Tag: Reviews
5
Timbuktu is back with his new record "En high 5 & 1 falafel" and it starts off with a few words from the new President Barack Obama before continuing with no surprise, in its political ways. That is also the theme for this new creation of Timbuktu's, no surprise. There are a few differences when compared to previous releases though and one is that Timbuktu has incorporated a lot more different genres and has created a modified sound, but it isn't enough to get the listener interested. Timbuktu became one of Sweden's most loved artists and with both "W.D.M.D" and "The botten is nåd" in his back pocket for good reason, but when "Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö" was released you could sense that Timbuktu's steam was running out and with this new album there wasn't any left. Still though, Timbuktu is a good musician and even though this isn't his best release it still has some reasonable level of quality.
- Morten Frisch
7
Quite possibly the only former Refused member still musically relevant, the David Sandström Overdrive have returned with their third album "Pigs lose", their first for indie-stalwart Razzia. Keeping true to his Elvis Costello-inspired garage rock, "Pigs lose" gives us some of David Sandström's best material, but at sixteen tracks in length, also a few that are not. The lamenting balladry of "Lisa, Lisa", the plodding "Happy home" and the sheer epicness of "Tearing through the decades" showcase and hone the songwriting perfectly, whilst "Songs that maybe won't be forgotten" is easily one of the best songs of the year. However, "Dead alive" and "The god thing" are downright hokey and disrupt the album's flow. However, fans will not be disappointed; although a little editing down to ten or eleven songs would have made this album one of the more memorable of the year just past.
- Matt Giordano
8
This album is pure happiness overdose! Throughout its 35 minutes there is not a sign of a single minor key scale. Bodebrixen remain loyal to pop orthodoxy and invite you to an endless and effortless sing-a-long. Upbeat melodies backed-up with trombones, trumpets, synths, xylophones, male/female harmonies and naïve lyrics such as: "I lost my job and now I'm sleeping, all the days are all the same and I can't say which day it is." It would be unfair to say that Bodebrixen sometimes sound too similar to bands like I'm From Barcelona and Architecture in Helsinki since this Danish duo is slowly forging its own personal sound, which is undoubtedly based on very good songwriting. Bodebrixen's debut is the perfect reminder of how good pop music is supposed to instantly stick into your head and stay in there for a while.
- Vasilis Panagiotopoulos
9
This first album by Swedish trio Auton, "Any where out of the world", had been in the works for several years before it finally got its proper release on Viktor Sjöberg's Structures Sonores label. All the time that went into its production really shows in the multi-faceted approach to music that is represented here. The three musicians shift from straight-out jazz to drone to postrock to Satie-like piano moments with such casualness and grace. All the while, tone colors remain uniformly warm and inviting with keyboard instruments and the occasional guitar dominating the picture. It all sounds very analog and "vintage" indeed, and there is even room for some humor along the way (say, a short handclap "solo", for example). Yet, despite its sometimes rampant diversity, the record is unified by countless repeating small melodies for the listener to hold onto. All in all, Auton have used their impressive, yet never overbearing virtuosity to create a dramatic journey through everything that contemporary music could and should be. My Scandinavian record of the year.
- Arnulf Köhncke
Musique Machine on the 4-way split disc of Finnish underground acts Verilöyly/Candy Cane/Navigations/Cahier: https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_template.php?id=2085
All Scandinavian on Marybell Katastrophy's debut full-length "The more": https://allscandinavian.com/466/marybell-katastrophy-the-more/
6
"I write your short name on my wrist in China. Ink so black, the night you're renamed." Poet Frida Hyvönen is back. And I'm wondering about her interest in horses, which you'll find from the album design to a pony song. It sounds dorky right, but she's making a blend between art, nature and her specific music. Together with producer Jari Haapalainen, guitarist in The Bear Quartet, Hyvönen has succeeded to make her classical piano; movie soundtrack verses theatrical music fingers, strike the world, again, with its perfect timing season-wise album. With a cup of tea, woollen socks and the snow outside, I cannot escape Hyvönen's third release, "Silence is wild", which maintains all 13 tracks with that filmic touch I mentioned above. It's not a secret that this singer songwriter is a classical performer with beautiful and frail songs, exemplified in "Why do you love me so much; could it be my awesome looks? I'm afraid that is out of the question, my beauty is fleeting." This is an album with personal memories, a parallel to Hello Saferide's latest, and it's almost as if you are as close to the grand piano as the artist. It can be a bit dreary at times, but when she's letting loose to "Scandinavian blonde" and with the highlights "Dirty Dancing, London and oh Shanghai," it's an appealing album, not edgy but soft. Another thing to keep your attention is that our beloved Markus Krunegård's vocal can be found on this collection here and there, among other talented musicians. I truly recommend this for those of you out there who like music that is deep and classical.
- Therese Buxfäldt
7
What first comes to mind listening to Eldkvarn's new record "Hunger Hotell" is how their watermark, the lyrics, are still there; how nostalgia still dominates the music. Listening through the album, I soon realize most of Eldkvarn is left, nothing has really changed; they are still playing their blues-ish sound, just like before. They have added some extra edge that that does at times remind of the old Eldkvarn from the 80s; a guitar riff here and there, but the basics are the same. Just like with "Atlantis" and "Svart blogg", Eldkvarn has been cooperating with The Bear Quartet's Jari Haapalainen and the two have again produced a great and exciting album, one of the most energetic and aggressive records Eldkvarn has ever released and quite possibly the best. It's not hard to notice that Eldkvarn continues to be more and more productive over the years and it is very nice to see that after 30 years, they are still on the right track.
- Morten Frisch
The Milk Factory on Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen and his new album "Cartography", out on ECM: https://www.themilkfactory.co.uk/st/2008/12/arve-henriksen-cartography-ecm-records/
8
The 90s have been somewhat redeemed in recent years - grunge has made a little resurgence in acts like Nine Black Alps and I Am Bones; Britpop has retained much of its shimmer; indie acts like Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. continue to inspire... but what of the other stuff that was happening back then? Sad Day For Puppets would fit quite perfectly onto the "So I Married An Axe Murderer" soundtrack, right between the Boo Radleys, Spin Doctors, and Toad the Wet Sprocket, and yet this designation doesn't seem to carry with it the dreaded "cultural black hole" label for Sad Day that haunts so much of the artistic contributions of the 1990s. The influence is there, but somehow Sad Day instill a degree of sincerity into the saccharine-sweet swells of guitars. The music is just as catchy, and yet there's no bad taste left in the mouth. There is also an attempt on "Unknown colors" to update this decade-old sound: "Mother's tears", the album's standout, takes a less optimistic approach, a little reminiscent of The Stone Roses; "Lay your burden on me" could almost be a Granada song; and I can't help but hear a little Håkan Hellström in "Last night". Sad Day For Puppets have achieved quite a feat - an album saturated in the 90s that doesn't feel like a guilty pleasure.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Timbuktu
David Sandström Overdrive
Bodebrixen
Auton
Frida Hyvönen
Eldkvarn
Sad Day For Puppets