Harrys Gym to Cultures Collide
Norwegians Harrys Gym have been added to the lineup of Cultures Collide: http://culturecollide.com/index.php/artists/
PopMatters reviews Robyn
PopMatters reviews Robyn's "Body talk pt. 2": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/130078-robyn-body-talk-pt.-2/
Haapalainen + Dunger + Ågren = Vowles
The Bear Quartet guitarist Jari Haapalainen, singer/songwriter Nicolai Dunger and drummer extraordinaire Morgan Ågren (Mats/Morgan Band, Fredrik Thorendal, etc.) have joined forces in a new fusion project called Vowles and they will be making their live debut on September 9 at Fasching in Stockholm. Entry includes a copy of the group's single "o i a å" and I have no idea what it sounds like, but I intend to find out.
The William Blakes album now streaming
Soundvenue is streaming The William Blakes' new album "The way of the warrior": http://www.soundvenue.com/artist/the-william-blakes2
Robyn in the US
Robyn is coming to North America for a string of dates in November:
11/05 - The Filmore, Miami Beach, FL
11/06 - Club Firestone, Orlando, FL
11/07 - The Ritz Ybor, Tampa, FL
11/08 - Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta, GA
11/10 - Terminal 5, New York, NY
11/12 - The Sound Academy, Toronto, Ontario
11/13 - Metro, Chicago, IL
11/14 - Fine Line, Minneapolis, MN
11/17 - Club Nokia, Los Angeles, CA
11/19 - Venue, Vancouver, British Columbia
11/20 - Wonder Ballroonm, Portland, OR
11/21 - Neumos, Seattle, WA
Ghamorean - Towards pandemonium
Swedish blackened-death act Ghamorean has finished up work on their new album "Terra ruina", confirmed for a fall release via . Hear a sample tune at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ghamorean
New EP coming from The Tallest Man on Earth
Pitchfork reports that there's a new EP from The Tallest Man on Earth on the way called "Sometimes the blues is just a passing bird": http://pitchfork.com/news/39961-the-tallest-man-on-earth-releases-new-ep/
It's already available digitially, but a physical version is on the way on November 9. Hit up the link for a sample tune.
MP3: Radar - Where others were honest (I'm a lie)
Norrland crust/metal/prog act Moloken, a 2009 favorite, are touring Scandinavia later this month and one of the bands they're playing a string of dates with is Finnish act Radar. Generally speaking, I'm not too crazy about their style of post-metal, but the new EP they recently sent me has a pretty cool 3D cover and the included glasses allowed me to properly view Robyn's video for "Don't fucking tell me what to do", so that's gotta be worth something -- hence this post. It's kind of weird, in the space of a month of so I got a whole bunch of new music in a similar vein and, again -- while not being a huge fan of this stuff, was pleasantly surprised to find it all to be of above-average quality. I already covered Kausal who might just be the best of the lot, but Radar are pretty decent too despite one major piccadillo: I don't care if you want to sing cleanly or scream harshly, but please don't try to do both. 99% of the time it sucks and Radar are no exception. Individually, they do fine with each style... when performed together, it's way corny. That's why I'm posting a track with purely melodic vocals for fellow discerning listeners -- you get the heaviness and the glory and none of the distracting bullshit. RIYL Khoma!
Oh, and those Moloken tourdates:
09/15 - L'Orient, Linköping (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/16 - Sugar Bar, Stockholm (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/17 - Ungdomens Hus, Uppsala (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/18 - Ungdomens Hus, Oskarshamn (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/19 - tba, Karlskrona (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/23 - Nuclear Nightclub, Oulu (FIN) w/Radar
09/24 - Lutakko, Jyväskylä (FIN) w/Radar
09/25 - S-Osis, Turku (FIN) w/Radar
09/26 - Kuudes Linja, Helsinki (FIN) w/Radar
09/29 - tba (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
09/30 - tba (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
10/01 - Garage, Oslo (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
10/02 - Fru Lundgreen, Trondheim (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
Radar - Where others were honest (I'm a lie)
New music from The Embassy this fall?
The Embassy will apparently be back with a new single in October and an album to follow in 2011.
Senior preview at Hype Machine
The Hype Machine is streaming the new Röyksopp album "Senior": http://hypem.com/artist/royksopp
Villa Nah to support OMD
Finnish duo Villa Nah will be supporting OMD on tour in the UK:
10/29 - Brighton Dome, Brighton
10/31 - Bristol Colston Hall, Bristol
11/01 - Nottingham Royal Centre, Nottingham
11/02 - Glasgow Concert Hall, Glasgow
11/04 - Liverpool Arena, Liverpool
11/05 - Ipswich Regent, Ipswich
11/07 - London Hammersmith Odeon, London
11/08 - Birmingham Symphony Hall, Birmingham
The New Tigers - Sampler
Goodnight Monsters shoegazey sideproject The New Tigers have a new CDr release out on and you can go there to preview it in full: http://www.boneshop.net/product_info.php?products_id=129
22-Pistepirkko tour Switzerland, celebrate 30 years
Finland's 22-Pistepirkko are doing a few Swiss dates before embarking on a 30th anniversary tour of their homeland:
10/01 - Dachstock Reitschule, Bern (CH)
10/02 - Drahtwerk, Biel/Bienne (CH)
10/03 - Viadukt, Zurich (CH)
10/09 - Tavastia, Helsinki (FIN)
10/15 - Henry’s, Kuopio (FIN)
10/16 - Tukkijätkä, Heinola (FIN)
10/21 - Bar Kino, Pori (FIN)
10/22 - Klubi, Turku (FIN)
10/23 - Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki (FIN)
10/28 - 45special, Oulu (FIN)
10/29 - 45special, Oulu (FIN)
10/30 - Klubi, Tampere (FIN)
11/04 - Torvi, Lahti (FIN)
11/05 - Soho, Porvo (FIN)
11/06 - Lutakko, Jyväskylä (FIN)
Masshysteri
s/t
Ny Våg/Feral Ward
I didn't really expect an album consisting of melodic political punk anthems sung in Swedish to be my favourite album of the year, especially not the second album from a band whose debut I wasn't really that into, but Sweden's Masshysteri's "Masshysteri" is the album I've kept on returning to continually in the last 4-5 months. Despite the album only being 10 songs and about 28 minutes long, repeated listenings don't seem to do it any harm, only the opposite -- the songs now feel like an extension of my spine. Masshysteri are not doing anything new music- or lyric-wise, and there are a some similar Swedish bands (e.g. Pascal), but the frenetic energy and the heavenly melodies on this album are just mind-blowing. I'd rank this album alongside any of Swedish punk pioneers Ebba Grön, which is mighty high praise. It's just a great shame that more people haven't heard it!
- Stefan Nilsson
Serena-Maneesh to tour US with Wovenhand
Serena-Maneesh will be doing a co-headlining US tour with the excellent Wovenhand. Dates at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/serenamaneesh