Artist: The Bear Quartet
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The playlist for my radio show this week:
01. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
02. TALK 1
03. Madrugada - Shine
04. My Midnight Creeps - Don't let 'em bring you down
05. TALK 2
06. Asha Ali - A promise broken
07. Detektivbyrån - Hemvägen
08. Pelle Carlberg - Clever girls like clever boys much more than clever boys like clever girls
09. TALK 3
10. Enslaved - 793 (Slaget om Lindisfarne)
11. TALK 4
12. Fare You Well - Take me away
13. The Kissaway Trail - Smother + Evil = Hurt
14. Emmon - Wake up time (Thermostatic remix)
15. TALK 5
16. KVLR - Traitors and thieves
17. Magnus Carlsson - Va med mig
18. Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Bebopalulia
19. TALK 6
20. De Må Være Belgiere - Cirkler
21. Johndoe - Kjøtere
22. Manes - Deeprooted
23. TALK 7
24. Khoma - Stop making speeches
25. The Giant's Dream - Significant dawn
26. Las Puertas - The water
27. TALK 8
28. Lordi - The chainsaw buffet
29. Logh - A sunset knife fight
30. Lack - 5 o'clock in the evening
31. TALK 9
32. The Bear Quartet - Before the trenches
33. Jan Johansson - Visa från Utanmyra
34. TALK 10
35. Kashmir - The aftermath
"His spine", yet another Mattias Alkberg song that hides vicious sentiments in a sweet melody. "Hopelessness, despair / Lack of vision, education sucks / When you're born and torn / Between injustice and bad luck" The strings soar and the knife gets driven deeper into your gut. No optimism, no future. For some people at least: "You know what I need / Rights not charity, hope and equality / Not to be looked down upon / I'm not stupid just constantly reminded otherwise" It's that last bit that really gets me - hear something enough times and there's a chance you might start believing it. Resist! Fight back! Persevere!
The Bear Quartet - His spine
Time once again for a week of mp3 posts showcasing up-and-coming and/or unsigned bands. Up first: Paper, the band of Peter Backebo from Audionom, Calle Olsson from The Bear Quartet/Paddington DC and drummer Tobias Rask. Musically, Paper fits in perfectly with my recent postpunk obsession - cyclical, repetitive riffs, mantra-like vocals and a heightened state of anxiety. It's that anxious tension that I love - the band is so tightly wound, I feel like they could explode and lose it at any time and I keep waiting for it to happen. It comes close to the edge, but never crosses over. Within the realms of postrock, I need that that kind of cathartic release to feel satisfied, but that's the point here. There is no destination, no nirvana. Just an endless burning sensation that mirrors the frustrations of life. "My life is going under" is not pessimistic as much as it is nihilistic. It's going under, but yeah - it's always going under. That's life.
Hard to believe this band isn't signed yet. Listen to more here: http://www.myspace.com/paperstockholm
Paper - My life is going under
For as angry a song as "Placard" is, it sure doesn't sound like. I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing a bitter fight song with acoustic guitars and sweet, harmonized vocals. I love the juxtaposition, but it always catches me off-guard. "Now is payback time / Get up stand up don't put up with all / Their half truths and their lies" Perhaps I should add more Billy Bragg to my listening diet.
The Bear Quartet - Placard
The playlist for my radio show this week:
01. Death By Kite - Scared of heights
02. TALK 1
03. Kompjotr Eplektrika - Crakkin zombees...
04. Monomen - Asian spacestation
05. José González - Hints
06. TALK 2
07. I Am Bones - Backpackers
08. Ellen Beach - The widespread acclaim
09. Moder Jords Massiva - Ingenting
10. TALK 3
11. Iisole - The words
12. Kornstad - Sweden
13. Cortex - Mind of darkness
14. TALK 4
15. Silverbullit - Run
16. [ingenting] - Hollywood dreams
17. In Flames - The jester race
18. TALK 5
19. Nicolai Dunger - Soul rush
20. Existensminimum - Changing lines
21. Echo Is Your Love - Peace song
22. TALK 6
23. Laakso - The death of us
24. Christian Kjellvander - Words in the wires
25. Mustasch - Double nature
26. TALK 7
27. Tellevika + Firefox AK - Eric
28. Tape - A spire
29. C.Aarmé - Golden retriever
30. TALK 8
31. The Bear Quartet - Put me back together
32. Susanne Sundfør - Walls
33. The Hellacopters - Like no other man
34. TALK 9
35. Aerial - You will all die, all things will
"Ask me don't axe me" is one of those songs that gives me a Beavis & Butthead level of glee every time I hear the rumble of doublebass on the chorus. And then there's the all-Jejo video that has absolute no bearing at all as to what the song is about. "Yeah, I've got problems up to here, but they're not for you to share." Talking about it just makes it worse. "Ask me don't axe me again, be friends." All I wanted was a Pepsi?
The Bear Quartet - Ask me don't axe me
"Weakling keep blinking" is 3rd-world rock'n'roll. Imagine a band that has never actually heard rock'n'roll, but has only read about it - that's what this sounds like. The basic idioms are there, but there's something not quite right about it. You get the classic bluesy power-chord fifth-to-sixth riffing, the steady handclaps on the twos and fours. These are the basic elements of early rock, but The Bear Quartet has managed to make them sound awkward and perverted. The sound effects give it a totally creepy vibe and the instrument tones are all weird, misguided presets. I'm reminded of Stravinksy's "L'histoire du soldat" which incorporates jazz voicings despite the famed composer having never heard the stuff before. It is suggested that perhaps he had seen it written on paper, but never performed. Once again, you get many of the basic idioms of the genre, but the feel is off. Naturally, The Bear Quartet are well-versed in the ways of rock, but they manage to capture that same strange, uneasy feeling. And then they blow it up.
The Bear Quartet - Weakling keep blinking
Check out Paper, a new band featuring Calle Olsson of Paddington DC/The Bear Quartet and Peter Backebo of Audionom: http://www.myspace.com/paperstockholm
For those unaware: IAT takes every Saturday to pay tribute to The Bear Quartet, Sweden's greatest indierock band. Want to contribute your own BQ post? Get in touch.
This is another one of those songs that makes me giggle like an idiot every time I hear it. Aside from the chorus refrain, there's very little about the lyrics that's distinguishable to my ears without the words laid out right there in front of me. Naturally, being The Bear Quartet and seeing as how the lyrics are from bassist Peter Nuottaniemi, there is poetry behind the gibber-gabber though I find the meaning to be inconsequential to the enjoyment of the song. And there's that ridiculous wanky-blues breakdown, too. Genius? Yes, absolutely. Unnecessary? Sure, but it throws you off just enough so that the final chorus can floor you. I was iffy on BQ's new, more electronic and obtuse direction with the unveiling of single "I have an itch" before the release of "Saturday night", but hearing this song sealed the deal. None can compare! All hail!
Extra-credit for the engineering geeks: check out the waveform for this track. It's ridiculous - nothing but boxes of sound, red-lining at 0db. When I was compiling all the tracks from "Reader's companion volume two" I was amazed at how unmusical it looked in comparison to everything else.
The Bear Quartet - Birds are singing deep within the greenery
For those unaware: IAT takes every Saturday to pay tribute to The Bear Quartet, Sweden's greatest indierock band. Want to contribute your own BQ post? Get in touch.
The playlist for my radio show this week:
01. Pistol Disco - Walking with Jesus
02. TALK 1
03. Heroes & Zeros - Into the light
04. Vijaya - Your gun will never set you free
05. Convoj - My timekeeping heart
06. TALK 2
07. Darkthrone - Too old, too cold
08. A Perfect Friend - Rush hour
09. Death By Kite - Hiroshima
10. TALK 3
11. Fun - I've got a truck
12. Moonbabies - Walking on my feet
13. The Perishers - When I fall
14. TALK 4
15. Regulations - Police siren
16. Viola - Ordinary teenage sensation
17. Björn Kleinhenz - Starlit queen
18. TALK 5
19. Gravy - Glory to our brilliant name
20. Hero Dishonest - Stalin vs Hank Hardy
21. Sophie Zelmani - To know you
22. Ulver - Capitel III: Graablick blev hun vaer
23. TALK 6
24. Håkan Hellström - Ramlar
25. Abhinanda - Highway tonight
26. Single Unit - Passion, pirates & parasites
27. TALK 7
28. Kompjotr Eplektrika - Skulldrummantra
29. The Tiny - Just like you
30. Death Breath - Death breath
31. TALK 8
32. Entombed - Serpent speech
33. The Cardigans - Marvel hill
34. Soviac - I got the ribbah
35. TALK 9
36. The Bear Quartet - Put me back together
37. You Is Stupid - I am history
38. Paris - 60 minutes
39. The Process - Mot Sverige i tiden
40. TALK 10
41. Weeping Willows - I give you the morning
"Personality crisis" is my go-to Bear Quartet album for days like today, when I just feel beaten down by the workweek. It's the kind of record I can listen to anytime, even those days I'm so sick of music that nothing seems appealing. Like an old friend, it's always there to prop me up and comfort me. Yep, this is the soundtrack to my Friday night and I'm staying in.
The Bear Quartet - Punks
Once again, I hand things over to Jim Kelly from Parasol for this week's Bear Quartet post:
"Gay icon" was my first introduction to The Bear Quartet. A little slipcase CD with a naked man on the artwork that sat on the shelf for a year before some Swedish pals patiently explained that "The Bear Quartet are the very best band in Sweden, maybe the world." And this coming from members of the band I considered the best rock act in the world at the time. With this recommendation in mind and beginning to appreciate seeing Jari's scrotum on the gatefold (that took some balls!) I began an odyssey of obsession that all started with the opening track "From nowhere" and one of the best lines ever written:
Adam and Eve were the first, unemployed, in love and evicted...
A short, sweet, heartrending piano ballad that touched on the garden of Eden, a dysfunctional family (a common theme in Peter's songs, see "Disappearing act"), and a threesome (I think)... As soon as this poignant and plaintive narrative fades out, the rest of "Gay icon"'s glorious mayhem begins, an often shocking study in contrasts, with the tone strangely set from the start.
The Bear Quartet - From nowhere
The playlist for my radio show on Sirius this week:
01. Beyond Dawn - Far from showbiz
02. TALK 1
03. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
04. The Fine Arts Showcase - Dance with your shadow
05. Pan Sonic - Hinaaja / Tugboat
06. TALK 2
07. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Hold
08. The Bear Quartet - I don't wanna
09. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - When she's GONE
10. TALK 3
11. Laakso - High drama
12. Park Hotell - The guest who stayed forever
13. Fun - Hold it close
14. TALK 4
15. The Book of Daniel - Rabbit boy
16. Watain - Storm of the Antichrist
17. Viktor Sjöberg - w/Nothing
18. Kristofer Åström - Fallen
19. TALK 5
20. Mainliners - Olivia
21. Oddjob - Kings are walking out
22. Lemonator - Heart burns
23. TALK 6
24. Tobias Hellkvist - Slowly but surely
25. Attrap - Just a word away
26. Sahara Hotnights - Visit to Vienna
27. TALK 7
28. The Leather Nun - No rule
29. Alog - Son of king
30. Thunder Express - Vegas
31. TALK 8
32. Closer - Sensing the wake