Pitchfork reviews Kemialliset Ystävät
Pitchfork reviews the new record "Ullakkopalo" from Finnish freak-folk act Kemialliset Ystävät: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14593-ullakkopalo/
Tag: Reviews
Night Minutes
Self-titled digital play
self-released
To be honest, I was a little thrown by the lo-fi, analog feel of Night Minutes' "Sweetheart at the funeral" on my first listen, but I've since fallen quite hard for the band's sound: the warm, viscous layers of guitars and keyboards, the slight hint of distortion on the vocals, even the digital drums. If anything, Phil Spector's Wall of Sound seems more at home on Night Minutes' self-titled EP than on more polished recordings, the dense strata of instrumentation providing a fine vehicle for both the strong songwriting and Anna Knutson's and Max J Hansson's wonderful vocal harmonies and tradeoffs. As noted in the mp3 post for "Sweetheart at the funeral", there is something infectious about Night Minutes, and their ability to evoke the summery, 1960s girl group feel without sacrificing depth is one of the band's greatest strengths. Despite only being three tracks long, I've yet to tire of the EP. There's not a weak song to be found, and for such a short recording it is well-paced: the upbeat "Sweetheart..." is followed by the slower, more contemplative "Queens", with the fabulous, building "Lord, I can never be your mirror" rounding out the record. There’s not much more you can ask of a young band. Having set the bar quite high with their debut effort, I am excited to see what Night Minutes have in store for the future.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Pitchfork reviews Drivan
Pitchfork reviews the new album from Drivan, Kim Hiorthøy's full-band project: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14590-disko/
No Balls
Problems that will solve themselves 7"
self-released
Not much progression on this, the band's third release, though it's not as if I expected any from this pair of knuckle-draggers. No Balls are still purveying the same dismal caveman pummel as before and I suppose you either like it or you don't. I do, despite my best intentions to consider myself above this sort of grating drivel. Intentionally aggravating and often half-baked, but no one does it better. 4 songs, 306 copies.
- Avi Roig
Dusted reviews Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Dusted reviews the new Wildbirds & Peacedrums album "Rivers", the compilation of the "Retina" and "Iris" EPs: https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5918
PopMatters reviews Óðmenn reissue
PopMatters reviews the reissue of Icelandic early 70s rockers Óðmenn: https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/129650-menn-menn/
Shadoks released a few Icelandic nuggets recently, but this one is by far the best.
Rasmus Kellerman
The 24th
Startracks
For fans of Tiger Lou, "The 24th" will feel a little like coming home after a long absence –– echoes of tracks like "Sam, as in Samantha" and "Like you said" quietly haunt the album's more melancholy works, and the overall feel of "Is my head still on?" is recognizable throughout Rasmus Kellerman's debut solo effort. The optimism of the self-titled opener, which finds Kellerman reflecting on his youth, fades into "The greatness & me", a track that starts with fond memories of childhood, images that are used as comparisons to a bleaker present and the unknown future, the theme of the following track, "Five years from now". These opening three compositions move wonderfully through past, present, and future, showcasing not only the musical and vocal talents of their creator, but Kellerman's vision and strength as a storyteller. Not all of "The 24th" is as obviously interconnected as these first three tracks, but numerous images and themes recur throughout the album –– laying in the shade of trees, houses by the ocean, the seeming incompatibility of one's past and present coloring their idea of the future, to name a few –– granting "The 24th" a powerful sense of coherence. While not all of the songs are of the caliber of "The greatness & me" or "Five years from now", the record never stumbles, and, as an album that can be played through in its entirety, has grown on me a little more with each listen.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Obliteration feature at MetalKult
Obliteration lists their top 5 guitar albums for MetalKult: https://www.metalkult.com/top-5/obliteration-top-five-guitar-records/
Check out their review of "Nekropsalms" here: https://www.metalkult.com/reviews/notes-from-the-underground-obliteration/
Pitchfork reviews Islaja
Pitchfork reviews the new Islaja album "Keraaminen pää": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14578-keraaminen-paa/
Various Artists
Invocation of death vol. 1
Death Invocation Records
10 tracks of raw (fucking) death metal, committed to cassette tape, the flimsiest of formats and the perfect medium to showcase the New Wave of Old Swedish Death (NWOSD??). Just as it should be, because fidelity is far from the point in this horrorshow. Of the 10 acts featured on the tracklist, Vanhelgd was the only name I immediately recognized, though Gravehammer does (justifiably) seem to be making waves of their own with their recently released 7" on . Somewhat unsurprisingly, those two are also two of the immediate standouts, but that doesn't mean the rest of the acts are slackers; far from it in fact, all are solid, satisfying listens, from the German thrash-influenced battery of Decapitation to the rawer, more Repulsion-ified attack of both Zombiefied and Reincarnage. However, my favorite discovery of this collection has got to be "Funeral plague" by Abduction, the heaviest cut of the lot by far and a song that would not be at all out of place on ' seminal "Grindcrusher" compilation from 1989. Växjö's Eviscerated rank #2 with an epic number, full of twisted riffs and a well-developed sense of melody. Definitely looking forward to hearing more from both those guys, definitely keeping a close eye on .
- Avi Roig
Villebråd
Ultrarapid
Transubstans Records
There are some nice musical moments on this, the second full-length release from the Uppsala crew, although they're sadly few and far between. It's a decent enough album, but the one thing that I've come to realize over the course of at least half a dozen run-throughs of "Ultrarapid" is that this works much better as background music than it does as something that you would put on to actually listen to. The songs are such that you wouldn't skip over one if it played as a random selection on your iPod but, by the same token, you would rarely find yourself deliberately giving any of them a spin. Well, apart from one, maybe. "Feberdröm", it must be said, is a sublime creation and easily the best on the album. It's uplifting and vibrant and is one of those songs that finds you playing it back-to-back on each pass. Production-wise, the vocals are so high in the mix that they undermine a lot of the positive aspects of the album -- the actual music. But, even though a lot of the music on here is good, it does border on the pretentious at times. Sometimes it's quite close to a progged-up, guitar-driven A-ha and, with "Scoundrel days" remaining one of my all-time favourite albums, those moments do serve as highlights, if only for a false sense of nostalgia. A strange one to see on the roster and, disappointingly, one that doesn't do the label any favors.
- John Norby
Nidingr
Wolf-father
Jester Records
Nidingr are one of those bands who make up for their lack of releases with the supremacy of their recordings, and "Wolf-father" is no exception. Musically, this is unmistakably Teloch and Blargh at work and it is a fitting follow-up to 2005's "Sorrow infinite and darkness". Just as that album displayed a strange character unique to Nidingr, so does "Wolf-father" exude an enigmatic presence that doesn't quite sound like anything else out there. As much as founder-member Teloch may loathe genre labelling, the best way to describe Nidingr to the untrained ear is to explain that it's predominantly deathened black metal (yes, that's the right way around) with elements of 'weird' included. When compared to its predecessor, it has an almost muffled sonority yet, as a standalone album, the production is spot-on, complimenting the musical output to perfection. A short album, clocking in at just under 23 minutes, it's definitely a case of quality over quantity, but with the legendary Hellhammer offering his expertise behind the kit, a special guest appearance by Ulver's Garm, and an album that's captivating from start to finish, the quality control mark is firmly stamped and good to go. There's not a dull moment to be had, from the driving main riff of "Baldrs draumar" to its esoteric doomy passages through to "Reginsmol", a song that sounds-off like Burzum on cocaine. It's all inspiring stuff. There's something about it that takes us right back to the heady days of early Norwegian black metal and therein lays its hidden genius. At we enter the latter half of 2010, this looks like it could be one of the top releases of the year.
- John Norby
Pitchfork goes to Way Out West
Pitchfork reports from Way Out West: https://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7847-way-out-west-festival-2010/
As opposed to their Øya coverage, it seems like they actually managed to catch a few home-grown acts here.
Pitchfork goes to Øya
Pitchfork goes to Øya and barely catches any Norwegian music at all: https://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7846-ya-festival-2010/
Why even bother?
Thieves Like Us
Again and again
Shelflife Records
As a fan of "Play music" [review here] and 's releases in general, I was very much looking forward to Thieves Like Us' newest offering. But where "Play music" reveled in its dark minimalism, "Again and again" is a mess of repetitive saccharine-sweet simplicity. The record starts off alright with the playful "Never known love", but quickly begins its downward spiral. There are moments of redemption -- the aforementioned "Never known love", "Lover lover", and a few hooks scattered sporadically through the album's tracklist -- but these moments are fleeting and far too few to make much of an impact against the record's overall negative impression. On any other album, "Lover lover" would be an 'okay song'; the fact that it is one of the highlights of "Again and again" speaks to its weaknesses. The record feels and sounds like something a few New Order fans cranked out over a weekend in an apartment studio, most of its hooks wasted on meandering compositions and its best efforts easily overshadowed by other New Order/Justice-inspired acts. It's not a total waste, but, sadly and surprisingly for a band of Thieves Like Us' caliber, it's not far off.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson