I bet The Saphere are pretty good live, but the MOR rock that can be found on this self-released cd failed to impress me. It doesn't appear as if they've got a clue what sort of music they want to play either, on only 5 songs The Saphere plunders old school Swedish punk, rap-metal, MOR rock, garage rock, and tons of other genres. A demo it is, a promising debut it ain't.
- Simon Tagestam
To be honest, I've only read of the bands the members of Torpedo were in: Tiger Lou, Starmarket and The Je Ne Sais Quoi. I wasn't really sure of what to expect when listening to this EP. After listening to "Anticlockwise", I was really impressed. It takes the energy of guitarist Pontus Levahn's band Starmarket and the gentleness of his other band Tiger Lou (with Torpedo bandmate and bass player Erik Welén). Combined with TJNSQ drummer Jimmy Ottoson and rounded out by lead vocalist and guitarist Andreas Hogby, the band creates atmospheric indie rock. Can't really beat a band with a song about getting rid of a rival lover ("Plastic bag and a shovel"). Good stuff.
- Navy Keophan
Last year, The Tough Alliance released a couple of EPs that were so good that it almost makes me cry to think about them. I haven't longed to hear an album by ANY band like I longed for "The new school", since perhaps Oasis' stinker "Be here now". It was stupid of me to have such crazy hopes though, since no album ever released would be able to live up to these insanely high expectations. The album is very good, it contains a lot of excellent songs, don't get me wrong, but it also makes me wonder if perhaps TTA, like their label comrade Jens Lekman, work better on EPs than on full-length albums. Now, after initial disappointment, I've invested my confused hopes in the possibility that "The new school" is a grower.
- Simon Tagestam
I admit it, I'm a liar. I said in Friday's newsletter that I was gonna try to put together a podcast kind of thing for posting this weekend and I'm not gonna follow-through. Truth is, I started putting together a playlist and then I actually thought about all the various people I'd have to go ask for permission and I said "fuck it". Not to mention the fact that I'd probably have to spend extra time trying to explain what the hell a podcast is to all of them. Anyway, I took the playlist I had already assembled and I made it a streaming mix instead. Better than nothing, right? Check it out and be amazed by all the latest hot sounds. As for the future, if any labels want to give me permission to use material for podcasts or whatever else, just shoot me an email. From this point onward it's also implied that all submitted materials sent to IAT come with permission unless explicitly stated otherwise. I posted a disclaimer a week or so ago, but chances are you probably missed it. So yeah, the future is where it's at. Always moving forward, onward and upward.
In other site-related news, I got a few copies of the debut album "Aim for the heart, go!" from Denmark's The First Miles for sale in the mailorder department. I've posted mp3s from these guys before and I'm stoked to finally get the disc in the my grubby little hands. Amazing music packaged in a beautiful digipack with the best use of faux coffee stains that I've ever seen. As with all the music I carry, it's highly recommended!
It's Friday again so that means it's time for another classic choon in ye ol' mp3 playlist. My friend Kelly says I should call this the "I used to be a rebel. This was my soundtrack." feature, but I'm not so sure. I'm still a rebel dammit! Anyhow, I was thinking about posting a classic Cobolt track at some point, but since they band is actually doing something again this week after years of inactivity, I suppose that now is a good time. So yeah - here's a song from their album "Spirit on parole", first released back in 1999. The band's precious slowcore stylings conceal the fact that singer/guitarist Magnus Bjorklund used to play bass with Umeå hardcore legends Refused, so don't be expecting anything hard or heavy. Well, maybe it gets a little heavy when that huge guitar kicks in on the chorus. I don't think the band ever wrote another as amazing as this, but that's hardly a crime. Heights like this are difficult to achieve. Check it out and hope that maybe someday they'll even put out a new record.
David & the Citizens are trying to assemble material for a DVD retrospective and have put out a call for material. They have footage of a lot of early stuff from 2002 and before, but need help with things from 2003 onward. So if you have any sort of video footage, be it from DVcam or cellphone or digital camera or whatever, send it to and they'll love you forever. Or something like that.
The Shout Out Louds debut full-length album "Howl howl gaff gaff" will finally get a US release on May 24 via Capitol Records. Japan gets it in July, the rest of the world in September. How much longer until those guys are gonna be able to write and perform new material again? Anyhow, as mentioned before, the next single is for the lead track "The comeback" which happens to be my favorite song on the record. A video will be on the way soon.
Karl Larsson of Last Days of April reports that he has just finished recording his first solo album "Safe as milk". The nine-track album is due out mid-June via Bad Taste Records.
Denmark's Kashmir will be releasing a live concert DVD entitled "The Aftermath, Live Concert Film", shot during the tour for their last album "Zitilites". The film was put together with the assistance of director François Gedigier and photography/visual effects supervisor Peter Hjorth, both of whom have worked with acclaimed Danish director Lars von Trier. There will also be a 180gr double vinyl release with just the music as well. More info: http://www.kashmir.dk/news.php
Fluxblog reports back from the New Order show in NYC where Matthew was DJing and posts a track from Lo-Fi-Fnk: http://www.fluxblog.org/2005/05/please-dont-let-me-hit-ground-new.html
Australian paper The Age interviews Jen Lekman: http://www.theage.com.au/news/Music/Swede-and-sour/2005/05/05/1115092574658.html (via)
Fujasaki has posted two new songs on their website: http://www.sudd.org/fujasaki/listen.htm