Finland's Echo Is Your Love will tour the US in May with US act Blame Game. Dates so far:
05/15 - Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta, GA
05/17 - Lemp Arts, St. Louis, MO
05/21 - Party Awesome House, Milwaukee, WI
05/24 - Mr. Roboto Project, Pittsburgh, PA
05/26 - 517 Milltown, Wilmington, DE
06/01 - Veggieplex Theatre, Philadelphia, PA
The Candy Mind netlabel has posted a new release from Swedish artist Daniel Andréasson : http://www.candymind.com/
The first single from Swedish singer/songwriter Juni Järvi's upcoming album with be for the song "The stars above Indian Lake" b/w "Falling down like snow". It's due out in late February and will be accompanied by a video and a release party. The upcoming full-length album is just about done as well - it's tentatively due out at the end of March/early April.
Norwegian management/PR firm Bpop has decided to jump into the label business. They will now take it upon themselves to import their acts into neighboring Sweden via the newly founded imprint Bpop Music. Here's what they've got scheduled:
02/15 - Jim Stärk - "Jim Stärk"
03/15 - JR Ewing - "Maelstrom"
04/26 - Real Ones - "Home With The Girls In The Morning"
05/17 - WE - "Smugglers"
06/14 - Datarock - "Datarock Datarock"
07/12 - Vidar Vang - "Vidar Vang"
Distribution will be handled by V2 Scandinavia.
There's a brand new Ariel Kill Him song available for streaming on purevolume: http://www.purevolume.com/arielkillhim
Fluxblog posts a track from Danish act Figurines: http://www.fluxblog.org/2006/01/strange-towns-where-we-will-party.html
Norwegian rockers The Tennessee Beats are back with a revamped lineup and a new website: http://www.tennesseebeats.com/
The Musikbyrån website has now posted a hi-res version of the Robyn/Jenny Wilson performance of "List of demands" along with new videos from Dub Sweden, Stacs of Stamina and The Kid: http://svt.se/musikbyran
Swedish lofi pop collective Models Inc. have released a new album entitled "Season's greetings from Models Inc." More info and samples: http://www.modelsinc.tk/
Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt, The Ring) has a new website for himself: http://www.marcusjidell.com/
CloserAvi likes these Swedes a lot. To be completely honest, this time at least, he is right. Closer combine a few different influences in a melting pot that ends up being better than what their influences have churned out in recent years. There is a bit of Tool, QotSA and a more melodic aspect that reminds me of a few melodic-metal bands of the mid-nineties (Only Living Witness and Chum for example.) Probably not conscious but I find that they resemble 1995-98 Anathema in mood and arrangements while being significantly more up tempo. This EP has me wanting more, can't beat that.
- Simon Thibaudeau
Lovers of the world, listen up. Norway's romantic troubadour, Magnus Eliassen, has just made a singer/songwriter opus that's about as filled with sweet, melodic, achingly lovely odes to matters of the heart as any record you've ever heard. And I'm not gonna suddenly get cynical or poke fun at it, either. The 11 tracks on this debut CD comprise a truly poignant, haunting song cycle that should connect emotionally with anyone who has ever been in love (or fearful of losing it). With a gentle voice that recalls Sondre Lerche (and occasionally Even Johansen/Magnet, minus the latter's weariness) and a singularly romantic aesthetic, Eliassen offers warm, folksy guitar strumming and touches of poppy electronics here and there over which he delivers one sparkling tribute/confession of love after another. "I wanna fight for you/But I don't wanna win/If I'm not the right for you/And if I am I always spin/I can't lose you," goes a verse in the largely acoustic "Grace." Eliassen's falsetto on "Falling in love" is exquisite, and sentiments like "You're so beautiful, I go crazy" that would come across as cliched or sappy in the hands of a lesser artist resonate with emotional purity here. "Write back," the paradoxically bouncy "Weakness," the closing "Until we meet again" with its intimate half-whispered vocal: they're all beautiful songs. In the melodic, jaunty number "Follow me," Eliassen repeatedly sings "Are you with me?/Will you come follow me?" You bet we will, Magnus, my friend--as long as you keep making exceptionally pretty, heartfelt recordings like this.
- Kevin Renick
I Love You Baby!I Love You Baby! is one of these projects that is just impossible to define, there is so many styles of electronica in there that you can't really categorize anywhere. There is IDM, Industrial, Hardcore-Techno to minimalism and each done very efficiently. The common thread is that it all sounds like it was produced in the early eighties by members of Skinny Puppy, and, to me, that's a good thing. A bit like Foetus challenged any categorization, ILYB! do it within the span of an album.
- Simon Thibaudeau
This is two of the dudes from female-fronted pop-rock act Kordon doing something a tad more hard-edged than what they'd get away with in their other band. It's still very pop-oriented, but with more distortion and a bit more kick. When vocalist Thomas Hellgren starts to croon, I start to cringe because it's a little too close to Alice in Chains for my tastes, but the overall musicianship of the group is unfuckwithable. They're so tight, they're waterproof. The drumming is especially laudable - Calle Bäckström is an absolute monster behind the kit. His playing is incredible without being overly showy, a trait similarly shown in Kim Wennerström's guitarwork. Song-wise, I have to say they're only so-so, but I'd still go see 'em live just to watch Calle.
- Avi Roig
I hate this. I have seen this band live twice and just can't figure out their name. To make the story short, the Montreal International Jazz festival has tons of free outdoor shows and one of the bands that has done such shows in the past is an acoustic house-jazz band that was actually very good at what they do. The combination of house music and jazz isn't such a stretch as house artist have been grabbing samples out of classic jazz albums for years. Well Nils Petter Molvaer does something very similar with some Miles Davis inspired solos backed by house and downbeat rhythms. The result is some very easy listening that would find a place in your favorite $12-martini yuppie place. Nonetheless, the music is intelligently structured and could very well help you succeed with your next schmooze operation.
- Simon Thibaudeau
