Last night's playlist for my show on Sirius Blog Radio:

01. Isolation Years - Yellow cross on blue
02. TALK 1
03. Johndoe - Nattskift
04. Montys Loco - Wasteland
05. Once We Were - Cut corners
06. TALK 2
07. [ingenting] - Mycket vasen for ingenting
08. Margaret Berger - Robot song
09. Namur - Marching
10. Lampshade - New legs
11. TALK 3
12. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
13. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
14. Fattaru - 100:-
15. Juvelen - Hanna
16. TALK 4
17. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
18. Sonores - 16th of June
19. Detektivbyrån - E18
20. TALK 5
21. At the Gates - The swarm
22. Barra Head - Kill the lights
23. TALK 6
24. The Tough Alliance - Leg 7
25. Torpedo - My evil twin
26. Alog - Catch that totem!
27. TALK 7
28. Valley Days - 10k angels
29. A-ha - Celice
30. Victims - Who the fuck are we?
31. TALK 8
32. The Vicious - Alienated
33. Viola - Unreal life
34. Zweizz - Nowadays the only boring everything is so frustrating
35. Viktor Sjöberg - Winter guitars
36. TALK 9
37. Closer - The talker
38. Aerial - My god, it's full of stars!
39. The Kissaway Trail - La la song
40. Laakso - Italy vs Helsinki
41. The Psyke Project - Panic
42. TALK 10
43. C.Aarmé - We are the world

Next week: expect lots more killer jams including totally a brand new track from Closer and maybe even a spotlight set on post-rock/ambient music. Good times!

MP3: The Kissaway Trail - It's close up faraway

My god, "Smother + Evil = Hurt" is such an achingly beautiful song. It's the kind of song that grabs you right away, the very first time you hear it. And that longing, desperate vocal! It's a heartbreaker. But that's not the Kissaway Trail song I'm going to post for you today. By all means, go seek it out elsewhere, but I want to showcase the band's softer, more delicate side. They do the epic bombast thing very well, however it's songs like "It's close up faraway" that prove they have more to offer. That frail falsetto is gorgeous and the wordless refrain a perfect counterpoint. There are many obvious parallels to the Arcade Fire beyond them sharing the same cover artist and making good use of mandolin and banjo, the artist I'm reminded most of on this song is A-ha. It's that ineffable Nordic melancholy quality, I guess. The rest of the record leans more heavily towards the louder side of things, but the fact that they can pull off a piece like this shows them to be a force worth reckoning with. I would not be at all surprised if these guys blew up after SXSW.

The Kissaway Trail - It's close up faraway

Drowned in Sound reviews The Kissaway Trail's recent show in London: http://www.drownedinsound.com/event/view/22658

Speaking of Moi Caprice, they'll be joining fellow Danes PowerSolo, The Kissaway Trail, Vincent Van Go Go and Funky Nashville as this year's Music Export Denmark emissaries to both Canadian Music Week and SXSW.

The Kissaway Trail's forthcoming self-titled album is confirmed for a January 22 release in Denmark, April everywhere else.

Some new Hell On Wheels dates:

01/11 - Apparatet, Kobenhavn (DK)
01/12 - 1000FRYD, Aalborg (DK) w/The Kissaway Trail
01/13 - Fabrikken, Aarhus (DK) w/Shout Wellington Airforce
01/21 - Ziegel oh lac, Zurich (CH)
01/22 - Alte Mälzerei, Regensburg (GER)
01/23 - B72, Vienna (AUS)
01/24 - SC Teatar & TD, Zagreb (CRO)
01/25 - Weekender Club, Innsbruck (AUS)
01/26 - Q Bar Berg/Drau (AUS)
01/27 - Berghammer, Sigharting (AUS)

Denmark's The Kissaway Trail have signed with Etch n Sketch Records for Australia/New Zealand.

Danish act The Kissaway Trail has posted a new track on myspace from their forthcoming self-titled album: http://www.myspace.com/thekissawaytrail

The Kissaway Trail's new website is now online: http://www.thekissawaytrail.com/

The Kissaway Trail (nee-Isles) has signed with Bella Union, the UK-based label run by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins. The band's new album "Bleeding hearts of the world, unite!" comes out in Scandinavia on January 8 via Playground Music and internationally on April 1 via Bella Union.