Håkon Gebhardt has left Motorpsycho. Hans Magnus 'Snah' Ryan and Bent Sæther will continue on without him and have yet to announce a replacement. Read the band's full statement and explanation here: http://motorpsycho.fix.no/thisis/trivia/presseskriv.txt
Aftonbladet reports that Marit Bergman and Carola are working together on a cover of the Abba classic "Waterloo": http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/noje/story/0,2789,620281,00.html (in Swedish)
It's set to air on SVT on April 8 as part of the Melodifestival.
Check out the video for "Bye/die", the second single from Pain's most recent album "Dancing with the dead": http://www.pain.cd/byedie.ram
The latest news from Finland's Fonal Records:
The awesome new Islaja "Palaa aurinkoon" cd is now out. There are two Kemialliset Ystävät cds coming in May. A re-release of the widely acclaimed "Kellari Juniversumi" cd and a re-release of the amazing "Lumottu Karkkipurkki" album first time on cd. First it was released as a cassette and then as a double 8" lathe cut, both were limited editions and sold out immediately. Now it's fully remastered and the sound quality is what it's supposed to be. And to add to that the debut album of Paavoharju from Savonlinna, eastern Finland. This will also come out in May and more info will emerge as the time approaches.
The latest Scandinavian music reviews from Sellfish:
The Jessica Fletchers - Less sophistication
Millencolin - Kingwood
Updated tourdates for Logh:
03/23 - Molotow, Hamburg (GER)
03/24 - Alex Skatehall, Osnabrück (GER)
03/26 - Prager Frühling, München (GER)
03/27 - Cafe Central, Weinheim (GER)
03/28 - Péniche 6/8, Paris (FRA)
03/29 - JUZ, Saarlouis (GER)
03/30 - Phoenix Club, Liege (BEL)
03/31 - 013 Popcentre, Tilburg (NL)
04/01 - JC De Klinker, Aarschot (BEL)
04/02 - Blue Shell, Cologne (GER)
04/03 - Patronaat, Haarlem (NL)
04/04 - Hirscheneck, Basel (SWI)
04/05 - Sidecar, Barcelona (SPA)
04/06 - Siroco, Madrid (SPA)
04/07 - Meu Mercedes, Porto (POR)
04/08 - Santiago Alquimista , Lisbon (POR)
04/09 - Metropol, Sevilla (SPA)
04/12 - Bistroy, Lyon (FRA)
04/13 - Club 74, Bologna, ITA
04/15 - Rec Club, Patras (GR)
04/16 - AN Club, Athens (GR)
04/17 - Mylos (Xylourgeio), Tessaloniki (GR)
04/18 - Balans Music Hall, Istanbul (TUR)
04/19 - Area 51, Varna (BUL)
04/20 - Shipka, Sofia (BUL)
04/21 - Kset, Zagreb (CRO)
04/22 - Shotoclub, Izola (SLO)
04/23 - Channel Zero, Ljubljana (SLO)
04/24 - Arena, Wien (AUS)
04/26 - 007, Prague (CZ)
04/27 - Salon Hansen, Ulm (GER)
04/28 - ISC, Bern (SWI)
04/29 - BOA, Luzern (SWI)
04/30 - Antagon (show at 23.00), Frankfurt (GER)
04/30 - Final Cut #7 (show at 18.00), Karlsruhe (GER)
05/01 - Scheune, Dresden (GER)
05/02 - Knaack club, Berlin (GER)
05/03 - Triptychon, Münster (GER) w/Isis, Jesu
05/04 - Vera, Groningen (NL) w/Isis, Jesu
05/06 - Pusterviksbaren, Gothenburg (SWE) w/Isis, Jesu
05/07 - John Doe, Oslo (NOR) w/Isis, Jesu
05/08 - Debaser, Stockholm (SWE) w/Isis, Jesu
Not only do I have a great batch of new reviews posted today, but I'm also proud to present to debut of a new feature: 20 questions. Our first victims are Kevin, a indie/pop/rock act from Finland. Check it out!
Capital Country
Demo
self-released
Capital Country's music lives in the borderland between country and alt.country. It's pretty well crafted, but sometimes it falls pretty flat thanks to the country clichés being way too tacky and obvious. There are two singers on these tracks, one female and one male, and the male is absolutely preferable since the female got some weird country vibrato going that sounds a bit weird and too wobbly. It's all very MOR though, and it's easy to imagine Capital Country having a cult following in their native country, consisting of a lot of older bearded men in fleece shirts and smelly shoes. The contrast between the two vocalists lead tracks are so stark that I'd dare to say the male lead songs are alright, whereas I just can't stand the songs where the woman sings on. My judgment is therefore this; half of the songs here I wouldn't mind uploading on my iPod, if I had one, but the rest I'd leave in the desert with the coyotes and vultures as only company for them to die a slow and warm death.
- Simon Tagestam
José González
Live @ ULU, London, 03/17/05
Not only is it the second day of spring, but it's also St. Patrick's day which means that most people are going to get drunk on Guinness and clog up the streets of London wearing stupid hats which they will end up vomiting into. But despite the racist debacle that St. Patrick's day has turned into, this Thursday is a day of party thanks to Arcade Fire playing a show at the University of London Union. There's been a massive hype around Arcade Fire the last few weeks so naturally their show sold out long time ago and tickets are being sold on eBay for ridiculous amounts. It's definitely a perfect chance for a record label to promote an up and coming act. Weirdly enough someone has decided that it would be a good idea to put José Gonzáles in the support slot, this Guinness drenched day. And sure, there's a fairly large crowd watching him play his songs, but a lot of people are at the back or in the bar, and their chatter almost drowns out José's singing and guitar strumming. For the people in the front, who can actually hear something, it's quite a captivating moment, and Gonzáles' hits such as "Crosses" and "Heartbeats" (a cover of a song by The Knife) all go down well. But for me, who has seen José twice before, with the second one taking place in a small atmospheric bar cellar in East London, tonight's dose only makes me sleepy. To be honest, any artist who plucks away in the spirit of Bert Jansch and John Fahey should ideally be witnessed in a smaller venue and this is partly why I now feel that going one hour early to catch José Gonzáles play yesterday was a bloody waste of time, especially when I could have been in a pub drinking 2-3 pints of Guinness shoulder to shoulder with some twat in a large green hat.
Note: The Arcade Fire were breathtaking.
- Simon Tagestam
Millencolin
Kingwood
Burning Heart Records
I've been a fan of Millencolin since I was 14 and heard their first EP "Use your nose" (they were really my first love, well them and Jakob Hellman). I think their two first albums are classics, whereas the third one ("Music for monkeys") and their fourth one ("Home from Home") have never rotated that much in my stereo. With their fourth album ("Pennybridge pioneers") they got Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion) to produce and the result was a heavier sound (heavier as in still soft but more edgier than their previous super poppy sound), which suited them well and it sort of made it appear as if they had matured a bit and musically "evolved". I was very relieved to hear then that with "Kingwood" (their sixth album) they have once again gone "heavier" and decided to write some less wimpy songs than before. It's still melodic new school punk we're dealing with though, melodic new school punk of the finest variety! Most people don't like this sort of stuff, or at least none of my friends do (there is of course no reason for this), but if you like your Blink 182, Green Day, Descendents, Lagwagon, NOFX and so on, you should definitely give this a listen.
- Simon Tagestam
Strip Music
s/t
Playground
Strip Music are a new Swedish synth pop band, who have risen out of the ashes of Yvonne. However, describing them as "pop" is a bit of a misnomer. Although Strip Music use the synth as a device to drop as many hooks as possible within each song, the overall sound of the band races along at a speed and urgency that is perhaps too epic to be merely described as pop music. Songs like album opener "2.75" have vocalist Henric delivering vocals with such intensity that they lay genuine claim to the Joy Division comparisons, creating a sound that is both melancholic and uplifting at the same time. Forming a new band with the synth as the core of your sound is a tricky and obvious thing to do in 2005, what with the recent successes of The Bravery and The Killers. However, somehow Strip Music have managed to carry this off successfully without sounding cheesy, whilst being able to retain a human element to their overall sound.
- Nick Levine
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names
Live @ the Barfly, London, 03/16/05
I love music. I love it so much it hurts, but at the end of last year and the beginning of this I've just been to too many rubbish gigs and bought too many boring records. I tell you, at one point I almost gave up! Lately though, things have been looking brighter with excellent records by Moneybrother, Håkan Hellström, The Evens and more, coming out, and with equally good live shows from Bright Eyes, Arcade Fire and others, my interest in music has been ignited once again. What I'm trying to get at here is that the Suburban Kids with Biblical Names gig yesterday was just another logical step in this revival. Or, that might be an understatement since the show was one of the best I've witnessed in a long time. If It's a Trap! worked under some sort of grading system this show would have gotten five Vikings out of five. Their songs are just so charming and fantastic that I couldn't help but smiling and shuffling my feet to the beat throughout the whole show. It might help that I'm an avid Jonathan Richman fan, but I'm sure SKWBN can charm anyone who's into clever indiepop. Tonight I'm going to see Arcade Fire once again, and hopefully they won't ruin this good streak that I've enjoyed lately. Thank you very much.
- Simon Tagestam
Okay, I think I'm adequately recovered from my trip to LA for the ExMS Swedish showcase. I sat down for some nice chats with Anders from Moneybrother and Peter of Burning Heart Records, so look for that stuff to get posted soon. Transcriptions are not my strong point, but I'll try to get it done ASAP. As for the show, the Deportees were only slightly less boring live than on record, Moneybrother ruled but suffered from a somewhat indifferent crowd and The Ark was brilliant. Who knew those guys had so many screaming gayboy fans in LA? They actually got called back for a much-deserved encore of "Father of a son" too. Good times.