IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

Alarma Man: Lager out, Skantze in

Tue, 26 May 2009 17:59:11 -0700

After seven years and over 100 shows, guitarist Viktor Lager has left Alarma Man. His replacement Tom Skantze (ex-Kazakstan) will make his live debut with the band on June 12 at Pustervik in Göteborg.

MP3: Joachim Willumsen - Turning 24

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:38:56 -0700

I suspect that most readers don't care/don't remember Kazakstan even though I posted an mp3, did a profile piece and even rated their 2006 self-titled album as an honorable mention on my best of 2006 list. Yes, my enthusiasm defied contagiousness. Well, it's been two years now since I've heard anything new from the band and I have no idea what's going on with them, but I did recently receive a few solo tracks from Joachim Willumsen and I'm happy to report that they pick up right where the band left off. Same folksy vibe, same understated melodicism, same great music. 24 going on 35, I'd say. Shame that the acoustic format doesn't give him the opportunity to show off his talent for clever arrangements, but the clever twists of the lyrics make up for it. It's also a shame that artists like this often go unrecognized. Quirk free ≠ boring.

Hear more: http://www.myspace.com/joachimegnaalster

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:04:01 -0800

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

01. The Bombettes - I wanna
02. TALK 1
03. Anna Järvinen - Helsinki
04. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
05. Pay TV - Fashion report
06. TALK 2
07. Timo Räisänen - My valentine
08. Jonna Lee - And your love
09. José González - Killing for love
10. The Bear Quartet - It only takes a flashlight to create a monster
11. TALK 3
12. Kristofer Åström - The dark
13. Munck//Johnson - The streets
14. Bertine Zetlitz - Draggin' me down
15. Dieter Schöön - Warm hearts
16. TALK 4
17. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
18. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Ashen like the sky
19. Kazakstan - Song to the past
20. TALK 5
21. Marvins Revolt - Bugs in time
22. Menfolk - Ghosts
23. Pelle Carlberg - I love you, you imbecile
24. TALK 6
25. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
26. Stina Nordenstam - So Lee
27. Tobias Hellkvist - Abomination
28. TALK 7
29. Marybell Katastrophy - Slabiak
30. Sinikka Langeland - Høstnatt på Fjellskogen
31. David Åhlén - Wasted breaths
32. Printer - Minds out
33. TALK 8
34. Montys Loco - Wasteland
35. Lampshade - Fjäril
36. NEI - Trip to Luleå
37. Laakso - Hang me in the Christmas tree
38. TALK 9
39. Honey Is Cool - Drums and boys

Don't forget to vote for Sirius Blog Radio at the Plug Awards! Vote here: http://www.plugawards.com/general_vote.php
We are nominated under the category "Media (Obsessive) > Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)".

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Last night's Sirius Blog Radio playlist:

01. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
02. TALK 1
03. Asha Ali - These months
04. Boys of Scandinavia - Why do you love me? (radio edit)
05. Promoe - Headache
06. TALK 2
07. Closer - Sensing the wake
08. The Bear Quartet - Mom and dad
09. TALK 3
10. Kristofer Åström - Just a little insane
11. Familjen - Kom säger dom
12. Pavan - The bird
13. TALK 4
14. Kazakstan - Song to the past
15. Universal Poplab - Vampire in you
16. TALK 5
17. Scraps of Tape - Death as it should be
18. ARM - Drving by accident
19. The Idealist - The knives are my eyes
20. TALK 6
21. Tsukimono - Gathering heavy breathing
22. Pimentola - Wish upon a fallen star
23. Plain Fade - Uliaan leski
24. TALK 7
25. The Skull Defekts - Six six for eyes
26. Logh - Into the night
27. TALK 8
28. Aerial - You will all die, all things will
29. Tobias Hellkvist - Moment at ven
30. Audrey - Views
31. TALK 9
32. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Ashen like the sky

Top 10s for 2006: It's a trap!

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0800

Official top 10 releases for 2006, in alphabetical order:

There was a glut of good music in 2006, but only a few truly great albums. I found myself enjoying a very high percentage of the music that came my way, but very little remained in regular rotation for any length of time. Too much of a good thing? Perhaps. Regardless, I had some trouble compiling my list since I wanted to ensure that my selections were fit for posterity. That means albums like The Knife's "Silent shout" and Motorpsycho's "Black hole/black canvas" were out, despite being admirable pieces of work. They deserve high praise, but I simply didn't listen to them that much. Similarly, I'm From Barcelona and Peter Bjorn and John were off the list because their 2006 releases pale in comparison to what came before (both the original "Sing!!" demo EP from IFB and PB&J's "Falling out" are 100% unfuckwithable). What's left? Well, lots actually. The difficulty is separating all the 8s from the 9s and 10s. Let's get going then:

01. Aerial - Black rain from the bombing (Nomethod)
It came out in January and stuck with me throughout the entire year. That alone says something. As for the music, it's an amazing display of epic bombast and twisting riffs. Why can't more post-rock be noisy like this?
MP3: Time is on fire

02. The Book of Daniel - Songs for the Locust King (Black Star Foundation)
A late in the year release so I was reluctant to list it, but there's no denying the quality. Full of wisdom and poetry.
MP3: The camels parade

03. C.Aarmé - Vita (Carcrash/Burning Heart)
The brightest stars always burn out the fastest. RIP.
MP3: We are the world

04. Closer - Tokpela EP (Closersounds)
One of those bands I fell in love with the moment I first heard it. Heavy rock doesn't get better than this.
MP3: Open casket

05. Johndoe - Dødvinkel (JHND)
This one snuck up on me and is probably the one record on this list I've listened to the most.
MP3: Kjøtere

06. Montys Loco - Man overboard (NONS)
God, I hate the genre label 'folktronic', but I really can't think of a better way to describe this. Quirky instrumentation and arrangements aside, the music is simply brilliant and would work in any context.
MP3: Wasteland

07. Namur - Songs from the Valley of Baca (Thehourislate)
It's probably for the best that David Åhlén retired this stage moniker because this will be hard to top. Nothing wrong with quitting while you're ahead.
MP3: Marching

08. Raison d'Être - Metamorphyses (Cold Meat Industry)
I honestly don't believe I've heard another dark-ambient album this good. Ever.
MP3: Metamorphyses phase I

09. Oskar Schönning - Happy jazz, please (Amigo)
Another one of those records that found its way into steady rotation without much thought. Echoes of that other famous bassist/bandleader Charles Mingus along with fellow Swede Jan Johansson, but with an ear to the future.
MP3: Happy jazz, please

10. Sonores - Elefanten (Structures Sonores)
These guys asked me if I wanted to co-release this with them and I said no because I thought I was too busy. I blew it.
MP3: Jonathan

Best two demos I heard all year: Circle Six and Iisole

Four favorite non-Scandinavian releases:
Converge - No heroes (Epitaph)
Kayo Dot - Dowsing anenome with copper tongue (Robotic Empire)
Jesu - Silver (Hydra Head)
Rome - Berlin (Cold Meat Industry)

Two old metal warhorses who prove that age doesn't mean a thing: Iron Maiden & Slayer

What to expect for 2007? Well, my predicted goth revival for 2006 didn't live up to expectations even though it seemed to spawn quite a few excellent releases (The Kid and 1999, for example). Regardless, I'm not going to let that stop me from making more asinine predictions. My pick for the new trend of 2007: industrial/EBM. I swear, it's gonna happen. It's time.

Honorable mentions:
Asha Ali - s/t (NONS)
Detektivbyrån - Hemvägen (Danarkia)
The Fine Arts Showcase - Radiola (Adrian Recordings)
Kazakstan - s/t (Katalyst)
Knife and Ape - Hex! (Deleted Art)
Lampshade - Let's away (Glitterhouse)
Lemonator - At the presence of great beauty (Odor)
Once We Were - Contra (Tenderversion)
Britta Persson - Top quality bones... (Amigo)
Plain Fade - Aure (Punos Sound)
Promoe - White man's burden (Burning Heart)
Tsukimono - Neé (Kalligrammofon)

Kazakstan s/t Katalyst

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800

It's a good thing the quality of the music isn't always signalled by the album cover, otherwise I'd expect something subpar from this debut by Sweden's Kazakstan (the cover art depicts the underwear-clad waist of some hairy dude with twin revolvers tucked in his briefs). Fortunately, this is a pretty cool little CD, if rather short. As Avi pointed out previously, Kazakstan's somewhat similar to Wilco; there's definitely a kind of alt.country strain at work here. But just when you think a song is trotting along lazily, it'll suddenly shift into something more exciting. Take the opener, "Song to the past". The acoustic beginning gives way to a brass-flavored rockin' section four minutes in which sounds fantastic. "Tierra del fuego" is uptempo from the start, with a sublime dynamic shift halfway through that shows the arranging smarts of this ensemble. There's one or two near-instrumentals, one of which features some atmospheric keyboards. Much potential here, and even though this disc isn't meaty enough to be a classic, Kazakstan sound musically disciplined and creative enough to keep a sharp eye on in the future.

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700

I neglected to mention it the other day, but I've got new CDs from Kazakstan (see my fawning review here) and IAT.MP3 artist Sonores in the webstore now. Both of course are very highly recommended. I also took some time to throw some new tracks into the webstore's jukebox, so check it out if you've got the time.

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700

This week's It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group top 10 artists of the week:

01. The Knife
02. Radiohead
03. Death Cab for Cutie
04. Tiger Lou
05. Camera Obscura
06. The Beatles
07. Johnny Cash
08. Sufjan Stevens
09. Belle and Sebastian
10. Peter Bjorn and John

Top 10 tracks for the week:

01. Marit Bergman – No Party
02. Kazakstan – Julien
03. Tiger Lou – Until I'm There
04. Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken
05. I'm From Barcelona – Collection of Stamps
06. I'm From Barcelona – Treehouse
07. I'm From Barcelona – We're From Barcelona
08. The Knife – The captain
09. The Postal Service – Such Great Heights
10. The Knife – Silent shout

Want to make your own playlist count? Join us! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

Profile: Kazakstan

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Name: Kazakstan

From: Göteborg, Sweden

Sounds like: Ambitious, experimental pop.

Listen: Julien

Discography:
2006 - s/t (Katalyst)

Links:
www.kazakstanmusic.com

This is the first great release for the second half of 2006. I had absolute no expectations when I got this CD in the mail, so it's even more exciting for me that it's so damn good. The band's songwriting roots are definitely grounded in good ol' folk/pop, but the arrangements and full scope of the record are far, far bigger. The kind of thing that might not make much of an impression on first listen, but proves to be increasingly rewarding on subsequent listens.

Who are you and where are you from? How did you guys all meet?

We're all the sum of some kind of musical childhood and with the same ambition to make a difference, whether it's political or musical. Erik is the son of a oldschool kind of farmer with roots in Fjäråsbräcka. Tom and Johan are brothers and live together in Gothenburg. Joachim is from the same birthplace as Tom and Johan outside Gothenburg. Tom and Johan have always been playing music together but Johan joined Kazakstan most recently. Erik, Tom and Joachim studied at the same school and discovered they had more in common than just their good looks. So we started the band Kazakstan.

What makes you special? Why should anyone care about Kazakstan?

We're not in to that whole image thing that all new bands seem to be. We do our music without any intentions to sound like this or that. We do what feels right to us and we know people can appreciate that. Our music is very emotional and private in a way since the lyrics are based on real events and real feelings.

What are you addicted to?

I (Tom) feel being addicted to something is not living to the fulllest. A couple of years ago I had really long hair, but I felt addicted to it, so I cut it off. But I guess you can say our addiction as a band is to always get a kick out of the music we play. Wow, that was really cliché.

What inspires you?

Well, I (Tom) don't really listen to music anymore, I'm just too picky. We've heard we sound like David and the Citizens and my voice appearently sounds like Bright Eyes. But to be honest, I've never actually listened to them, but now that people told me this I've listened to them some and really, they're not that good. So in the future I'll try to not sound like them.

Since the season will be over before we know it, what is your best summer memory?

The releaseparty was a real milestone and a huge success and I (Erik) guess I'll always remember that. My best memory from this summer was when I (Joachim) called up a cabdriver from my job and he told me he couldn't come 'cause he had diarrhea and he'd been sitting in the woods for an hour.

What would you be doing with your life if you weren't playing music?

Well, Johan (the drummer) is already into film and is actually at the moment finishing a short movie he's written and directed. I'd (Tom) probably do something related to movies as well. Maybe photography. Actually, I think I would live in Laos growing my crops and just taking it real easy.

Lastly, what are Kazakstan's future plans?

We're actually looking for two girls to sing with us since the last two had too many other bands, so there wasn't enough time for us. Other than that we just plan to rule the planet. And hopefully go on tour with Christina Milian, that'd be great!

MP3: Kazakstan - Julien

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the first great release from the second half of 2006. I know there's lots more good stuff on the way from lots of established artists, but Kazakstan is the first I've heard that has really impressed me. The music came described as "experimental pop" and I think that's both good and bad. Bad because it sounds intimidating. Often the tag "experimental" also means difficult and that's most definitely not the case here. On the other hand, it's good because it dispels any notions you might have of this band being yet another rock band with guitars. The songwriting is rooted in folk/pop tradition - they'd probably all sound just fine on acoustic guitar - but like later-era Wilco, there's a lot more going on in the production and arrangements. Listen to "Julien", the song I've posted today. The verse riff is 100% quirky indierock, but then the chorus smacks you upside the head with a huge hook that will linger for days. But, as you'll note, the first chorus is only a teaser - the song retreats to a solo keyboard riff before offering up a completely different variation on the verse before really truly launching into the chorus again, this time with more power. It's a fantastic arrangement that shows off the band's tremendous skill and audacity. The band was also kind enough to answer a few questions, so they are also this week's featured profile piece: [click here]
So very highly recommended.