Aversionline revisits Swedish sXe moshcore act Doughnuts: http://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2008/09/25/doughnuts-the-age-of-the-circle-cd/
I agree - this band (and especially this album) holds up way better than you might expect.
Pitchfork on the new Serena Maneesh collection "SM backwards": http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/145881-serena-maneesh-sm-backwards
MP3: Sort Sol - White shirt
Of all the people who regularly pass along musical recommendations, I am most deeply indebted to Mattias Alkberg for his consistent, spot-on advice. I may not be crazy about the new Mogwai (I find that Helms Alee is a far more exciting band in that vein) and Chad VanGaalen is a bit of an uphill climb (I'm working on it), but as for his insistence I check out early Danish postpunk act Sods/Sort Sol, I'm all about it. Upon given the choice of the band's first four albums, I ask where to start. He says, "all of them" and of course he is 100% right. From the band's early roots as a more straight-ahead punk act under their first moniker to their later, more gothic leanings as "Black Sun", they created a consistently killer discography that was completely unknown to me until now. Whether you like tightly wound, frenetic punk ala "Pink flag"-era Wire or darker, more art-damaged rock with hints of Gun Club type melodrama, there is something for you here. Seriously, I am blown away. I am infatuated. Like Mattias says, there's really no perfect place to start, but since "White shirt" from 1983's "Dagger & guitar" is one of the first tracks I heard when I threw the tracks on shuffle, that's the song you get today. Sweetly sinister, devilish and beautiful; that's what it's all about. Tack igen Mattias!
Read more about Sort Sol/Sods at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sort_Sol
Sort Sol - White shirt
The Deer Tracks
Aurora
Despotz Records
"Yes this is my broken shield", the opener to The Deer Tracks' debut record, is a track that could easily have overshadowed the rest of the album. And while "Aurora" never again reaches the stellar heights of the closing minutes of "...broken shield", the band has plenty of other avenues to explore. The electronic production on "Aurora" is nothing short of fantastic, combining the glitchy with the organic, folding the vocals and guitars effortlessly into the mix, and creating dense, lavish compositions that effortlessly span the emotional range from triumphant to melancholic. Strangely, there are only little touches to connect this project to David Lehnberg's previous bands (Leiah, Ikaros, Ariel Kill Him), with far more connections drawn to acts such as Four Tet, the Notwist, Sigur Rós' "Ba ba ti ki di do" and Mew. "Aurora", despite the range of its influences, is a distinctively Scandinavian, if not characteristically Swedish, record -- showing beauty to be both a thing of wonder and tragedy, and effortlessly so. As I wrote for "Yes this is my broken shield", The Deer Tracks have raised the bar. "Aurora" is one of the great albums of 2008.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
The (International) Noise Conspiracy is playing a special one-off show in LA at Club Nokia on November 13. Go here for details on how to get tickets: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=24959654&blogID=436054154
Silverbullit reportedly did a recording session at Svenska Grammofon in Gbg this month. No idea if/how/when it'll be released, but I am eternally optimistic for new material from them.
IAT.MP3 artist Pacta (nee Pacta Sunt Servanda) has a new track on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/pactasuntservanda
Swedish rockers Fingerspitzengefühl have abandoned their hard-to-pronounce German moniker and shall henceforth be known as Switch Opens. See their new myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/theswitchopens
Firefox AK and Hello Saferide will both perform at the House of Sweden in Washington DC on October 20. Obviously, not to be missed. If I could afford it, I'd be there myself.
Per Gessle and co-writer Mats MP Persson will celebrate 4 million American radio plays of the Roxette track "Listen to your heart" at a special BMI gala in London on October 7. An interesting sidenote in the press release: if you played the song that many times back-to-back, it would take 36 years. Feel free to make your own joke with that one.
The Pfork Forkcast has new music from Johan Agebjörn (Sally Shapiro) posted : http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/145486-new-music-johan-agebjrn-dulciter-somni-ambient-computer-dance-mp3s-streams
In case you decide to download the new Elin Ruth Sigvardsson single "Saviour" (ft. Magnus Carlson from Weeping Willows), she's posted a pdf of sleeve artwork for you: http://www.elinruthsigvardsson.com/saviour_sleeve.pdf
Danish act Lost Alma is heading back to Germany for a few dates in early November:
11/06 - Intersoup, Berlin
11/07 - Hasenschaukel, Hamburg
11/08 - Kollage Berlin, Berlin
Upcoming tourdates for Swedish indie act Alibi Tom:
10/02 - Romein, Leeuwarden (NL)
10/03 - Merz, Dordrecht (NL)
10/04 - De Spot, Middelburg (NL)
10/07 - Cafe Stiels, Haarlem (NL)
10/09 - Speakers, Delft (NL)
10/10 - Waterfront, Rotterdam (NL)
10/11 - Sonic Boom record store, Kettering (UK)
10/11 - Key Escape Club, Kettering (UK)
10/15 - Prince of Wales, Steeple Claydon (UK)
10/18 - Exeter Hall, Oxford (UK)
10/24 - Huset Magstraede, Köpenhamn (DK)
10/29 - Kåren, Halmstad (SWE)
10/31 - Fängelset (all ages), Gothenburg (SWE)
11/01 - Chalmers, Gothenburg (SWE)
It's been two months since Desktop Orchestra has posted a new track, but they've remedied that fact: http://desktoporchestra.dk/?p=151