It takes a concerted effort not to judge this album by its cover, and opener "People's faces" does a pretty good job at shifting one's attention from the hideous, frightening artwork to the intricacies of Keith Canisius' music. Then you get about halfway into the song and you're not sure why it hasn't evolved into something else. After five minutes of repetitious instrumentation, the song finally starts going somewhere -- and promptly ends. Unfortunately, this pattern repeats throughout the album. Every song that opens with promise eventually self-destructs. The album feels like a meandering three-hour film that could have, in the right hands, been edited into a 90-minute masterpiece, and there are plenty of moments that betray the talents of the composer. Sadly, these moments just aren't enough. As background music, it's not half bad; as the follow up to Canisius' "Ferris wheel makeout", it's perplexing and, at best, a shadow of what it might have been. - Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
It's true, the new Peter Bjorn and John album "Gimme some" is absolutely superb. Their best record since "Falling out" I'd say, though I don't mean to disparage their work since then -- despite many, many fine singles (and yes, though you may be burnt on "Young folks", it's still a modern classic), none of the the albums have felt like a cohesive statement since then. "Gimme some" is exactly that and it's extremely satisfying. Plus, as a longtime fan since the very beginning, I'm glad to hear them return to their power-pop/mod-rock roots, albeit in a far more refined manner suitable to the current depth of their discography. Opening tune "Tomorrow has to wait" has all the elements that make me love the band, from the verse's excellent call-and-response simplicity and underlying acerbic tension to the eminently satisfying and gloriously wistful refrain of the chorus. Not to mention the buried Eastern-tinged melody lurking underneath it all, so cleverly playing against the steady pulse of the central chord. Peter Bjorn and John never stopped being a good band, now once again they reinforce why I think they're truly great.
The best hip-hop act in Sweden right now? Not an official video (yet), but if you've been waiting to hear the new Ison & Fille single "Galen", here it is. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuSAB_MSIA0
Honningbarna, the winners of this year's NRK Urørt prize for best unsigned act, will release their debut album "La alarmane gå" on March 25. The first single "Den eldre garde" is out now.
I get the feeling that people don't take Faster Katt very seriously and unfortunately, hearing them cover Manowar will probably not change that. Truth be told, Faster Katt are a great band, far better than most folk's false impression of them as a goofy "sideproject" would indicate and, likewise, Manowar is/was also a great band. Yes, the self-proclaimed Kings of Metal are ridiculous and over-the-top, but their early records are a perfect blueprint of True Heavy Metal, especially "Hail to England", the release this song originally appeared on. Make fun of them all you want, it's easy to do, but us fans know the truth. My question however, will the members of Faster Katt be at one of Manowar's upcoming three (!!!) shows at Trädgårn in Göteborg? Will they hold the sign of hammer high? Or will they be wimps and leave the hall? My feeling: they've got the gubbestyrka, they will heed the call.
Check out the rest of the band's latest demo at Bandcamp: http://fasterkatt.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2011
It's hard to cover this record since Mattias Alkberg already wrote the definitive review, but I'll do my best to sum up my thoughts without adding too much extraneous noise to the discussion. Though I wouldn't consider myself much of a Lykke Li fan, her debut album "Youth novels" had a cute, bright-eyed naivety that was undeniably charming and it wasn't hard to see why so many people made a big fuss over it. Now that she's an established artist, she's trying to position herself as a someone who's far more self-aware and serious and, frankly, I'm having a very hard time meeting her on that level. As much as she may feel authentically world-weary, it comes across as a bit of a put-on -- a different kind of youthful naivety that's far less appealing. My biggest problem with the record however, is that it has no sense of fun. A few solid tunes, sure, but more often than not it's a joyless trudge and, as much as that may reflect her mood while writing it, it doesn't compel repeated listens. - Avi Roig
Doktor Kosmos will be celebrating their 20th anniversary with the release of two compilations, a best-of and a worst-of collection. More details to come.
The March lineup for Ja Ja Ja,as curated by Rich Thane of The Line of best Fit, has been confirmed for the 31st and will feature Team Me, Lucy Swann and When Saints Go Machine.
The Janitors aspired to Silverbullit-level greatness on their debut album and failed, but with their new release, "The sick state EP", they've come mighty close. We're still neck-deep in derivative works territory (see "Epileptic city" vs "Magnetic city") and the band's name is still forgettable at best, but there's a lot they're getting right: the steady motorik pulse, the layers of noise, the ominous vibe. Even if they don't have much personality of their own manufacture, I'll accept 'em as a solid Silverbullit tribute and will remain optimistic they'll push the envelope a bit further as time goes on.
Listen to "The sick state EP"here and keep an eye out for another three EPs to be released over the course of 2011 with an eventual LP compilation of the tracks coming at the close.
I didn't get around to hearing Makthaverskan's excellent self-titled album until way after its release, otherwise it would have easily made my best of 2009 list. Good to see they're not giving up on it though, despite its criminally underwhelming reception -- perhaps the current goth zeitgeist will serve them better. Anyhow, here's a brand new video for the track "Know love" and it's great, though, uh, a bit NSFW. Direct link: http://vimeo.com/18879071
Keith Canisius
Lykke Li
