Tag: Reviews
8
The sophomore effort from Sambassadeur finds them considerably more mature. They've gotten smoother, sexier, and learned how to work an electro beat like a sutra throughout their sound. The result is a polished and immanently likable record, with catchy dance numbers and languid love songs, all bright and shimmering. Those who appreciated their self-titled debut's rotating boy-girl lead vocals may be disappointed that there's only one song on here that Anna Persson doesn't sing (even if she sings them all so very well) and the insistent electronic pulse adds to the sense that there's a bit too much sameness here. But it's great when a band who had such a good first record puts out a second that's every bit as strong but takes them in a new direction.
- Nancy Baym
8
Something must have happened in Sweden around the time artists like Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide, Säkert!), Frida Hyvönen and Britta Persson were young. Even as my musical tastes led me further from the introspective narratives of singer/songwriters from the United States and Britain, I've never been able to 'outgrow' many the female artists that populate the Scandinavian music scene. Many of these songstresses effortlessly combine the poppy with the shadowy, the quirky with the straight-forward, all without straining, overburdening, or warping the overall structure of their compositions. Britta Persson's "Kill Hollywood me" is no exception. The album kicks alive with "Cliffhanger" and its progression from guitars that feel as though they should lead into a huge 70s rock ballad, through wonderfully playful piano notes, and eventually to a bittersweet chorus, its chord progression never jarring the listener, though not unfolding in the way we've become accustomed to pop songs developing. All of the tracks on here are equally interesting to watch evolve in their idiosyncratic, sometimes eccentric, schemes; "Enter and leave" and "Happy hour" being my favorites. If you know what Britta Persson is about, then "Kill Hollywood me" is an organic continuation of her earlier work. If you don't, this album isn't a bad place to start.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Delusions of Adequacy reviews The Hives' most recent album: https://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewID=8397
Pitchfork reviews The Field's new digital-only EP "Sound of light" which was commissioned by the Nordic Light Hotel: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/47967-sound-of-light-ep
6
This CD's got the feel of a batch of still-warm cookies a friend just baked and brought over. You can easily imagine the siblings who lead this band and their friends sitting round at home dreaming up silly and sad Christmas songs (one which spent way too many days stuck in my head is titled "It's a sad sad Christmas Day, Sadaam Hussein") and recording them right then and there. The hand-wrapped-in-Christmas-wrapping-paper packaging only adds to the informal feel of a friendly gift. But spontaneous and lightweight as the record may be, there's some real talent in this band, and like their more serious (and better) 2007 release, "Late fairytales", it's got some really nice lo-fi indie songs that combine strong pop sense with some late 1970s New York art rock influence.
- Nancy Baym
DigitalMetal reviews the new Opeth live collection "The Roundhouse tapes": https://www.eclipsemagazine.ws/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1137
7
Somber and brooding, an intimate and intensifying examination of life and its complications, "Darkness in our house" is a bleak effort given warmth and presence from its composers. The strength of Linus Lutti's voice is complimented by its raspy fragility, making it the perfect narrator for the windswept, empty terrains the music explores and expands into, braced when needed by Ann-Sofie Lundin's backing register. The delicate production granted to the record by Johan Berthling (The Tiny, Tape) enhances the personal element of the album, making it all the more confessional and passionate. Not necessarily a record I'd recommend listening to every day during these winter months, but Idiot Kid are definitely worth a few minutes' research if not an investment.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
7
This debut album by Dreamboy (from Stockholm, Sweden) is very impressive, and it received quite good reviews in Sweden and I think they've started to receive some good airplay lately. The album starts out brilliantly - all the best tracks are on the first half of the album, the songs on the second half are like weak imitations of what came before. If I had this album on vinyl, you would be able to come to my house in a few years and eat directly from the b-side, that's how great the difference is. Anyway, Dreamboy have that quirky American-sounding indie pop sound going, and a lot of the songs sound very much like Niccokick (especially the first two) and there's a bit of Shout Out Louds and Weezer in there as well. They've also managed to get a duet with the currently most sought-after duet partner in Sweden – Annika Norlin (Säkert!/Hello Saferide) on "Stockholm, we've got a problem" which is a great song about... Stockholm, but like some of the other songs, it contains some "clever" lyrical references that kind of bug me. That's a minor criticism though, this is an album well worth buying if you're after some well made and quite varied melodic indie rock that packs a punch!
- Simon Tagestam
8
Lo-fi Swedish pop has a way of saturating the spaces around the listener, the warmer, 'dirtier' production unable to contain the sunny or downhearted elements of the music within the song or the stereo, almost carelessly allowing them to bleed out. The Drawbacks are no exception. Almost reveling in its softer, near-garage sound (and the 'authenticity' often afforded to albums with this feel), "Slightly less vague" pushes its creators' brand of indie-rock - "Couch buddies" having a relaxed Strokes feel to it; "Adrenaline" stumbling down more Scandinavian avenues; "Celia", my personal favorite, utilizing the vocal elements of the band to their fullest, creating coalescing strata of voices and instrumentation; "Spain" existing in that strange arena of indie-pop that bands like Springfactory exist so wonderfully within - cute and sunny without being trite or superficial, allowing compositions to be endearing and sweet without sacrificing their sophistication. "Slightly less vague" is engaging and charming, making it all too easy to overlook the few flaws present on the album. If Sambassadeur's progression from "Coastal affairs" to "Migration" is any indication of the heights open to lo-fi indie bands, the future is The Drawbacks' for the taking.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Pitchfork reviews the 4AD reissue of Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson's album "Englabörn": https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/47696-englabrn
6
A melancholic album recorded by a Swede living in London? To listen to in January? It sounds too perfect to be true! This week’s weather forecast for London adheres to the myth and reads "rain, rain, rain, rain", so for people like me who enjoy matching the weather with our music choice, it's out with... actually, the weather has been like this for some time (I can hardly remember what sunshine looks like), so Jonna Lee can join Burial, Lightspeed Champion, The National and other artists I find suitable at the moment for gloomy days. Despite having some fairly fine songs on it and not sounding too much the same throughout (some songs reminds me a bit of The Cardigans in ballad mode), it's fairly safe, dull, and I don't think I'll remember it in a year's time, but "10 pieces, 10 bruises" will – in its cosiness and with its melodic slow songs - do just fine for now.
- Simon Tagestam
Pitchfork adds The Honeydrips to their recommended list: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/47401-here-comes-the-future
See our own review of said album right here
9
Opening with the ambitious "Lifeache", a track combining the Britpop sensibility of James with the soaring, cinematic approach of bands like Hope of the States and The Boxer Rebellion, Markovic effortlessly combine their melodic leanings with dark arrangements, laying out a thesis-of-sorts for the album to follow. "MakeBeliever" forces its way out of the layered ending of "EMO"; drumming reminiscent of Bloc Party's faster compositions accompanying the wiry, distorted opening, and building to the fuller sound that defines Markovic's "Adoreus". While there is much for anglophiles to rejoice in on the record, Markovic haven't in any way rejected their Scandinavian standing. "Crayons" has an "Isola"-era Kent feel to it, and numerous other songs seem indebted, if only slightly, to the influence of Jettie and Mew, especially the closing pair "Poem" and "Sweet surrender". Markovic's debut almost outlines the organic progression of the melancholy of the mid-90s into the pop music of today, yet "Adoreus" merely reminds us of previous and contemporary efforts, and is in no way hindered by these comparisons. There are echoes of the Britpop scene and 90s Swedish indie rock (and the 'older' feel of the production on "Adoreus" helps augment this nostalgic element), but echoes are all they are - Markovic are very much their own being. If this is what they are capable of on their first record, Markovic has a wonderful career ahead of them.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Sambassadeur
Britta Persson
Les Issambres
Idiot Kid
Dreamboy
The Drawbacks
Jonna Lee
Markovic