Liechtenstein - Passion for water
will be releasing a new 7" single from Liechtenstein later this month and are offering the a-side cut "Passion for water" as a free download: http://www.fractiondiscs.se/
Sophie Rimheden, live in NYC
Sophie Rimheden is coming to NYC for a few live appearances later this month: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=70440842&blogId=536769520
Andreas Söderlund - Daustralien (video)
Andreas Söderlund's debut solo single from the upcoming album of the same name. It won't sound unfamiliar to anyone who knows his work with Niccokick or Sounds Like Violence, but it's not like that's a bad thing. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ7oPxid5OQ
Pitchfork goes to Roskilde
Pitchfork reports from the Roskilde fest, though they don't uncover any previously undiscussed Scandinavian gems: http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7826-roskilde-2010/
MP3: Aerial - Vacant dreamers
Quite possibly my favorite track off of "Put it this way in headlines". An appropriately 90s-style video for a very 90s sounding track; exactly the sort of thing I'd used to stay up to watch for on "120 Minutes" way back when.
Aerial - Vacant dreamers
The Bristles album preview
Hardcore mag Define the Meaning is streaming the new album "Reflections of the bourgeois society" from Swedish act The Bristles: http://definethemeaning.com/2010/06/25/streaming-the-bristles-reflections-of-the-bourgeois-society/
Sounds like run-of-the-mill streetpunk to me, but hey, maybe that's your thing.
CEO - Everything is gonna be alright
is distributing a new track from CEO for free download and you can grab it from Pitchfork: http://pitchfork.com/news/39359-ceo-everything-is-gonna-be-alright/
Baron Bane - Sordid eyes
Preview the new single "Sordid eyes" from Swedish art-rock act Baron Bane: http://soundcloud.com/baronbane/baron-bane-sordid-eyes
CEO
White magic
Sincerely Yours/Modular
In the (what seems like a very long) wait for the new The Tough Alliance album, singer Erik Berglund has dropped this gem upon the collective lap of the music community which finds him honing his full-time band's dance-pop even further over the course of the eight tracks presented here. Varying in texture that transitions through various depths, "Illuminata" and "White magic" are dance floor-ready party jams, whilst the closing track "Den blomstertid nu kommer" is a slightly tepid, reflective number comprised of mostly live instrumentation. Although some may complain that eight tracks is a bit short, it is not reflected on its output -- in fact, what Berglund has done, is take the genre of dance-pop his compatriots have been producing over the past couple of years, and hone it into what is easily the best album of its kind in recent memory.
- Matt Giordano
Sirius playlist week #27
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Makthaverskan - Inside of me
03. Swedish House Mafia - One
04. Elias & the Wizzkids - Waste of time
05. TALK 2
06. The Animal Five - Dancing on my own
07. Miasmal - Creation of fire
08. The Aches - Count slowly to ten
09. Karin Ström - Reptilian brain
10. TALK 3
11. Dear Euphoria - No more time to weep
12. Delay Trees - Cassette 2012
13. Sort Sol - Marguerita
14. TALK 4
15. The Tallest Man on Earth - The wild hunt
16. Cut City - The sound and the sore
17. The Hives - Civilization's dying
18. The Nature - Din medicin
19. TALK 5
20. Kaka - Below this sun
21. The Scrags - Psycho cyclone
22. On Volcano - Ride the wolf
23. TALK 6
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Gösta Berlings Saga confirmed for Nearfest 2011
Swedish prog act Gösta Berlings Saga will be making their overseas debut at the 2011 Nearfest in Bethlehem, PA: http://www.nearfest.com/
We Are the Storm in the studio
We Are the Storm will begin recording their debut album this weekend -- definitely one of the year's most anticipated releases.
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Hellbillies - Leite etter lykka
02. Kvelertak - Kvelertak
03. Alexander Rybak - No Boundaries
04. Karpe Diem - Aldri Solgt En Løgn
05. Tre Små Kinesere - Kjærlighet på tunga
06. Lars Vaular - Helt om natten, Helt om dagen
07. Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
08. Knutsen & Ludvigsen - Knutsen & Ludvigsens beste
09. Liv Marit Wedvik - Solid Ground
10. Gitarkameratene - Kanon! Gitarkameratenes aller beste
11. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
12. Steff Nevers - Ain't no bad life
13. Venke Knutson - Smiles - The Very Best Of
14. Purified In Blood - Under Black Skies
15. Thomas Dybdahl - Waiting for that one clear moment
16. Elg - Storm
17. John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - For Sant Til Å Være Godt
18. Tove Bøygard - Tove Bøygard
19. Unni Wilhelmsen - 7
20. Bobbysocks - Bobbysocks
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Kent - En plats i solen
02. Robyn - Body talk pt.1
03. Lasse Stefanz - Texas
04. Meduza Eddie - Rockabilly rebel
05. Timoteij - Längtan
06. Kalle Mmoraeus - Underbart
07. Eric Saade - Masquerade
08. Håkan Hellström - Samlade singlar 2000-2010
09. Oskar Linnros - Vilja bli
10. Anna Bergendahl - Yours sincerely
11. Lisa Nilsson - 20 - En jubileumssamling
12. Sabaton - Coat of arms
13. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
14. Erik Grönwall - Somewhere between a rock and a hard place
15. The Ark - In full regalia
16. Emmy & Ella - Emmy & Ella
17. Salem al Fakir - Ignore this
18. My Brother the Wind - Twilight in the crystal cabinet
19. Titanix - Drömmar får liv
20. Kent - Röd
Haust
Powers of horror
Fysisk Format
It's a nasty piece of work, this second album by these Norwegian upstarts. Well, technically, it's their third full-length, as their 2005 self-financed debut was picked up by and re-released with a different tracklist three years later. For the sake of argument though, let's just go with the second album and state upfront that it's one of the most maniacal releases out there at the minute. Like their debut, "Powers of horror" bases itself on a solid, if rather unconventional, punk foundation with distinct metal overtones, all of which meld together to produce a filthy collection of semi-complex punk metal that stands alone in terms of creativity while remaining firmly embedded in both genres' formative roots. This album sounds a little cleaner than its predecessor, but that's not to say it's a sanitary release by any means. In staying true to the extreme side of the label, Haust doesn't release music; rather they spew forth a barrage of unrelenting vehemence with a total disregard for public safety. It's this approach that encapsulates total musical violence at its most harrowing, with vocalist Vebjørn Guttormsgaard effortlessly tying all the elements together with a brutally savage output. Standout tracks? It's hard to say since -- and this may sound like the old cliché -- every track on here is a contender. Does it better what Haust did on "Ride the relapse"? It depends on what angle you're coming from. Take seminal Dutch deathsters Pestilence as an example. Did you adore the grime of "Consuming impulse" and feel just a little wary of the relative tidiness of "Testimony of the ancients"? Both awesome albums in their own right, but the latter just hinting at what might come a few years down the line. Of course, there's not nearly as much variation in cleanliness on the two Haust albums, but the difference, however slight, is definitely there all the same. It's very unlikely they'll change as much as Pestilence did, though. That aside, the more I listen the more I think that "Ride the relapse" just pips this at the post. Not by much, mind. Regardless, they're two lethal albums! Just buy both and make your own mind up.
- John Norby
