First Aid Kit live at Rote Raupe (video)
Check out a live session at Rote Raupe with First Aid Kit: http://www.roteraupe.de/tv/session/13/restgeraeusch-session-first-aid-kit.html
MP3: The Mary Onettes - The night before the funeral
Dayjob work is crushing my creative impulses, hence today's mp3 post comes from Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson:
Despite the brilliance that is "Dare", I found myself somewhat disappointed by "Islands". By no means is it a bad album -- and as it was crafted by The Mary Onettes it often exceeds even the near-triumphs of their contemporaries -- it just didn't deliver on the promise of the "Dare EP". I was expecting an album that would easily surpass their self-titled debut, and, for me at least, "Islands" failed to do that. "The night before the funeral" seems to fall somewhere between "Islands" and the band's lavish debut. The song's dour, sober theme is explored more along the lines of "Explosions" than "Cry for love", a track whose shifting, echoing chords move cleverly, yet fail to attain the engaging intimacy easily found on the debut. While "The night before the funeral" is unmistakably a Mary Onettes song, there is still something lacking -- its closing moments fade away, a fate that doesn't befall tracks like "Slow" or "The companion" whose climaxes exultantly resonate, almost refusing to be forgotten. It's that quality that was lost somewhat in the transition from the first to the second album, and also plagues "The night before the funeral". To be completely fair, I am being more critical of The Mary Onettes than I would of almost any other band, but only because they set such a high standard themselves. I've come to expect quite a bit from them, as they are a band who contributed heavily to the soundtrack of the last few years of my life, though when all said and done, "The night before the funeral" is a fine song. Did it fill me with the same emotions that a track like "Lost" or "Dare" does? Sadly, no, but it does more for me than most of the music I've heard recently.
The Mary Onettes - The night before the funeral
Elin Ruth Sigvardsson on tour
Elin Ruth Sigvardsson is touring Germany and Switzerland at the end of the month:
04/22 - Kampnagel, Hamburg (GER)
04/23 - Kesselhaus, Berlin (GER)
04/24 - Tante Ju, Dresden (GER)
04/26 - Nato, Leipzig (GER)
04/27 - Schocken, Stuttgart (GER)
04/28 - Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg (GER)
04/29 - Brotfabrik, Frankfurt (GER)
04/30 - Ebullition, Bulle (CH)
05/01 - Kaserne, Basel (CH)
05/25 - Grüner Jäger, Hamburg (GER)
05/26 - Aufsturz, Berlin (GER)
Get them started young
Hurra Torpedo, indoctrinating the youth in the ways of musical kitchen destruction: http://www.vgtv.no/?id=29900&category=5
TOW
Demo
TOW (The Old Wind) is Tomas Liljedahl from Breach, and it doesn't say who else (maybe it's just Tomas). So with some trepidation and a lot of anticipation involved, I checked out the myspace page expecting something ok-but-not-quite-as-good-as-Breach. "In fields" start really nice, dissonant guitars showing that Tomas does this quite well without Niklas Quintana and Anders Ekström, whose presence I was expecting to miss. But I do not! This sounds sludgy, dissonant, but crisp. When the vocals kick in I'm home. Tomas, you have direct access to my spine with your voice from my adolescence listening to Breach constantly on my freestyle (it was like an iPod but with cassettes). "Raveneye" continues the sludgy heavy dissonant vibe, throwing in a violin (is it a violin?), and "Reign" does the same. It quickly sinks in that this is some good shit right here. The lower production values and slower tempo remind me of "It's me god"-era Breach (greatest record ever) and a little pre-, like "Old songs vs new beats"-era (also a really good slice of Breach). Tomas shows here how much of his presence defined what Breach was, and what a great scream he has. This would be nostalgia, but since no 'good ole days' ever came Breach's way, this is really a second chance for the world to catch on. You hear that World! Catch the fucking fever already!!
Bear in mind that these are rough un-mastered cuts from the recordings of, hopefully, a very promising new album.
- Mathias Rask-Andersen
Mixtapes & Cellmates - The brighter place to go
Mixtapes & Cellmates are streaming their new single "The brighter place to go" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/mixtapesandcellmates
KDB seeks old punk photos
The dudes from excellent punk archive blog KBD Records are working on a new book about Swedish punk (på Svenska, unfortunately) and are looking for help in gathering pics of old bands -- go here to see their want if you can lend a hand: http://www.kbdrecords.com/2010/04/21/swedish-punknew-wave-1977-1982/
Next Ja Ja Ja confirmed
Ja Ja Ja has announced their next showcase which is set for May 20, curated by Stuart Clarke of Music Week, and will feature the artists Snorri Helgason, No and the Maybes and Mariam "Manna" Jäntti. More info: http://www.jajajamusic.com/events.php?id=16
Disco Ensemble - Protector
Finnish act Disco Ensemble are giving away their new single "Protector" for free via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/discoensemble
Uniforms for the Dedicated to release new single feat. Adiam Dymott
Swedish fashion/art/film/music group Uniforms for the Dedicated are releasing a new single (and collection) called "1020 Trickery Lane" featuring guest vocals from Adiam Dymott and b-side remixes from Marcus Enochson and Embee. Official release is set for early May, find out more here: http://uniformsforthededicated.com/music/
Adore Music reaches out to Iceland
has signed Icelandic act Árstíðir and will be releasing their self-titled album in Sweden on May 12.
Moneybrother US tour blog
A member of Moneybrother's American backing band is blogging from their current US tour for Willamette Weekly: http://blogs.wweek.com/music/2010/04/21/moneybrother-it-only-takes-a-couple-of-short-skirts-to-remember-who-we-are-raleigh-nc/
It's true about Seattle too, shows there almost inevitably suck. Lame crowds, lame scene.
New music from Grande Roses
A couple tracks from Grande Roses' new EP "Say it to my fervent heart" are now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/granderoses
I'm fortunate enough to have heard the entire thing already and can confirm that it is excellent.
Special defects II in the making
Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal recently spent a few days in the studio with drummer Morgan Ågren (Mats/Morgan Band, etc.) working on a sequel to Thordendal's legendary solo album "Special defects: Sol niger within" from way back in '97. No word yet on what form it will take or when we'll get to hear it, but supposedly "hours" of material has been recorded and I'll be sure to keep you posted if I hear anything further.
Thomas Dybdahl - Party like it's 1929 (live video)
Watch Thomas Dybdahl perform "Party like it's 1929" live on Norwegian TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXW6tbA3C5M
His new album "Waiting for that one clear moment" is out now.