IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

DWNSTRS - Handiclapton (video)

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:20:50 -0700

Something new from Finnish noiserockers DWNSTRS (nee Downstairs?).

New Downstairs now streaming

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:20:04 -0700

Fullsteam Records has added a couple new Downstairs tunes to SoundCloud from the Finnish noiserock band's upcoming cassette/download EP "Ekto the Firstborn", due out in May: http://soundcloud.com/fullsteam/sets/dwnstrs/
Apparently, said EP is the first of three due out in 2011.

Downstairs - Fur curses (video)

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:08:32 -0800

Something new from Finnish act Downstairs off the band's forthcoming EP "Ekto the firstborn". Direct link: http://vimeo.com/20881261

Downstairs - I'm done (video)

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:42:08 -0700

Finnish indie act Downstairs (or is it just DWNSTRS now?) have a new video for the last track off their recent self-titled album, "I'm done": http://vimeo.com/13110569
The band is currently preparing to go into the studio to record their third record.

Mojo gets Lost in Music

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:39:38 -0800

Mojo reports on seeing a few promising Finnish acts at the Lost in Music Festival in Tampere: http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2009/11/finns_aint_what_they_used_to_b.html
Some of the names mentioned that I've covered include Joensuu 1685, Murmansk, Regina, Downstairs and Cats on Fire.

Downstairs - All you can eat (video)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:31:32 -0800

Here's the new video for "All you can eat" from Finnish act Downstairs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otfqAubdFmA

New Downstairs track at NMC

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:14:41 -0700

Finnish act Downstairs has a new track posted for free download via New Music Community along with a brief interview: http://www.newmusiccommunity.org/new/?page_id=5&postid=561

Downstairs confirm album #2

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:52:21 -0700

Finnish noiserock act Downstairs has confirmed that their sophomore album "DWNSTRS" will be released on November 4 via Fullsteam Records. Hear the first track "Sea life" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/downstairsnoise

MP3: Lapko - Killer whales

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:46:00 -0700

Lapko is a band I stumbled across recently, somewhat randomly (thanks for the totebag Daniel!). I had seen their name before, but had never fully investigated due to their affiliation with Fullsteam Records, one of Finland's biggest indie labels. I know that it's unfounded (and unfair), but I can't shake my prejudice that they only put out watered-down punk/hardcore records from bands like Disco Ensemble. Anyhow, Lapko proves to be an exception (along with Downstairs, Callisto and many other bands the label represents) and their most recent album "Young desire" sounds surprisingly fresh. Opening track "This is aggressive melancholy" serves as an apt descriptor- before I even peeped their bio I was thinking that they sounded like a mix of Mew and Tool, two very obvious comparisons. And after watching the video for today's mp3 selection "Killer whales", you might want to add The Cult to that list as well. This is the kind of stuff I find to be woefully underserved in today's "hip" quarters, as intelligent hard-rock with obvious arena-sized aspirations is not nearly as fashionable as willfully obscure indierock. Too bad, 'cuz all too often, you're missing out.

Johnny Superhero Choices Around Your Neck

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Starting with Downstairs' "Oh father", I rounded off my week of new music with another Finnish act - Johnny Superhero - and successfully reverted back to the 19 year old I was in 2003. A strange, though very coherent mix of the early indie rock sounds of Failure, Mineral, Archers of Loaf, and, to a lesser extent, Pavement, "Choices" could easily have come out anytime between 1995 and the early 2000s, though this 'dated' element only adds to the album's charm. Instead of being enjoyed from a somewhat detached, archaeological standpoint, Johnny Superhero make their recreation of the early steps of indie engaging and unique. "Time" could almost pass as a Bear Quartet song, breaking at its midpoint in a distinctly similar way to how "Parking lot" ruptures in being at the end of Mineral's "The power of failing". "Schiphol" continues along in a similar vein, though also harkens back to Last Days of April's early, slower recordings. If you remember this transitional stage of music, the shift from grunge to art-rock and the avant-garde, from hardcore and punk rock towards music that is far more comparable to the efforts of today's scene, then "Choices" is worth more than just a few minutes' examination.

Downstairs Oh father Fullsteam Records

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

This record released an outpouring of nostalgia from my experiences in the early 00s. Almost an extension of the sound At the Drive-In (minus Cedric Bixler-Zavala's trademark vocal range) were carving out with their last record "Relationship of command", Downstairs continue the experimental and embracive attitude numerous post-hardcore bands adopted to further a sound that was beginning to stagnate. One can hear a touch of an Arcade Fire influence at the end of "Shudder shudder", as well as the affect of hours of listening to punk and angular indie rock, especially bands like ¡Forward, Russia!, throughout the record. It is nearly impossible to pin "Oh father" down easily or successfully, a credit to the musicians behind its craftsmanship, nor is it fair to rely on comparisons alone to define the album.

"This is so five years ago," my roommate just commented as he walked by my open door. Indeed, Downstairs are much more aligned with the end of the hardcore and post-hardcore movement than they are with the contemporary Scandinavian scene, but they bring an awareness of the years that have passed since then to the table as well. Trips down memory lane aren't usually accompanied with a soundtrack as good as this.

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:26:31 -0800

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Annika Norlin/Säkert! - Generalens visa
02. TALK 1
03. Downstairs - Legs for arms
04. Dmitry Fyodorov - 1b-1
05. Northern Fields - Never take the beauty
06. TALK 2
07. Barra Head - Undermine
08. Fläskkvartetten - Som glas (ft. Nina Persson)
09. Benea Reach - New waters
10. TALK 3
11. Firefox AK - Winter rose (Tellevika remix)
12. Dansdepartementet - Svarta brev
13. Randy - Little toulouse
14. TALK 4
15. Britta Persson - At 7
16. M:40 - Brännmärkt
17. Mechanical Bird - Martha
18. TALK 5
19. Marvins Revolt - Multiple fractures
20. The Drawbacks - Straight lines & circles
21. Isolation Years - Say-nothing day
22. Christian Kjellvander - Poppies and peonies
23. TALK 6
24. Little Dragon - Recommendation
25. FAP - Sjömannen
26. Cortex - Animals (...looking at me)
27. TALK 7
28. Ulf Ljusberg - Whatever was
29. Mayhem - Deathcrush
30. Alog - St.Paul sessions II
31. TALK 8
32. Tigerbombs - 1000 sparks
33. Mainliners - Bourbon and ice
34. Mando Diao - San Francisco Bay
35. Madrugada - Look away Lucifer
36. TALK 9
37. Matts Katt - Refused was fucking murdered

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:48:46 -0800

Finnish noiserockers Downstairs have confirmed their new album "Oh father" for release on January 9 via Fullsteam Records.

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:49:25 -0800

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Soviac - I got the ribbah
02. TALK 1
03. Downstairs - Peephole city
04. Moonbabies - At the ballroom
05. Tar... Feathers - You are lucky to have nothing
06. TALK 2
07. Truckfighters - Atomic
08. Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Corny waltz
09. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
10. TALK 3
11. Norma - The dark
12. Karin Ström - Klaustrofobi
13. Vapnet - Tjernobyl
14. TALK 4
15. Montt Mardié - The windmill turns all the same
16. Motorpsycho - Hyena
17. Musti Laiton - Tämän iltainen
18. Holiday Fun Club - Hamburg in the night
19. TALK 5
20. Rigas - It's a shame
21. Repoman - Jawbone night
22. Iisole - The words
23. TALK 6
24. The Fine Arts Showcase - Modern love
25. Kasper Bjørke - Back & spine (Fidel Astro remix)
26. Promoe - Headache
27. TALK 7
28. Viola - Imaginary times
29. New Decade - While tonight still is
30. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
31. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Choking on teeth
32. TALK 8
33. Totalitär - Nej vi ska inte ha nåt
34. Him Kerosene - Whatever get you by
35. The Social Services - Up in arms
36. Jens Lekman - The opposite of hallelujah
37. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
38. TALK 9
39. Maia Hirasawa - And I found this boy

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 18:21:28 -0700

The playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Boys of Scandinavia - Beautiful as a person
02. TALK 1
03. Don't Be A Stranger - Perfect problem
04. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
05. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
06. TALK 2
07. Deathbed - When hope leaves a body
08. Closer - Sensing the wake
09. TALK 3
10. The Tarantula Waltz - Two arrows
11. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
12. Anna Järvinen - Götgatan
13. TALK 4
14. Eric Malmberg - Slutet på en epok
15. Mustasch - Bring me everyone
16. September - Until I die
17. TALK 5
18. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
19. Frode Haltli - The latter
20. Lykke Li - Little bit
21. TALK 6
22. Downstairs - Peephole city
23. The Cardigans - Don't blame your daughter (Diamonds)
24. Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
25. TST - We are the kids
26. TALK 7
27. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
28. Mikko Singh - Palmun juurella
29. Audionom - Dc2
30. TALK 8
31. Ulver - Solitude
32. The Psyke Project - I get paralyzed
33. Silverbullit - Winter coat
34. TALK 9
35. Bodies Without Organs (BWO) - Let it rain
36. Icos - On my own
37. Torpedo - Hang me high
38. TALK 10
39. Graveyard - Satan's finest

FYI, in case you missed my announcement: next week will be a spooky Halloween-themed program.

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:57:11 -0700

Downstairs are offering up a free download of their new single "": http://www.downstairsnoise.com/
The 7" b/w "Guilt sex, hot corpses" comes out on November 28 via Fullsteam Records.