Infectious in the best possible way, not like a dreaded sommarplåga or a social disease. In fact, all three songs from the new single "Supernova", including brilliant b-side covers of Vapnet and Bingo, are phenomenal. Likewise, so is Magnus Ekelund & Stålet's upcoming full-length "Det definitiva drevet". Same goes for labelmates Norra Kust, whose self-titled debut was just released today and is now on Spotify. Essential listening all around!
In These Woods' self-titled debut/final? EP from late 2010 didn't make much of a splash, but it's still one of my favorite indierock releases of recent memory. While I love bands like Culkin and Tennis Bafra, they're often operating more off of a classic US indie template as opposed to ITW's inherent Swedish-ness. Of course it all comes from the same place if you trace it back far enough, but ITW has a far stronger direct kinship to Him Kerosene and Fireside than Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr.. It's in the sharpness of the rhythms, the way the melodies move and layer; there's nothing else like it.
For anyone who hasn't heard of Stavanger quartet Vaiping, the album title should at least give the genre away. In keeping with the tradition of the industrial movement this whole work just oozes odd. It's like a mix of Kraftwerk and Die Krupps, only without the innovation or variation of either. That said, "Industrial workers of the world unite" does have some inspired moments and some of the passages are incredibly well constructed and memorable. That the vast majority of the album runs on a slow-to-mid tempo is a two-sided coin of sorts. Firstly, that tempo serves to initiate a hypnotic feeling that staves off any real desire to switch off when boredom threatens to set in. On the other hand, the repetition does induce a certain apathy toward the album as a whole and this tends to overshadow the fact that the overall dismal feel here is quite unique and disturbing. Closing track "Pie in the sky" is a welcome surprise that pricks up tired ears and it's more of this type of variation throughout the album that would have made it killer. There's something captivating about the overall dark image that Vaiping convey but that doesn't mean that "Industrial workers of the world unite" is an essential purchase. The key word here is "potential". - John Norby
Coming soon via , a new collection of works from Finnish experimental/electronic music pioneer Erkki Kurenniemi produced during the period of 1963-1975. Doubel vinyl only, includes previously unreleased music as well as various more well-known pieces and collaborations.
Check out Vånna Inget, one of my favorite current punk acts Swedish or otherwise, performing an acoustic version of "Jag ska fly tills jag hittar hem" backstage at Umeå Open for The Hammock Sessions.
Always good to revisit the classics every now and then to see how well they're holding up and yep, this one holds up just fine. In fact, I'd say that Breach's final album "Kollapse" still crushes pretty much everything that's come along since it was first released back in 2001.
Details are sparse, but Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt was reportedly involved in a car accident last night forcing them to cancel the Minnesota stop on their current tour with Mastodon and Ghost. Supposedly he broke his arm, but nothing's been confirmed on that one way or another.
"Tiger" is the latest video from Gävle's The Deer Tracks. This particular tune comes off of part 2 of the group's multi-part album series "The Archer Trilogy".
Vaiping