Check out the new video for "Stupid clown" from Pär Hagström & Cirkus Transmopol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pdVWHo7UnM
Swedish alt-country act The Tarantula Waltz has a new website: http://www.thetarantulawaltz.com/
The band has been working on new material with Håkan Sörle and John Roger Olsson of IAT.MP3 act The Grand Opening.
Finnish rockers Rite has confirmed that their new record "Death I hear you calling but I can´t come home rite now" will be out October 8 via Longfellowdeeds Records/Multiplatinum Records.
Swedish doom act Kongh will be going into Teknikkompaniet Studios in Vetlanda with producer/engineer Peter Lundin on October 25 to begin work on their next album, tentatively due out next spring.
Danish hardcore act Harasser will be taking it easy this coming fall, but plan on going into the studio around January/February to record some new material.
The (International) Noise Conspiracy's new Rick Rubin-produced album "The cross of my calling" is finally confirmed for release on November 19 via Burning Heart. Hear a sample tune at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/internationalnoiseconspiracy
You can also go here to download a track: http://www.thetripwire.com/news/2008/9/15/exclusive-download-the-international-noise-conspiracy-i-am-the-dynomite
MP3: Sophie Zelmani - Yeah, okey
Even though the goofy Swenglish spelling of "Yeah, okey" sets the editor part of my brain on fire¹, the track was an immediate highlight for me as I dug into Sophie Zelmani's new album "The ocean and me". It's an internal dialog between the singer and the demons in her head. It starts: "Darkness, if I'm gonna spend all my time with you / You've got to be my friend / If I wanna be all alone with you / I've got to feel your hand" Does that sound copasetic to you? Granted, she does allow for light and love to be let in, but when she asks what she can do for the Darkness, that's what really worries me. I won't be in the way? Not okay. Save me from my crazy mind? Sounds like it might be too late.
¹Okay and okej are fine, okey is not. My fingers almost refuse to type it.
Sophie Zelmani - Yeah, okey
Pitchfork on the new Emiliana Torrini album "Me and Armini": http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/145293-emilana-torrini-me-and-armini
Culkin
Demo
self-released
The evidence of members of KVLR in Culkin is obvious as "Pay per fist" bursts alive in a chaotic display of Scandinavian indierock. And, as with many outstanding records, the lo-fi production adds a wonderfully human element to the compositions. This demo release almost perfectly encapsulates what has been left out of many of the recent advances into the rock genre: thick, jangled guitar lines blurring over one another to form a wall of melody; vocal lines that don't attempt to set themselves above the instrumental fray, but impose themselves directly into this skirmish; an undulating framework that allows the compositions to easily, seamlessly shift between bouts of melancholy into sections of outright triumph. Imagine elements of shoegaze and post-rock, a healthy study of 90s acts like Sonic Youth, and an outright appreciation for the Scandinavian bands who helped reshape this bastard brand of indierock (see: The End Will Be Kicks) and you get a pretty good idea of what Culkin's all about. If this demo is any indication of what's in store, Culkin have quite a future in front of them -- one that I'll be watching very closely.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
New fall tourdates for Loney, Dear:
11/11 - Gleis 22, Münster
11/12 - Gebäude 9, Köln
11/13 - Centre Culturel Opderschmelz, L-Dudelange
11/14 - El Lokal, CH-Zürich
11/15 - Zoo, Tübingen
11/16 - Schlachthof, Wiesbaden
11/18 - E-Werk, Erlangen
11/19 - Beatpol, Dresden
11/20 - Moritzbastei, Leipzig
11/21 - Lagerhaus, Bremen
11/22 - Knust, Hamburg
11/23 - Maschinenhaus, Berlin
11/24 - Objekt 5, Halle
Eardrums has new music from Norwegian indiepop duo Jeremy: http://eardrumsmusic.com/2008/09/15/jeremy-with-new-album-today/
The 405 calls the new Mimas album "The worries" a "masterpiece": http://thefourohfive.com/2008/09/15/mimas-the-worries/
Lots of new video clips up at the Division of Laura Lee "Violence is timeless" microsite, including some interview footage a new music clip for the song "Anytime, anywhere" directed by Joe Lally (Fugazi): http://www.violenceistimeless.com/