Jennie Abrahamson in the UK
Jennie Abrahamson is going to the UK in late April:
04/28 - Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
05/01 - The Primrose Chill @ Camden Crawl, London
05/02 - Notting Hill Arts Club, London
New label alert: Adversum
The always interesting and thorough Avant-garde Metal site talks to Norwegian musician/artist/graphic designer Kim Sølve about his new venture, the label : http://www.avantgarde-metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=158
The first two releases on the new imprint will be from the artists Yurei and Delirium Bound with lots more planned for the future.
New tunes from If Society
has posted samples from the forthcoming Radiopuhelimet and Echo Is Your Love albums for preview:
Radiopuhelimet - Globaali anaali
Echo Is Your Love - Playlist song
For more info go here: http://www.ifsociety.com/news.php#n154
MP3: Per Egland - Merkurius brinner
9 out of 10 times I delete every remix track that hits my inbox before listening because they are almost always invariably: 1) worthless 2) boring 3) awful or 4) all of the above. I can't be bothered; I already spend way too much time listening to music I don't like and I honestly would rather listen to something that's obviously terrible than some mediocre retread of a song I didn't care about in the first place. At least then I have the good sense to turn it off 30 seconds in rather than wait fruitless in hopes it might get good. There are always exceptions though and this reworking of Per Egland's "Merkurius brinner" ("Mercury is burning") as done by Martin Senter (Seven Feet Four, EL-SD, Talking to Drake, etc.) works quite well because it completely reinvents the tune. Honestly, the original (listen at myspace) isn't all that; a fine, but ultimately unfulfilling upbeat dirge. Senter's take kicks the tempo way way up and turns it into something far closer to Gbg-style indiepop than I thought was possible. From bummer to summer, this is the way to do it.
Per Egland - Merkurius brinner (Martin Senter remix)
Lazee + Neverstore - Hold on (video)
Check out the new Lazee video for his new single "Hold on" featuring a guest appearance from Swedish pop-punk act Neverstore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Un9PE560Q
Definitely not the direction I figured he'd go, but whatever -- it's fine as an early summer pop tune I suppose.
Members from Moi Caprice, I Got You On Tape and Maborosi form The Late Great Fitzcarraldos
Bassist Jakob Millung from Moi Caprice, guitarist Jacob Funch of I Got You on Tape and frontman Tobias Buch Andersen from the group Maborosi have formed a new indie supergroup of sorts under the name The Late Great Fitzcarraldos and will be releasing their self-titled debut EP on April 19. Hear samples at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thelategreatfitzcarraldos
New Kim Larsen album in May
Danish troubadour Kim Larsen will release the new album "Mine damer og herrer" on May 3. The first single "Næ næ næ" is already out to radio.
Twins Twins - Catherine leave
Danish indie act Twins Twins are streaming the new song "Catherine leave" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/twinstwinsmusic
Lowe - Mirage
Swedish electronic pop act Lowe is giving away their new single "Mirage" as a free download: http://www.lowemusic.net/
Robyn talks to Pitchfork
Pitchfork talks to Robyn about her upcoming plans for 2010, which she says should hopefully include a new album in June: http://pitchfork.com/news/38179-robyn-talks-ambitious-2010-plans/
Masshysteri cancel US tour
Masshysteri have cancelled their upcoming US tour plans in May, but say they will be back later this year. Wait and see...
Okkultokrati album details
Okkultokrati have revealed the cover art and full tracklist for their forthcoming album "No light for mass", due out May 17: http://okkultokrati.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-light-for-mass-artwork-finished.html
The always-reliable will handle the CD version while details are still being worked out for the LP.
Gerilja unveil new EP
Norwegian act Gerilja, the winners of the 2007 Zoom Urørt unsigned band competition, are back with a new 6-song EP called "Pink slush twilight" produced by John Fryer, the same dude who worked on Nine Inch Nail's debut "Pretty hate machine". Vinyl and digital only, samples and ordering info at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gerilja
Silver Gleaming Sound Machine
All tomorrow's gardens
self-released
I live in Micronesia, a land of pay-per-KB dial-up internet and no Myspace or Youtube. Imagine, then, I'm running down Silver Gleaming Sound Machine's impressive array of e-accolades, barely able to control my excitement as I wait for "All tomorrow's gardens" to arrive by media mail. SGSM it seems, could be the knighted future of Copenhagen, the heir to the last great Danes of pop (I'll admit it), Alphabeat. A Krautrock bent and 60s psychedelia, in my mind, could prove a darker, more rewarding palette than "This is Alphabeat"'s overtly sugary appeal.
In theory. Imagine when I get the album and it plays more as a spiritual sister to Asteroids Galaxy Tour (one more band and it's officially a movement), a faulty electro-Motown update that I can't even dignify with the term pastiche, as the internet connotation of that word is moving ever so slightly towards "encomium" in our nostalgia-driven society. The sprightly percussion and electro-punk lean of album opener "Hawk" -- maybe the only redeemable song on this mini-album -- can't save SGSM from an overall lack of catchy choruses or cohesive arrangements. Typical of a crop of rising pop outfits in Scandinavia, SGSM tries to look in too many directions at once. Here's a nod to Pink Floyd, here's Le Tigre, and let's steep that all in the tinny pulse of turn-of-the-80s Krautrock! Overly smitten critics use buzzwords like "ELO" and "Kraftwerk", and in the process they forgive them for a dearth of palatable songs.
I don't know. Maybe the iPod commercialistas who find these bands great in 15 second snippets will continue to force feed us downmarket ethereals like SGSM in order to heighten the pop-futuristic appeal of tablet-based products. Maybe it's what we deserve. Whatever the case, I'm not nearly satisfied with Denmark's recent pop output. The country of Roskilde and indie greats The Raveonettes, Efterklang and Under Byen, to me, is of late lagging behind its Northern cousins in the pop arena. Whatever. Maybe we'll get lucky and the new Alphabeat album will become the Danish pop savior of 2010. Hah.
- Nathan Keegan
Magyar Posse to France in May
Finnish postrock act Magyar Posse will be supporting My Own Private Alaska on tour in France this coming May:
05/12 - Le Bikini, Toulouse (FRA)
05/13 - L'Ephémère, Vannes (FRA)
05/14 - La Grange à Musique, Creil (FRA)
05/15 - L'EMB, Sannois (FRA)
05/16 - Le Nouveau Casino, Paris (FRA)
05/17 - Le Ferrailleur, Nantes (FRA)
05/19 - Les Trinitaires, Metz (FRA)
05/20 - Le Clacson, Lyon (FRA)
05/21 - La Cartonnerie, Reims (FRA)
05/22 - L'Aéronef, Lille (FRA)