Since the label Chalksounds is no more, the label is blowing out all of their old stock: http://chalksounds.com/
I should be getting a few select copies of some of their releases soon for those of you in the US who want to save on shipping.
The trailer for the long-awaiting Refused DVD is now online: http://www.myspace.com/refused
Norrland pop-punk act Action Now has posted a new five-song demo EP for free download: http://www.actionnowrock.com/
Swedish electronic artist Audio Mjao aka Christian Niva has a new five-song EP on Philidelphia-based netlabel TBTMO: http://tbtmo33.tbtmo.com/
Swedish post-rockers Ef have posted a couple new songs from upcoming album "Give me beauty... Or give me death" on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ef
Atomic Swing's anticipated, Pelle Gunnerfeldt-produced comeback album "The broken habanas" has been confirmed for a May 10 release. The first single will be for the song "So mystifying" and a Swedish tour is being booked for the summer.
Updated German dates for Norwegian rockers Tuco's Lounge:
04/28 - Rider´s Cafe, Lübeck
04/29 - Speicher, Schwerin
05/01 - Anyway, Osnabrück
05/02 - Café Glocksee, Hannover
05/03 - White Trash, Berlin
05/04 - Das Netz, Meschede
05/05 - U-Boot, Cottbus
05/06 - Objekt05, Halle/Saale
Pitchfork reviews the new Concretes album and are not impressed: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/c/concretes/in-colour.shtml
Listen for yourself right here: http://www.in-colour.net/
Deathbreath, the new retro death-metal project of Nicke Andersson (The Hellacopters, ex-Entombed), has posted the rough mix of a song for streaming on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/deathbreathdeathmetal
I was expecting much of the typical Swedish/Sunlight Studios sound ala Bloodbath (who totally rule btw), but this is different and totally awesome in its own way.
The Book of Daniel will be launching a new website today where you can download the new EP "Footnotes to the spell of Daylight-Savings Time" for free: http://www.thebookofdaniel.net/
Definitely recommended, especially if you're into melancholy singer/songwriter type stuff.
MP3: Värttinä - Eerama
We're going to have ourselves a theme with this week's mp3 posts and that theme is folk music. I know some of you are probably rolling your eyes at the thought, but I think that learning to appreciate Nordic folk traditions is an important part of understanding what makes Scandinavian music unique. It's amazing how much of it is carried through to other genres too, both in the lyrics and the melodies.
Today's song comes to us from Värttinä, Finland's most well-known folk group. The band has existed in some form or another since 1983 and changed members and labels many times since, but has always retained the same musical vision. Finnish folk is often based on the poems and songs of the Kalevala, Finland's national epic. The music can be similar to a lot of other Eastern European folk, but it's the amazing vocal harmonies that make them special and that's what I'm going to spotlight today with the a capella piece "Eerama". The song is from the group's latest album "Miero", their first for Peter Gabriel's renown Real World label. Some of you might recognize that the sound isn't too far off from Bulgarian vocal music and you'd be right, but it's the incredibly dark and twisted lyrics that separate the Finns from the rest. Just check out the words for "Synti/The sin" in which the narrator wishes her enemies to be cursed with lizard-foetuses. See what I mean? Folk music can be cool.
Värttinä - Eerama
This week's Friday flashback mp3 post comes from Barra Head, a band who I had never really heard much of before this week until I got their 2004 album "We are your numbers" in-stock on both CD and LP. A risky proposition perhaps, but when a label has other amazing bands like Lack and Menfolk, you learn to trust their ears. Barra Head takes obvious cues from Fugazi and other DC hardcore acts (or HarDCore, as it were), but ups the ante with huge syncopated riffs. Whereas Fugazi's rhythm section often dabbles in dub and reggae-inspired beats, Barra Head's bassist often takes a stronger melodic lead when he's not slamming down chords and locked in precise time with the drums. I've said it before, but I don't think it's often enough: this is some of my favorite kind of music. The fact that there aren't more bands doing this sort of stuff is baffling.
In case you missed it yesterday, Hello Saferide's "Long lost penpal" MCD/CDS is now in-stock: [click here]