Tag: Mp3s
I keep meaning to tell you how good the new Nicolai Dunger album "Nicollide and the Carmic Retribution" is, but it keeps getting pushed aside. It's a difficult album to distill to a single track, not to mention that I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it (in a good way). So for now you'll just need to take my word for it and investigate on your own as today I'm posting the title track from what remains to be my favorite Nicolai Dunger album, "Soul rush". It's a perfect piece of music, so full of love and hope. The melody of the wordless refrains aches with wistfulness. Half his life wasted? Most definitely not. As far as I'm concerned, this is a timeless piece of work.
Nicolai Dunger - Soul rush
Has enough time passed to make it okay to embrace grunge again? Personally, I never got entirely sick of Nirvana and actually find Pearl Jam's later-era material to be quite good (thanks to my freshman college roommate for insisting), but all the also-rans? Dead and buried in my mind, for the most part. So what to make of a band like I Am Bones? Is this the grunge revival? Is everyone okay with that? I guess it has been 17 years since "Smells like teen spirit" hit which means that kids these days have no idea how fresh it sounded at the time. I can still clearly remember the first time I heard it as a matter of fact. I Am Bones aren't nearly as fresh (obviously), but good songs are still good songs and I do like this one a lot. So what the heck, if it's time for a grunge comeback I guess I'm okay with it.
I Am Bones - Home is the one corner of hell that didn't catch fire
As if it wasn't totally obvious from the cover, Astrid Swan's new album "Spartan picnic" is far quirkier than her debut "Poverina". It looks like something I might expect from Stina Nordenstam, though the "Spartan" of the title is entirely misleading as Ms. Swan readily embraces a full, big-band sound. However, her quirk only extends so far. There's nothing here quite as out-there as Marybell Katastrophy or As In RebekkaMaria, especially not in lead single "Sea/e life". I like it a lot more than anything on the first album, but I'm having trouble finding a strong melody to hold on to. Elsewhere on the album she fares far better, such as on the bombastic title track, so despite my misgivings about this particular song, I wouldn't write her off. And don't forget her work with Treeball either (together with producer Nick Triani). It's kinda like how Neko Case is at her best when performing with New Pornographers, Astrid Swan can be the same way with her other band. All about context.
Astrid Swan - Sea/e life
Frivolvol's last album "Frivolous vol 2: The false security program" was good, but it was bit too busy and convoluted for my tastes. I appreciate the technical prowess it takes to create that sort of stuff, but I've never been a fan of the whole riff-salad approach that so many mathy hardcore bands use. No thank you, Dillinger Escape Plan. However, Frivolvol's new album "Who needs maps when we got time" remedies that completely by making things far less rhythmically complex. They still play totally discordant, fucked-up hardcore, but it's way more powerful when you don't have to wrap your head around so many tempo changes. Also, as someone who considers Die Kreuzen's self-titled debut one of the finest (and fiercest) hardcore records ever, I love the screechy double-tracked vocals and general aura of all-out misanthropic weirdness. Seriously, I don't think I've seen lyrics this dark and pissed in a long time:
From the ruins of my heart / From the ache of my skull
From the fire of my love / From the hate of this art
From the pain what's there without a reason / From the shame of being left out
From the obstacles laid in front of me / Out come the knives
And that's not even the bottom; witness the self-loathing of "Take it from the beginning" (download here) as well. A life of no salvation or hope? Is it really only one big mistake? In a world with so much mediocre music fighting for my attention, I really appreciate something so unhinged and fearsome. It's definitely not for everyone, but it is definitely art.
Frivolvol - Out come the knives
A nice bonus from having done this site for so long (5½ years and counting!) is that I get to watch bands grow over the years, keeping track of them as they hone their sound and figure out what they want to do. I didn't really care much for Ef at the demo stage - their music was far too busy and unfocused - but their proper debut full-length "Give me beauty... or give me death!" was a huge step in the right direction. Less focus on riffs, more emphasis on composition and songwriting, not to mention a better feel for atmosphere. The new album "I am responsible" takes things further by demonstrating new-found patience and restraint, two traits that were definitely missing from their earliest material. By holding back, they imbue the music with far more drama and I think that's most evident on the track "Appendix". Lots of long, suspended notes; a steady build. The spoken vocals remind me a bit of emo act Indian Summer more than standard postrock flair, but I think that's a good thing. I am typically all about the big, crashing loud part that so often comes at the end of a song like this, but by avoiding that cliché, they've created something with more of their own distinct personality. Nicely done!
Ef - Appendix
I think it's fair to say that Jerry Bowman is a Göteborg scenester. I know that many people bristle at the term, but really, how else do you describe someone who is not only a prominent member of the local media, but also a show promoter and respected blogger? And yes, this week's guest in our ongoing Gbg-spotlight series. I mean no disrespect! So with that, on to the questions!
How long have you lived in Gbg? What brought you/keeps you there?
I've been walking the streets of Göteborg since 2001, when I got a job here. I'm from a small town on the west coast of Sweden, where everybody dreams about Göteborg. I pictured the city in a romantic haze, and when I moved here that image turned out to be true. I'm staying because I've found my home.
Do you think that there's a particular Gbg sound or attitude? If so, how would you describe it? Any prominent examples you'd like to cite?
There is no Göteborg sound. That's a myth created by the media. I think it's more of an attitude, a feeling of being the underdog. No one has ever really called Göteborg an underdog though, it's more of a self-inflicted position. People in Göteborg like to be the dirty, obnoxious dog compared to Stockholm. I think that Göteborg is more open to music that speaks from the heart. The bands just let it flow, they don't really give a shit about what's 'right' or 'wrong'.
A few examples are: Autisterna, Pen Expers, They Live by Night, Peter Sjöholm, Mormors Systrar and Cobra Charlie.
What is it that makes Gbg different from other major Swedish cities?
What sets Göteborg apart from all other Swedish cities is that, statistically, one person gets hit by a tram here every day of the year. We live in constant fear of these huge monsters! And fear generates creativity and fellowship!
How about if you were hosting an out-of-town visitor- what are the must-see places you would take them?
I would take him or her to the harbour. We have the biggest harbour in Scandinavia and it's located right in the city center (there are both pros and cons about that). Harbours are exciting. I would show the visitor the 'Broder Daniel-crane' and where they shot the video for "Shoreline". Then we would go to see a concert, of course. Hopefully Koloni would be arranging something that evening. If not, I would take my guest to Klubb Sandviken, the club run by me and my girlfriend. Needless to say, it's the best club in town. :-)
I know are a champion of many local Gbg acts- who are a few (more) of your current personal favorites?
Love & Happiness, Tilde Hjelm, a guy called Jesper from Frölunda (a Göteborg suburb) and Pats, the singer from Hospitalle who is now writing songs in Swedish. The last two have no MySpace pages... yet.
Of those favorites, got a particular song you'd like to share?
"Stop, wait or go" by Love & Happiness.
Listen below...
Love & Happiness - Stop, wait or go
I pulled Starmarket's 2001 album "Song of songs" off the shelf earlier this week and found myself enjoying it quite a bit more than I remember. The earlier records are still the best (classic, even), but now that I'm a tiny bit older, I think I better appreciate the more relaxed direction they started to head towards. However, my favorite tracks are still the noisier ones such as "Forgotten trail", which I've posted for you today. That's the noisepop sound I adore! The huge, thick guitars, the heavy, crashing drums- I have even grown to love that gnarly pinging snare tone. It's totally obnoxious, but it works. It's distinctive; it has personality! The Göteborg metal scene may have piqued my interest in Swedish music, but the Norrland indie sound is what got me hooked for life.
Starmarket - Forgotten trail
Resale copies of the new Great Northern Recordings comp arrived yesterday and holy shit is it good! I mean, I knew it would be at least kinda good if only because it has two new NEI tracks plus new stuff from ex-Seven Feet Four act Giant Boar, but it exceeds expectations in every way. The biggest surprise: White Knives. Consisting of Cut City's rhythm section (that's David Hagberg on drums and Max J Hansson on bass/vox) plus Joachim Nordwall from Kid Commando/Skull Defekts/The Idealist on guitar/vox, they churn out an evil, dubbed-out postpunk dirge that's absolutely killer. "Welcome transplants" takes the sinister cyclical power of Lungfish, but replaces their poeticism and mechanical precision with something far more despondent, more broken. It really gets me excited to hear more, but for now, I'm stoked on the two songs on this comp.
White Knives - Welcome transplants
Listening to new music from Montys Loco and Marybell Katastrophy has me thinking that there's some sort of covert industrial revolution going on. It's not explicit, but all of these ladies put out the same dark, metallic vibe that I associate with that genre. Few (if any) guitars, lots of clanging percussion, etc. Montys Loco goes at in a more bare-bones sorta way ala Babyland (oh, if ever the two should meet!) while Marybell Katastrophy is far more electronically composed, but the similarities are definitely there. I'd even venture to say that her sound design is on par with Skinny Puppy, it's that rich and complex. Even better, they eschew the many bad aspects of the genre. I attribute that somewhat to their femininity (something that's sorely lacking in industrial), but I also simply think that they are smart enough to see through the bullshit. Simple as that.
Anyhow, Marybell Katastrophy's new EP "You are the two" is out today and I have the single "Hidden agenda" for you. It's a beautifully twisted piece of pop, just as with her previous material, but I also think it shows significant progression. She's expanding her sonic palette, but never at the expense of her songwriting. Actually, considering the EP as a whole, she's far more consistently good. Definitely add this one to my best-of list.
Marybell Katastrophy - Hidden agenda
Swedish hip-hop has been getting some international attention recently thanks to the likes of Adam Tensta and Lazee, but as is often the case, I don't believe that they represent the best Sweden has to offer. As far as pop music goes, it's fine, but it's lacking identity and meaning. Naah, I much rather listen to Fattaru or maybe Snook. But what I really like is stuff like Looptroop Rockers, one of Sweden's longest-running and most respected hip-hop groups. As with yesterday's post on Lack, the guiding principle of social consciousness is key. Not just good music, but music with purpose. And I have to say, their new single "The building" is great and that bodes extremely well, not only for the forthcoming album "Good things", but also for Swedish hip-hop in general. Not that I'm saying this should be a crossover success, but then again, maybe it could y'know? I wouldn't complain.
Looptroop Rockers - The building
One of Lack's most admirable qualities is their sexual politic. So much of modern hardcore is either contrived macho bullshit (see Terror, Hatebreed, et al.) or fucked-up misogyny (Killwhitneydead comes to mind as prominent example) that even a marginal level of social responsibility seems refreshing. But to talk about sexual relationships outside of the usual context of love/hate songs is absolutely unheard of. The song "Deserters" from their last album "Be there pulse" was hugely progressive in its frank discussion of bisexuality and now, with "Saturate every atom", we have "I want you to call me Peter North" which openly confronts the issue of internet pornography. It's a touchy subject, especially with the rise of so-called "alternative" porn sites such as Suicide Girls or Burning Angel or whatever. Hardcore has always generally been a boys club, but at least there used to be more of a dialog about sexual equality, especially in the 90s when I was more involved in the scene. Now I'm not calling for a return to the days of overzealous workshops (and witchhunts) from the More Than Music era (dude, the fest!), but goddamn it, any discussion is appreciated. Hardcore is supposed to be confrontational and it's supposed to challenge stereotypes, not reinforce them. I'm sure I'm not the only one weirded about what the scene has become. Thank god for bands like Lack who tackle these ideas head-on. Even better, the song is awesome. That simple snare roll going into the final chorus with the chukka-chukka guitars gets me every damn time.
Lack - I want you to call me Peter North
None of the various interviews I have in the works are anywhere near ready for posting, so our weekly Göteborg spotlight post won't contain the usual insightful content you've come to expect. Instead I bring you a track from the Black Sun Records 1994 comp "Metal Militia: A tribute to Metallica". Despite featuring a lot of big names from the 90s Gbg metal scene, In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Ceremonial Oath, etc., this collection sucks balls. The only halfway decent track: Snotrocket's cover of "Escape", originally found on my favorite Metallica album "Ride the lightning". The thing is, Snotrocket isn't a real band - it's a pseudonym. Now I know that's Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates, Skitsystem, Disfear, etc.) on vocals, but I have no idea who the rest of the band is. Is it At the Gates trying to avoid contractual obligations? Other Gbg all-stars? No clue. Either way, here's the track for you to enjoy.
Snotrocket - Escape
I was disappointed to hear that Trapdoor Fucking Exit officially announced their demise last week, but not entirely surprised. Anyone following the group had to be aware that they have been slowly winding down the past few years, but it's still a bummer. I know I'll miss 'em. However, instead of doing the usual Friday retrospective post, I've asked guitarist Jens Åker for some post-mortem insight into the band's legacy.
Now that TFE has wrapped up, any regrets? Is there anything you would do differently?
Well, I don't really regret anything about the band that much, but I would have wanted to play more, tour more. The last few years of the band were real slow in that regard. Also, I have come to think that our second album "Be not content" wasn't all that good. It has some good songs on it, but it's not a good album as a whole. In retrospect, we should have left a couple of the bad songs off it and replaced them with the songs that became the "Devil's egg" 7", which were recorded at the same sessions. Still, you do what you do at the time and nothing good comes from regrets... you just try to do better next time.
What's you proudest accomplishment with the band? Got any particularly good stories?
I think we made some good music. I like the first and last records. Occasionally, we were pretty damn good live. I mean, I sure got off. I don't know about anyone else. For me, personally, the biggest accomplishment was that I managed to fulfill a few of my dreams: after ashram, I wanted to start a band in which I played the guitar and I wanted to go on tour, especially outside of Sweden, and be in a band that made records. So there's that. As for stories, I don't know if I have any that would make sense to someone who wasn't there. I think of Fagge getting drunk and being indecent to Americans. Worm-infested brie cheese in France. The porn and meat gas station, also in France. Very strange. Being a little too high and spacing out on riffs in Denmark and Germany. Little things like that.
What's next for you? Are you still involved/interested in the hardcore scene?
To be honest, I don't know much about what's going on in the hc scene these days. I guess I don't care as much as I used to, but I'll still check out a new band if I hear good things. There's just so much music to discover in the world, it's hard to keep up. As time goes on, I find that I'm interested in hearing more and more other music, from other scenes and other times. I do think there's a couple of really good bands around in the Swedish punk scene, though. Next for me is just getting on with it and starting a new band.
As this is an mp3 post, is there any particular TFE song you'd say is your favorite?
That's hard. To just pick one of your babies, you know? "Into the light" has a lot going on. "Run idiot run" was kind of a theme song. "Ride your pig" has a pretty verse. I don't know...
How about this: if you had to pick one song and one song only to represent TFE, what song would that be?
Go with "Into the light".
And so it shall be!
Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Into the light
I first posted a track from The Social Services back in July and now I'm very excited to report that they've recorded new material and have given me permission to share a song with you. As I said way back when, The Social Services are a promising up-and-coming indiepop band out of Stockholm - cute, not cloying, more bittersweet than sweet and overall, incredibly charming. Another thing I like about them is their outsider status and the way it comes through in their songs- 2/3rds of the members are Scottish expats and without that, you'd never get a song like "Baltic Sea". You want insight into what it's like to be a foreigner in Sweden? Listen to this song. It's a love affair to be sure, but it's not without it's troubles. As I'm sure you know, the cold Scandinavian personality is legendary whether you know it through the films of Ingmar Bergman or have experienced it first-hand. Supposedly it even carries over here in the Pacific Northwest, where the population is heavily weighted towards people of Nordic heritage. Anyhow, the song is great and I love the wilting waltz feel, though the vocal counterpoint on the outro is by far the best part. It's so well-orchestrated and comforting, considering it's wholesome optimism. Expect to hear more from these guys soon, I promise you.
The Social Services - Baltic Sea
Hanzan speaks the truth. Not just with his overall assessment of the new Caesars album "Strawberry weed", but also his assertion that the title track is a summer hit waiting to happen. Lead single "Boo boo goo goo" is a fine tune and it's growing on me more and more every day, but it does not compete with this at all. "Strawberry weed" is pure laid-back bliss. A perfect second single, really. And as far as I'm concerned, summer cannot come soon enough! Give me sunshine and sweet, sweet music!
Caesars - Strawberry weed