Curious about my opinion of the various Scandinavian acts performing at SXSW this year? Head over to Brooklyn Vegan for my report: Norway / Denmark / Iceland / Sweden
And in case you were wondering, no - I'm not going.

The Silent Ballet reviews the new Aerial EP "The legion of dynamic dischord": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/1237/Default.aspx

Drowned in Sound gives high praise to Sweden's Surrounded: https://drownedinsound.com/articles/2894428

Killing the Legacy previews the new 7" "No coming back" from Finnish hardcore act Another One Dead: https://killingthelegacy.blogspot.com/2008/03/no-coming-back.html

PopMatters on the US release of Hanne Hukkelberg's "Rykestrasse 68": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/55793/hanne-hukkelberg-rykestrasse-68/

Decibel reviews the new Meshuggah album "obZen": https://www.decibelmagazine.com/reviews/apr2008/meshuggah.aspx

Pitchfork reviews the latest Sambassadeur album "Migration": https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48962-migration

Pitchfork reviews Imperial Recordings artist Promise and the Monster: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48816-transparent-knives

Tiger Lou
Live @ R Bar, NYC, 03/04/08

It's always great when one of your favorite Swedish acts comes over to play some shows, especially one whom you've never seen before, and such is the case with Tiger Lou. With their second album "The loyal" finally being released Stateside, it was a bit of a surprise that they'd be here a mere week or two afterward. The strange thing about the show was that the band was only allowed to play five songs. Just when they had started to get all warmed up in spectacular fashion with "Nixon" and "The wake/Hooray hooray", the set had to be disappointingly cut short. This was not the band's fault though, as they had the limit put on them. I just cannot wait for them to come back around and play a full, proper set.
- Matt Giordano

The Silent Ballet reviews Danish experimental act Snöleoparden: https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/1212/Default.aspx

PopMatters has posted their big by:Larm round-up: https://www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/55701/bylarm-2008-pining-for-the-fjords/
Highlights for them include Lykke Li, Ida Maria, Anna Järvinen, Sahg and Shining.

Johnny Superhero
Choices
Around Your Neck

Starting with Downstairs' "Oh father", I rounded off my week of new music with another Finnish act - Johnny Superhero - and successfully reverted back to the 19 year old I was in 2003. A strange, though very coherent mix of the early indie rock sounds of Failure, Mineral, Archers of Loaf, and, to a lesser extent, Pavement, "Choices" could easily have come out anytime between 1995 and the early 2000s, though this 'dated' element only adds to the album's charm. Instead of being enjoyed from a somewhat detached, archaeological standpoint, Johnny Superhero make their recreation of the early steps of indie engaging and unique. "Time" could almost pass as a Bear Quartet song, breaking at its midpoint in a distinctly similar way to how "Parking lot" ruptures in being at the end of Mineral's "The power of failing". "Schiphol" continues along in a similar vein, though also harkens back to Last Days of April's early, slower recordings. If you remember this transitional stage of music, the shift from grunge to art-rock and the avant-garde, from hardcore and punk rock towards music that is far more comparable to the efforts of today's scene, then "Choices" is worth more than just a few minutes' examination.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Downstairs
Oh father
Fullsteam Records

This record released an outpouring of nostalgia from my experiences in the early 00s. Almost an extension of the sound At the Drive-In (minus Cedric Bixler-Zavala's trademark vocal range) were carving out with their last record "Relationship of command", Downstairs continue the experimental and embracive attitude numerous post-hardcore bands adopted to further a sound that was beginning to stagnate. One can hear a touch of an Arcade Fire influence at the end of "Shudder shudder", as well as the affect of hours of listening to punk and angular indie rock, especially bands like ¡Forward, Russia!, throughout the record. It is nearly impossible to pin "Oh father" down easily or successfully, a credit to the musicians behind its craftsmanship, nor is it fair to rely on comparisons alone to define the album.

"This is so five years ago," my roommate just commented as he walked by my open door. Indeed, Downstairs are much more aligned with the end of the hardcore and post-hardcore movement than they are with the contemporary Scandinavian scene, but they bring an awareness of the years that have passed since then to the table as well. Trips down memory lane aren't usually accompanied with a soundtrack as good as this.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

PopMatters reviews Pascal's latest record "Galgberget": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/54141/pascal-galgberget/

Dusted reviews the new CD retrospective "Valkenee" from 80s Finnish hardcore act KTMK aka Kansanturvamusiikkikomissio: https://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4050