Brainwashed finally gets around to reviewing Ulver's latest: https://brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6655&Itemid=64
In other Ulver news, check out the Ulver flask: https://www.jester-records.com/ulver/images/ULVER_flask.jpg
"It is the most useful band merchandise we will ever make, tragic as we are." Order here: https://www.jester-records.com/flask.php

Lykke Li
Little bit
LL Recordings

A three song single doesn't really give one a good grasp of what a singer is doing, especially when there's only one track that's a real standout. Said track, "Everybody but me", is that way because it has the closest thing to a pop hook in the lot, and the arrangement of it is the also the most complete. The other two tracks, "Little bit" and "Time flies", just feel incomplete. By only adding one or two more sounds, "Little bit" could be all that a great opening track should be, and not the current stumble that it is.
- Matt Giordano

Springfactory
s/t
Series Two Records

Crafting tracks that have a contemplative playfulness, Springfactory, featuring Peter Gunnarson of Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, cleverly play out the tension between bubbly, 60s-esque songwriting, and a more careful, deliberative approach. "Swedish folk highschool" revels in its simplistic attack, given weight and complexity through layered instrumentation, and the clear, almost cutting aspect of Lina Cullemark's endearing voice. The bass line for "As winter gives ways to spring", catchy as it is, betraying the group's fascination with pop melodies, already gives an implication of the intricate, shifting lines the song will follow. While these songs would have been rather good had they decided to keep a more basic mode of delivery, they are elevated outside of the realm of the verse-chorus-verse-chorus pop song formula, given a new life as a song you have to pay attention to. There aren't merely shiny portraits that can be understood on the first listen, but threaten to reveal new sides of their explorations as more attention is paid to the tracks. Happy without being saccharine, clever without being pretentious, Springfactory is a summer's breeze tempered by autumn's approach.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Mattias Bärjed
Upp till kamp!
Razzia Records

If you've seen the TV miniseries, this soundtrack is the perfect companion piece. If not, your appreciation depends on how much you can get down with retro rock that aims to recreate the sounds of the late 60s/early 70s. As to any complaints that the music here seems all too familiar, especially the full-band material, that's because it's supposed to. Creating something fresh and original is besides the point - this is a retro piece, plain and simple. The music is composed to fit the era and it is remarkably successful at doing just that. However, what's even better are the interstitial/instrumental pieces. Again, the sound is engineered to fit the setting/time period of the film, but the music is allowed more room to breath. These are the tracks that make the record shine, as they are far more evocative and atmospheric, as opposed to purely being set pieces, written solely to move the plot forward.

All in all, The Soundtrack of Our Lives guitarist Mattias Bärjed must be commended for excelling at doing exactly what was needed to make this work. It does lose something when divorced from its visual counterpart, but it's not a deal-breaker. Now, as to my criticism of the show, well let's just say that this soundtrack is by far one of the best things about it and leave it at that.
- Avi Roig

Musique Machine reviews Lasse Marhaug's "It's not the end of the world": https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_template.php?id=1526

We Were Dancing
Mixtape vol.1 - we won't get old
Hwem/Namenlos

You can call music like this 'lo-fi soundscapes' (like the label does), try a more descriptive approach with 'drones and field recordings', or just use the term 'experimental music (which really doesn't say that much). But whatever label you might attach to Robin Rådenman's second EP as We Were Dancing on Swedish netlabel Hwem, you'll never quite capture its stark charms and appeal. In a way, the seven tracks on "Mixtape vol.1 - we won't get old" remind me of The Field (minus the hectic loops): Noises, drones and hisses oscillate seemingly uncontrolled until they are varied just in time before they might become boring or unnerving. Don't get me wrong though, this definitely is not "friendly" (read: uninteresting) ambient music. Its texture continuously shifts and demands your full attention until you've explored all its finely crafted details. In short: Brilliant music to replace the urban sounds of your city with.
- Arnulf Köhncke

The Friend
Sports
Teosto

Boring, but competent indierock from Finland. Mines similar modern rock territory as New Decade (Interpol, et al.) except that The Friend keeps everything under strict control to the point of tedium. Every edge, every sharp word, sanded down to dull dull dullness. Practice makes perfect makes me lose interest. Big aspirations toward arenarock grandeur don't help either, as it only serves to highlight how long the road truly is. I suspect they do well within their own local Turku scene, but when it comes to the world stage, The Friend are small fish in a big, big pond.
- Avi Roig

The New York Times reviews a Rune Grammofon showcase in NYC featuring Opsvik & Jennings and Huntsville: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/arts/music/15opsv.html?ref=arts

Marybell Katastrophy
This is the one
Merger

Denmark's Marybell Katastrophy seamlessly joins the idiosyncratic staccato stabs of "Debut"-era Björk with the spacey-indie approach of Blonde Redhead's latest album, but even this broad description fails to include all the electronic quirks and other eccentric layers the artist incorporates into her compositions. There is a semblance of continuity on "This is the one", though the songs are often drastically different from their neighbors: "Hip" has a chorus that evokes the reverberated distortion of the Smashing Pumpkins' "Bodies"; "Red red" could easily hold its own against any Knife single; and closer "His desperate voice" meanders beautifully like a lost Trespassers William track. This semi-schizophrenic quality does not rob "This is the one" of its own unique personality, rather it gives hints towards what Marybell Katastrophy would be able to accomplish with a full-length effort. This EP has firmly established these Danes' place on my radar.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Henry Morgan's Solokarriär
Memories
self-released

Henry Morgan's Solokarriär has been praised here at itsatrap.com before and that's no wonder: The project's namesake was not only a pirate and once the world's richest man but also a character in Klas Östergren's novel "Gentleman" where he played in a jazz band called Bear Quartet. So much for the intermusical connections...

HMS most recent EP seems to be combination of his own musical influences: Three songs of classic indiepop songwriting in somewhat 80-ish arrangements combined with a very "Swedish pop" sounding voice (especially on standout track "The waves"), and one acoustic folk song very much reminiscent of Bright Eyes. And while there's nothing wrong with showcasing one's musical influences, the EP would surely feel more compelling as a whole if it explored fewer musical directions. Unfortunately, we shouldn't get our hopes up for more consistent releases in the future: About a week ago Kristoffer, the man behind HMS, announced his project's breakup and that "he had to get away from music for a while." With this very promising EP in his back, that's truly a shame.
- Arnulf Köhncke

Holiday Fun Club
s/t
Sounds of Subterrania

I remember the day post-punk clicked for me. For the majority of my teenage years I was unable to truly understand its tortuous analyses of self or others, nor the frantic, paranoid pace of these observances. Then it clicked. First Joy Division, then the dam broke, and my life has been far richer for it.

Holiday Fun Club not only sound like an authentic 80s post-punk band (with the obvious exception of certain bits of production, but for the most part the drums, stringy guitars, and bass are spot on), but feel like one, too. I criticized Kamera earlier this year for only mastering the sound of the 80s, but not the soul of the music they replicate. This is not the case for Holiday Fun Club. There is that strange detachment that Gang of Four effortlessly implemented, the empty longing that was distinctly a product of that era of music, complete with the oddities (namely amazingly discordant saxophone solos) that endear bands like Orange Juice to their fans. "Hamburg in the night" is an absolute delight - two minutes of dissonance and rapidity, all leaning on the self-destructive side, and barely able to hold itself together. "Holding my breath" takes a far darker, less focused approach, but succeeds just as well. "Save us" has a touch of New Order's more optimistic craftsmanship and has become my morning song over the past few weeks. There are flaws, just as with so many seminal albums from that time, but these add to the album's genuine sense of belonging in the great catalog of 80s post-punk. Definitely one of my favorite surprises of the year.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Musique Machine reviews Hild Sofie Tafjord's (Fe-mail) solo debut "Kama": https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_template.php?id=1517

Øresund Space Collective
The black tomato
Transubstans Records

I'm the kind of guy who appreciates strong structure and composition, so when faced with something like Øresund Space Collective's sprawling 70-minute epic improv session recording they call an album, I must admit that I was a bit daunted. It's hard enough to hold my attention for a 3-minute pop song, much less a 30-minute prog workout, yet somehow I've soldiered through this work numerous times now, emerging on the other side fully unscathed. It's a testament to how good they are at what they do, as it would only take a few small missteps to lose me along the way.

Really, all you need to know about these guys is right there in the name: they are from the Øresund region, they play space rock and they are a collective featuring a large, revolving cast of musicians. If you dig the interplay of talented artists playing off one another and getting lost in the atmosphere (or sent off into the stratosphere, for that matter), then ØSC are for you. If precision chops or tight, concise arrangements are more you thing, keep moving. And those of us, like myself, who dabble in a bit of post-rock and are open-minded enough to approach something a little outside their comfort zone, might find themselves pleasantly surprised.
- Avi Roig

PopMatters reviews the US release of Magnet's most recent record "The simple life": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/51628/magnet-the-simple-life/

Promise and the Monster
Transparent knives
Imperial Recordings

There is often a saturation point with music for me. I can only own so many 'types' of albums - lonely, rambling narratives of singer-songwriters, the dancefloor-bound energy of a new generation of post-punk bands, the aural nostalgia of the 80s throwbacks. The first few moments of Promise and the Monster's "Transparent knives" had me nearly pigeonholing this album as another longing, echo-laden proclamation of emptiness and lack of direction. Luckily for me, I pushed on, returning over and over to examine the strata of guitars (not completely unlike José González's deft finger work) and accompanying instrumentation, Billie Lindahl's fragile, beautiful voice soaring easily over her dreamscape compositions. Had I not already submitted my Top 10 of 2007 list, "Transparent knives" would at the very least warrant a 'notable mention' spot there, if not a proper place. An absolutely masterful album that is at home with comfortable isolation as it is with desolate, sorrowful artic wastelands, whose guitar work is as poetic as Lindahl's unique voice and lyrics, unveiling new layers through repeated listening, and, more often than not, leaving the listener awestruck and hopeful instead of disheartened or darkly introspective.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson