The Hellacopters have confirmed their final tour schedule which will culiminate in four shows at Debaser Medis in Stockholm: http://www.hellacopters.com/site/default.asp
Swedish synthpop act Kamera will be back in Japan in September:
09/20 - Nakano Moon Step, Tokyo
09/22 - Shibuya Club Asia, Tokyo
09/24 - Akasaka L@n, Tokyo
09/25 - Kagurazaka Explosion, Tokyo
09/26 - Shinjuku Loft, Tokyo
Norwegian act BigBang will release their US debut album "From acid to zen" on September 9. Head to myspace for samples and tourdates: http://www.myspace.com/smallbang
Diamond Dogs vocalist Sören "Sulo" Karlsson will release his debut solo album "Hear me out" on October 22 via Legal Records. He's got quite an impressive roster of guest stars too, including Louise Hoffsten, Papa Dee, Max Martin (yes, that Max Martin) and Sara Löfgren, the latter which can be heard on the single "Still looking for you", available for download right here: http://www.legalrecords.se/downloads/Sulo%20-%20Still%20Looking%20For%20You.mp3
MP3: The Chair - September
I'm always stoked when a new package of promo CDs from Transubstans Records shows up because they've consistently got the best hard-rock going on, hands down. Graveyard, Sienna Root, Øresund Space Collective, Villebråd, the list goes on and on. Naturally there's a few clunkers in the catalog, but I typically find that the positive far outweighs the negative, though a few do fall somewhere in between and The Chair happens to be one of 'em. I dig the band's bluesy hard-rock style, but they've also got a corny side that reminds me of Kiss in a bad way. On the other hand, the more they sound like Blue Cheer, the happier I am and "September" definitely has that going on. I especially dig the way the main riff trades off with the vocals on the verse. It's not rocket science, but if the classic recipe works so well, why mess with it? That's what hard-rock revival is all about; it's called "classic" rock for a reason. This is good summer music that doesn't require much thought, nothing more. And there's no faulting a band with the balls to shout "Turn it up Scandinavia!" as they do in "Barn burner". Just like Kiss, it's goofy as hell, but also kinda bad-ass. I can appreciate that sort of party vibe in limited doses, if I'm in the right mood.
The Chair - September
Various Artists
Gothenburg 08
Fang Bomb
As an interested and curious listener, I feel lost sometimes when I discover new kinds of music. Often I'd like to hear more but don't know where to look further, even in the times of myspace and mp3-blogs and especially for such marginal music as experimental electronica where the web's oversupply of information tends to thin out. That's why I'm grateful to the people at Fang Bomb: They've already done all the digging, filtering and compiling for me to produce "Gothenburg 08", a sampler aimed to showcase Gothenburg's current electronic and experimental scene. The ten tracks presented here span a very wide bridge from Porn Sword Tobacco's almost over-enjoyable post-muzak to Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words' eponymously gloomy and demanding layers of noise. Most of the compilation oscillates between drones and slowly developing ambient pieces though, which creates an almost album-like feel throughout. I'd recommend this to anyone interested in electronic music that is ambitious, complex and accessible at the same time. The compilation's large bandwidth make it the ideal introduction to the different featured artists -- you just have to pick your favorite and look out for their future work.
- Arnulf Köhncke
Thomas Denver Jonsson is back in the UK in September:
09/17 - St Bonaventure, Bristol (UK) w/Sam Baker
09/18 - Catweazle Club, Oxford (UK)
09/19 - Vortex Jazz Club, London (UK)
09/20 - The Electric Dustbowl: Americana UK live!, The Musician, Leicester (UK) w/Peter Bruntnell, more
09/21 - The Golden Fleece, Nottingham (UK)
09/22 - Vox @ The Vale, Glasgow (UK)
09/25 - NxNY, York, York (UK)
The message on The Bear Quartet's official website has been changed from "We will release a new album in 2008" to "We will probably release a new album in 2009."
New North American dates for Dungen:
10/24 - Music Hall of Williamsburg (CMJ/Kemado), Brooklyn, NY
10/27 - Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
10/28 - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA
10/30 - Great Scott, Boston, MA
10/31 - Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ONT
11/01 - Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI
11/02 - Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
11/04 - 400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN
11/07 - Chop Suey, Seattle, WA
11/08 - Doug Fir, Portland, OR
11/10 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
11/11 - Cellar Door, Visalia, CA
11/12 - The Echo, Los Angeles, CA
Tiny Mix Tapes interviews Norwegian noise maven Lasse Marhaug: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/Lasse-Marhaug,6683
Beatservice will be releasing a new solo album from Ralph Myers as well as a new Xploding Plastix record in early September. Go here for details and preorder info: http://www.beatservice.no/blogg/2008/08/new-albums-from-xploding-plastix-and.html
New German dates for Kaizers Orchestra:
11/11 - Musiktheater, Kassel
11/12 - Muffatwerk, München
11/14 - Colos Saal, Aschaffenburg
11/16 - Stahlwerk, Düsseldorf
11/20 - Longhorn, Stuttgart
11/21 - Postbahnhof, Berlin
Apparently the setlist on this tour will be filled by songs the band doesn't regularly play or hasn't played in awhile, so expect something special?
The Silent Ballet on Ljudbilden & Piloten: http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/1646/Default.aspx