The Suburbs Are Killing Us writes about the Norwegian band Real Ones: http://www.christopherporter.com/2005/06/real-ones-are-another-fab-pop-band-out.html
The WFMU blog posts various versions of The Stooges' classic "I wanna be your dog", including one from Bob Hund: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/06/yo_deseo_ser_su.html (via)
Dusted reports from the 2004 Avanto Media Arts Festival in Helsinki: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/378
The video for "My timekeeping heart" from Convoj is now online: http://www.oddity.se/prev_sidor/p_convojQT.htm
The song appears on the band's very excellent self-titled EP which is available for purchase right here.
Download the song "Dragonfly" from Sharif: http://www.adrianrecordings.com/sharif/03-Dragonfly.mp3
The track comes from the band's most recent album "Lost causes, causes lost", out now on Adrian Recordings.
Check out a live video of Hanif from their show with Robert Plant at Cirkus in Stockholm last April: http://www.hanif.nu/monster_files/Black%20Box.wmv
Caesars
Live @ ULU, London, 05/25/05
Caesars had fierce competition this night, from the Champion League Final between Liverpool and Milan that was on TVs in a adjacent bar (if you're American you probably haven't got a clue what this is, but let's just say it's a very important soccer game). Whereas the sport event was full of excitement and drama, Caesars' gig was quite ordinary, non-spectacular, and pretty tame. Caesar Vidal, the lead singer, looked utterly bored and none of the other band members' efforts could make up for his lack of charisma. Caesars got plenty of good material so for them to mess up a gig like this is pretty weird and I left ULU feeling a bit cheated, just like all those Milan fans.
- Simon Tagestam
Caterpillar Ghost
My beautiful revolution
Signature Tune
Post rock, to me, is not very conclusive in the short form. On the other hand when too long it becomes damn tiring. Caterpillar adheres to the notion that the shorter songs should work better, or at least would be easier to get the point across. The result is that they sound like a mix of Do Make Say Think (very good) and Archive (not so hot). The ideas are there, it just seem that they are not explored to the fullest.
- Simon Thibaudeau
Ef
Demo
self-released
The Swedish post-rock scene is constantly improving in quality and likewise, so is Ef. Each new recording from these guys shows more and more promise, but I still think they have some ways to go. Quality music of this genre relies heavily on tension, but Ef has a hard time staying restrained long enough for that feeling to set in. The climatic noisy moments work well, but the quieter parts need to be quieter and they need to be drawn out as they build-up. Less is more! Same goes for the heavy use of effects - a little can go a long way and I think some extra restraint in that department would do some good as well. But regardless of these issues, I must reiterate how impressed I am by this band's progress. Give them time and they'll get it right.
- Avi Roig
Godrun
Demo
self-released
Swedish trio Godrun are billing themselves as sort of a "garage-folk" outfit, which fits since they're doing a noisy, garage-y thing on the one hand, but drawing on traditional, fiddle-heavy sounds on the other. This 3-song demo shows promise, but it didn't bowl me over. On "Happy people", the sound is tinny and the vocalist sounds like he's got a cat scratching its claws down his back while he sings. And repeating a bland lyric like "I can't believe you're here tonight/I have been waiting all my life" over and over doesn't strike me as an inspired idea. "OK" is a bit better, because the arrangement is just weird enough to be kind of interesting and the rhythm is more engaging. "Arkadien" is an instrumental, with fiddles dominating the arrangement and the rhythm being perfect for Swedish folk dancing. A full-length from these guys (one or two of whom used to be in Boot) could be interesting, but boys, turn up the bass, hire a producer and lock up that cat.
- Kevin Renick
Halph
Answering machines
PonyRec
When I first listened to "Answering machines" by this Danish duo, I was surprised to find out it reminded me of a lot of Fugazi with a touch of that Texas band Les Messieurs Du Rock. Really fuzzy, arty and haunting indie rock that my brother enjoys making art to. Singer/guitar player Thomas Nygaard's vocals are a perfect match for songs like "Bad wiring" and "Back door". Drummer Karsten Bagge's jazz-fused drumming provides a good backbeat to the above mentioned songs and makes "Evil one" almost danceable. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
- Navy Keophan
Majessic Dreams
Listen to the moon
Oscillatone
This EP is just awesome. Who needs ordinary things like melodies, good beats, strong vocals and memorable lyrics when you can get all disoriented and weirded out listening to Majessic Dreams? Call me depraved, but I probably get more excited by bands that break the rules and map out uncharted territory than bands that are just plain ol' good in a conventional manner. Swedish duo Mats and Jessica Majessic are responsible for this very strange 6-track EP, which is filled with ambient drones, barely-in-tune acoustic guitar and Jessica's beguilingly shy, tentative vocals. They're mixed low, so you have to strain to hear what she's singing. Somehow, the ghostly wisps of sound that result from all this are utterly compelling. "When you sleep", with its heard-in-a-dream atmospherics and feather-light percussion, rates a "10" on my personal cool-o-meter. Interesting synth tones spruce up "Different light", on which both Jessica and Mats sing - it's not exactly lo-fi, but "slow-fi," for sure. The average listener would probably like the pleasing harmonies and soft acoustic guitar of "Around here" best, but perversely, that tune is less than two minutes long, while the title track, consisting of very slow, droney drifty stuff and Jessica's barely audible, flickering-light vocals, is about six minutes! Honestly, I think this disc is fantastic, and truly original. Majessic Dreams are definitely wafting to the beat of their own out-of-step drummer. I can hardly wait for a full-length!
- Kevin Renick
The Raveonettes
Live @ The Black Cat, Washington, D.C., 05/28/05
With all the attention paid to Danish group The Raveonettes' gradual shift from minimalism and keeping everything in the same key ("Whip it on") all the way through to their current open approach that embraces early 60s rock, the girl group sound and fuzzed-out garage, I was curious to see how they'd put everything together in a live setting. Their expansion to a quintet onstage was a good idea--when she wasn't playing the tambourine, singer Sharin Foo added a third guitar to an already thunderous sound. Sune Rose Wagner, the manic Manoj Ramdas and company played most of the new album "Pretty in black", giving the songs a little fuzzy kick to make them sound a bit more like the earlier material. This was especially the case on "Red tan" and "Somewhere in Texas". That made things pretty much seamless, as the new songs fit right in alongside "Attack of the ghost riders" and "That great love sound". The downside to that consistency in sound was that the band avoided a few of the largely acoustic songs from the new record, which was a shame. "Uncertain times" is one of the best things they've written, so I was hoping they'd give it a spin. Hearing Ronnie Spector's sampled voice on "Ode to L.A." was a little disconcerting (Sharin could've covered that part, too), but the surf-twang of "Love in a trashcan" and primal stomp of "Beat city" made me forget the samples pretty quickly. The harmonies of Wagner and Foo hold up well live in the midst of all those layers of guitar, so I must say I came away impressed. My friends Paige and Susan agreed, all the more impressive because our eardrums took quite a beating.
- Matthew W. Smith
Royal Downfall
Komkollsamhallet CDR
self-released
In the world of Bloc Party, Futureheads and other contemporaries of the angular indie-rock, Royal Downfall are one of the group, never the leader. My main beef with this record is that it is so goddamn bland; nothing jumps at you to get your attention. Honestly, you can feel a good energetic vibe going on but nothing more. Because the coming overabundance in the style, RD have to find an angle to get them over the cusp of the average band. Still, not a bad release.
- Simon Thibaudeau
A Sudden Burst of Optimism
Demo
self-released
Good energy for a slightly emo indie rock band that manages to present themselves in a good fashion with this demo. The songs go in a few different directions and keep me guessing as to what the next angle will be, despite the relative simplicity of the premise. Not a bad demo at all that showcases a talented band that could get even better. Recommended listening.
- Simon Thibaudeau