A drumbeat and a whistling melody cribbed straight from Adam and the Ants, the perfect setting for a song so seeped in nostalgia such as this. Sure, the past tense in this case is only "last night," but the wistful feeling remains all the same. "Jonny boy" is the first single single from Kite's forthcoming EP "III", due out September 22 via , and it is a fantastic continuation of their winning streak thus far.
Kite - Jonny Boy
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, an all-Swedish synth show (aside from the new Säkert! single of course):
01. Säkert! - Fredrik
02. TALK 1
03. The Knife - Girls' night out
04. Optic Nest - Thirst
05. Dmitry Fyodorov - Thinking of space
06. TALK 2
07. Strip Music - Oh my god
08. The Kid - Transient dance
09. Universal Poplab - I could say I'm sorry (Zeigeist remix)
10. TALK 3
11. Pearl Fiction - The ruby fever
12. Adolf Filter - 1982
13. Agent Side Grinder - Life in advance
14. TALK 4
15. Adolphson & Falk - Blinker blå
16. Ståålfågel - Stålfågeln
17. Kite - Ways to dance
18. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Swedish electro duo Kite have confirmed that they will be following up their previous two EPs with... yet another EP. And with the extremely imaginative title of "III". Regardless, I'm excited to hear it -- they're a great act.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Robyn - Fembot
03. Monty - Orden
04. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Bye bye pianotie
05. Palpitation - What if
06. TALK 2
07. The Tallest Man on Earth - Burden of tomorrow
08. Dyno - Don't speak love
09. Margaret Berger - Will you remember me tomorrow?
10. Holiday for Strings - Shelter Island
11. TALK 3
12. Tutankamon - Have you ever been in love?
13. Kråkesølv - Skredder
14. The Tiny - Last weekend
15. Asha Ali - The time is now
16. TALK 4
17. Monzano - Yes, we can't
18. Donkeyboy - Ambitions
19. Kite - Ways to dance
20. Bertine Zetlitz - 500
21. TALK 5
22. Makthaverskan - German boy
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Laakso - Worst case scenario
02. TALK 1
03. Du Pacque - Walk straight
04. Pascal - Tutti frutti
05. Nirvana 2002 - The awakening of...
06. Lapko - I shot the sheriff
07. TALK 2
08. The Floor is Made of Lava - The bigger picture
09. No Balls - Guilt blocker
10. Obliteration - Styxerian path (into darkness)
11. Next Life - Anti matter
12. TALK 3
13. Ikons - Imperiet
14. The Skull Defekts - Habit
15. Familjen - När planeterna stannat
16. TALK 4
17. Meleeh - Sun and moon
18. Kite - I give you the morning
19. Ef - 401 Lwa
20. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Here is Kite covering "I give you morning", one of my all-time favorite ballads. Like a lot of people who read this site, I suspect we all first heard the song when Weeping Willows covered it, though of course it's been a longtime Swedish evergreen from way back when Fred Åkerström first did it på Svenska ("Jag ger dig min morgon") in 1972 on the album "Två tungor". And of course Håkan Hellström did it as well on his "visor" EP "Luften bor i mina steg". There's probably more versions out there, but let us not forget the original by Tom Paxton which I believe originally appeared on 1969's "The things I notice now" (and was rerecorded for 1982's "Even a gray day", an LP I have in my collection). Now, as far as ranking them goes, I consider the OG and WW versions to be my favorite, but this new one by Kite is pretty darn good, but even better: it's different. Reverence is for the weak; let's give it up for Kite's pulsating synth version!
Kite - I give you the morning
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Shining - Healter skelter
03. Beem - Manka
04. Dmitry Fyodorov - Simcoe
05. TALK 2
06. Björn Kleinhenz - Dackes drabanter
07. Kråkesølv - Pirvat regn
08. Holiday for Strings - Favorite flavor
09. TALK 3
10. Disco Ensemble - White flag for peace
11. Trinacria - Make no mistake
12. House of Tomidas - The letter
13. TALK 4
14. Kite - Looking for us
15. Mikkel Meyer - Dyreryg
16. Susanne Sundfør - The brothel
17. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
To borrow the lexicon of the financial pages: I am downgrading Cold Cave to a Sell¹ while upgrading my rating on Agent Side Grinder to Strong Buy. I believe that Cold Cave's market has reached saturation and become overvalued while Agent Side Grinder has nowhere to go but up, especially considering the upcoming Q4 release of both "Irish recording tape" and "The transatlantic tape project" (via Enfant Terrible, vinyl-only). The former is of primarily interest to me, as it shows tremendous growth over last year's self-titled release and I must also commend them for the recruitment Alexander Blomqvist (on live bass) as he appears to have brought many new strengths with him to the executive team. The fine qualities that first caught my attention when I rated them a Buy (ie, the driving, dirty industrial beats) are still very much in place, only now far more refined and developed. I expect 2010 to be a very good year for Agent Side Grinder and don't expect them to face much serious competition for market share.
Now as for other companies in this sector, I'm downgrading Cut City from Buy to Hold as their stock appears to have stagnated recently, but am bullish on both Kite and Tamaryn.
¹ I really am selling Cold Cave. If you want a mint first-press copy of "Where trees grew and emotions died", give me a shout.
Agent Side Grinder - The screams
Kite, the excellent Swedish synthpop duo featuring Nicklas Stenemo (Melody Club, The Mo) and Christian Berg (Strip Music, Yvonne), will release their sophomore EP "II" on October 16 via Progress Productions and once again, it will be available on both CD and vinyl. Details here: http://progress-productions.com/kite2/
You can also hear a couple new tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/progressproduction
Adrian Recordings is celebrating Morrissey's 50th birthday today by giving away three new pop-ish remixes of Andreas Tilliander:
Andreas Tilliander - Caught in a riot (feat. New Moscow) (Vapnet remix)
Andreas Tilliander - Caught in a riot (feat. New Moscow) (Kite remix)
Andreas Tilliander - Caught in a riot (feat. New Moscow) (Data80 remix)
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Sonic Ritual - Take the edge off
02. TALK 1
03. Thåström - Kärlek är för dom
04. Elenette - Att göra en hit
05. Maskinen - Bränner
06. TALK 2
07. The Skull Defekts - Habit
08. Grave - Into the grave
09. Murmansk - Moth
10. TALK 3
11. Kite - My girl and I
12. Laakso - Worst case scenario
13. Samtidigt Som - Denna sida mot fienden
14. TALK 4
15. David Åhlén - We sprout in thy soil
16. Knife and Ape - Buck teeth
17. Existensminimum - 1993
18. Cut City - Departure in particular
19. TALK 5
20. Masquer - Hanging garden
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
KiteNicklas Stenemo's (The Mo, Melody Club) voice, an instrument that functions like a fuller, more masculine translation of Karin Dreijer's vocal style, elevates this fine record, one that would be perfectly capable of garnering strong reviews without Stenemo's captivating utterances, to something well beyond the run-of-the-mill renditions of 80s electronica. Christian Berg's (Yvonne, Strip Music) love of authentic 80s synth sounds combined with Stenemo's pop sensibility and voice converge so fluidly, bringing to mind acts like New Order, but it's merely a reference point. Opener "Ways to dance" is a distinctly Scandinavian electronic pop song: driving, punctuated by oscillating drum fills à la The Knife; "Say it ain't so" relaxes its hold on the throttle, settling into a layered, paced rhythm; and closer "Learn to like it", a mesmerizing, melancholic track, puts on display much of the aptitude demonstrated on the EP: the intricate levels of synths and voices, the pitch-perfect structure of the songs - never meandering, never going on too long, and merging the measured step of "Say it ain't so" with the unhurried, ethereal expanse that is "My girl and I", my personal favorite. Kite have been fine company on long, cold walks home through streets lined with dying leaves, while reading Ellis' "Less Than Zero", and during the final hour before heading out into the city; the fact that Kite can offer so much in four songs gives the thought of a future full length effort enough weight to push me through what looks to be a bitter winter. I just hope it's not too long a wait.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Detektivbyrån - Partyland
02. TALK 1
03. Björn Kleinhenz - At night we die
04. Hjertestop - Illegalt signal
05. Idoru - Chase
06. TALK 2
07. Fever Ray - If I had a heart (instrumental edit)
08. Champagne Riot - Scandinavian warfare
09. Caesars Palace - Only you
10. José González - How low
11. TALK 3
12. Alarma Man - Nightwolf
13. Adolf Filter - 1982
14. Brick - Ha ha ha
15. TALK 4
16. Auton - El Dorado
17. Gutted String - Feeling small
18. The Bombettes - It ain't me babe
19. Tiger Lou - Trust falls
20. I'm from Barcelona - Headphones
21. TALK 5
22. Kite - Ways to dance
Reminder: my show airs on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday at the same time.
I doubt the coldwave/industrial revival will ever go mainstream, but I'm enjoying that more and more bands are embracing dark analog synths. Kite is as close as we'll get to a crossover act though, if only because they've experienced some success before with former acts such as Yvonne and Melody Club. At the very least, it gives them a head-start over the competition. Whatever happens though, I'm just glad to hear this kind of music being kept alive and done well, especially with a stripped-down, minimalist approach. It's so easy to overdo it. Now I know "Ways to dance" isn't actually dismal enough to be considered coldwave (wait 'til tomorrow's track for that), but think of it as getting your toes wet. If you dig this (and you should - it's a fantastic pop song above everything else), perhaps you can go darker, more underground, or, at the very least, into the past. When Bruce Springsteen is covering Suicide, it's time you started paying attention.
Kite - Ways to dance
