Tag: Reviews
Dubreggae, Jazz, Electronica, Whatever. Anything goes for Kroko Roc and DJ Street Kobra of Helsinki-based duo Uusi Fantasia. Often it leads to the greatest finnish party you’ve had since the days of über-cultband Op:l Bastards (DJ Street Kobra is in fact Vilunki 3000, ex member of Op:l Bastards). Singles "Takaisin" and "Lattialla taas" are really good songs and there’s more stuff for your sauna-party here. Unfortunately it also, at times, leads to a maybe little too unfocused album. But fuck that, 6 songs out of 12 is good enough for me. It should be for you too.
- Jason Christie
This band plays upbeat garage punk that'll probably remind most folks of The Hives at first, but sounds to me more like classic Lookout! Records stuff such as The Hi-Fives. It's got the usual ingredients for the genre: jangly, sharp guitars, slightly fuzzed-out vocals, good hooks, hyperactive drumming and so on and so forth. The two songs on this single pass by so quickly, it's already over by the time I really start getting into it. Though it's definitely not be anything I haven't heard done before, I still dig it.
- Avi Roig
Is Service totally determined to only sign acts with the worst vocals ever? I just don't get it. The music isn't so bad - it's your standard Göteborg-style pop with keyboards. "Flipside of a memory" reminds me a bit of Tears for Fears on the instrumental passages. But man oh man, the singing on the first song "Instructions" is so out of tune and awful, I almost thought it was a joke. Nobody really thinks that sounds good, do they?
- Avi Roig
Somewhat typical Swedish hard-rock ala the Backyard Babies. I'd probably like this a bit more if they beefed up the guitar tone and tuned down a bit to make their sound heavier. They could possibly even compete with Entombed if they tried, especially with the kinds of half-tempo breakdowns they throw in. As for now, they firmly reside in the realm of the mediocre and generic.
- Avi Roig
The melody of the first song sounds very similar the opening track on Tiger Lou's album, but it's taken in a much more polyphonic and embellished direction. Lead singer/songwriter Gustaf Spetz's voice has a similar timbre to Tiger as well. Both play excellent melancholic pop music, but Eskju Divine adds much more bombast and reverb to the proceedings. The wall-of-sound production also lends them a much more dreamy vibe, which is both good and bad. Good because it makes even the most simple passages of music more powerful, but bad because it also means the EP can pass by without leaving much of an impression, if not being listened to at full volume. This piano, bass and drums trio never falters for lack of a guitar either. In fact, it never even occurred to me that the instrument wasn't there until I read the group's bio. Good stuff.
- Avi Roig
Energetic power-pop/glam rock on a huge, thick slab of white vinyl. Always good to see. The music ain't so bad either. On the a-side title track there's some great Thin Lizzy dual guitar lead riffs and an excellent bridge part that reminds me of something Cheap Trick would do. The b-side keeps energy level high and injects a bit of twang with the cleaner guitar tones. The vocals are kinda squeaky like the dude's been huffing helium, but they're balanced by some excellent harmonies and arrangements. You can tell a good deal of forethought went into the production and it helps elevate them above other bands playing in a similar style. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more stuff from these guys when the full-length comes out.
- Avi Roig
I don't listen to too much heavy electronic industrial music anymore and after a slightly disappointing Skinny Puppy show a few weeks ago, it's nice to hear something new from a band in the genre that kicks my ass. I've always known Sanctum to be a good band and made myself overlook some of the cheesy moments of their first album "Lupus in fabula" so I could appreciate them. Thankfully, those moments never recur here. A lot of the neoclassical influences have been ditched as well and replaced with a rawer and more droning sound, as showcased on the "NYC bluster" live album. There are still plenty of string and piano passages, but I feel like the emphasis has been shifted more towards rhythm and atmosphere. The move works. Just don't wait another 8 years to do the next one, okay?
- Avi Roig
Two new acoustic-based releases from the Fireside frontman. The "There For" EP is a mostly bare-bones affair with just a bit of string augmentation and not much more. Good stuff, but probably just for people who are already fans. Now "Loupita" is a different story. It's all acoustic as well, but it's much more fleshed out and features plenty of guest vocals from Britta Persson and beautiful slide guitar work from Mattias Friberg of Logh. The obvious point of reference is Iron & Wine for the style and instrumentation, but the recording quality is not nearly as quaint. Well, except for the one home-recorded instrumental track "Loupita #2". At first I was thinking this was going to end up more as a teaser for the upcoming full band album due out later this year, but it is more than capable of standing on its own. As always, the songs are great. There's no question about that, but it's the vibe that takes it to the next level. The atmosphere is so relaxed and comfortable that Kristofer breaks a string on the song "Devil" and they left it on the final CD version. That sort of touch brings an extra sense of humanity and intimacy to the music which is something that can't be manufactured with rack units, mixing consoles or the like. And unlike a lot of stuff I've been hearing lately, the CD gets better the deeper you get into it. The second half (including the Friberg-penned track "I collect knives") is absolutely sublime, right through the end with the closer "Just another lovesong". Highly recommended.
- Avi Roig
After the break-through release of "Black city", I'm glad to report that DoLL have managed to craft a more-than-worthy follow-up. They enlisted the production assistance of Kalle from The Soundtrack of Our Lives and it paid off. His sonic influence is obvious and goes beyond the requisite guest appearances from fellow TSOOL members Mattias Bärjed and Martin Hederos. It sounds like the band took a lot of time experiment with different tones and the end result is a strongly varied sonic palette. Taking cues from bands like Silverbullit, "Das not compute" also cranks up the fuzz-factor to 10 and layers it on thick. There's a couple tracks here and there that don't really go anywhere, but the stuff's that's good (such as the single "Dirty love" and the epic "Breathe breathe") more than makes up for it.
- Avi Roig
I am happy to report that this young band has improved greatly since the last release that I reviewed (see 12/13/03). The strong elements from before are still there, such as frontwoman Frida Franzén's strong vocals. Pretty much every complaint I had from before has been remedied as well. The guitars are definitely the focal point now and the songwriting is far more developed. It's especially evident on the 10-minute instrumental b-side "This 6 year old feeling". They just sound much more confident together as a band. Good job - I look forward to hearing more.
- Avi Roig
This is one heckuva big pop record. Everything about it is huge: the production, the hooks, the songs. We're talking full-on indie arena rock, akin to bands like Guided by Voices or maybe the Flaming Lips. There's all sorts of quirky instrumentation too, from the North African woodwinds the ghaita and arghul, to electric cicada sounds, theramin, bowed satellite dish and tons more. This is a fun, sugary-sweet album and I like it a lot, but just like candy, it's best enjoyed in small doses. After having it on constant rotation for a couple days in a row, I grew sick of it and had to put it away for a week or so. I don't want to get a cavity, y'know.
- Avi Roig
Imagine if Neko Case took on a more active roll with the New Pornographers and they might sound a bit like Heikki. Think power-pop with a distinct country influence and huge hooks throughout. In case you are unaware, Heikki is the side project of Maria Eriksson from The Concretes together with Jari Haapalainen from The Bear Quartet. I actually like them quite a bit more than the former's main act, as the songs seems more developed, the playing and singing is stronger and the production is tighter. I'd prefer it if there were a few more uptempo tracks on the album, but there's still plenty to enjoy as is.
- Avi Roig
Four CDs makes for quite an intimidating listen and I'm just having trouble getting past how awesome disc one is. This is Pan Sonic at their most melodic and beat-heavy. It's brutal, distorted and ugly and I love it. I'll probably get to the rest of the set eventually, I just don't feel very compelled to do so yet.
- Avi Roig
If you've heard anything off of Kristofer Åström's new album "Loupita", you already know that Britta possesses an excellent voice. Kristofer's vote of confidence should make that go without saying. I was quite curious to hear what caught Kristofer's attention, so I was very excited to get this demo for my own listening pleasure. I was not let down - Britta is obviously a young lady of much talent and these four songs show a lot of potential. The singing is great - we already know that, but the songs are pretty strong as well and there's definitely some good ideas at work. My sole complaint is that her English is less than stellar and her lyrics suffer accordingly. Maybe I'm too old or something, but lines like "What I need is a program to defrag my heart" make me cringe. Still, she's young and this is only a demo, so I'm not sweating it. I look forward to hearing her in the future, as I don't doubt she'll be getting better and better.
- Avi Roig
So the frontman for Millencolin wants to try the sensitive singer/songwriter thing. Why not? It certainly seems to be what's cool these days. The problem is that he really doesn't have anything interesting to contribute to the genre. Aside from a more acoustic-based instrumentation, some slower tempos and indulgent heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics, most of the songs here really aren't that different from Nikola's stuff with the full band. Turn on the distortion, lay down a faster drumbeat and you'd be listening to Millencolin. On the other hand, the music is certainly a lot more country than I anticipated, but it's merely adequate. It would be ridiculous for me to call him a poseur or anything, but the playing comes across as someone who is trying to ape the various basic trappings of the genre without actually feeling or understanding it. Picture a yellow cd cover with the title "Country for Dummies". Sure, it's got the proper rhythms, chord progressions and some nicely played pedal steel, but it's lacking any sort of authentic emotional weight or feeling. Part of the problem is that the guitar playing is way too simple. Dashboard Confessional can strum a few basic chords and win hearts of teenage girls, but it takes a bit of picking to get my attention, or at least a bit more developed melodies and harmonies. All in all, I shouldn't get too down on this because it's really not that bad, but I was really hoping for something more than a vanity project.
- Avi Roig