Svarte Greiner/Lakes of Grass and Gold 7" in the works
Norwegian drone artist Svarte Greiner will be doing a split 7" with Sweden's Lakes of Grass and Gold (aka Erik Enocksson) on in the not-so-distant future.
Le Sport - Dreaming
Don't forget to grab the new Le Sport track posted on NYE: http://www.lesportmusic2.tk/
Presenting: Mackaper
Check out Swedish organ/drum duo Mackaper and the video for their new single "Tale of tales": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uPpqbm7Q98
If you're into retro Swedish psych ala Bo Hansson or Sagor & Swing, you'll probably dig this. Look for the album "When all is sad and dawn" to be released in February.
New music from Captain Cougar
Finnish indie act Captain Cougar has added a bunch of new songs to their myspace page from their forthcoming album "Of dreams long gone": http://www.myspace.com/captaincougar
I haven't had a chance to listen to it all myself, but I've definitely been into the newer material I've heard.
Nom de Guerre sign with Tapete
Nom de Guerre has signed with German label , home to fellow Swedish bands such as The Grand Opening and Lacrosse. Look for their new album "Love thy neighbor" to be released in March followed by a Euro tour in May.
New EP from David Åhlén
Swedish devotional artist David Åhlén has a new EP out called "All the way my saviour leads me" after his preacher father's favorite hymn, available either as a limited edition CD or a mp3 download: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=104141497&blogId=524639630
Like his recent album "We sprout in thy soil" (a personal 2009 favorite), this is very recommended.
BBC on the best unheard albums of 2009
The BBC calls A Camp's "Colonia" one of the best albums you never heard in 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8426925.stm
Danish act Mew also gets a nod.
PopMatters reviews The Mary Onettes, William Blakes
PopMatters reviews the latest album "Islands" from Swedish indierockers The Mary Onettes: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/117937-the-mary-onettes-islands/
Also covered, the American release of "Wayne Coyne" from Danes The William Blakes: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/118115-the-william-blakes-wayne-coyne/
New Menfolk album in spring
It's been a long while since we've heard anything new from Danish noiserock behemoths Menfolk, but reports that they will finally relase the new album "Beast one / Man mil" this spring. Samples soon?
Agent Side Grinder
The transatlantic tape project
Enfant Terrible
You might wonder why Agent Side Grinder have decided to release two albums at once -- I certainly did -- but, far from this endeavour mirroring the Guns N' Roses "Use your illusion" double-whammy (two albums of the same type of music; one album's worth of decent music), upon cranking this up after giving "Irish recording tape" (see review here) a rattle I can see why. While its companion album offers a pretty conventional Krautrock/electropunk nostalgia trip, "The transatlantic tape project" is an entirely different entity, exploring soundscapes that appear infinitely more contemporary and more ethereal. At times akin to some of Red Harvest's electronic uneasiness, at times sounding off like Genghis Tron's ZX Spectrum moments, and at times simply sounding like pure, unadulterated dread, ASG succeed in outputting a little under a half hour of dark ambient electronica that's the perfect accompaniment to inebriation and candlelight. It doesn't get much bleaker than on "210-392", surely a track to herald the impending onset of a nuclear holocaust, while "008-199" could serve as the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic planet Earth, devoid of civilization bar a handful of desperate survivors clawing at some hope of redemption. Oddly enough though, it all winds down on a decidedly beautiful note with "090-219", signing off with a nice piano passage that shows us there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Or is there...?
- John Norby
Djerv now streaming samples
Djerv, the new band from ex-Animal Alpha vocalist Agnete Kjølsrud (also featuring Erlend Gjerde of Stonegard/Wardruna and Stian Kårstad of Trelldom), are finally streaming a few demo tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/djervmusic
Peter Morén - Esther
Peter Bjorn and John frontman Peter Morén is now streaming the first single from his forthcoming Swedish-language solo album at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/petermorn
Said album, "I spåren av tåren", will be out in February.
Ef - Sons of ghosts
There's a brand new track from Ef up at myspace for both streaming and free download (scroll down): http://www.myspace.com/ef
DR P3 Guld nominees
Gaffa has the lowdown on the nominees for the Danish P3 Guld Awards: http://gaffa.dk/nyhed/36363
The Soundtrack of Our Lives live @ They Shoot music
Watch The Soundtrack of Our Lives play an outdoor acoustic live show for They Shoot Music: http://www.theyshootmusic.com/posts/the_soundtrack_of_our_lives