Stylus reviews the new Shout Out Louds record: https://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/shout-out-louds/our-ill-wills.htm

PopMatters weighs in on the new José González album: https://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/48480/jose-gonzalez-in-our-nature/

Paper Thin Walls on Studio: https://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=1104

Musique Machine reviews Hans Appelqvist's latest work "Sifantin och mörkret": https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_template.php?id=1420

José González
In our nature
Imperial Recordings/Mute

My first listen through "Veneer", I was floored by José González's skill and songwriting abilities... and then much of the glimmer and spark of the music bled out with repeated listening, leaving only a few stragglers still heralding this Swedish talent, and one of those was a cover song. With "In our nature", González crafts every song with the care he took with "Crosses" and his lavish reconstruction of The Knife's "Heartbeats". The delivery is nearly identical to that of "Veneer": lo-fi production, the 'a man and his guitar' approach that garnered so many comparisons to the dearly departed Nick Drake... but, José González has subtly adapted his sound. His stronger songwriting is accompanied by a few overdubbed vocal sections and I'm convinced there's a synth towards the end of "Cycling trivialities" (my favorite track and a powerful closer to this exceptional record). Overall, José González has more than redeemed himself in my eyes - "In our nature" is exceptional and is already at risk of being overplayed as the days grow shorter and cooler, and life slows down in preparation for autumn.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Dusted reviews the new José González album "In our nature": https://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3858

Pitchfork reviews the new album "Höstluft" from Swedish act Library Tapes: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/45323-hstluft

Norma
1
Novoton

"Love no other" is one of the finest opening tracks an album has ever used as an inception point. An effortless blend of electronic, shoegaze, and post-rock influences - like a bastard child of some unholy union between Aerial, the Radio Dept., Ulrich Schnauss, and My Bloody Valentine - Norma's debut EP is astounding, a heralding cry of a band with the future wide open ahead of them. My only true complaint with this collection of songs is that fact that the ending of "The dark", before it is appreciated for what it is (which doesn't take long), feels like its building to an even heavier, thunderously devastating finale, and the abrupt close is a little abrasive at first - the drums come in for just that final bar... and then fade. In all seriousness, this grievance is extremely minor, and slips from your consciousness with repeated listening. "1" is the first collected recordings of an amazingly talented group of musicians, laden with youthful energy and confidence beyond their years, and, especially for an EP, worth investing in.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

The Silent Ballet reviews Danish/Icelandic postrock act Mimas: https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/854/Default.aspx

Pitchfork reviews the new Múm record "Go go smear the poison ivy": https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/45812-go-go-smear-the-poison-ivy

Sonjagon
Demo
self-released

Sonjagon are a band fresh out of school, from Stockholm. Musically their sound is expansive and epic. The obvious references which spring to mind on "Buckybell Wtai" and "Aristocrat" are Muse and Jeff Buckley and the band are all very competent musicians, with the falsetto of Jacob Stenberg easily matching Matt Bellamy et al. The most interesting of the four demo tracks however, is "Abbey Lake", a hypnotic piano-led soundscape with echoey reverb drenched vocals. "Original sound", whilst being the most conventional track on the demo, shows the most commercial promise and could well end up as a lighter aloft stadium set-closer.

Sonjagon are far from the finished article, but they have a hell of a lot of potential. They are a rough diamond which may well dazzle in time. If you're about in Stockholm on the 27th September, be sure to check the band out at Berns.
- Nick Levine

More Finnish music coverage from the Washington Post Express, this time with a Finntroll live review: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/20/AR2007092002376_3.html

Peter Bjorn & John in Seattle last night: I think I prefer the tighter 'nothing-but-the-hits' setlist I saw at Way Out West, but this show was also quite good. I can definitely appreciate it from the band's perspective as they've taken many of their songs and revised the arrangements to allow for more spontaneity. I'm fine with bands who are competent at reproducing their albums live, but it's always better to hear something different y'know? By far, the evening's highlight was the extended, Kraut-ed out version of "The chills". Totally unexpected and excellent - definitely not a song that would've made my short list of top PB&J tracks in the past, but I might just have to revise my opinion now.

On a side note, I'm not sure if Peter was pulling my leg or not, but he mentioned that the band's next release will be an all-instrumental album and it's just about finished. More details when I get them. UPDATE: This has now been confirmed as fact and said record will be out Q108.

Porn Sword Tobacco
New exclusive Olympic heights
City Centre Offices

An ambient journey that evokes Ulrich Schnauss' layered approach, Boards of Canada's peculiar brand of electronic music, and DJ Shadow's slower work, "New exclusive Olympic heights" is an interesting, compelling, and ultimately flourishing piece of music; a soundtrack where hope exists, but has lost its way, and events are explored with the pace and fluidity of a small brook. There is a childlike innocence threaded into the music, though this approach is tempered with the burden of experience, and, in due course, Porn Sword Tobacco's newest effort comes to feel like a daydream or a series of remembrances, all loosely linked with a calm present – an empty field, the noise of a stream and the light cargo it carries along its weak current. If I was a film director, significant sections of "New exclusive Olympic heights" would find their way into the display of moving pictures.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

PopMatters on Melody Club's US debut "At your service": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/melody-club-at-your-service/