Iceage/Sexdrome project War is henceforth to be known as Vår and this here is their new video.

Newly signed to The Big Oil Recording Company and currently in the studio with Jens Benz (Thulebasen, Iceage, Powersolo). Expect an album this fall.

07/15 - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival), Chicago, IL
07/17 - Now That's Class, Cleveland, OH
07/18 - Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, Ontario
07/20 - La Sala Rossa, Montreal, Quebec
07/21 - 285 Kent St., Brooklyn, NY
07/22 - Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
07/23 - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA
07/24 - Black Cat, Washington, DC
07/25 - Strange Matter, Richmond, VA
07/26 - Caledonia, Athens, GA
07/27 - 529, Atlanta, GA

Danish label Escho is putting out a new 7" from postpunk/noiserockers Lower called "Walk on heads" -- full details and a sample download here: http://escho.net/esc25
Not sure if it'll end up as eBay gold like Iceage did before them, but I dig what I hear. Oh, and foreigners like me can snag a domestic pressing via Blind Prophet Records if they wait til May.

Iceage/Sexdrome techno/noise crossover sideproject War now have a video for the song "Brodermordet" off their new 7" single "At war for youth", due out later this month via Sacred Bones Records.

Top 10 releases of 2011:

Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
The Men - Leave Home
Dark Times - 7"
*AR - Wolf Notes
Next Life - Artificial Divinity
Grouper - AIA: Dream Loss/Alien Observer
Iceage - New Brigade
Retox - Ugly Animals
GDP - Useless Eaters
Total Control - Henge Beat

---------------------------
Lars plays in the bands Okkultokrati, Problems and White Juice and also runs the label Ormeyngel. His actual #1 favorite album of the year is pictured above.
http://okkultokrati.blogspot.com/
http://ormeyngel.bandcamp.com/

01. Hymns From Nineveh - Hymns From Nineveh (Playground Music / Good Tape Records)
02. Larsen And Furious Jane - Dolly (Momowave)
03. Malk De Koijn - Toback From The Fromtime (Target Distribution / Langestrand Fladhjul)
04. Iceage - New Brigade (Tambourhinoceros / Escho)
05. The Raveonettes - Raven In The Grave (Universal Music)
06. Mikael Simpson - Noget Laant, Noget Blaat (A:larm Music)
07. Suspekt - Elektra (Tabu Records / Universal Music)
08. Michael Møller - A Month Of Unrequited Love (self-released)
09. L.O.C. - Libertiner (EMI Music)
10. Thulebasen - Gate 5 (Playground Music / Tambourhinoceros / Escho)

Read more: http://gaffa.dk/artikel/55220 (in Danish)

Ane Brun - It all starts with one
Lykke Li - Wounded rhymes
Rubik - Solar
Gus Gus - Arabian horse
Malk De Koijn - Toback to the fromtime
Siinai - Olympic game
Björk - Biophilia
Iceage - New brigade
Montée - Renditions of you
Anna Järvinen - Anna själv tredje
Goran Kajfes - X/Y
The Field - Looping state of mind

Read more: http://nordicmusicprize.com/eng/pages/1-nordic_music_prize_2011

Sweden:
Anna Ternheim - The night visitor
Jonathan Johansson - Klagomuren
Loney Dear - Hall music
The Field - Looping state of mind
Mattias Alkberg - Anarkist
Lykke Li - Wounded rhymes
Anna Järvinen - Anna själv tredje
Deportees - Islands & shores
Veronica Maggio - Satan i gatan
Goran Kajfes - X/Y

Denmark:
Larsen & Furious Jane - Dolly
Michael Møller - A Month of Unrequited Love
Oh Land - Oh Land
Mikael Simpson - Noget Laant, Noget Blaat
The Late Great Fitzcarraldos - The Late Great Fitzcarraldos
Malk De Koijn - Toback To The Fromtime
Iceage - New Brigade
Thulebasen - Gate 5
When Saints Go Machine - Konkylie
Hymns From Nineveh - Hymns From Nineveh

Finland:
Von Hertzen Brothers - Stars Aligned
Röyhkä & Mattila - Kaksi lensi tuulen mukaan
22-Pistepirkko - Lime Green Delorean
French Films - Imaginary Future
Siinai - Olympic Games
Rubik - Solar
Regina - Soita mulle
Michael Monroe - Sensory Overdrive
Mirel Wagner - Mirel Wagner
Chisu - Kun valaistun

Iceland:
Sóley - We Sink
Lay Low - Brostinn strengur
Ham - Svik, harmur og dauði
Sin Fang - Summer Echoes
ADHD - ADHD2
FM Belfast - Don’t Want To Sleep
Gus Gus - Arabian Horse
Mugison - Haglél
Björk - Biophilia
Apparat Organ Quartet - Pólýfónía

Norway:
Razika - Program ’91
Lars Vaular - Du betyr meg
Jonas Alaska - Jonas Alaska
Team Me - To The Treetops!
Ane Brun - It All Starts With One
Stein Torleif Bjella - Vonde Visu
120 Days - 120 Days II
Montée - Renditions Of You
John Olav Nilsen og Gjengen - Det nærmeste du kommer
Martin Hagfors - I like you

This list will eventually be culled down to a final 12 on December 1 before the winner is crowned on February 16.

12/06 - Corsica Studios, London
12/07 - Green Door Store, Brighton
12/08 - Kraak Gallery, Manchester
12/09 - Art School Union, Glasgow
12/10 - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

06/17 - Northside Festival – Public Assembly, New York, NY
06/19 - The Barbary, Philadelphia, PA w/Puerto Rico Flowers, Leather
06/20 - Golden West, Baltimore, MD
06/21 - The Shop, Pittsburgh, PA
06/23 - Popeye's Garage, New Haven, CT
06/24 - Royale Nightclub, Boston, MA w/Fucked Up, Jeff the Brotherhood
06/25 - tba, New York, NY
07/15 - The Mink, Houston, TX
07/16 - Emo's, Austin, TX
07/19 - The Yellow Canary Dancehall, Phoenix, AZ
07/20 - The Cave, Las Vegas, NV
07/22 - Casbah, San Diego, CA w/Cult of Youth
07/24 - Echo, Los Angeles, CA w/Cult of Youth
07/25 - Elbo Room, San Francisco, CA w/Cult of Youth
07/29 - The East End, Portland, OR w/Cult of Youth
07/30 - Waldorf Hotel, Vancouver, BC w/Cult of Youth
07/31 - Crocodile, Seattle, WA
08/02 - Rhinoceropolis, Denver, CO
08/03 - Jackpot Music Hall, Lawrence, KS
08/04 - Triple Rock, Minneapolis, MN
08/05 - The Project Lodge, Madison, WI
08/06 - The Loft, Chicago, IL w/Raw Nerve, Population
08/09 - The Carabar, Columbus, OH w/The Men
08/10 - Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
08/11 - The Shop, Pittsburgh, PA
08/12 - Strange Matter, Richmond, VA
08/14 - Kungfu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA
08/15 - Midway Cafe, Boston, MA
08/16 - Casa Del Popolo, Montreal, QC
08/17 - Parts and Labour, Toronto, ON
08/19 - Paragon, Boston, MA
08/20 - Cakeshop, New York, NY
08/21 - Secret Project Robo, New York, NY

Something new from Iceage, though the sound quality is a bit less than optimal. Cool to see the multiple-camera footage though.

06/17 - Public Assembly (Northside Festival), NYC w/Prurient, Lost Tribe, Pop. 1280, more
06/18 - Other Music (tbc), NYC
06/19 - The Barbary, Philadelphia, PA w/Puerto Rico Flowers, Leather
06/20 - Golden West, Baltimore, MD
06/21 - The Shop (4314 Main St.), Pittsburgh, PA
< 06/23 - Popeye's Garage, New Haven, CT
06/24 - Royale Nightclub, Boston, MA w/Fucked Up, Jeff the Brotherhood

There will be west coast dates too, expect details soon.

05/05 - tba, London
05/06 - White Rabbit, Plymouth
05/07 - Clwb lfor Bach (matinee show), Cardiff
05/07 - Croft, Bristol
05/08 - Institute, Birmingham
05/09 - The Well, Leeds
05/10 - Caberet Volataire, Edinburgh
05/11 - The Cluny, Newcastle
06/17 - NYC
06/18 - NYC (instore)
06/19 - Philly
06/20 - Baltimore (tbc)
06/22 - Boston
06/23 - NYC

I've heard they'll be doing a full US tour with Total Abuse, so expect dates for that to be announced soon.

Did I scare you? Truth is, I needed a day off and April Fools was a perfect excuse. The reality is that I don't think I can ever fully give this up because how else would I find out about all the new music that interests me? Sure, I could read rehashed press releases on many blogs from whatever artists currently happen to have the best PR and of course there's quite a few excellent genre-specialty sites covering mainstream pop, metal and hip-hop, but if there's anyone else out there covering underground/DIY indie/punk/hardcore/experimental/etc. with the same dedication, depth and breadth as IAT! please let me know so I can retire. I mean it.

Anyhow, the first three months of 2011 are now over and done with so let us now take the time to pause for reflection and for positivity's sake, let us first recount the highlights -- Peter Bjorn and John's "Gimme some" and Paper's "Mischmasch" are easily the two biggest standouts of the lot. Both superb albums, both well worth picking up. Niels Nielsen, Penny Century and Katharina Nuttall all released solid records as well, as did Maim, Iceage, Hymns From Nineveh and First Love, Last Rites. Been listening to Hexvessel and Sail a Whale a bit too, though the latter is a late discovery for me since it was released in 2010. Supersci's newest record "Timelines" from last year is another good one that I missed when it was fresh. Also still plenty to look forward to, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words' swansong "Dreadcade" being a top pick, along with the arena-aspiring sounds of We are the Storm and Pixie Carnation and other exciting stuff like Gösta Berlings Saga looking quite promising.

As for reassessing my 2010 top picks, I'm still spinning all three on the regular -- Masshysteri, Dear Euphoria and Okkultokrati -- with no intention of shuffling them aside anytime soon. I revisited Johan Heltne's "Sara," this past weekend too and found that it's only gotten better over time. As for The Bear Quartet, as much I love them (and that's a lot), I don't feel the need to listen to "Monty Python" again for a while. Give me a year or two with that one to see where it stands against the rest of their impressive discography. Robyn, of course, remains tops, but you already knew that. I also revisited Underachiever's second demo and discovered that I totally get it now, while Faster Katt's latest is just ok when compared to the debut and Life Before Man's sole release has me wishfully thinking they'll actually get around to being an active band. 2010 was a good year and it feels good to say that my feelings on most of the records I praised has not diminished.

So while I'm still consistently fighting against burnout and the endless tide of mediocre music that makes its way to me, it's good to take a break to remember that there's still lots of reasons to be excited, both for now and for the future. There's always lots of good music, sometimes you just have to work a bit harder to find it.

This is the debut single "New brigade" from Danish postpunks Iceage, recent signees to the Tambourhinoceros label. Look for the band's album of the same name to be released on January 10.