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Skepticism are Finland's undisputed champs of funeral doom. They pioneered the genre back in the early 90s and they're still leading the way today as one of the world's slowest, most heaviest bands with the release of "Alloy", quite possibly their best album yet. As always, the monstrous pipe organ takes center stage, but as their recordings have gotten better, the band has learned to balance their sound more evenly across the board. No longer are the guitars huge wash of white noise, neither are the vocals an indecipherable rumble. The drummer still refuses to employ a proper snare drum, but that's always been part of their charm. And speaking of charm, I have to say that "The arrival", the album's opening track, might be Skepticism's catchiest material yet. It's not just totally crushing, it's also incredibly melodic and daresay, uplifting in its majesty. That's the thing about funeral doom - it doesn't just wallow in misery, it revels in it. As Aleister Crowley says in "The Titanic", "A crown of thorns is still a crown!"
Skepticism - The arrival
10
Detektivbyrån began making waves as soon as they released their first songs last year. This was more than a little surprising given how very niche it sounds to play all-instrumental music heavily influenced by Nordic and Eastern European folk based primarily on accordion, vibes, and keyboards. Yet the sheer fun of their sound has won them an enthusiastic following.
"Wermland", their first full-length release, is fun. But it also reveals them to be far more than quirky entertainment. The songs here are beautiful, and woven together into a whole that is evocative, whimsical, ageless and timeless. At points it's got the simplicity of children's music, at others, sophistication that would be at home in classical music. Throughout, it demonstrates impeccable melodic pop sensibility. Their ability to synthesize diverse traditions into immediately accessible riffs and rhythms that are simultaneously deeply familiar and altogether fresh is exceptional. This serious contender for album of the year will sound just as good decades from now.
- Nancy Baym
9
There is something endearingly vulnerable and honest about Robert Svensson's music, a quality that carries through in waves on even the thinnest guitar sound or simplest of keyboard arrangements. This sincerity attracted me to Svensson's other project Mixtapes & Cellmates and, while elements of that band bleed over into his solo project, "Young punks are on the never-never" is a far more personal collection of songs, thus amplifying the very attribute that attracted me in the first place. Pair that with a stellar lineup of musical guests -- Markus Krunegård of Laakso, Adam Olenius of Shout Out Louds, Jejo Perkovic of The Bear Quartet, and Japan's Cokiyu -- and you have one of the very best albums of the year. Robert Svensson crafts some of the most original music coming out of Sweden, positioning himself as an equal alongside most of the bands one could claim influence him -- a point strongly evidenced by those who appear alongside the young songsmith on his debut solo album. Whether he croons along with Markus Krunegård on "Young enough", a track that opens like a Tom Petty creation before being assaulted with rather Scandinavian assemblage of instrumentation; raises his fantastic voice over the dance floor-ready heights of the appropriately titled "1991"; or whirls about on the choppy, far too short "Young punks", it's as though Robert Svensson can do no wrong. Since I didn't give 10s to either Aerial or Shout Out Louds, the acts who produced my two favorite albums of 2007, I can't very well give Robert Svensson a 10 here... but I am damn tempted to.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Today's mp3 post comes courtesy of contributor Nancy Baym:
Most lists of Madrugada's influences include The Doors. What better time to revisit their roots than at their own end? One of the unexpected treats of their postmortem tour in 2008 has been the steady supply of covers -- from Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam" (you can guess where they played that), to Johnny Thunders' "You can't put your arms around a memory". Recently, they covered The Doors' "To touch the earth" for P3's anniversary show (watch their impressive 6-song set here: https://nrkp3.no/konserter/). Given the impossibility of replicating late guitarist Robert Burås' delicacy, and perhaps sobered and grounded by his passing, this final incarnation of the band, featuring Alex Kloster-Jensen and Cato Salsa turned out more aggressive, more massive, and a lot more generous in its use of keyboards. You can hear it all here. They'll be missed.
Madrugada - Not to touch the earth (live)
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
In case you haven't checked the msgboard, I've updated the Gbg Spotlight thread with more details on what I've covered so far, plus I created a brand new muxtape mix highlighting a few of my favorite tracks along with a few bonus songs. Check it out!
Keyboardist Jonas Wridt has left The Late Parade and Troelz Schmidt has been announced as his replacement. Fans of the band might know him as the director of the "Foul cheer" video.
Swedish chamberpop act The Tiny will be recording a new album in August with producer Paul Webb (Talk Talk) behind the board.
If it's Saturday you know that means we're due for another entry in our ongoing Göteborg Spotlight Series. This week's guest: Robert Samsonowitz, esteemed web developer, graphic designer and musician. Chances are high you've seen his work before as he's done artwork and/or websites for a number of high profile Swedish artists -- just check out his portfolio at rbrt.org for examples. As for his own music, he did time with Satanic Surfers back in the day and has just recently resurfaced with We Live in Trenches, a band that takes the sound of "Damaged"-era Black Flag and runs with it. In other words, old-man hardcore. You know I'm all about it. Anyhow, Robert was kind enough to answer a few questions for us and here's what he had to say:
First off, the standard: How long have you lived in Gbg, what brought you there and what keeps you there?
I've lived in Gothenburg for nine years and five months (since January 1999). I moved here to study web design. I got a job and a new band, so that pretty much kept me here. Nowadays I have a new job and a new band and that pretty much still keeps me here. And also Gothenburg is a pretty rad city to be in at the moment with a lot of nice people and some great things happening, music and otherwise.
You're involved in a lot of different artistic endeavors - which one currently takes precedence? like if someone asks "what do you do?", how do you respond?
Right now I'd probably say "play music", because that's where my heart is at the moment. I think I'm currently in some kind of work-denial state. Like acting really busy on work hours while making plans and stuff for the band, which probably isn't that good in the long run as I'm self employed.
I know there's a lot of other Swedish musicians who double as visual artists, but are there any in particular that you admire? Or what about visual artists who dabble in music?
One of the artists I admire is my old friend Johannes Heldén (www.johanneshelden.com). He's a visual artist (MFA, Valand Academy of Fine Arts, Gothenburg) a writer and a musician. His work is truly awesome. I give him credit for bringing Sci-Fi and mysticism into art and music. Well done, my friend!
How does the city of Gbg influence you and your art? Could you ever see yourself living somewhere else? What benefits does Gbg offer and on the flipside of that, what are the city's detriments?
Hard to tell how this city influences me. I don't even know if influences me at all. Or maybe it does more than I'll ever know. I can't really see myself living in another Swedish city. I've spent a lot of time in Malmö, I have a lot of friends there. There is one specific area there ("Möllan") which consists of... I don't know... maybe 8 blocks of houses and a square, and that area is fantastic. But the rest of Malmö is a terrible, aggressive, cold, cold place to be. They can keep it. If I'd move I'd probably go abroad, maybe Berlin or Barcelona (all my friends reading this are going "yeah, that'll probably happen..." haha), or Montreal, one of my favorite cities. One of the benefits with Gbg I guess is the size, both in people and area. It's not too big and it's not too small either. It's big enough for great things to happen, and it's small enough to actually notice them.
Tell me about the new band - how did you guys get together and what are your plans? Did you form with any particular goals in mind?
My new band is We Live in Trenches and here are all the boring details. Me and David Augustsson (drums, ex-C.Aarmé) formed the band in February 2007 after having played together in the brief punk adventure Haveri, which had broken up due to too hot weather and the fact that the other guys needed more time with their other endeavors (Cut City and Alarma Man). I was also on drum duties in Satanic Surfers, but we had a break at the moment (a break from which we never recovered, we broke up in March 2007). We initially formed as Trenches and I guess it sort of was the second coming of Haveri at first, only I'd switched from bass to guitar. As only two wrongs don't make a right, we needed some more humans to help sink the ship. I met my old friend Ulf Stöckel on a tram and convinced him to jump aboard as I knew of his screaming skills from previous bands (Comatose, Blå Ångest, The Virgins). We later got Oskar Karlsson on bass in May (also in Icos, ex-Last Security) and the Trenches line-up was finally complete. We recorded one song for a hardcore comp on Deleted Art (still not released) during the summer. Oskar turned out to be too busy with Icos as well as being a busy live sound tech for bands on tour (Burst, Red Sparrowes etc.) and he decided to quit the band a couple of months later. During the time without a bass player we started to record all of our songs in our rehearsal space. Anna Knutsson joined our merry bunch in November, halfway through the recording session, and we changed our name to We Live in Trenches shortly after. Now we finally have a booking agent and some upcoming shows, and we will promote ourselves in search for a record label to work with. Our plan is to rock as hard and often as possible, and our goal is to avoid a normal way of life as much as possible.
Lastly, got a song you'd like to share? Either from one of your own band(s) or otherwise? Something that's reflective of Gbg perhaps?
Yes. "Autonomy clinic" by We Live In Trenches. Because self promotion rocks!
We Live In Trenches - Autonomy clinic
8
How times change. Almost three years ago to the day I saw Annie supporting Saint Etienne at the sparsely populated Koko venue. She was swamped by the size of the stage and was aided only by a DJ with decks and effects.
Fast forward three years and it seems Annie is being given a second bite of the pop cherry. She's back and this time she means it. The decadent surroundings of The Proud Gallery provide the fashionista crowd and Annie a feel akin to what I imagine a high school prom would be like. This time around she is complemented with a full band set up, which gives the songs a lot more room to breathe. Forthcoming single, "I know your girlfriend hates me", is transformed into an extended dancefloor filler, with Annie joined by a troupe of female dancers. They don't look too dissimilar to the girls featured Robert Palmer's iconic "Addicted to love" video. At the song's climax lollipops are handed out to the crowd, adding to her sugary sweet appeal. Annie is totally self-assured, a prom queen conducting her band and the crowd with her slightly pervy red gloves. The new songs are a bit of a mixed bag. "My love is better", with its choppy guitars, errs very slightly towards bland territory but "Songs remind me of you" could well be a monster hit in waiting. Starting out as a disco stomper and building up into an enormous four-by-four breakdown, it ticks all the boxes of a club banger. It's not rocket science. Just don't tell that to the heaving masses of gurning, grinning fools partying like it's 1999.
Tonight Annie passed the hipster test, but now she needs to prove she can cross over to the mainstream. Getting Xenomania on board (the production team behind Girls Aloud) signifies her intentions. However, whether she can throw down the gauntlet and challenge Robyn as the queen of Scandi pop is another matter entirely.
- Nick Levine
7
The influence of 1960s folk music is wrapped perfectly around the mechanism of Scandinavian pop music with Majessic Dreams. Finger-picked acoustic guitars find themselves awash in a sea of warm keyboards and distinctly Scandinavian voices, sometimes echoing the themes of The Radio Dept., other times recalling more Americana influences, especially with tracks like "Wish he was you". Like Promise and the Monster, this act crafts magnificent dreamscapes with their stratified instrumentation, the guitar strings retaining their staccato appeal without coming across as coarse or brash. The only failing of "Beautiful days" is that its emotional core seems rather stagnant -- tracks flow too easily into one another, and soon the entire affair becomes a beautiful blur instead of a collection of beautiful, individual songs. With repeated listens, this failing may slip away for some. Definitely worth a listen, if nothing else.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Leaving for Hultsfred today from Stockholm - be sure to check the msgboard for updates.
Jeff Buckley comparisons are so rarely applied to female vocalists even though they are much more capable of scaling the heights he achieved. Gbg-based act Mist earns the label, not just for the light and airy vocals of frontwoman Martha Brauer, but also because they get the music right as well. A little quirky, a little funky, with a touch of jazz and very pop in the end. It's been done enough now by other Buckley wannabees such as Belgium's Arid, but I think this is the first time I've heard it with a female touch and I have to say that I really enjoy it. It does sometimes push the boundaries of histrionics and they definitely lose me the more they lean on the soul/funk tip (see "My baby blue"), but tracks like "Subjective love song" are nothing but nice. All in all, a very pleasant surprise.
Mist - Subjective love song
No time for a full report just yet, but I did start a new msgboard thread for anyone who wants to keep track of my Swedish travels: [click here]
Expect further updates as the week goes on!
STIM reports that the Swedish Music Information Centre is being transferred to a new entity with details tba: [click here]
In related news, current Executive Director Roland Sandberg is stepping down after 25 years in the position, but will remain on-board until July 1, 2009 during the transitional period.
Detektivbyrån
Robert Svensson
Annie
Majessic Dreams