a mix of spiritual and Latin jazz with folk music inspiration and a "Norwegian lyrical quality". For more info, go here: http://www.plasticstrip.no/Guttorm%20Guttormsen%20Quartet.html
Moonbabies are giving away mp3s for an old, out-of-print 7" first released in 2002: http://www.moonbabiesmusic.com/
The band is currently taking time off to work on their next album.
Torpedo's latest single "Time machine" is now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/torpedo
New Efterklang tourdates:
03/26 - The Talking Heads, Southampton (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
03/27 - Hare & Hounds, Birmingham (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
03/28 - Corporation, Sheffield (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
03/29 - The Button Factory, Dublin (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
03/30 - Cyprus Avenue, Cork (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
03/31 - The Point, Cardiff (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
04/01 - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
04/02 - Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (UK) w/Our Broken Garden, Wildbirds & Peacedrums
04/03 - Pressure Point, Brighton (UK) w/Our Broken Garden
04/05 - Grand Mix, Lille (FRA)
04/07 - Point Ephemere, Paris (FRA)
04/08 - tba
04/09 - tba
04/10 - tba
04/11 - Vera, Groningen (NL)
04/12 - Motel Mozaique Festival, Rotterdam (NL)
04/13 - Ekko, Utrecht (NL)
Look for a new 7" single featuring the track "Caravan" to be released soon. Director Anders Morgenthaler is working on a video as well.
Swedish melancholy folk act Amandine will be releasing a new two-track digital single in March to coincide with a new batch of European tourdates. Both songs are from the sessions for their most recent album "Solace in sore hands".
The title of Almedal's new album has been revealed as "Från och med nu och 20 dagar framåt". As mentioned before, it comes out March 19 via Luxury.
Adrian Recordings will release "Huvudet i sanden" as Familjen's next single as a special 12-track (!!!) special edition. Here's the tracklist:
01. Huvudet i sanden - album version
02. Huvudet i sanden - Kasper Bjørke remix
03. Feber - Krazy Fiesta remix
04. Huvudet i sanden - featuring Adam Tensta
05. Det snurrar i min skalle - Mike Downey remix
06. Huvudet i sanden - Perfume Uniform remix
07. Hög luft – The Field remix
08. Det snurrar i min skalle – Pluxus remix
09. Det snurrar i min skalle - Boeoes Kaelstigen's Tri Tub remix
10. Huvudet i sanden - Tomi Kiiosk remikksi
11. Feber - DJ Wool remix
12. Huvudet i sanden - Kid in the Air remix
Kasper Bjørke? Adam Tensta? The Field? Holy shit, that's a lineup! Look for the whole damn thing to be streaming on myspace beginning on February 27 and also keep an eye out for a new video from director Johan Söderberg.
MIC Norway on the new Kaizers Orchestra album "Maskineri" which is now streaming at myspace: http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2008021513543254322270
Check out a new music video from skweee artist Joxaren: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hqw6P_PVh8
Swedish folk artist Jakob Olausson contributes to Dusted's weekly "Listed" feature: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/713
Kent
Punched Out
