Tag: Reviews
Sometimes you admire an album more than you actually enjoy listening to it. I guess that was the case for me with Denmark's Lis er Stille, a four-piece that favors the "surging rush of sound" approach. There are only four tracks here, all roughly about ten minutes in length, and if you've heard one, you've pretty much heard the album. They really like their pounding drums, their whirling keyboard/guitar blend, and their slightly retro organ riding atop the vigorous waves of sound. The songs generally begin with a quiet intro, with the vocalist sounding not unlike Ola from The White Birch (and at times he reminded me of Grandaddy, as did one of the keyboard sequences on track 2). Then things build in intensity, with simple guitar chords repeated insistently, possibly shifting into a different tempo or mood, then getting intense again. Track 4 holds the most interest, as there are compelling shifts from minor key to major key and a better dynamic balance overall. On a really great stereo, I imagine that this album would sound pretty kickass, especially if you just played it for a few minutes. But as an overall listening experience, it just didn't maintain my interest over several plays, although I would hardly count the band out. With the singer coming more to the fore and some added diversity in the arrangements, a future Lis er Stille album could be very promising indeed.
- Kevin Renick
I had no idea I was attending this show until I walked up to the venue and saw the sign. I turned to my friend and said "Huh, no shit, we cover them at IAT!" and then I became even more interested in the music at the show. Unfamiliar with LFF other than seeing their name in the news posts courtesy of Avi, I had no idea what to expect. The band took the stage (a three piece live) and I assumed their collected age was 15, and laughed when one member was walking around the stage with a beer. The band played a fun set of dance-pop numbers that really got the crowd moving after they had been unresponsive to the DJ playing between sets. Everyone was enjoying the set thoroughly, and isn't that what live music is all about, just going out and having a great time? That's exactly what this was. And what was more humourous were the twenty-and-thirty-somethings dancing to the music made by musicians that looked half their age.
- Matt Giordano
This CD has gotten regular spins on my car stereo ever since I got it. I love great instrumental pop, especially of the cinematic flavor, and that's exactly what this Finnish group serves up in grand style on their third full-length album. The seven tracks here show the band's obvious love of film composers like Ennio Morricone, John Barry and others, down to the use of evocative, wordless vocals on tunes like "Whirlpool of terror and tension" and "Popzag", which ebb and flow but generally create a mood and then work it thoroughly, with subtle variations. The mournful strings on "Black procession" and the delicate acoustic guitar on "One by one" places this stuff closer to real film music than the post rock it'll likely get categorized as, but fans of the style really should seek this out. What I like best about Magyar Posse is the way their music can perfectly mimic the tensions and mood swings of an average day; I found this stuff uncannily appropriate for a day of frantic errand running and zipping through town in my car. Jani Viitanen has produced the whole thing with warmth and sparkle, and even though a lot of other platters in this vein have been released lately, "Random avenger" is among the cream of the crop.
- Kevin Renick
This unobtrusive little four-song disc is your standard singer/songwriter fare. Mona Nylin is cut from the same cloth as her Swedish colleague Nesrin Sen, although without Sen's way with the big emotional flourish. First you get two piano songs, the second of which, "Child of God", starts with some pretty playing and fairly gentle vocals, before suddenly turning melodramatic, coinciding with a shift in Nylin's vocal timbre that makes her almost sound like a different singer. Far better are the two guitar songs that follow. "Sun is risin' over sea" is a genuinely lovely ode to an ocean sunrise, with gentle picking adorned by just a hint of ethereal keys in the background. The contemplation before nature's majesty could be a means of putting heartbreak in perspective, as Nylin sings "Love will show itself again/Let's go out and make it happen." And "Time for you and me" is a very delicate, humble tune that hints of early Joni Mitchell... So, a bit of a 50/50 prop here, and I'd encourage Mona to stick with the softer of her two voices, as it keeps her sappier tendencies in check.
- Kevin Renick
Sweden's Patrik Skantze's new album is so obviously a work of pure, shimmering brilliance. "Fiction at first view" is only Skantze's second release (the first was in 1998), but it comes across like the work of a mature, sophisticated genius who's been making records for years. Skantze is possibly the first Scandi artist to reflect influences as diverse as Ace Frehley of Kiss, Queen, Neil Young, Nick Drake and the prog-rock of artists such as Yes and Mike Oldfield. What makes the disc stand out is the amazingly high level of creative musicianship, coupled with Skantze's sweet, melodic voice (occasionally reminiscent of early Neil), dazzling production and a formula-smashing aesthetic that is awe-inspiring. There are three instrumentals, one of which, "The plunge" is truly among the greatest instrumentals I've ever heard. It's eleven minutes of incandescent brilliance that's like the best of Yes or the Dixie Dregs, with rapid changes that never detract from the overall flow of the composition. Skantze dazzles on both acoustic and electric guitar throughout this platter; the former is showcased on another instrumental, "Appease". The title track is presented in two very different versions that bookend the disc; the pop smarts of the tune delight on every level. Skantze's musical instincts have apparently been honed to diamond-cut sharpness over the years. From the proggy pleasure of "Life provider" and "Gleam of hope" (if you ever wondered what Neil Young might sound like with Yes as a backing band, this track gives a hint), to the Nick Drake-ish "My dreams of late"--complete with haunting cello--lordy, the beauty of this album never stops. I could go on and on, but in a nutshell, this is clearly one of the albums of the year, a stunning release with a palpable respect for music, for the listener, and for the mysterious art of creation itself.
- Kevin Renick
Ashi Ali is another promising, beguiling talent for pop panache and at time captivating compositions built on piano. Judge Miss Ali on one song: "To bed" and she will own you. It could have been written by Damian Rice but, while the musical base is not a million miles away from The Tiny, it might be the crescendos? Indeed, Ali has a similarity in tone to Asa of Hell on Wheels and "Fire, fire" is surely the long lost First Floor Power epitaph? "These months" offers darting and swirling epic psyche. "Are you here soon" is a delicate little waltz meets country number, "Warm fronts" comes out of Portishead territory, "Somewhere else" could've been a Cardigans album classic. All impressive comparisons - it is a bit fraught at times, but musically deft - so when Ali decides her fuller path, she will be [even more] genius, because here are 11 smoldering teasers, and not a jot to hamper the Ali's credibility.
- Jason Christie
Anagoes play straight ahead post-grunge rock, heavy on guitars and dark vocals. There's nothing particularly original about their sound, they've obviously listened to plenty of Soundgarden and others of that ilk, but they do what they do quite well, and some of the songs on this 4 song EP (especially "She") have killer choruses that make for excellent earworms.
- Nancy Baym
Animasola are really really influenced by the 80s stadium rock schtick. The two tracks showcased on this single feature the band heavily in awe of early U2 and Simple Minds. However, this isn't such a bad thing as the Animasola do a very convincing job of breathing fresh life into the genre alongside such contemporaries as fellow Scandinavians Mew. Now all they need is a video laden with crashing waves on a rain sodden day and they're sorted in terms of sending up the genre.
- Nick Levine
This is the debut record from Edson's frontman and singer/songwriter and, not surprisingly, it sounds a lot like Edson. The groove is still gentle and soothing, the instrumentation simple, the vocals sublimely beautiful, and the lyrics still walk that fine line between sharp wit and tender insight. He's a classic Labrador act - high quality and almost-but-not-quite-too twee - but there's really no one out there who sounds like he does: a Sinatra for the midtempo indie set. At times he's a bit too over the top - "Go to hell, Miss Rydell", a song about repeated rebuffed attempts to contact a reviewer who panned his record, is a funny first listen but grows tiresome after a few rotations. He's got songs about compulsive shopping -- the catchy "Riverbank" takes on buyer's remorse and is considerably more fun musically than "Telemarketing", about someone who "can't say no to a human voice." But it's the empathy with which he inhabits characters like the sad sack singing "Telemarketing" that bring the record its warmth, reached most effectively on songs like "Oh no! It's happening again", which captures that moment when a romantic quarrel escalates into a fight that dooms the relationship, or "Mind the gap", where he yearns to give money to the beggar on the London tube and questions the opportunities his son's school offers that less privileged kids don't get. It's not the perfect album he could make if he'd tone down the silly and stick with the catchy poignant, but it's a very nice listen with high points high enough to carry the weaker songs and a warm glow that goes perfectly with coffee on the cold grey mornings that lie before us.
- Nancy Baym
This is the second album from [ingenting], and they still sound a bit like Kent and a lot like Velvet Underground (the guitar riffs!). The Swedish press hasn't really taken to this album, something I don't really understand since these songs are highly infectious and the more I listen to them, the more I want to go on a road trip with them playing on the stereo. The lyrics are wonderful and the music's ace. [ingenting] are terrific at doing slower ballad-type of songs ("Bergochdalbanan" being my favourite 'slow song' on here), but what they really do best is fast and catchy (such as "Punkdrömmar", "Suzanne", "Släpp in solen" – listened a lot to this last summer, and "Hollywood dreams", the latter being the strongest track on "Mycket väsen för ingenting"). This is Swedish indie at its very best, even if [ingenting] have taken some obvious references points to create their sound like The Hives, instead of being more original like someone such as The Knife.
- Simon Tagestam
Self piteous, at times pathetic, insipid guff. Irene passed by HQ first time around, and while it was not obvious then, it sure is now on second album serving. Irene was a dinner lady. She wore thick tan tights, and a swirl pattern apron. She made drab pies and runny custard and everyone was obliged to like it. This is cousin Irene, but on record. Sometimes there is cabaret about the songs; it's the skipping/hop-scotch brigade-pat-a-cake of tweeness, blended with horrific language pronunciation. The linguistic delivery almost as bad as Billie the Vision and the Dancers, yet those guys have a positive message and a clear canvas to it all - this is simply weak. About as good as it get is all trumpets and doo-doo-doo's on "Little things (that tear us apart)". This is not kitsch cool like the old dinner lady; it is cheesy, and bad.
- Jason Christie
Wow, can you say Spazz worship? At least that's my impression anytime I hear wacky hardcore/grind like this that's constantly shifting tempos and themes. It's sorely lacking in dynamics, as is typical with the territory, but MCIP (My Moocow in Pakistan, in case you were wondering) also works twice as hard to make up for it with a good sense of fun and strong musicianship. As is also fairly typical, this is the sort of thing I'd probably really enjoy seeing live, but would never listen to at home. Make of that what you will.
- Avi Roig
It takes more than revved-up blues riffs and rampant misogyny to rip off the Devil Dogs. It takes good songs and, more importantly, attitude. Miss 45 have neither. Looks like the label moniker was right.
- Avi Roig
To write singer/songwriter Anna Ternheim off as a one-hit-wonder who didn't even write her "hit" ("Shoreline", a Broder Daniel cover), is a bit cruel and not really that fair. I found her first album "Somebody outside" a bit uninteresting and "Seperation road" - her latest offering - does seldom raise itself above the mediocre mark, although I do think it's a better album than Ternheim's first. With the days getting colder and darker, songs such as "The loneliness is gone" and "Such a lonely soul" are a comfortable company, together with a cup of tea. Still, the ten songs on the album are in general a bit too obtuse to make me want to go back listening to them on any regular basis, no matter what the weather's like.
- Simon Tagestam
Millencolin (Sarcevic's band) has always been more about killer melodies than any Dostoyevsky-like lyrics, and one problem with Sarcevic's first solo album was that the lyrics appeared naïve and awkward, being laid so bare with only an acoustic backdrop. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked Millencolin's lyrics - they work well with the music - but in a The Descendents sort of way, not in a The Mountain Goats way. This time around, Nikola Sarcevic's lyrics have really improved. The overtly simple rhymes from "Lock-sport-krock" shine with their absence. The music itself has also improved, the album feels much more “natural” and less stilted this time around. It's still of the same singer/songwriter school as his debut though, but just much more solid and … better! Hopefully Sarcevic will bring along all this progression to the next Millencolin album.
- Simon Tagestam
Asha Ali![[ingenting] - Mycket väsen för ingenting](/reviews/ingenting-mycket.jpg)
[ingenting]
Nikola Sarcevic