The Silent Ballet on "Tomorrow, in a year"

The Silent Ballet gives their take on The Knife's electro-opera "Tomorrow, in a year": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3158/Default.aspx

Shout Out Louds
Live @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 03/01/2010

To support their new album "Work", Shout Out Louds played a pre-tour show in a city that's treated them very kindly over the years, and that was evident in the reception the band received. They hit the stage playing three (softer) new songs before taking the energy up a few notches by then tearing into "Tonight I have to leave" which really got the crowd moving. Continuing the set with a selection of songs from all three records, they'd ensured favorites such as "Please please please", "Very loud" and "Hard rain" were performed at their peak level, which the band has always done well. It was a typically fun and satisfying performance, though disappointingly (and quite unfortunately), the sound mixing was rather bad and distracting. The bass and drums were so loud that they bottomed out the mix, making not only most notes inaudible, but also that of the entire band's. It was quite a shame too, because I could see the band were putting their foot forward and symbiotically existing with the crowd. I don't know if they brought their own sound engineer, or used the venue's, but I hope it all gets sorted out before their world tour begins in earnest.
- Matt Giordano

The Silent Ballet reviews "Alt er tabt"

The Silent Ballet reviews Under Byen's new record "Alt er tabt": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3147/Default.aspx

Pitchfork reviews "Draumalandid"

Pitchfork reviews "Draumalandid", the soundtrack album by Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurðsson: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13976-draumalandid/
Dusted has a review up as well: https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5568

FM Belfast
How to make friends
Kimi

FM Belfast's debut full-length "How to make friends" is a breathless up-yours to any expectation of the (near) cliché ethereal Icelandic sound. Concerning themselves, not with glacially moving soundscapes, but with pulsating dance floors, the Reykjavík quartet stomp though eleven tracks with a dedication to disco-fueled outlandish fun that's likely to make Scissor Sisters jealous. In the case of tracks such as "Par avion", "Underwear", and "VHS", their horn and drum machine-backed high-octane determination goes down with a delicious hook and subversive wink.

However, FM Belfast refuses to simply rest on their outsider status -- piling on layer after layer off-kilter synth, pushing askew melodies a bit further off-center. By album mid-point, their more-is-more approach to quirk grows wearing, dragging down what could undoubtedly have been classic nü-disco cuts. Instead of answering our burning questions -- namely, does the world really need another cover of Technotronic's "Pump"? -- tracks "Synthia" and "President" close out the album with shouting, odd layers, and the world's most awkward rap. Probably not the best way to make friends, but I'm willing to give this relationship a second try if you are.
- Laura Studarus

Free Jazz reviews Elephant9

Free Jazz praises the new Elephant9 album "Walk the Nile": https://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/2010/02/elephant9-walk-nile-rune-grammofon-2010.html

Pitchfork reviews "Tomorrow, in a year"

Pitchfork reviews The Knife's new opera work "Tomorrow, in a year": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13974-tomorrow-in-a-year/

NEI
New agenda
National

If System of a Down appeared in the '60s, prior to the invention of super-heavy distortion, this is probably what they would sound like. Swedish quartet NEI take that style and make it their own, offering an eccentric and upbeat collection of songs that envelops the sounds of the '60s in a pseudo-punk meets Queens Of The Stone Age infused veil. While this is far from a metal album, it's also quite reminiscent of Entombed's polarizing "Same difference" opus, the album that found the Swedish death metal stalwarts relinquish their characteristic grinding guitar tone in favor of a more alternative warmth. "New agenda" even offers whole chunks of music that wouldn't sound out of place on "SD" in terms of song construction and guitar sound -- take "The destroyer man" and "Hello" as prime examples. Variety comes in abundance on this album with a perfect amalgam of styles and a wealth of tempo changes, and it makes this one of the most enjoyable and exciting albums to emerge from Sweden in a long time. It must be said that it's a grower, though. First listen doesn't really make that much of an impression but on successive spins it gradually reveals its true genius. For the most part it's airy and driving with occasional pensive moments placed sparingly to inject a cool dynamic into the mix. A brilliant album indeed! One minor point, though: guys, what's with the 'cabaret-magician-meets-original-series-Star Trek' outfits? Jeez!
- John Norby

Halifax Collect on U.X. Vileheads

Halifax Collect gives high marks to U.X. Vilehead's debut EP: https://halifaxcollect.blogspot.com/2010/02/ux-vileheads-first-ep.html

Pitchfork reviews Fredrik, Efterklang, Radio Dept.

Lots of Scandinavian content at Pitchfork today including reviews of the new Fredrik record "Trilogi", Efterklang's latest "Magic chairs" and the new Radio Dept. single "Heaven's on fire".

The Silent Ballet likes Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson's new direction

The Silent Ballet praises the new Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson album: https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3134/Default.aspx

Pitchfork reviews the new Shout Out Louds

Pitchfork gives the new Shout Out Louds album "Work" a mediocre review: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13805-work/

PopMatters, Dusted review the new Shout Out Louds album

PopMatters reviews the new Shout Out Louds album "Work": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/120516-shout-out-louds-work/
And Dusted weighs in here: https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5543

Free Jazz reviews Peter Brötzmann collabs with Nilssen-Love, Gustafsson

The Free Jazz blog reviews a few newish Peter Brötzmann releases on which he collaborates with a few Scandinavian artists (Paal Nilssen-Love on one, Mats Gustafsson on another): https://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/2010/02/brotzmann.html

The Kissaway Trail
Sleep mountain
Bella Union

Let's get this out of the way: Danish band The Kissaway Trail owes a good deal of their sound to Arcade Fire. No... make that a great deal. From lush orchestral movements, to their pendent for melodramatic swells punctuated with non-specific "ooohh ohh ohhs", Win Butler and the gang seep though the holes of nearly every track. It may come as a surprise then, that The Kissaway Trail's sophomore effort "Sleep mountain" comes off significantly more than a simple "Neon Bible"-retread. Marrying electronics to dense instrumentals, they've managed to create an album that timelessly reflects the intermingled sorrow and optimism of youth.

With vocal styles that sound not unlike Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, co-lead men Thomas Fagerlund and Søren Corneliussen lead the charge though eleven tracks, their Bright Eyes-style emotive phrasing adding gravity to melancholic paean "New year" and helping transform Neil Young cover "Philadelphia" into a multi-layered, wandering daydream. Unafraid to un-ironically dip into Loney Dear-style sincerity on "Beat your heartbeat" and "New lipstick", it's difficult not to get swept up in their unabashed romanticism. Arcade Fire may have gotten there first, but The Kissaway Trail is here to stay.
- Laura Studarus