One man army Jon Ekström is the sole creator of the material on here, having succeeded in constructing an album that flies in the face of classification. The songs touch on a variety of genres within the metal spectrum and are cemented together with an industrial punk mindset that allows "Livet är en dödsorsak" to progress with an authentic fluidity not often found on releases displaying so many influences. If there's one uniting factor on the album, it's the raw sound that Ekström has gone for. It's a sound at odds with the super-shiny productions usually found on albums that make use of such off-kilter material and also one that is more akin to the crust and sludge genres than any sort of math-metally algorithms. "Livet är en dödsorsak" takes quite a few spins before it beds in, but, given that chance, it's a refreshing -- if quite dirty -- collection of songs that don't give the slightest toss about convention. - John Norby
Sometimes a band or song or album that you haven't listened to in aeons will pop into your head and spark you to give it a casual listen. Whatever the reason, be it a yearning for an adrenaline injection or a desire to experience a distant, heartfelt memory, the uniting factor that draws us to do this is a love -- or even a passing fondness -- for the music in question. Regardless of the genre, from the most minimalistic ambient music to the most complex extreme metal, the music must have that certain something that inspires us and compels us to listen every once in a while. The thing about this third album by the Norwegian "dronejazz" trio is that there's not much on it that would make the average Joe -- jazz-inclined or otherwise -- decide to give the thing a spin on a whim. It's often melancholic in the way that television soundtracks like to portray sadness or hurt and the occasions where the jazz elements come into play are reminiscent of the type of seedy lounge bar music that would usually play over a noir actor's closing monologue. We could go on forever about layers and textures and guest contributions on "Pressure" and, yes, there seems to have been a lot of thought put into creating it, but at the end of the day there's nothing on this almost average album that makes me want to come back and listen ever again. - John Norby
Pitchfork wisely approves of Rising's new album "To solemn ash": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16214-to-solemn-ash/
As you know, I'm a long-time supporter of the band and am stoked to see them getting some well-deserved international attention. Buy the LP -- I just got my own copy this week and it's a stellar package at a totally decent price.
Here's a nostalgia trip that never tires -- Let's Say We Did happily reminds of all things flannel, Big Muffs and youngsters paying dues to the 'Youth. This 7-track album has some killer easy songs, and its straightforward songwriting style minus shoegazer ripping makes it an endearing choice of recent Nordic 90's revival bands. This sound definitely had its time in the American indie underground -- hoarse, mumbling vocals like Cap'n'Jazz or The Weakerthans, and heartfelt choruses (avoiding the evil "E" word) of early acts. I could probably list a million bands from this era off the top of my head -- there's definitely one for every American suburb -- regardless, what I am getting to is the golden Teenage Fanclub rule: a good melody, is just a good melody, no matter how many or how few chords you use. Standout tracks, "It's OK" opens with a somewhat familiar riff but sticks some teeth around the edges; "Straight back to you" opens with infectious guitar duelling that'd perfectly fit your favourite (fill in the blank) 90s TV series. "On the day" and "Blue skies" have a saintly sweetness long associated with maybe youthful romance or innocence. Not a poor pop-pleaser for those with a weakness for guitar-music, easier on the ear then overproduced frilly, mathcore hits dominating the charts, at least. - Ann Sung-an Lee
Dödsvarg - Livet är en dödsorsak 
Splashgirl - Pressure 
Let's Say We Did - s/t 
harold | Mon, Feb 6th, 2012 22:42:51