IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

Top 10s for 2011: It's a Trap! Contributors

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:51:02 -0800

Ann Sung-an Lee

Top albums of 2011
Your Headlights Are On - "s/t"
Juv - "s/t"
Jenny Hval - "Viscera"
Dark Times - "Talk Too Much" from Dark Times tape
Next Life - "Artificial Divinity"
Kurt Vile - "Smoke Ring for my Halo"
PJ Harvey - "Let England Shake"
Gillian Welch - "The Harrow & The Harvest"
Oneohtrix Point Never - "Replica"
Thurston Moore - "Demolished Thoughts"

Top overrated albums of 2011
Feist - "Metals"
St. Vincent - "Strange Mercy"
Wilco - "The Whole Love"
Social Distortion - "Hard Time and Nursey Rhymes"
Girls - "Father, Son, Holy Ghost"
Wolves in the Throne Room - "Celestial Lineage"
Gang Gang Dance - "Eye Contact"
Liturgy - "Aesthethica"
Icarus Line - "Wildlife"

Top Concerts of 2011
Grant Lee Buffalo @ Øya 2011
Ghost @ Øya 2011
Pantha du Prince @ Øya 2011
Fenriz & Club Knulldröm DJ-sets @ Revolver
K-X-P @ Cafe Mono, May 6
Bad Brains, Shelter @ West Coast Riot Festival, Sweden
SWANS @ Rockefeller, May (a birthday present from my best friend:))

Top Books of 2011
Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre
The Angel's Game, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
Life, Keith Richards
Super Sad True Love Story, Gary Shteyngart

John Norby

Top 10 for 2011

It has been such a great year for metal -- old and new -- that I'm concentrating on it for this year's top 10. Let's call it top 10 'thinking outside the box' metal. Pretty much in order but it's also a bit loose.

Textures - Dualism
What can I say about this album? A combination of expert songwriting, flawless musicianship and simply astounding vocals makes this the band's best work to date -- and metal album of the year!

Pyrrhon - An excellent slave but a terrible master
Alongside Sweden's Ghamorean, these New Yorkers confirmed my theory that of the six million or so technical death metal bands doing the rounds there must be at least one that can actually write decent tunes. I haven't heard the likes of this since the Gorguts days. Mental shit indeed!

Ghamorean - Terra firma
Off-kilter, technical blackened death played with unwavering passion. It's not often that the two go hand-in-hand but Ghamorean have it nailed on "Terra firma"..

Unholy - From the shadows
This was so ahead of its time back in '93 that most people just didn't understand it. Finnish doom of the most unsettling order played with seven-string guitars long before they were hijacked by nu-metallers and, in later years, djent-freaks. Re-released in 2011 by Peaceville.

Manilla Road - Playground of the damned
Old dudes of metal do it with absolute style. Retro doom is order of the day on this, their fifteenth album. Have you heard of them before? Probably not. Should you check out this album? Damn right! You do need to give the production time to bed in but once it does...

Ulcerate - The destroyers of all
Another technical death metal album of the askew variety, this time from New Zealand. I suppose this could be classed as post-metal with actual metal in it. If Isis was possessed by Pazuzu.

Unholy - The second ring of power
Another Peaceville reissue. The follow-up to "From the shadows" is a different beast than its predecessor but the atmosphere is just oozing out of it. Another one that suffered at the hands of its own inventiveness, this time back in 1994. Essential!

Burzum - Fallen
Regardless of the man's politics Varg knows how to write great black metal. The fact that this stuff -- like "Belus" -- is a sonic continuation of the "Filosofem" album makes listening to this an oddly nostalgic experience.

Septicflesh - The great mass
The Greeks have been getting better and better with the release of each album and this -- surprisingly -- bettered the hell out of "Communion". Beautiful and brutal rolled into one.

Opeth - Heritage
This is really only metal by association. Some loathe it for its lack of the heavy stuff. I totally know where they're coming from. But this is still a killer album.

Laura Studarus

A list -- wherein I avoid mentioning my continuing obsession with söder tea. (But seriously Sweden, can you just start exporting the stuff already?)

1. Acid House Kings: Music sounds better with you -- Not just one of my favorite Scandinavian albums of the year, but one of my favorite albums of the year. Period. The perfect pop balance of ennui and joy -- i.e. what my diary would sound like when set to music in a perfect world.

2. Trentemøller live in Los Angeles at the Henry Fonda: Badass.

3. Pallers: The sea of memories -- I didn't realize how obsessed I was with this electro/ambient/pop album until I couldn't stop listening to it. Popping it on in the morning, soundtracking my walk through the darkened streets off LA (okay that only happened once), falling asleep to their unique, sun-streaked sorrow -- it's never enough, is it? Sneaky stuff.

4. Niki and the Dove: Somewhere deep in the heart of Stockholm, a big-voiced singer turned to an electronics wizard and said, "Let's make music that combines the slick production of 1980s Madonna with the darkness of Fever Ray." The much-hyped duo has put out several EPs this year. Seeing as how my name is not Sophie, and I hate to choose, I request you listen to them all. (I'm also giving them a journalistic gold star for being among some of the most charming interview subjects I've ever had the pleasure of speaking with.)

5. I Break Horses: Hearts -- Heartfelt shoegazy bliss. Sofia Coppola, please take note.

6. Amanda Mair: "House"/"Doubt" -- At sixteen Mair is a near-music genius. At sixteen I was....er...sorry, self-preservation prevents me from completing that sentence. (An extra gold star for production by Philip Ekström of The Mary Onettes.)

7. Det Vackra Livet: Det Vackra Livet - I'm not a Labrador Records publicist. Nor do I speak Swedish. But I totally "get" this, and I suspect if you're a child of the 80s you might too.

8. Sóley: We sink -- How does an album of sparse guitar and piano compositions sound so beautifully creepy? And why can't I stop listening to it?

9. Korallreven: "As young as yesterday" (ft. Victoria Bergsman) -- The best track on an already fantastic album. Victoria Bergsman takes everything to the next level. Dreamy!

10. Sin Fang: Summer echos -- While I reject the comparisons to Beck (I mean, really?), I love that Sindri Már Sigfússon has turned folk into something sprawling and completely unpredictable.

Peaceville preps Aura Noir, Enslaved reissues

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:16:44 -0700

Peaceville will be doing vinyl reissues of the first Aura Noir album "Black thrash attack" and Enslaved's 2nd demo "Yggdrasill" in October. The former comes out October 17 and will include a bonus cover of Venom's "Heavens on fire", the latter on October 31.

Top tens for 2010: It's a Trap!

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:17:20 -0800

Not everything in the picture above is officially a 2010 release, but they are all various things I picked up this past year and would recommend you do the same, should the opportunity present itself. Bonus points to anyone who can name every record pictured! Anyhow, as I was saying, there was quite a lot of really good music released in 2010, but at the same time, very few crossed the line into greatness. This year, only three albums made the cut.

Dear Euphoria - This night will flee (Given Productions/Herbivor Music)

A deep and richly satisfying listening experience that speaks of love and emptiness and the vast space between, with each repitition revealing new insight. Beautifully haunting.

Masshysteri - s/t (Ny Våg/Feral Ward)

The perfect pop-punk album. RIP.

Okkultokrati - No light for mass (Fysisk Format/Lilla Himmel/Odio Sonoro/Ormeyngel Records)

Apocalyptic visions set to a soundtrack of the rawest metal/punk sludge. A zeitgeist-defining album of unmatched ugliness.

Best Song:

Susanne Sundfør - The brothel
I still get goosebumps every time.

Best Demo:

Underachiever - This is where I lost the ability to love
Faster Katt - Demo 2010

The notion of a demo is almost completely lost in this digital age, but there are still those who carry the torch, preferring to test the waters with honest, rough-edged recordings before commiting to any sort of "official" release. In 2010 I listened to way more, way better demo/self-released material this year than any big-name releases, so this list could be a lot longer, but these two stuck with me the longest.

Other Records Worth Mentioning

Like I said at the top, there really were a lot of really good albums this year. Here's a few more that might not rate as high as the three above, but are all well worth your time:

The Bear Quartet - Monty Python (Adrian Recordings)
BQ's endless restlessness and constant desire to innovate remains one of their greatest assets, but it also means that they sometimes miss the mark. Still, the band remains one of Sweden's all-time greats, if not the greatest.

Darkthrone - Circle the wagons (Peaceville)
The opposite of BQ in that the band is continually regressing, but very similar in the approach that they continually churn an almost overwhelming amount of quality material.

Enforcer - Diamonds (Earache/Heavy Artillery)
Too goofy to be truly great, but guaranteed to stay in steady rotation for years to come.

Johan Helte - Sara, (Raffaella)
On the cusp of greatness. Ask me again about this record in six months.

Kimono - Easy music for difficult people (Kimi Records)
My sleeper pick of the year. It's hard to cite exactly what's so gripping about this record, I just know that I keep listening to it regularly.

Monzano - By this time last year everything will seem younger (Spoon Train Audio/How is Annie Records)
Another one on the cusp. Not sure anymore if I permanently burned myself out on these literary indie gents from Norway or if it's one that'll come back to me after some time apart.

Britta Persson - Current affair medium rare (Selective Notes)
More than a few exceptional moments (see "Toast to M" for example), but not enough cohesion.

Robyn - Body talk (Konichiwa Records)
There's a reason this is on everyone's list.

Säkert! - Facit (Razzia Records)
A good album that simply hasn't connected with me as much as I had hoped.

The Tallest Man on Earth - The wild hunt (Dead Oceans)
Another one that made a lot of year-end lists for good reason.

Tiger Tape - I woke up in Hökarängen (Cosy/Lo And Behold)
My favorite indiepop album of 2010.

Plus a few more names: Ikons, Haust, Slöa Knivar, Lapko, Fun, Meleeh, Moto Boy... and let us not forget all of the amazing reissues from The Crypt such as Pan-Thy-Monium, Crypt of Kerberus, Uncanny, Furbowl and so on. So yeah, lots of good music. No complaints!

Panzerfaust, the reissue

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:34:15 -0700

Darkthrone's 1995 landmark release "Panzerfaust" album is getting a deluxe reissue this month via Peaceville on both CD and vinyl and will include a bonus disc of audio commentary from Fenriz giving "personal insight into the background to the album and his inspirations for particular riffs and songs, and unconventional recording methods." More here: http://www.peaceville.com/darkthrone/

Manifestgalen 2010 nominees are go

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:43:31 -0800

The nominees for the 2010 Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative Grammy, have been announced:

Punk/Hardcore:
En Svensk Tiger - Versace style (Buzzbox records)
Troublemakers - Made in Sweden (Svindel)
Tysta Mari - Sveriges Casino (11743)
The Clichés - Monkey see, monkey do (Randale)

Dance:
Minilogue - Samlad årsproduktion
Samuel L Session - The man with the case (Be As One Imprint)
The Field - Yesterday and Today (Kompakt)
Tomas Andersson - Stiff Disco (Funk Noir)

Jazz:
Bengt Berger - Beches Brew (Country & Eastern)
Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - The Half Naked Truth 1998-2008 (Moserobie)
The Opposite - Intertwined (Kopasetic)
Plunge With Bobo Stenson - Origo (Kopasetic)

Rhythm:
Calle Real - Me Lo Gané (Timba Records)
Jaqee - Kokoo Girl (Rootdown Records)
Music is the weapon - Music is the weapon (Music is the weapon)
Syster Sol - Dömd att bli bedömd (Swing Kids)

Rock:
Florence Valentin - Spring Ricco (Startracks)
Makeouts - In A Strange Land (Bachelor Records)
Murder by guitar - Murder by guitar (Jeet Kune Records)
Skriet - Skriet (Novoton)

Pop:
Anna Järvinen - Man var bland molnen (Häpna)
El Perro Del Mar - Love Is Not Pop (Licking Fingers)
JJ - JJ n° 2 (Sincerely Yours)
Jonathan Johansson - En hand i himlen (Hybris)

Hårdrock/Metal:
Abandon - The Dead End (Black Star Foundation)
Candlemass - Death Magic Doom (Nuclear Blast)
Katatonia - Night Is The New Day (Peaceville)
Tribulation - The Horror (Pulverised)

Synth:
Arvid - Andetag (Wonderland Records)
Dupont - Entering The Ice Age (Progress Productions)
Emmon - Closet Wanderings (Wonderland Records)
Rupesh Cartel - Anchor Baby (Megahype)

Singer/songwriter:
Ane Brun - Live at Stockholm Concert Hall (Balloon Rangers Recordings)
David Åhlen - We Sprout In Thy Soil (Compunctio)
Jonna Lee - This Is Jonna Lee (Razzia)
Kristofer Åström And The Rainaways - Sinkadus (Startracks)

Folk/ballad:
Taken By Trees - East of Eden (Rough Trade)
Miriam Aida - Letras au Brasil (Ajabu)
Tore Berger - I huset långt på landet (Brus & Knaster)
Esbjörn Hazelius - Blunda och du ska få se (Amigo)

Hip-hop:
Mohammed Ali - Processen (Bad Taste Records)
Organismen - Om Gud vill och vädret tillåter (Organismen)
Promoe - Kråksången (Pope Records)
Stor - Nya skolans ledare (Redline Records)

Best live:
Frida Hyvönen (Licking Fingers)
Jenny Wilson (Gold Medal Recordings)
Fever Ray (Rabid Records)
Florence Valentin (Startracks)

Best unsigned:
Den Svenska Björnstammen
Extended Heads
Fulmakten
Nora

Go here for more: http://www.manifestgalan.se/122.aspx

Darkthrone F.O.A.D. Tyrant Syndicate/Peaceville

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800

This is the filthiest, most numbskulled black-thrash album I've heard in years and years and I absolutely mean that in the best way possible. Most bands progress and become more refined as the years go by, but Darkthrone retreats and regresses, always getting closer and closer to the pure black metal sounds of originators such as Venom and Bathory. I still love the sophistication of so-called BM elites such as Emperor, but Darkthrone does a much better job of personifying everything that metal should be about. This is music for the dejected and rejected, the kind of stuff that revels in being a no-class dirtball. The title track says it all: "Fuck off and die!" If you don't like it, it's because you're not supposed to.

It's also worth noting that the so-called unproduced recording on this still sounds thousands of times better than any other modern metal album. No lame triggered drums, no wall of over-compressed guitars, nothing but the purest essentials. Everything is crisp and well-balanced and guess what? Even the bass is loud and clear. Amazing!

Darkthrone The cult is alive Peaceville

Sun, 18 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0700

I have not been following Darkthrone's career in the past, say, five years, but back in the day they were the sickest, most incredible black metal band along with Abruptum and perhaps Marduk. These dude were seriously evil. I don't know what happened there, but "The cult is alive" is considerably more rock than I ever thought this band capable of. Not just slower, but the whole thing has tinges of grarage rock, Misfits-like punk and a little bit of Samhain thrown in. It might be also the most Venom-inspired black metal album I have heard in quite some time. I guess they wanted to go back to the source. The whole album is seriously awesome as it is so unexpected, and the music ain't crap either, very good stuff. I am totally in awe.