Speaking of Aerial, head to the Nomethod website for more updates on their forthcoming US/UK release via One Little Indian plus other news from labelmates Mixtapes & Cellmates, Robert Svensson and more: http://www.nomethod.se/

MP3: Mob - Wait for me

Mob frontman Morten Haaber strikes me as the kind of person that could do nothing except music or some other artistic endeavor. I can hear it in the anguish of his voice and the intensity of his performance. I've known plenty of people like that and they don't function well in an office environment. The rest of the band steps up as well, matching Morten all the way with equal fury. In a live setting, I bet they obliterate the stage. It reminds me of seeing emo bands back in the early/mid-90s (before emo became such a bad word) get completely unhinged, falling over themselves and losing themselves in their art. It takes something special to pull it off without seeming contrived and I think Mob manages to capture some of that in their recording. Please note that I use 'emo' only as a point of reference for the power of their performance, not as a musical analogy. This is epic noiserock, far more in line with the likes of Aerial, Sonic Youth or maybe Mono. There are echoes of Portraits of Past or Heroin, but it's more in feeling than in sound.

Mob - Wait for me

The playlist for my radio show this week:

01. Death By Kite - Scared of heights
02. TALK 1
03. Kompjotr Eplektrika - Crakkin zombees...
04. Monomen - Asian spacestation
05. José González - Hints
06. TALK 2
07. I Am Bones - Backpackers
08. Ellen Beach - The widespread acclaim
09. Moder Jords Massiva - Ingenting
10. TALK 3
11. Iisole - The words
12. Kornstad - Sweden
13. Cortex - Mind of darkness
14. TALK 4
15. Silverbullit - Run
16. [ingenting] - Hollywood dreams
17. In Flames - The jester race
18. TALK 5
19. Nicolai Dunger - Soul rush
20. Existensminimum - Changing lines
21. Echo Is Your Love - Peace song
22. TALK 6
23. Laakso - The death of us
24. Christian Kjellvander - Words in the wires
25. Mustasch - Double nature
26. TALK 7
27. Tellevika + Firefox AK - Eric
28. Tape - A spire
29. C.Aarmé - Golden retriever
30. TALK 8
31. The Bear Quartet - Put me back together
32. Susanne Sundfør - Walls
33. The Hellacopters - Like no other man
34. TALK 9
35. Aerial - You will all die, all things will

Luger has added Peter Bjorn and John to the lineup of Way Out West. Now if only they'll get Kristofer Åström, Laakso and/or Aerial and they'll have pretty much every decent-sized Swedish act I want to see in one event.

Fall tourdates for IAT faves Aerial:

10/16 - Astrastube, Hamburg (GER)
10/18 - Schokoladen, Berlin (GER)
10/19 - AZ Conni, Dresden (GER)
10/20 - Fluc, Wien (AUS)
10/23 - Cafe Glocksee, Hannover (GER)
10/25 - Club Keller, Frankfurt (GER)
10/27 - Jaz, Rostock (GER)

More to come soon.

Nomethod has confirmed release dates from One Little Indian/Tangled Up! for both Mixtapes & Cellmates and Aerial:

US:
08/15 - Mixtapes & Cellmates - s/t (Digital street date)
UK:
10/15 - Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet (download single)
10/22 - Mixtapes & Cellmates - s/t CD
10/08 - Aerial - My god it's full of stars (download single)
10/15 - Aerial - The sentinel CD

Look for Aerial to tour Europe in October as well.

Listmania! 2007 so far

MP3: Closer - Sensing the wake

We're six months into 2007 and our halftime reports are now posted. There's been a good number of strong releases so far this year, Säkert! being a collective favorite and others such as Laakso, Shout Out Louds, Isolation Years, Aerial and Familjen making multiple lists. Whittling our individual picks to three each can be difficult, but I think it forces us to be more decisive and discerning.
One act that didn't make by list, but surely deserves a place is Closer. Problem is, their new EP "The 39" isn't officially released yet and I didn't want to be all, "this is the year's best record and no, you can't hear it." Actually, I did play the track "Sensing the wake" on my radio show a couple times, but I really have no idea how many people heard it. Well, those problems are now a thing of the past as the kind dudes of Closer have decided to let me offer up "Sensing the wake" as a free download. Still no word on an official release, but it'll come - just wait.
For those that have missed my description of the band in the past, Closer plays what I can only describe as intelligent rock music. It's heavy and dark, but not exactl metal and it has the intensity of hardcore without being, y'know, hardcore. The musicianship is stellar as well, but never too showy. Fellow musicians will pick up on it, but there's no conspicuous solos or anything else to draw attention to it. Thematically, the EP is a concept piece along the same lines of "Tokpela", their debut. This time, it's based on a linear story centered around a single person and a series of events. Various similar motifs are repeated throughout the record, tying it together as a whole. Vocalist Joachim Dahlberg describes "Sensing the wake" as part one, "where the sensing part is actually just the saxophone intro, the calm before the storm." Beyond that, you're on your own. Closer loves to be mysterious and is happy to let you draw your own conclusions.

Closer - Sensing the wake

MP3: Mixtapes & Cellmates - I left

I've gotten a few amazing new releases in the mailorder these last few days (with more on the way), so I wanted to spend a couple days highlighting them. First we have the self-titled debut full-length from Mixtapes & Cellmates, one of Sweden's most promising new indiepop acts. No listless twee, no pathetic nostalgia; none of the issues that plague the scene are apparent. Like fellow Nomethod act (and recent One Little Indian signees) Aerial, the guitars are brilliantly interwoven and engaging. The music is nowhere near as aggressive, but the feeling I get is the same. The production is adventurous too - many of the tracks are backed by glitchy techno beats and little clicks + cuts. The smeary glissandos of digital distortion on today's track "I left" go so far as to replace any natural guitar sounds, a tact that works far better than I would imagine. Though the timbre of the sounds is unnatural, it's done in a way that still allows the emotional content of the music to resonate. Extremely well done.

Mixtapes & Cellmates - I left

Nomethod has confirmed that One Little Indian has officially signed both Mixtapes & Cellmates and Aerial for UK/international release. Look for more details, release dates, etc. soon.

Last night's Sirius Blog Radio playlist:

01. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
02. TALK 1
03. Asha Ali - These months
04. Boys of Scandinavia - Why do you love me? (radio edit)
05. Promoe - Headache
06. TALK 2
07. Closer - Sensing the wake
08. The Bear Quartet - Mom and dad
09. TALK 3
10. Kristofer Åström - Just a little insane
11. Familjen - Kom säger dom
12. Pavan - The bird
13. TALK 4
14. Kazakstan - Song to the past
15. Universal Poplab - Vampire in you
16. TALK 5
17. Scraps of Tape - Death as it should be
18. ARM - Drving by accident
19. The Idealist - The knives are my eyes
20. TALK 6
21. Tsukimono - Gathering heavy breathing
22. Pimentola - Wish upon a fallen star
23. Plain Fade - Uliaan leski
24. TALK 7
25. The Skull Defekts - Six six for eyes
26. Logh - Into the night
27. TALK 8
28. Aerial - You will all die, all things will
29. Tobias Hellkvist - Moment at ven
30. Audrey - Views
31. TALK 9
32. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Ashen like the sky

Last night's playlist for my show on Sirius Blog Radio:

01. Isolation Years - Yellow cross on blue
02. TALK 1
03. Johndoe - Nattskift
04. Montys Loco - Wasteland
05. Once We Were - Cut corners
06. TALK 2
07. [ingenting] - Mycket vasen for ingenting
08. Margaret Berger - Robot song
09. Namur - Marching
10. Lampshade - New legs
11. TALK 3
12. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
13. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
14. Fattaru - 100:-
15. Juvelen - Hanna
16. TALK 4
17. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
18. Sonores - 16th of June
19. Detektivbyrån - E18
20. TALK 5
21. At the Gates - The swarm
22. Barra Head - Kill the lights
23. TALK 6
24. The Tough Alliance - Leg 7
25. Torpedo - My evil twin
26. Alog - Catch that totem!
27. TALK 7
28. Valley Days - 10k angels
29. A-ha - Celice
30. Victims - Who the fuck are we?
31. TALK 8
32. The Vicious - Alienated
33. Viola - Unreal life
34. Zweizz - Nowadays the only boring everything is so frustrating
35. Viktor Sjöberg - Winter guitars
36. TALK 9
37. Closer - The talker
38. Aerial - My god, it's full of stars!
39. The Kissaway Trail - La la song
40. Laakso - Italy vs Helsinki
41. The Psyke Project - Panic
42. TALK 10
43. C.Aarmé - We are the world

Next week: expect lots more killer jams including totally a brand new track from Closer and maybe even a spotlight set on post-rock/ambient music. Good times!

The Silent Ballet reviews Aerial's "The sentinel", one of my favorite albums of the year thus far: http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/350/Default.aspx

Aversionline reviews Aerial's "The sentinel", one of my favorite albums so far in 2007: http://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2007/03/01/aerial-the-sentinel-cd/

Lots of new releases are officially released today and now available in the store:

Achordian - A product of the 80s (mp3)
Aerial - The sentinel (CD + mp3)
Anna Leong - After the forest fire (CD)
Sofia Talvik - Street of dreams (mp3)

Go shopping! Also be aware that the price of the It's A Trap! Record Club will go up tomorrow, so you best get in now unless you want to pay more.