Nö Music is a new webzine covering music from Norway: http://www.nomusicmedia.com/
Let's see if they persevere any longer than the ones that have come before.
The video for the new Fontän track "Early morning" is now online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFdkkkiDEZA
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Logh - Saturday nightmares
02. TALK 1
03. Pay TV - Miss Capitalist
04. TST - No teenage future
05. Dmitry Fyodorov - Wolfbrigade
06. TALK 2
07. The Opium Cartel - Flicker girl (ft. Rachel Haden)
08. Bjorn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson - Någonting är pa väg
09. On Volcano - Out of sight
10. TALK 3
11. Lemonator - Heart burns
12. Loudpipes - Downhill blues
13. The Greencoats - Honey
14. TALK 4
15. Christian and Karla-Therese Kjellvander - Two souls
16. Detektivbyrån - Neonland
17. Knife and Ape - Upset blues
18. TALK 5
19. Cut City - Replacement
20. Culkin - Twin Lakes annual
21. Last Days of April - Playerin
22. TALK 6
23. Viking Truckers - Love on the road
Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.
Swedish pop duo Pacific has unveiled a new t-shirt release with artwork by frequent collaborator Stephane Manel and download codes in the neck, redeemable for remix tracks from Breakbot and The Touch. Unfortunately the package will only be available at a few stores in Sweden and France, but I imagine the tracks may turn up again elsewhere.
Perez Hilton is all about Juvelen: http://perezhilton.com/2008-08-02-watch-listen-so-smooth
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Håkan Hellström
02. Laakso
03. The Radio Dept.
04. Detektivbyrån
05. Kent
06. Sambassadeur
07. The Concretes
08. The Kid
09. Studio
10. Tiger Lou
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Pitchfork reviews the new Lau Nau album "Nukuu": http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/142597-lau-nau-nukkuu
MP3: Coldworker - Citizens of the Cyclopean Maze
It's been a long time since I've heard any melodic Swedish death metal that matches the quality of the stuff the Göteborg scene churned out in the mid-90s, long enough that I've pretty much given up hope. Which is fine really, there were enough quality releases back then that still stand the test of time. There's no need to revisit that sound, but that doesn't stop people from trying. Coldworker is most definitely not a melodic metal act, but just like they aren't a grind band either, that doesn't stop them from incorporating elements from various subgenres as they see fit. To go from harsh blastbeats into a riff that wouldn't be out of place on an In Flames album might seem a little incongruous, but they pull it off admirably. And I always love a good pinch-harmonic riff. They do stray a bit too far into riff-salad territory, especially around the solo section, however I have to say that it works overall in the grand scheme of things. It's always good to hear solid, new Swedish death metal that doesn't rely on the old rulebook.
Coldworker - Citizens of the Cyclopean Maze
Swedish darkwave act Arcana has lined up a few international dates this autumn:
09/13 - Mithras Garden Festival, Koblenz (GER) w/In Slaughter Natives
10/04 - Underworld, Camden, London (UK) w/Sol Invictus
11/22 - Die Kantine, Augsberg (GER) w/Qntal, Rome
Paavoharju
Laulu laakson kukista
Fonal Records
Listening to "Laulu laakson kukista", it's easy to hear where everyone gets the "freak" and "psych" to prefix Paavoharju's inscrutable blend of folk. It's hardly consistent—perhaps one of the reasons that they remain on the folk margins is their uneven, genre-hopping approach to LPs, where they give almost as much time to circus music larceny as they do to their fuzz-folk-meets-trip hop explorations.
The appearance of waltz time is perhaps the only thematic glue that binds the disparate ends on "Kukista". These waltzes work better when they rummage around in a fog of electronica, while darkly angelic female vocalists swarm as sirens around come-and-go drums. Attempts at a more straightforward approach like "Italialaisella laivalla" mostly fail to impress -- the melodies too woodsy, their signature ethereal errata too lacking.
It's beat-driven songs like "Uskallan" with its broad, almost proto-Slavic melody that get the job done when neither the siren's song or the sea of low-tech ambience can be found. These latter qualities, prominent in "Kevatrumpu", "Kirkonvaki", and "Tytto tanssii" are starkly beautiful highlights -- better than anything I've heard all year -- but Paavoharju has trouble finding enough "Uskallan" moments to lift the rest of the album out of the water.
I guess Paavoharju is just hard to understand. Maybe it's the fact that I don't know a word of Finnish, or maybe it's the fact that their self-proclaimed mystic Christian asceticism is supposed to inspire visions of 16th-century Byzantium that I just don't get. But all of this confusion never subtracts from the weird beauty of most of this album. It remains impressive and stunning, and its arcane nature rewards with repeat listens.
- Nathan Keegan
MP3: Bad Cash Quartet - Put me back together
Worlds collide! Besides Broder Daniel and maybe Håkan Hellström, Bad Cash Quartet is the preeminent band that defines the classic Göteborg sound with their slightly shambolic yet anthemic pop music and snotty, out-of-key vocals. They became a bit more polished (and boring) towards the end, but I'll always hold their sophomore album "Outcast" as a classic. I strongly considered posting from that album, but in the end decided to say screw it and went with this, their cover of The Bear Quartet's "Put me back together". Besides, I've already talked about "Too bored to die" more than once. Anyhow, this song is from BCQ's later, more lackluster period and it really doesn't stand a chance at competing with the original, but at least they try to put their own spin on it. I just don't think that sucking all the energy out of it was the best way to go about it. Mattias Alkberg's vocals on the original get more and more manic as the calamities pile on, Martin Elisson plays it closer to the chest. And no one can compete with Jari Haapalainen's explosive leads. Still, it remains a great song. There's not much shame in admitting defeat before the mighty BQ.
Semi-related to this whole weekly Gbg nonsense: who's going to Way Out West? What bands are you looking forward to seeing?
Bad Cash Quartet - Put me back together
The Modular release of The Tough Alliance's album "A new chance" has been pushed back to September 25.
New European tourdates for Swedish fuzzrock act Truckfighters:
09/05 - Bunker, Chemnitz (GER)
09/06 - Transmitter Festival, Hohenems (AUS)
09/07 - White Rabbid, Freiburg (GER)
09/09 - Sonic Ballroom, Köln (GER)
09/12 - Pretty Vacant, Düsseldorf (GER)
09/13 - Stereo Total , Heilbronn (GER)
09/16 - Cafe Zapata, Berlin (GER)
09/19 - JUZ, Wolfsberg (AUS)
09/20 - Arena, Wien (AUS)