Sometimes 2nd best is the winner
The readers of Tidningen Liljeholmen-Älvsjö have spoken: "Napalm över Stureplan" is the 2nd best song about Stockholm; the first place winner is irrelevant.
The readers of Tidningen Liljeholmen-Älvsjö have spoken: "Napalm över Stureplan" is the 2nd best song about Stockholm; the first place winner is irrelevant.
I had no idea that Viisikko put out a full-length, but apparently they did and the whole damn thing is up for streaming/download via Bandcamp. Cassette copies are sold out, but apparently a proper vinyl pressing is on the way and I'll try my best to keep y'all posted. Recommended? Very.
Straight out the gate on their new album "Rastlös och vild", Nitad is in full-on bulldozer mode, leveling everything in their path with Pissed Jeans-style riffing and unhinged vocals. They pick up the pace for much of the rest of the LP, but I remain partial to these heavy, mid-tempo moments which show the gubbestyrka in full plumage. Easily a top-10 HC release for 2012.
Nitad - Rastlös och vild
Yep, I'm one of those closet nerds who owns pretty much every Hellacopters' output since "Payin' the dues" in '97. It always amazes me how one band I recently reviewed for IAT, borrowing the same 70's/80's references -- like the wailing Alice Cooper-Kiss riff thing -- can do it so wrong, while Nicke from The Hellacopters does it so right time and time again. Is it the vocals? I'm thinking that's part of it. Maybe even the guitar sound and makeup-less image. There's always some raw underbelly of punk behind it too, not to mention transcendent dueling guitar solos between a lefty and a righty and a highly educated sense of the blues. But you knew that already. Sure, Imperial State Electric sound like they're continuing on the more mature course of The Hellacopters' final releases, but after a decent debut in 2010, Nicke's once again enlisted his pals in Backyard Babies, The Datsuns and Captain Murphy to release yet another solid album. I wouldn't call it the best or most radical record we've seen this year and I have yet to find anything rivaling my favorite 'copters tunes, but it is hit-worthy and (more importantly?) party-friendly. And it's comforting to know that wise musicians are out there not deviating too drastically from what they do best. Huge respect to Nicke for continually slingin' out something new with something old.
- Ann Sung-an Lee
New Swedish pop from Faye (nee Fanny) via and licensed to for a 7" release in the UK in July/digital release on June 25.
Pitchfork is hyping Danish hardcore act Lower by tagging their recent 7" track "Craver" as "best New Music": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/13641-craver/
The best new video in the world right now, now on YouTube. Please stop whatever you're doing and take 5 minutes out of your day to watch this.
Pitchfork reviews the deluxe reissue of ABBA's final album "The visitors", giving it a coveted "best new reissue" tag: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16577-the-visitors-deluxe-edition/
Absolutely brilliant, quite easily one of the best videos I've seen in a long time.
Bazillion Points commemorates the 25th anniversary of Bathory's landmark release "Under the sign of the black mark" with a guestlist by author/musician Daniel Ekeroth singling out the five best Bathory albums: http://blog.bazillionpoints.com/2012/05/11/swedish-death-metal-under-the-sign-of-the-black-mark-turns-25-2/
UPDATE! See more on the subject here and here!
Infectious in the best possible way, not like a dreaded sommarplåga or a social disease. In fact, all three songs from the new single "Supernova", including brilliant b-side covers of Vapnet and Bingo, are phenomenal. Likewise, so is Magnus Ekelund & Stålet's upcoming full-length "Det definitiva drevet". Same goes for labelmates Norra Kust, whose self-titled debut was just released today and is now on Spotify. Essential listening all around!
Magnus Ekelund & Stålet - Supernova
Self-proclaimed to be one of their best live sessions ever, here's "Musik med Zhala" at PSL: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2012/05/07/musik-med-zhala/
Swedish drummer/artist Thomas Mera Gartz, a man probably best known for his work with pioneering psych/progg act Träd, Gräs och Stenar, passed away this weekend at the age of 68. pays tribute: http://www.countryandeastern.se/?p=2863
It's a rare occasion that an album as strong as "Turn me on" comes along -- seemingly out of nowhere -- and presents itself as an almost perfect collection of tunes that showcases the work of a true songwriting genius. I say seemingly out of nowhere because for the sheer productivity of Katharina Nuttall as an artist, composer and producer the Swede has by and large flown under the musical radar in terms of global recognition of the level that she deserves. "Turn me on" is an album brimming with emotion, with Nuttall's beautiful-yet-uneasy vocals perfectly complimenting the haunting music that they accompany. With slight nods toward Neil Young, Mazzy Starr and U2 in places (for examples try "Falling down", "Bricks" and "Play" respectively), Nuttall manages to reference a variety of artists throughout the album, although all brought together in a style unique to herself. That said, "Turn me on" offers a distinct familiarity for those of you who have heard Sweden's Paatos or America's 27 (two sublime bands in their own right) sounding off like a darker amalgam of the two. That Nuttall has created a body of work reminiscent of the best of both of the aforementioned is testimony to just how moving "Turn me on" actually is. The great travesty in all of this is that it probably still won't get the level of recognition that it deserves.
- John Norby
Pitchfork gives high marks to Opeth's recent slew of reissues: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16524-blackwater-park-legacy-edition-deliverance-reissue-damnation-reissue-lamentations-reissue/