As regular readers should know by now, I'm no fan of The Radio Dept. Their tepid shoegaze leaves nary an impression on me and, even at their supposed angriest ("Freddy and the Trojan Horse"), they're still not much more than musical wallpaper. But I acknowledge that I am probably in the minority, so before I head off to the dentist this morning, I'll let contributor Arnulf Köhncke talk up the new single "David":
After such a long time waiting, it feels strange when something comes around that's this unexpected and yet so painfully obvious. But when the four-beat piano chords set in after the first line, it all falls into place. All that soul, the swaying chord changes, the secret-agent movie strings, the glockenspiels and melodicas. Even that hip-hop interlude and the 60's pop ending. No more Prefab Sprout'ness for now, no more distorted keyboards, no more analogue drums -- just those trademark vocals singing about longing and love, despair and hope.
The Radio Dept. - David
Environmentally-friendly US-based record label Branch Records has licensed Tvärvägen's album "Sånger från Tvärvägen" for release over in this part of the world: http://www.branchrecords.com/releases/sanger-fran-tvarvagen/
Superfamily is holding a remix contest for their new single "Let's go dancing": http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=55559658&blogId=492554735
The best mix will be included as a bonus track on the download version of their new album, due out in August.
Fan-filmed footage from this past weekend's Ulver performance, their first in 15 years, has now surfaced online and Blabbermouth has compiled some clips: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=121080
Datarock's new record "Red" is currently streaming in its entirety at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/datarock
Robyn and French act Yelle just released a digital split single on iTunes with each of them covering eachothers songs. Robyn performs "A caus des garcons" as "Because of boys" and Yelle returns the favor with their version of "Who's that girl", or as they sing it, "Qui est cette fille". Listen to the latter here: http://www.myspace.com/iloveyelle
Razzia Records will release the new Theodor Jensen (The Plan) solo single "Songbird" on August 7.
Katatonia will be going into the studio later this month to work on their 8th album. Expect an October release via Peaceville.
Apparently Advance Patrol's new album "El futuro" was moving enough downloads when they only had it posted on their own site, so they decided to upload it to The Pirate Bay and write a press release. Check it: http://globalgonza.com/2009/05/31/english-press-release-advance-patrol/
Any aspiring bands hoping to do the same for a quick PR boost better jump on it quick because returns are sure to be diminishing.
Spin has the premiere of The Legends' new video for "Always the same": http://www.spin.com/articles/exclusive-legends-fuzzy-summertime-jam
I get seriously bummed sorting through all the new Swedish hip-hop, hoping to find something good. For awhile it seemed like the forward-thinkers were taking charge and releasing great records, but now? I'm not so sure. So much of what's popular sounds like 3rd-rate garbage to me, lazy copies of American artists. Leave it to the standbys to keep up the quality then -- for example, not only has Promoe been putting up a ton of decent-to-better tracks for free download, but we've also got Ison & Fille's new single "Jag skrattar idag" to get us through. It's a fitting song for me today as well, since my workday was abysmal. What can you do but laugh it off? Especially when it starts off with a unnecessary 5am phonecall. "Jag skrattar idag" has a lazy, whistling melody, but the kick and bass push the beat and keep things moving. Insistent in an underhanded way, I suppose you could say; it drives far harder than you might realize. Fits my mood and fits the season, too. And not to damn them by comparison, but you could certainly do far worse. Also, once again proving the best Swedish hip-hop is still done på Svenska.
Ison & Fille - Jag skrattar idag
Stina Westerberg takes over as the Swedish Music Information Centre's new CEO today -- read the full English press release: http://www.mic.stim.se/avd/mic/prod/micnews.nsf/webselectpuff/613A29430862D329C1257566002B51FD
Swedish label Friendly Noise has a new single from duo The Dreamers (½ = Action Biker) for free download: http://www.friendlynoise.se/fyn-103-the-dreamers-nagon-annan-my-stupid-heart/