Kaizers Orchestra will be releasing a special, vinyl-only live album culled from various performances on the band's recent German tour. Look for them to be selling at gigs this fall.
LowCut interviewed some of the guys from The Hellacopters at Roskilde: http://www.lowcut.dk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=267:hellacopters-interview-roskilde-2008&catid=34:interviews&Itemid=55
If you enjoyed today's mp3 post on Tobias Hellkvist, be sure to check out his other new release, a split with Scottish artist Metronomes (the solo act of Al Paxton from Stapleton). Said split features today's featured track "Vintervarm" along with a cover of the Stapleton track "Ships of the North Atlantic" and a third previously unreleased song. More info: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=100364651&blogID=415407847
Swedish power-pop act The Higher Elevations will be playing the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany on Friday, July 18, but just in case you can't make it, you can also watch the gig online: http://indramusikclub.com/
PopMatters has a short take review of the latest Motorpsycho record "Little lucid moments": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/60609/motorpsycho-little-lucid-moments
Check out the brand new Kristofer Åström video for "Conjure me": http://kathi.multimediaart.at/conjureme/website.html
Those of you using laptops or with otherwise smaller resolution settings are advised to head to YouTube instead as the embedded Flash may be too big for some screens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS6Ml7h19UI
There will be a new digital EP from Datarock on August 26 featuring four different versions of the old track "Computer camp love", including two remixes from Devo and the video. Sounds kinda worthless to me, but then again, I'm not a fan so make of it what you will.
MP3: Tobias Hellkvist - Vintervarm
In case you've been wondering why I haven't posted anything from the new Tobias Hellkvist album, I really have no good excuse. First and foremost, I wanted to spend some time with the record so I could pick the best track to adequately show it off, but that didn't work so well because the whole thing flows so well together. Then I was going to wait for Tobias to put together a single for a netrelease, but that project is turning into something far more exciting (wait and see!), so I gotta say screw it - here's a song called "Vintervarm" off the brand new Tobias Hellkvist album "Sides". Like all of his work, it's rooted in melodious drone and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's a fairly suggestive title too, as I can easily imagine it being the perfect soundtrack to a crisp, bright winter day, but I also think it works fairly well right now in these dog days of summer. I also appreciate that Tobias' growing composition skills - he's really branched out on this release and is trying new things, showing off different sides of himself ('natch, again as the title suggests) and working with varying arrays of instrumentation. The slow build here is marvelous because, I barely remember how it started by the time it's finished, I'm just enraptured in the moment. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyhow: very highly recommended!
Purchase: [click here]
Tobias Hellkvist - Vintervarm
If you happened to be listening to SR P3/P4 this morning at 5:40am Swedish time and heard someone rambling about Swedish music, yes, that was me. Sorry I didn't post a heads-up, but it kinda came together at the last minute, so go here for the archive: http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/p4/nyhetssidor/sandningsarkiv.asp?programID=2689
Big thanks to Johan Åkesson for making it happen!
Ólafur Arnalds
Eulogy for evolution
Erased Tapes
On "Eulogy for evolution", Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds' piano takes center stage. But as the elegiac legato drips and drops that hug its predominantly 4/4 time are never adventurous, the first half of the album must seek the familiar risk of avant-garde composition elsewhere -- and it doesn't find it. The strings are expressive but expected, and the occasional flurry of electronica only shuffles around quietly in the background. It isn't until album standout and fan favorite "3055" that Ólafur finds his groove, adding a rollicking drumbeat that actually favors the time signature, calling those lethargic piano lines to life in an emotional, fast-paced ending. He finally comes down in between the common time lines in the emotional string-driven build up, and even makes time for some tinkling arpeggios in its conclusion. He finds blissful dissonance in strings on "3326", and album closer "3704/3837" is a screechingly beautiful firestorm of electric guitar and machine gun drums that sputters out as a sublime organ drones softly until its completion.
As an album it works well: it's one seamless work with the story-arc of a movie that plods along, contentedly melancholic until it explodes into a riveting climax and satisfied fall. And he's at his best when he embraces the haywire beauty of discord and calamity. But I have to wonder whether the contemplative beginning makes the end worth the wait. "Evolution" is only his debut, so we'll have to see. Maybe Ólafur is just resigned to float between continents in the indie-Atlantic, trying to find the elusive balance between artistic risk and the simple beauty inherent in avoiding it. Maybe that's not such a bad thing.
- Nathan Keegan
Check out long-running Swedish death-metal act Grave and their new video for the song "Bloodpath": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jvd0XgfG3w
Watch Norwegian roots/country act Olav Larsen and the Alabama Rodeo Stars perform a cover of the Hank Williams song "I saw the light": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNUM3KexshA
Good Tape Records has posted a whole bunch of new tracks on myspace, including stuff from Attrap, The Late Parade and more: http://www.myspace.com/goodtaperecords
Oskar Schönning's upcoming third album "Puerto" will be recorded live in front of an audience this September as an open session at Teater Studio Lederman in Stockholm. It all goes down on September 7 and will include a full concert following the album recording. And then, one-and-a-half months later on October 17, the band will reconvene at the same location for a release party including DJs, a documentary film of the session, special guests and much more. Pretty damn cool, if you ask me! I've also heard a new demo track from the band and it sounded great, I just wish I could be there in-person. Go here for more info including ticket details: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=50074968&blogID=415082440