The excellent video for Marit Bergman's new single "300 slow days in a row" (feat. Titiyo) is now on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBA3Jg_cWp8
MP3: Montys Loco - Criminal
I'm bored with new music but since we oh-so-conveniently just passed 2008's halfway mark, I figure it's a perfect time to revisit some of my favorite releases of the year thus far. Hopefully I've harped on about Lukestar enough already for you to get the point (and the album, dammit!), so let's talk about Montys Loco. As I mentioned before, I love their pseudo-industrial pop sound, but even more, I love their attitude. I've spent a huge amount of time this year getting down with all sorts of bad-vibes hardcore and while I love that stuff, I can feel myself turning into a knuckle-dragger the deeper I get into it. It's a scene that's ripe with machismo, so it's incredibly refreshing to hear similar negative emotions from the fairer sex. Face it, women have every right to be just as pissed, if not moreso, it's just rarer that we get to hear it, especially outside of a hardcore/metal context. Loud guitars? Bah! Who needs em? I rather have off-kilter drum loops and clanging metal percussion for variety's sake. Anyone can recycle post-"Damaged" Black Flag riffs. This is something else entirely.
Montys Loco - Criminal
Swedish postrockers Jeniferever are doing a few European dates in July:
07/14 - Lades, Copenhagen (DK)
07/15 - Pretty Vacant, Düsseldorf (GER)
07/16 - Schokoladen, Berlin (GER)
07/17 - Cafe Panam, Leipzig (GER)
07/18 - Elfer, Frankfurt (GER)
07/19 - Bazart Buiten Festival, Den Haag (NL)
07/20 - Patronaat, Haarlem
The band is also heading up to Tontektik in Umeå this coming weekend to begin mixing their next album.
The new West End Girls single "What have I done to deserve this" featuring Magnus Carlson of Weeping Willows is streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/westendgirls1
Go here to download the new single "Away" from Swedish hip-hop artist Form One: http://www.dj-silence.com/nyheter2.asp?vad=listanyhet&newsid=3402
Dark Tranquility will tour Europe with Poisonblack and Fear My Thoughts as the "Where death is most alive" tour:
10/24 - Kato, Berlin (GER)
10/25 - Grünspan, Hamburg (GER)
10/26 - Bibelot, Doordrecht (NL)
10/27 - Biebob, Vosselaar (BEL)
10/28 - Locomotive, Paris (FRA)
10/29 - Ninkasi kao, Lyon (FRA)
10/31 - Rolling Stone, Milano (ITA)
11/01 - Estragon, Bologna (ITA)
11/02 - Alpheus, Rome (ITA)
11/04 - New Age, Treviso (ITA)
11/05 - Gala Hala, Ljubljana (SLO)
11/06 - Szene, Vienna (AUS)
11/07 - Orpheum, Graz (AUS)
11/08 - Salzhaus, Winterthur (CH)
11/09 - Backstage, Munich (GER)
11/10 - Röhre, Stuttgart (GER)
11/11 - Underground, Cologne (GER)
11/12 - Pumpehuset, Copenhagen (DK)
The Halloween show will also be filmed for an eventual DVD release - more details on that to come.
Burst will be heading to Russia and the Ukraine for a few shows this fall:
09/05 - Sky Hall club, Kiev (UKR)
09/06 - Plan B club, Moscow (RUS)
09/07 - Zoccolo club, Saint Petersburg (RUS)
The final issue of avant-metal zine Sounds Under the Surface) is now posted as a free pdf download: http://www.soundsurface.com/
Said zine is actually a split issue with Mørkeskye and features interview content with acts such as Bergraven, <Code>, Lönndom and non-Scandinavian, but local-to-me act Wolves in the Throne Room plus a whole lot more.
You Are Awesome! has two new songs from Swedish act Esthers posted for free download: http://www.youareawesome.se/
Doomsday Mag has live footage of Moderat Likvidation from West Coast Riot along with the news that the reunited band is working on new material: http://doomsdaymag.blogspot.com/2008/06/moderat-likvidation-live.html