IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

Two Livaventura albums available as free download

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:10:40 -0700

I'm not sure if the "Thanks for now!" message means Danish act Livaventura are done for good, but they are offering two full albums as free downloads: http://www.livaventura.com/
I haven't heard "Those who walk the last mile" yet, but "...And they slept with their eyes open" is killer Sonic Youth worship noiserock -- very recommended!

Two new songs from Livaventura

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:05:37 -0700

The excellent Danish indierock act Livaventura has two new songs at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/livaventura

Livaventura now a trio

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:20:03 -0700

Danish noiserockers Livaventura have parted ways with vocalist Henriette Nielsen and will be continuing on as a trio. Expect tourdates to be announced for August to coincide with their album release.

MP3: The Low Frequency in Stereo - Texas fox

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:22:28 -0800

Yesterday's featured artist Livaventura was founded by a member of The Low Frequency in Stereo; too bad they tend towards the aforementioned school of good ideas/weak execution rather than pure excellence. Not that I'm one to find fault with good ideas though, many bands would be blessed to have any and the driving Kraut-skronk of "Texas fox" is plenty good enough to carry four minutes of music. It's a friendly familiar blues progression lined up, quantized and made alien though rigid repetition and an intriguing soulessness. That's a slight exaggeration of course, The Low Frequency in Stereo aren't really without soul or feeling, they just happen to play to the straight and narrow. Like Devo. Less mechanical, more awkward and lumbering. Like a gangly teen.

MP3: Livaventura - Keep on driving

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:19:15 -0800

Said before, but bears repeating: I don't care much for Sonic Youth. Great ideas, even brilliant at times, but all too often sidetracked by self-indulgent tendencies. Composition? Out the window. Take those ideas and apply them effectively, I'm all about it. Denmark's Livaventura is a casebook example. Tons of discordant guitars, male/female vocals, always walking the thin line between noise and rock. "Keep on driving" indeed, but I really do hope they get far. As stated before, this comes off of one of the best records of 2009; too bad the release got pushed back to August 28. Until then, enjoy the single and keep on waiting.

MP3: Ironville - Roses

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:02:21 -0800

Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby decree that Ironville's forthcoming album "Welcome to Ironville" to be 2009's second exceptional release, the first being Livaventura's "...And they slept with their eyes open" (see here). Keep in mind that order here is unimportant as that Livaventura record won't be out until April and Ironville's debut has no official release date yet (spring?), but I've heard them both and am confident in my appraisal. Hopefully you already saw the video for "Roses" as created by band member Henrik Öhberg (aka Tvärvägen) -- if not, please remedy that straightaway. And download the song, of course! The lyrics are full of neediness, but the delivery keeps the desperation at bay by being quirky, not cloying. It's a discussion, not an ultimatum, at least not yet. And the string-heavy arrangement is a welcome respite from all the generic guitar-based crap I sift through on a daily basis. Actually, that's one of Ironville's finest qualities -- it's not just a matter of having an armada of instruments at your disposal (which they do), it's about using them judiciously. I can't say for sure that it's the band's own doing or the invisible hand of producer Markus Krunegård (Laakso), but I don't really care because the result sounds so fantastic. Keep an eye on these guys for sure.

Sirius playlist week #7

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:48:59 -0800

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

01. Saralunden - Les mains d'un autre
02. TALK 1
03. Agent Side Grinder - The screams
04. Victims - Victims in blood #5
05. The Garlands - Freedom
06. Livaventura - Keep on driving
07. TALK 2
08. Anna Ternheim - Better be
09. NEI - City of gold
10. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Lost & losing
11. TALK 3
12. A Camp - Golden teeth and silver medals
13. Leif Jordansson - Mellan drömmar och bränder
14. Mechanical Bird - Harbour me
15. Samtidigt Som - Vid min sida
16. TALK 4
17. Wolfbrigade - Deny tomorrow
18. Dismember - Beyond good and evil
19. Marvins Revolt - Deliberate deeds
20. Timo Räisänen - Sweet Marie
21. TALK 5
22. Voices Break the Silence - This awful friend

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.

Sirius playlist week #5

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:17:43 -0800

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

01. The Scrags - Death of a rock'n'roll band
02. TALK 1
03. On Trial - Mountain
04. The Psyke Project - In the mist
05. Hello Saferide - X telling me about the loss of something dear, at age 16
06. TALK 2
07. Moto Boy - A room without you
08. If There Is Something - Hommage á Roy Orbison
09. Tiger Lou - So demure
10. TALK 3
11. Honey Is Cool - Nach heart
12. Heroes & Zeros - Oslo fadeout
13. Livaventura - Keep on driving
14. Masshysteri - Tvivel
15. TALK 4
16. Samtidigt Som - Vid min sida
17. Ståålfågel - Kung Misär
18. Fredrik - Black fur
19. Scraps of Tape - Grand letdown
20. TALK 5
21. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Radius

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.

PonyRec 2009

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:19:15 -0800

Danish indie label PonyRec's upcoming release schedule:

04/03 - Halph - The world is as you are
04/03 - Alcoholic Faith Mission - 421 Wythe Avenue
04/10 - Green Pitch - La Jolla
04/17 - Lily Electric - You're in the picture you saw
05/08 - Livaventura - ...And they slept with their eyes open

I'm fortunate enough to have given these a cursory listen and can say this: that Livaventura album is definitely worth waiting for.

Sirius playlist week #3

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:26:10 -0800

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show on Sirius XMU:

01. Dyno - Don't speak love
02. TALK 1
03. Regina - Totuus minusta
04. Joenssu 1685 - Kill/shot/love
05. They Live - Magic glasses
06. TALK 2
07. Viola - We owe love
08. Orchestra Senza Tensta - The red elephant battles the bear
09. Livaventura - 2 out of nothing
10. TALK 3
11. Halph - Cheap points
12. Pacta - Sille
13. Scraps of Tape - Bring the heavy
14. TALK 4
15. Anssi 800 & Maria Stereo - Zion king
16. The Scrags - Psycho cyclone
17. Samtidigt Som - Vid mid sida
18. TALK 5
19. Seance - Wasted

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.

PonyRec preps many spring releases

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:20:12 -0800

Look for new releases on PonyRec this spring from Danish acts Halph, Alcoholic Faith Mission, Livaventura and Green Pitch.

MP3: Little Jimmy Reeves - Romance on drugs

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:49:52 -0700

Little Jimmy Reeves is the latest signing of Danish label Play/Rec and "Bring out the dogs" is their debut EP. The group's heavy rock sound doesn't totally jive with the post-hardcore scene I normally think of when I think Play/Rec (Lack, Barra Head, Menfolk), but when I remind myself that they've also put out records from bands like Monoton and Mt. Eerie it starts to make sense. And it's not as if LJR doesn't have an impressive resumé -- frontman Asger Techau plays drums for Kashmir, one of Denmark's biggest bands. Bassist Jan Damage Petersen plays in Gravy, another great Danish band. And drummer Johan Høyer is an accomplished audio engineer who was/is (?) also in Livaventura. Considering that pedigree, the picture gets clearer and the end result less surprising. And what would that result be? In a nutshell, I'd call it mid-tempo melodramatic rock with a rough edge. Melodic enough for curious Kashmir fans, but also imbued with a bluesy heaviness that band lacks. Overall, I'm not blown away by this release, but I do like the title track and this other song that I'm posting today. It's got a bit of those oh so crucial quietLOUDquiet dynamics ala The Pixies and the vocal harmonies in the chorus are a nice touch as well. Wholly unoriginal, but nice enough, y'know? Still, worth keeping an eye on. There's potential.

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:13:54 -0800

New releases on the way from Danish label PonyRec:

Munck//Johnson - Live 10" EP, December
Majessic Dreams - "Beautiful days", CD + LP, early 2008
Løzninger – "Noboby knows" 7", early 2008, new signing from France who was worked a lot with Danish label BSBTA
Evil Death Machine - tba 7", early 2008
Livaventura - tba 7", spring 2008, ex-Low Frequency in Stereo
Heartbreak Basement - tba retrospective 2LP, spring 2008, another BSBTA-affiliated act
Halph - tba CD + LP, spring 2008, working with producer Mario McNulty

For more info and myspace links, go here: http://www.ponyrec.dk/