New Dead Letters review
Anti-Gravity Bunny commends Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words: https://antigravitybunny.blogspot.com/2009/07/dead-letters-spell-out-dead-words-lost.html
Tag: Reviews
PopMatters reviews WhoMadeWho - The plot
PopMatters reviews Danish dance-music trio WhoMadeWho's latest album "The plot": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/94654-whomadewho-the-plot/
The Silent Ballet reviews Alamaailman Vasarat
The Silent Ballet reviews the new Alamaailman Vasarat album "Huuro kolkko": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/2494/Default.aspx
Indie Rock Reviews loves Kristofer Åström
Kristofer Åström is Indie Rock Reviews' band of the week: [click here]
Read their gushing review of his most recent album "Sinkadus" right here.
Pfork on the new Love Is All EP
Pitchfork reviews Love Is All's new "Last choice" EP: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13093-last-choice-ep/
Another Compunctio review at The Silent Ballet
The Silent Ballet reviews the Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Håkon Kornstad collaboration "Elise": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/2486/Default.aspx
The Silent Ballet reviews David Åhlén
The Silent Ballet reviews the new David Åhlén album "We sprout in thy soil": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/2475/Default.aspx
Pitchfork reviews the new Radio Dept. single
Pitchfork isn't so hot on The Radio Dept.'s new single "David": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11330-david/
Fanfarlo
Reservoir
self-released
I'm more than a little late to the Fanfarlo party. Only last week did I first hear about them from the Sigur Rós mailing list, months after the release of "Reservoir" and the subsequent chorus of praise from the likes of Rough Trade, NME, and Brooklyn Vegan -- praise that is well deserved. Centered around Swedish musician Simon Balthazar, the London-based songsmiths temper their Arcade Fire-like sound with Scandinavian influences, at times bringing to mind Pelle Carlberg, Loney Dear, and Burning Hearts, though their inclination towards the atmospheric and epic flesh out these influences in pleasantly unexpected ways. The only issue I run into with Fanfarlo is that they are far better on tracks like "Comets", a track that wouldn't have felt amiss on Carlberg's "In a nutshell", than on the overtly Arcade Fire-esque "Drowning men". This is not to say that "Drowning men" is a bad song, it's not (in fact it's quite good), it just taps so strongly into the "Neighborhood #1 (tunnels)" vein, without filtering the idea through Fanfarlo's obvious talents, that it feels somewhat out of place on "Reservoir". That said, "Resevoir" is a fantastic album (especially as you can download it for $1 until July 4), pushing its frenetic pop structures to their limits, driving them down adventitious avenues and back alleyways, and constantly unveiling new layers upon repeated listening.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Dusted reviews The Thing's latest
Dusted reviews Swedish/Norwegian freejazz combo The Thing's latest album "Bag it!": https://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5075
The Silent Ballet reviews Kebnekajse
The Silent Ballet reviews the new self-titled album from Swedish folk-rock act Kebnekajse: https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/2470/Default.aspx
DOA reviews Jeniferever
Delusions of Adequacy review Swedish postrock act Jeniferever and their new album "Spring tides": https://www.adequacy.net/2009/06/jeniferever-%E2%80%93-spring-tides/
Thieves Like Us
Play music
Shelflife Records
There are few genres that evoke such a strong connection with urban settings as post-punk -- from decaying factories and warehouses of Manchester to New York City streets littered with cigarette butts and shadows cast by streetlights and neon signs. While post-punk's claim of the metropolitan landscape has slipped in recent years with the rising popularity of remixes and the increasing prevalence of electronic music, Thieves Like Us have crafted a dark, creeping record that contains very few organic elements, evoking a strange marriage of Wire's "154" and the minimalist production existent throughout the Junior Boys' catalogue. In the near-absence of guitars, Thieves Like Us employ synthesizers and pads to create the atmosphere of "Play music" -- a menacingly ethereal tone on tracks like "An easy tonight" and "Program of the first part"; a dancehall-ready minimalism on "Drugs in my body" and "Miss you"; and a driving, mutedly violent desperation on "Your heart feels", the stand-out track on the album. Where Cut City's brand of post-punk oscillates between the atmospheric and the all-too-present, Thieves Like Us deconstruct pop songs, warping them into skulking, introspective shadows existing somewhere between the likes of Cut Copy and Gang of Four. The seductiveness of an album like "Play music" is in the strength of its skeletal nature, in the unvarnished and austere compositions, and in the breadth of emotion explored within this unembellished format -- all of which Thieves Like Us succeed and excel at.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Je Suis Animal
Painted in my face b/w Photograph 7"
Cloudberry Records
This is what well-executed tweepop should sound like: sweet and delicate with a soft, fuzzy coating. I've generally considered Norway's Je Suis Animal to be one of the finer current bands in this style currently going and this recent 7" of theirs does not disappoint. The a-side "Painted in my face" is an upbeat number full of clever melodic twists that give it a bittersweet edge. It's also as good, if not better than anything from their debut full-length "Self-taught magic from a book", promising proof that the band is moving forward onto bigger and better things. On the flip we're treated to "Photograph", a slightly slower, more extended track that trades guitar leads for the kind of vocal harmonies the also-rans are too scared to even try. While the first couple of Cloudberry vinyl releases more or less left me cold, this one is assured of repeated listens. Nicely done!
- Avi Roig
Pitchfork reviews I Was A King
Pitchfork reviews Norwegian act I Was A King: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13229-i-was-a-king/