Tag: Reviews
8
It was with a hallelujah impression, when I, a couple of years ago, saw Navid Modiri & Gudarna perform live. Thought finally a band that can't be placed in a specific box and, thanks to that, can bomb us with creativity in unlimited ways. It is not the same hallelujah moment when their third release "Allt jag lärt mig hittills" feels like they can't live up to what they have done before. Even so, they have made us fall in love with their sharp attitude and truly, if you are a fan, expect to fall over and over again. With this album the focus on American politics, cult artists such as Lou Reed and the location Hisingen, has changed. A displeasure at first, with the Hisingen loss, but as hinted before, inveterate is not their thing. This new release is about symbolic violence. Navid Modiri & Gudarna is a controversial band, either you like them or you don't. This is a kind of Miss Li unlabeled music genre that, if you need words, goes into a blend between reggae oriental pop with a jazz influence on circus. Navid Modiri is known for his society criticism in a sarcastic but reasonable way. Some people call it naivety, but not if you have been on a live performance and heard "Kom och dansa med oss" and laughed collectively at Bush with final tears caused by "Om jag ska dö" from the album "Många mil att gå", though I have a hard time to see this album go as far. Highlights from this release are: "Telefonsvaren", "Dagen jag fick nog" and "Kung Midas". Give it a few listens and it will grow on you.
- Therese Buxfäldt
7
I'm a big fan of remixes. In some ways, remixing follows in the jazz tradition of improvising upon others' compositions: quoting their musical passages, reworking and rearranging them, sometimes in a way that deviates very little from the original, though, as is evidenced by Pluxus' reimagining of "Det snurrar i min skalle", other times in almost unrecognizable ways. Familjen's tracks lend themselves quite easily to remixes by other electronic artists, though, as I'd assumed, seeing how wide a range of musicians fall into the category "electronic", there are some remixes that are not quite up to the standard of the others. Kasper Bjørke's remix strays so little from the original framework of "Huvudet i sanden" that I am not entirely sure what the point was. The version featuring Adam T's supplementary hip-hop lyrics drags Familjen's track so far outside of the musical veins that made it appealing, to force in the additional lyrics that the remix feels lopsided and schizophrenic. Both reworkings of "Feber" have a very 90s, Moby-esque feel to them, so these songs will trend one way or the other depending on your own personal preferences. The iffy aspects out of the way, the remix album hold some gems: Mike Dow's phenomenal remix of "Det snurrar...", Perfume Unicorn's fantastic and festive reshaping of "Huvudet...", the aforementioned Pluxus contribution - a luxuriously paced, dark emendation, and Boeoes Kaelstigen's 'hey day of the Haçienda'-reshaping of "Det snurrar...". It's a mixed bag, but the last four tracks I mentioned are well worth the sticker price.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Dusted on the new Luomo album "Convivial": https://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4661
8
This limited tour/mailorder-only 7" from the DFX first real US jaunt this past month offers us a first taste of what to expect from the band's forthcoming long-player "The temple" (due out in February 2009) and is a direct continuation of the direction they were heading on their 2007 album "Blood spirits & drums are singing": raw, repetitious and cult to the core. A-side "Waving" sees the band revisiting member Henrik Rylander's garage roots for the very first time, except that the end result is far more sinister than anything Union Carbide Productions ever did. The distorted guitar figure gives it swing, but it's nearly drowned out by the clatter of heavy percussion and deadpan vocals. As with "Blood spirits..." highlight "The secret", the band is less concerned riffs than they are with allowing the insistent monotony to drill deep into your skull for a totally compelling but uneasy listening experience. Expectations are met and exceeded. On the flipside, exclusive instrumental "Building temples for new gods" piles on more skronk, but loses momentum due to lack of bass, though that does give echoes to Joachim Nordwall's former act Kid Commando. Not quite regression though; bad vibes persist and I'm further enthralled on subsequent listens.
This isn't a record I can easily recommend due to the high price, but as a sign of things to come, it is extremely promising. As an investment, hopefully the world will catch on, but so far it remains to be seen.
- Avi Roig
The Silent Ballet reviews our latest netrelease, "White/Grey/Black" from Tobias Hellkvist and Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words: https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/1934/Default.aspx
Download here: IAT.MP3.012
8
Atmospheric, jazzy, psychedelic, and soaked with the jam band instincts of the late 60s, "4" is a fantastic album. Opener "Sätt att se" sets the tone for this cinematic experimentation with freeform rock and jazz, the retro production adding further depth to the nostalgic experience - warm, buzzing guitar notes; no sharp edges anywhere, just wave after wave of layered instrumentation. The fact that frontman Gustav Ejstes sings in Swedish does not necessarily matter, not in the way that Markus Krunegård's record suffers for non-Swedish speakers - the beauty of Dungen is in watching the band's songs augment, gain inertia, evolve, and one doesn't have to understand Ejstes' lyrics to witness the progression of the compositions. "Fredag" has quickly become one of my favorite Dungen tracks, though there isn't a bad song to be found on "4". It may not make my Top 10 of 2008, but "4" might well outlive some of those that do through sheer talent and timelessness.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
7
The clock-face silkscreen on this one-sided EP is almost enough to make the record worth purchasing, but the quality of the music seals the deal. The title track continues very much in the punk-funk/disco direction of recent album "Rhythm", further raising the bar with a squiggly synth bassline, plentiful hand-claps and prominent keyboard arpeggios. Follow-up track "I read the signs" goes for a more syncopated attack and leans far heavier toward the disco side of things. It's not as immediately catchy as "Making love with time", but it more than makes up for it by being a far more fully realized composition with many intricate parts and a superb vocal arrangement. Lastly, the Eester Benny remix of "Rhythm" brings it all together, layering complicated harmonies and patterns over an even squigglier, liquid bass track. What else can be said? Three out of three is alright by me.
- Avi Roig
6
On Volcano attempt to tread the ground between postrock inspired rock of Silverbullit and the female-fronted shoegaze of A Sunny Day in Glasgow. Opener "Ride the wolf" is the best product of this strange interlocution, both driving and atmospheric. The chanting in "Out of sight" renders the composition slightly forced, deviating quite a ways from their strengths. "Goodbye fireflies" is crafted wonderfully, but it's poppier focus gives the track a radio-friendly sheen that spoils the pleasure a bit. There is hope to be found in the closer, as "The blank page" approaches sonic chaos in a way that I can only really compare to Sonic Youth, though there is a pop finesse present that Sonic Youth has not embraced. There's potential within On Volcano, it's just a shame that evidence for it is only found on half the tracks of their debut EP. Worth keeping an eye on these Finns, though.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
4
The band's follow-up to their solid "Historiens svarta vingslag" full-length tones down the metal for a more streamlined, raging d-beat hardcore attack, though they manage to retain the dark melodies that elevate them above also-ran status. On this particular EP they seem to do best when they turn down the tempo and compensate by amping up the intensity. Closer "En av dom" ("One of them") doesn't quite reach Breach-like levels of bleak desolation, nor does it match up with "My war" in terms of pure vitriolic rage ("'82 demos" FTW), but it does exemplify the approach, especially when the band gives the music proper breathing room and embraces the far reaches of their dynamic range. Unfortunately, no matter how good the songs are, it's completely ruined by the shrill audio quality. I've heard mixed things about Pirates Press/CZ in the past, but this is the first record I've heard pressed through them that lives up to the bad hype. Without any low-end, the M:40's capacity for heaviness is essentially neutered, thus capping their potential at an unfairly low level. It's hard not to be disappointed.
- Avi Roig
Navid Modiri & Gudarna
Familjen
The Skull Defekts
Dungen
The Je Ne Sais Quoi
On Volcano
M:40