Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Hello Saferide
02. Håkan Hellström
03. Glasvegas
04. Detektivbyrån
05. The Knife
06. Britta Persson
07. Anna Ternheim
08. Fredrik
09. The Radio Dept.
10. Logh
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Fever Ray, the solo act of Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife, will release her debut album in early 2009.
I already posted a track from Silverbullit as part of our ongoing Göteborg Spotlight Series, but today I'm happy a present an interview with guitarist Andreas Nilsson, an artist who's also well known for his phenomenal video work. Madrugada, José González and The Knife are just a few of the names of artists he has collaborated with. Andreas may no longer be a Gbg resident, but his contributions to the city's music and art scene are numerous. Read on...
First off, my standard intro question: how long have you lived in Gbg? What brought you there and what keeps you in town?
I moved here at age 17 to go to artschool. Lived here for 17 years, so half my life... I live in another town now, but I miss the sort of underground musicscene that Koloni, Kning Disk and Ideal bring to Gothenburg. It's amazing that a town of Gbg's size has such a big scene for this kind of stuff.
You seem to be working more visually these days as opposed to sonically - which medium would you say is your strong point? How often do the two overlap? If someone asks "so, what do you do?" how do you answer?
The way that I work is a cluster of things that I barely understand the logic of myself. But I try to overlap as much as possible. It's an ok place to be in, the twilight zone.
If someone asks me what I do, I lie and tell them I'm a horsewhisperer or something.
How was Way Out West? Were you satisfied with Silverbullit's set? See anything of note?
Playing with Silverbullit again was great. Always fun to see Simon play keyboardsolo in his patented rapestyle and we were touched by all the people that showed up.
But I didn't have time to see much else at the festival. The Bug had a great stomach-turning bass. My big festival moment this year was My Bloody Valentine at Roskilde. It was so loud that I experienced a physical reaction in my nose that I had never experienced before. It was kind of buzzing and humming the day after, very strange.
I understand you managed to get Freddie Wadling to make a guest appearance - who's idea was that? Was it a matter of mutual appreciation or did it take more wrangling to get it together?
We've been working on a track that Freddie gave us as a demo. The idea of playing together came to us in a DHL-package.
What current projects are you working on? What can we expect to see/hear from you in the next six months or so? What are the chances of a new Silverbullit album?
Just finished a video for a British band called White Lies. The track is called "Death". Today I'm in Gothenburg working at the Stadsteatern. I'm working on a play called "Butterfly Kiss" together with director Malin Stenberg. A dark and surreal text about a dysfunctional family with an urge to kill. It premiered 19th Sep for all you culture vultures out there.
Finally, got a song you would like to share, either from one of your own bands or from a local act you admire? Tell me about it!
I think people should have a listen to the band Kite from Malmö. They have a beautiful song called "My girl and I". I also like Prince of Assyria who is releasing an album on Kning Disk this fall.
Both Kite and Prince of Assyria obliged by sending in tracks for posting, but since Andreas recommended a specific Kite track, that's the one I'm going with today. Stay tuned for more on The Prince- a recommendation from Andreas Nilsson does not go unnoticed!
Kite - My girl and I
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Laakso - Worst case scenario
02. TALK 1
03. The Kid - Mayhem troopers
04. We Live In Trenches - Autonomy clinic
05. Detektivbyrån - Om du möter varg
06. TALK 2
07. I'm From Barcelona - Paper planes
08. Wired for Mono - The man behind the wall
09. The Amazing - Dragon
10. TALK 3
11. Pugh Rogefeldt - Surabaya Johnny
12. Opeth - The lotus eater
13. The Knife - Silent shout
14. TALK 4
15. Culkin - Allegiance
16. Haust - Desperate living
17. Lack - Behead
18. Nitad - Ge mig ge mig
19. TALK 5
20. Kamraterna - Det här är ditt land
Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.
Fever Ray is the name Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife's brand new solo project. Expect an album later this year via Rabid Records and keep an eye on feverray.com in the meantime.
KleerupPop music can be about a lot more than shifting hundreds of a thousands of records and continuously rotating overly-glitzy music videos, and Andreas Kleerup's self-titled debut is verification of this idea. Holding more in common with The Knife's songwriting approach than that of Max Martin, and reveling in similar production tricks to that of Justice, Kleerup's compositions seem almost "accidentally" radio friendly; too much effort has been put into these tracks for them to be dismissed as pop fluff, and yet too much pop sensibility has gone into their writing for the songs to feel pretentiously avant-garde -- the album's strengths exist somewhere in between these two judgments. While the record is rather star-studded with tracks featuring numerous well-known artists: Robyn, Lykke Li, Neneh Cherry, and Marit Bergman, to name a few, Kleerup's own tracks stand up well on their own. "Thank you for nothing" runs cleverly between Europop-like catchiness and the allure of well-produced remixes of bands like Phoenix, and opener "Hero" is an engaging first look at the album, evoking a strange mix between Vangelis and Röyksopp. "With every heartbeat", the Robyn-featured single, is my favorite track, though the Marit Bergman led "3am" and Lykke Li's "Until we bleed" are not far behind. Overall, "Kleerup" is a skillfully produced pop record that's as much fun as it is expertly written and executed -- a pleasant departure from the soulless gloss of so many other pop albums.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
The new Marit Bergman single "Were you ever really mine?" is now available to subscribers and will be released to the general public on Monday. Marit also says that Karin Dreijer (The Knife) is working on a solo album which could be pretty darn cool, doncha think?
ZeigeistListen to them once and you'd be forgiven for mistaking Zeigeist for fellow Swedish art poppers The Knife. The first few tracks certainly support this theory. But listen again and you'll start to notice the (admittedly minor) differences. For one, Zeigeist trade off vocal duties between Princess and Per (no surnames needed, apparently), giving their sound a little bit more variety. Secondly, though they wear their "artsy" label proudly on their sleeves, Zeigeist's music is almost always more direct and more pop. This would be an amazing thing if the songs on their debut had the kind of hooks needed to match their fantastic electro dance beats. The album improves as it goes on, but even with repeated listens, there isn't much to sink your teeth into. "Black milk" and "Cuffs" have some interesting ideas, while "Wrecked metal" is probably the most immediately catchy of all the tracks. The frustrating thing is that it's clear that the band has enough creativity to come up with something really jaw-dropping. I'm sure every song works better as a part of their reportedly theatric live shows, but on record it's a little less than inspiring.
- Nick James
Listen to Danish surf/instrumental act The Tremolo Beer Gut cover the new First Floor Power single "The jacket", renamed now as "Le jaquet": http://www.myspace.com/thetremolobeergut
Said track appears as a b-side on FFP's new 12" single alongside remixes by Karin Dreijer Andersson (The Knife) and others.
Zeigeist will never be able to shake comparisons to The Knife, but they did kinda do it themselves by cleverly tacking the song "Tar heart" on early leaks of "Silent shout". And now, with the release of their debut full-length "The Jade Motel", they have a chance to really make a name for themselves and I think they've done an admiral job. Lead single "Bunny" is bouncy electro track, with a slight dark vibe that's far more Depeche Mode than The Knife, though of course the vocal timbres are far similar to the latter. On the other hand, Zeigeist is a far more extroverted act; their music, their style is very showy and well-suited for the stage. The Knife are introverts to the nth degree - they've got their insular little world and as such, it's much harder to penetrate/understand/sympathize. I appreciate the immediacy of "Bunny". It withstands intellectual crtitique, but it's also very physical. "You just bare your skin I will show you bunny as I dance."
Zeigeist - Bunny
MIC Norway profiles excellent Sámi artist Mari Boine (see here) and her new album "It ain't necessarily evil", a remix collection featuring contributions from artists such as The Knife, 120 Days, Mental Overdrive and more: http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2008042415595772513160
Discobelle has the Karin Dreijer Andersson (The Knife) remix of the new First Floor Power single "The jacket": http://www.discobelle.net/2008/04/21/first-floor-power-the-jacket-karin-dreijer-from-the-knife-remix/
RebekkaMariaIcy, avant-garde electro pop has long been a fixture of Scandinavian music, ranging from the dense, arty compositions of The Knife to pop flavored chart toppers like Robyn. "Queen of France" (the debut solo album from Lampshade frontwoman RebekkaMaria Andersson) falls somewhere in the middle. The first half of the record was definitely crafted with a pop song structure in mind, while the latter half is much more experimental and less immediate. Tracks like "Yours truly" and "She lion" hit you over the head on the first listen with their confident melodies and infectious attitude, but from there, the album becomes decidedly less mainstream. The bizarre helium-induced "Army of foxy" initiates this change, but it's tame compared to head-scratchers like "The foam" and "Happy birthday". Fans of the genre will love it, and there's no denying the creativity that went into the record, but most listeners will probably wish that the entire album played to the strengths of the first four tracks.
- Nick James
Here is the It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 artists of the week:
01. Håkan Hellström
02. Radiohead
03. Belle and Sebastian
04. Jens Lekman
05. Death Cab for Cutie
06. The Knife
07. Shout Out Louds
08. Lykke Li
09. R.E.M.
10. Bob Dylan
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here is the It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 artists of the week:
01. Radiohead
02. Jens Lekman
03. Death Cab for Cutie
04. Håkan Hellström
05. Kent
06. The Knife
07. Lykke Li
08. Belle and Sebastian
09. Shout Out Louds
10. Elliott Smith
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
