I have to be honest, I wasn't that keen on Lo-Fi-Fnk's debut EP "...and the JFG?" that came out last year. Amid brilliant releases from other Swedish "electro duos", such as The Tough Alliance, Three is a crowd, Cat5, and Le Sport (then known as Eurosport), Lo-Fi-Fnk just didn't cut it. Now, with no new TTA material around, a dissapointing album from TIAC, Cat5's album yet to be released, and an album from Le Sport that's got a lot of great songs although I've heard most of them before - "Boylife" comes as a true saviour. The first half of the album is superior to the second, but that's mainly due to starting off with the two magnificent tracks "City" and "Adore". If you're into any of the bands I mentioned above, you should check this one out as well; it's one of my favourites of the year so far.
- Simon Tagestam
This record just may be the best one released in the pre-summer months, and will prove listenable throughout said sunny days and warm nights. Peter Bjorn and John offer up their third proper full-length here, and although I was skeptical at first, upon more listens I'm finding myself loving this. It could just be the trees and flowers blooming and that everytime I listen to the album it's bright and sunny out, but I also think it's the trio's songwriting. With this record they have honed their craft into lilting pop melodies, yet still retaining the sounds and production values older fans have grown to love. "Young folks" is a damn fine first single, but the real highlights are "Amsterdam", "Paris 2004", "Let's call it off" and "The chills", with the last song containing one of the most beautiful closings I've heard in a long while. It may take the older fans a little while to get acclimated to a happier Peter Bjorn and John, but once you do, you'll realize that this record fits perfectly in the collection of what is becoming a tour de force in Swedish music.
- Matt Giordano
I've always been a fan of male vocalists with really high voices. From Jon Anderson to Thom Yorke to Daniel Smith, there's something really compelling about both naturally high pipes as well as falsettos stretched to the max. So when Avi described Eric Beyond as having such a voice, I was immediately interested. And this self-titled release does not disappoint. It's a curious blend of styles, mostly a kind of proggy psychedelia with both pop and musical theatre underpinnings. Remarkably, the disc is only half an hour long, yet the instrumental passages (and a few tunes like "Seabisquit" are entirely instrumental) unquestionably recall the halcyon days of '70s prog; you can hear a bit of Yes, Faust and others in the arrangements. On "If this is the way", Beyond sings "If this is the way everything is falling apart/I want it to happen," going to the upper reaches of his falsetto on that latter phrase. You almost hold your breath listening to it. The pretty piano ballad "Shadows" also gives him a chance to go up, up and away, while on the uptempo "I don't follow", great bass and percussion work (and the guitar parts dazzle throughout) share impact with the hilarious lyric "I got to admit it, I can't listen to you/Cause you're consuming too much contemporary Cul-CHUR," Beyond singing the last syllable high and, uh, outside. Big fun! There's a couple of almost-normal indie-pop kinda songs here like "One of those days", but most of this is willfully eccentric stuff, and if you can't take that voice, you'll be weirded out immediately. Me, I dug the heck out of this; it really doesn't sound much like anything else, and I wish it had been twice as long.
- Kevin Renick
Many people consider them to be Sweden's most overrated band, but Refused's influence is undeniable. I personally go back and forth on my feelings with regards to their legacy, but I cannot deny that "The shape of punk to come" blew me away when it first came out. I have yet to see the "Refused are fucking dead" DVD, but I'm still quite curious even though almost all of what I've heard about it has been less than positive. As an aside, the title is a reference to a song by Born Against, possibly the greatest hardcore act of the 90s. Or at least one of the most important. I'm not sure about all the backstory, but it involves beef with the dudes from Sick of it All and I'd imagine there's a good summation of events somewhere out there. Anyhow, for today's Friday mp3 post I've dug up an old version of Refused's "New noise from the "Straight edge as fuck III" compilation released back in 1997 by xDesperate Fightx, the label that defined the zeitgeist of the legendary hardcore scene in Umeå in the 90s. Enjoy!
If you're on the fence about attending that Marit Bergman/Firefox AK show at Tack! Tack! Tack! May 15, I'm gonna let you in a secret that should hopefully help make up your mind: if you don't buy tickets before Monday, you will end up paying more money 'cuz the price goes up. It's pretty much a given that the show will sell out, so get on it if you want in. Remember: you snooze, you lose.
Check out a stream of the new Fibes, Oh Fibes! single: http://www.fibesohfibes.com/
Swedish Love Story (SLS) has posted some new songs for download on their horrible flash-heavy website: http://www.slsmusic.se/
Mexican netlabel Poni Republic recently posted a comp for free download featuring a new song from Swedish artish Musika 77: http://www.ponirepublic.com/#music
Swedish punks Kamikatze have confirmed that their new album "Knit and trash" will be officially released on July 3 and they'll celebrate a full month earlier with a show on June 8 at "Nya Aktivitetshuset" in Malmö with Beyond Pink and Vicious Irene.
Finnish doom-metallers Callisto have posted yet another new song on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/callistochaos
22-Pistepirkko has posted a new video of "This time" for streaming: http://www.22-pistepirkko.net/hankstvset.html
Swedish electronic/experimental artist Viktor Sjöberg (who also plays with IAT.MP3 artists Sonores - look to the right) has posted some of the artwork for his new CD "On a winter's day", to be released shortly via Kalligrammofon. Check it: http://elefanten.blogspot.com/2006/04/relations-and-dynamics.html
Two new live shows for The Knife:
06/06 - La Loco, Paris (FRA)
08/11 - Sonnemondsterne festival, Saalsburg (GER)
Check out an ecard for the new Satyricon album "Now, diabolical": http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/satyricon/
Peter Bjorn and John
Sir Eric Beyond and the Avant-garde
