Hit Me! and Kræsj Records will be reissuing Norwegian punk rockers De Sjenerte 1980 cassette "Si ja til De Sjenerte" with seven bonus live tracks as a new CD entitled "De Sjenerte-Gutta fra 80-åra". Read more: http://www.hitmerecords.com/Kraesj%20Records.htm (in Norwegian)
Check out a feature on Loney Dear from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6734912
To be completely honest, I wasn't that into Cut City's full length "Exit decades". A few solid tracks to be sure, but it didn't hold my attention. As for their new EP "Narcissus can wait", well, this time they hit it out of the park: five tracks, all killer, no filler. They're still mining the sounds of 80s goth/postpunk, 'cept now I think they've figured out their own path and are set on creating their own unique sound. For one, the hardcore influence is stronger. It may not be totally obvious, but I definitely hear it on "Departure in particular" in the heightened energy level, the noisy guitar stabs and the busy drum fills. The mood and the melody still possess some of the austere quality of bands like Joy Division and The Cure, but the approach is so much more vigorous, more determined. If I was playing music now, this is the kind of stuff I'd want to do.
Cut City - Departure in particular
Blast First Petite will be releasing a Pan Sonic/Keiji Haino live collaboration entitled "Shall I download a black hole and offer it to you". No exact date yet, but they say "early 2009".
Backyard Babies will be supporting Danko Jones on tour in Europe:
03/16 - Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg (GER)
03/17 - Kesselhaus, Berlin (GER)
03/19 - Backstage, München (GER)
03/20 - Flex, Wien (AUS)
03/21 - Mascotte, Zurich (CH)
03/22 - Schuur, Luzen (CH)
03/24 - Longhorn, Stuttgart (GER)
03/25 - Le Trabendo, Paris (FRA)
03/26 - Handelbeurs, Ghent (BEL)
03/27 - Essigfabrik, Cologne (GER)
03/28 - Tivoli, Utrecht (NL)
03/30 - Schlachthof, Wiesbaden (GER)
03/31 - La Laiterie, Strasbourg (FRA)
04/01 - Ninkasi Kao, Lyon (FRA)
04/03 - Garorock Festival, Marmande (FRA)
04/04 - L´Antipode, Rennes (FRA)
Swedish indie/psych act Blända will be releasing the 5-track "Nico EP" tomorrow on January 28 via Fashionpolice Records. Preview a few songs at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/blandaband
Norwegian act Alpine Those Myriads? have a brand new website to herald the arrival of their new album "Trance eloquent wings": http://alpinethosemyriads.com
Check out Swedish indiepop act Celestial's new video for the song "Lonely Boulevard": http://www.vimeo.com/2981527
Also see the video for "Try to understand" right here: http://www.vimeo.com/2983777
Traktor (SWE) and Heroes & Zeros (NOR) will be teaming up for some European tourdates:
03/09 - MTC, Köln (GER)
03/10 - AKW, Würzburg (GER)
03/11 - Ampere, München (GER)
03/12 - Chelsea, Wien (AUS)
03/13 - Magnet, Berlin (GER)
03/14 - Grüner Jäger, Hamburg (GER)
Aftonbladet is streaming the new video for They Live By Night's latest single "Ctrl+Alt+Del my heart": http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/musikvideor/article4270978.ab
The latest Music Export Finland newsletter is now online: http://musex.fi/mxf/news?articleId=176
Finnish doom act Callisto is streaming a new track on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/callistochaos
Norwegian hype act (or has everyone moved on?) New Violators are finally streaming some new music at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/newviolators
Their long-awaited debut full-length will be out in late February.
Danish artist Martin Hall has two new videos online: "P.O." / "No thanks and then some"
I can't say that the visuals are remarkably compelling, but the music is definitely worth checking out.
Paste talks to Peter Bjorn and John: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/01/catching-up-with-peter-bjorn-johns-bjorn-yttling.html