PopMatters reviews First Aid Kit
PopMatters has posted their review of the new First Aid Kit album "The lion's roar": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/152415-first-aid-kit-the-lions-roar/
Tag: Reviews
Pitchfork reviews First Aid Kit
Pitchfork reviews First Aid Kit's hyped new record "The lion's roar": http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16205-the-lions-roar/
Under the Radar weighs in as well: http://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/the_lions_roar_first_aid_kit_review/
Let's Say We Did
s/t
Nesna Records
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
The Silent Ballet reviews September Malevolence
The Silent Ballet reviews the new album "Our withers unwrung" from Swedish post-rockers September Malevolence: http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/4654/Default.aspx
Pitchfork reviews Alog
Pitchfork gives high marks to the most recent Alog album "Unemployed": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16193-unemployed/
Igloo reviews Soma Sema
The first official review of Swedish/American synthpop act Soma Sema's debut 7": http://igloomag.com/reviews/soma-sema-artificial-heart-frenzy-no-emb-blanc
Very glad I already grabbed a copy for myself, it's a great single.
PopMatters reviews Azure Blue
PopMatters reviews Swedish pop artist Azure Blue and his debut album "Rule of thirds": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/152996-azure-blue-rule-of-thirds/
Various Artists
Metronomicon Audio compilation 5.0
Metronomicon Audio
Fifth signature compilation from the very cool Oslo-based label , celebrating their five years of existence and a variety and diversity of styles. The label's ability to act as an umbrella collective works when the sum of so many contrasting creative devices, at times, outweigh some particulars -- but in the spirit of camaraderie, we're not here to pick those out. Experimental yet smart, the label is a solid example of successful DIY'ing in today's world. The comp could probably roughly grouped into categories: quirky-electronic-based tracks (Hans Ice - "Phone home" / satanicpronocultshop - "Tennnojizoo (remix by Kesalan Patharan)", Toshybot - "Super Nintendo Chalmers"); 80s synth-pop tunes in the vibe of Bill Murray on a karaoke dance-floor (Cyranoarmageddon - "50 cent" / Pilemil - "Back to 1010"); nods to Can (Radio 9 - "Damo Suzuki is staying at my house"); literary freak folk star Magnus Moriarty with, "Distant athletic parts of you" and other serious folk-ies (Yoreyolk - "Eggs" / Feather and Folly - "Emma's island"). My two favourite tracks however, are Hanny - "Can't", female fronted rapping/vocals producing some catchy beats. Then Easy & Center of the Universe - "Bosphorus (Coco high energy rewerk)", mixing the "irresistibly funky sound of Skweee with rich Eastern melodies that one would usually hear in styles like Turkish Anatolian pop, Egyptian our music or dance latest dance sound pounding from a Persian bazaar." If that ain't descript enough for you, let's just say it sounds like the parents have finally reigned home and inundated the kids with who's boss. A comp highly recommended for anyone wanting an appealing taster through Oslo's underground.
- Ann Sung-an Lee
Dusted reviews Poing and Maja S.K. Ratkje
Dusted reviews "Wach Auf!", the new collaboration album featuring jazz/folk trio Poing (aka bassist Håkon Thelin, saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrøm, and accordionist Frode Haltli) and experimental artist/vocalist Maja S.K. Ratkje: http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6862
The Amazing
Gentle stream
Subliminal Sounds
There's some inherent complicity in this record that triggers a violent uneasiness. It's like it's 1972 and I'm one of those kids who are sick of the soft-pop chart hits of Fleetwood Mac, America, fluffy brown hair & equally revolting album covers (however radical these folkies were in their own right). Halfway through listening to The Amazing's "Gentle stream", the overall one-beat homogeny gives birth to a nihilistic urge to shake things up. Now, if I could goddamned be like everybody else, especially the hip Scandy radio-pop listening public, this cauldron would probably just spill off the decks like almond milk; the super gooey melodies and the Air-like retro sexing mood perfected by obviously professional musicians doing it up professionally -- probably wouldn't hurt so bad. Already celebrated Dungen members serve up what can be viewed as a Seventies itch they needed to scratch, or a chance to break the market with another kind of popular. Title track, "Gentle stream" has the cushy opening déjà vu of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young while the following track has more of that Nick Drake, laid-back reminiscence. Track 3, "International hair" hints at a Morrissey chorusing style (an uncanny reminder of "...International Playboys", anyone?). "Gone" however, could annoy even those loving the most introverted croon as it teeters too much on the side of breathy repetition. However well-produced this album is, however deserving of fans of the NME or just willy-wet twee folk revivals -- as for me, count me out.
- Ann Sung-an Lee
Pitchfork reviews Vladislav Delay, Dusted reviews Luomo
Pitchfork reviews the new Vladislav Delay album "Vantaa": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16126-vladislav-delay-vantaa/
In related news, here's a review of Sasu Ripatti's other alias Luomo and the album "Plus" from Dusted: http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6849
Craft
Void
Trust No One Recordings/Southern Lord
"Carpathian Forest from Sweden" is the best way to describe Craft. Image, ethos, artwork, album titles, song titles, music; it's all just a punked-up rehash of Nattefrost's sick utterings, so much so that if you were to fire a Carpathian sticker over the Craft logo on any of their albums you'd probably be none the wiser. They have experimented with other people's styles, however, and on "Void" there's any number of big-time black metal bands shining through. Just one listen reveals a multitude of them which, it must be stressed, are familiarities rather than blatant rip-offs. This distinct lack of originality hits the album hard, though. There are some nice moments (although nice is hardly a word that Craft would want used here) but it's just too... meh. It's been done before. Hundreds of times. There's absolutely nothing exciting about it and, if truth be told, it's almost a chore to have to sit it out until the end.
- John Norby
Sea Lion
Mercy land
In My Kitchen
This album comes like a pleasant surprise amid winter, and I'm astonished more haven't caught on. Two drop-dead gorgeous Swedish girls (one, pictured on the album) with the kind of child-like singing style that's popular amongst freak-folk hippies these days. Sweet harmonies and a faraway, easy-to-fall-for, down-tempo introversion -- what's not to love? [see: here] Has more of the popular appeal of Joan Baez than left-field Karen Dalton, though the most immediate comparison, at least vocally, is to CocoRosie, minus their quirky instrumentation. I'm quite attached to the stripped-down, acoustical nature of this album; the cowering suggestive, sparse tones. Moments, like "Queen of the Underground" remind me of walking through Loren Connors' Hell's Kitchen Park. The more I listen to it actually, the more I'm drawn to the guitar-sound. Despite deceivingly plain riffs, the production really glistens. First and last songs "Rebel gold" and "Visions of you" ring similar, but are haunting nonetheless. "Golden sea" is one of my favourites, whereas "Hurricane blues", which crosses into generic blues riffing, is probably my least. Anyway, I'd keep an eye on these girls. This album is a great cure for cold bones, endearing, easy on the soul --they're definitely talent in the making.
- Ann Sung-an Lee
The Silent Ballet reviews Scraps of Tape
The Silent Ballet reviews the latest Scraps of Tape record "Resident flux": http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/4594/Default.aspx
Next Life
Artificial divinity
Fysisk Format
Meshuggah djentiness + Genghis Tron Commodore-64iness – vox = Next Life.
The above equation is all you need in order to understand what "Artificial divinity" sounds like. For the purposes of review, however, I suppose I should give you an idea of its listenability. Well, it's alright; there's a bit of piddling about with sounds on a couple of tracks here, the results of which touch on a dark ambient sentiment more than any hint of conventional metal. Not that conventional really applies anywhere on "Artificial divinity", mind. Those tracks works very well as they stand on the album. The big let down on something that would be an otherwise killer album, though, is that the other tracks -- the metal stuff -- could really do with vocals of some sort. This style of metal just doesn't lend itself that well to instrumentalism, despite what the Norwegian trio might think. It has to be said, though, that even though Steve Wiebe doesn't really look like he's into metal, if he is, he's probably into this sort of stuff. Twelve songs in just over 20 minutes. Mental bunch of bastards!
- John Norby
