Danish indie label Speed of Sound reports that the upcoming Baron Criminel album "Rapture" is just about done and that they will also have band friend/esteemed producer Mikkel Holtoug (Death By Kite, Decorate. Decorate., etc.) remix the entire thing for a bonus disc to be included in the release.
Norwegian act Grand Island reports that their new album "Boys and brutes" is done and on-track for an early April release. Look for samples to be posted online soon.
1 more day left to enter the Universal Poplab giveaway! Simply email your name and address to poplab.contest@itsatrap.com for a chance to win a big stack of CDs from the band including the new single "Fame & hate" plus "Uprising" and "Uprising - The remixes".
MP3: Dreamboy - What have I done
I've been meaning to post something from Dreamboy for awhile and I figure that today's a good a day as any, especially since it coincides with the publication of Simon's full album review. Taken as a whole, I don't have much to add to his critique beyond pointing out that Niccokick frontman Andreas Söderlund co-produced half the album, so any comparisons between the two bands are unsurprising. Otherwise, he's right-on, so with that in mind, let's check out a song. "What have I done" is emphatic indierock that reminds me of "Pinkerton"-era Weezer, an album that was a very important part of my freshman year in college. I can't hear stuff like this without thinking back to that year in the dorms. I was already more jaded than most at that point, but with my mid-20s still far ahead of me, I had yet to experience the sort of depressed self-reflection expressed in this song. I know it's ridiculous in retrospect, but I definitely went through a long slump of not knowing what to do with myself as I contemplated my legacy. Ridiculous, right? Thank god age adds perspective.
Dreamboy - What have I done
Dreamboy
It means the world to me
I Can Hear Music
This debut album by Dreamboy (from Stockholm, Sweden) is very impressive, and it received quite good reviews in Sweden and I think they've started to receive some good airplay lately. The album starts out brilliantly - all the best tracks are on the first half of the album, the songs on the second half are like weak imitations of what came before. If I had this album on vinyl, you would be able to come to my house in a few years and eat directly from the b-side, that's how great the difference is. Anyway, Dreamboy have that quirky American-sounding indie pop sound going, and a lot of the songs sound very much like Niccokick (especially the first two) and there's a bit of Shout Out Louds and Weezer in there as well. They've also managed to get a duet with the currently most sought-after duet partner in Sweden – Annika Norlin (Säkert!/Hello Saferide) on "Stockholm, we've got a problem" which is a great song about... Stockholm, but like some of the other songs, it contains some "clever" lyrical references that kind of bug me. That's a minor criticism though, this is an album well worth buying if you're after some well made and quite varied melodic indie rock that packs a punch!
- Simon Tagestam
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Britta Persson - Cliffhanger
02. TALK 1
03. Death By Kite - Sweet M
04. KVLR - Traitors and thieves
05. Anna Ternheim - Today is a good day
06. TALK 2
07. Don Juan Dracula - Take me home (Johan Angebjörn remix feat. Sally Shapiro)
08. Amorphis - Weaving the incantation
09. Thomas Denver Jonsson - Dreams at the film club (feat. Nina Kinert)
10. TALK 3
11. Don't Be A Stranger - Lonely together
12. Madrugada - Tonight I have no words for you
13. Majessic Dreams - Have to go
14. TALK 4
15. Pavan - The bird
16. Bröderna Lindgren - Om en guldfisk (feat. Kristofer Åström)
17. The Tarantula Waltz - Where I end and you begin
18. Adam Tensta - They wanna know
19. TALK 5
20. Commando M Pigg - Mot stjärnorna
21. Gravy - Rock scientists
22. Jonas Game - ADHD
23. TALK 6
24. Linus Larsson & John Roger Olsson - In the shadow
25. Idiot Kid - Go to sleep
26. Mats Öberg - Cool water - på Den Gyldene Freden
27. TALK 7
28. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
29. The Bear Quartet - I would be poor
30. Peloton - Aranburu
31. Royal Downfall - Lightning strikes twice
32. TALK 8
33. Made In Sweden - Winter's a bummer
34. Erik Enocksson - The state the sea left me in
35. Asha Ali - Coward heart
36. TALK 9
37. A-ha - Celice
The Drawbacks
Slightly less vague
Chocolate Hearts
Lo-fi Swedish pop has a way of saturating the spaces around the listener, the warmer, 'dirtier' production unable to contain the sunny or downhearted elements of the music within the song or the stereo, almost carelessly allowing them to bleed out. The Drawbacks are no exception. Almost reveling in its softer, near-garage sound (and the 'authenticity' often afforded to albums with this feel), "Slightly less vague" pushes its creators' brand of indie-rock - "Couch buddies" having a relaxed Strokes feel to it; "Adrenaline" stumbling down more Scandinavian avenues; "Celia", my personal favorite, utilizing the vocal elements of the band to their fullest, creating coalescing strata of voices and instrumentation; "Spain" existing in that strange arena of indie-pop that bands like Springfactory exist so wonderfully within - cute and sunny without being trite or superficial, allowing compositions to be endearing and sweet without sacrificing their sophistication. "Slightly less vague" is engaging and charming, making it all too easy to overlook the few flaws present on the album. If Sambassadeur's progression from "Coastal affairs" to "Migration" is any indication of the heights open to lo-fi indie bands, the future is The Drawbacks' for the taking.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
MP3: Kristofer Åström - The dark
Week #2 of our Göteborg feature. This week's guest: Kristofer Åström. As with last week's post on Björn Kleinhenz, Kristofer was kind enough to answer a few questions about his adopted city.
How long have you lived in Gbg?
About 4 years. 3 years in the countryside outside of Gbg and 1 year in the city.
Where did you move from and why?
I moved from Stockholm after 9 years. That wasn't really my kind of town. I find Gbg easier to live in. And friendlier.
Favorite part of the city? Least favorite?
Haga and Linné are my favourites. Avenyn is the least favourite.
Do you think that there's a particular Gbg sound?
Yes I do. Can't really pinpoint it and I don't consider myself part of it, but there's something special about music from Gbg.
And how has the city inspired you?
It has brought me a lot of inspiring friends and a more active social life which has brought me a lot of ideas.
Today's featured track is "The dark" which comes off his most recent release "RainawayTown", the one album that topped my year-end list for 2007. It's also an album that could not have been made in any other city, as indicated by the title and yes, the sound. The distinction may be hard to pinpoint and Kristofer might even try to deny it, but I think it's true.
Kristofer Åström - The dark
Interested in learning how to play Vapnet's "Jag vet hur man väntar"? Check out a downloadable pdf songbook: http://konstochvanligasaker.se/jagvethurmanvantar/
Norwegian metalcore act Benea Reach has a pretty rad new track on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/beneareach
RIYL The Psyke Project and the like.
The new Tomas Andersson Wij single "Jag har simmat långt ut från land" is now streaming on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tomasanderssonwij
The new album "En sommar på speed" will be out February 20.
The Second Band's new album "The definite form" is confirmed for release on February 2 and they will celebrate with a release party at Club King Kong in Hornstull, Stockholm that same evening.
New European dates for The Hives:
03/27 - Garage, Saarbrücken (GER)
03/28 - Pier 2, Bremen (GER)
03/29 - WDR Rocknacht, Cologne (GER)
03/30 - Roxy, Prague (CZ)
04/01 - Petofi Csarnok, Budapest (HUN)
04/02 - Gasometer, Vienna (AUS)
04/03 - Tonhalle, Munich (GER)
04/04 - Xtra, Zurich (CH)
04/05 - Rolling Stone, Milan (ITA)
04/07 - Apolo, Barcelona (ESP)
04/08 - La Riviera, Madrid (ESP)
04/09 - Coliseum, Lisboa (ESP)
04/11 - Santana 27, Bilbao (ESP)
04/12 - Le Bikini, Toulouse (FRA)
04/14 - UEA, Norwich (UK)
04/15 - Academy, Newcastle (UK)
04/16 - Rockcity, Nottingham (UK)
04/17 - Academy, Bristol (UK)
04/18 - Brixton Academy, London (UK)
04/19 - Printempes de Bourges, Bourges (FRA)
04/20 - Le Zenith, Paris (FRA)