Check out a review of Aerial's new album "The sentinel" posted at the newly-launched Automaton Industries website: http://atmtn.com/2007/01/30/aerial-the-sentinel/

MP3: Aerial - You will all die, all things will

Aerial's new album "The sentinel" is so good, it makes me want to cry. If I was in an aspiring post-rock band and I heard this record, I would sell my instruments and quit music. If there's any album that deserves the adjective "face-melting", it's this one. Right out of the gate, it roars like some unholy hybrid of Mono and Emperor crossed with Him Kerosene. Epic barely begins to describe it. Soaring dual guitars, a vast, dramatic vision and a recording that blends them together perfectly. When I first heard this, my brain barely recognized it as a band - it sounds more like a single entity than four separate people. I imagine Aerial as some inhuman living/breathing thing from which this amazing music emanates. Eventually the parts become more distinct, but the magic never dissipates. I was shocked that Aerial could top last year's "Black rain from the bombing" so easily, I will be even more shocked if anyone else releases something this year even approximately this good. Right now Aerial is untouchable.
Buy the album here.

Aerial - You will all die, all things will

HUGE mailorder update today! Just got two big packages from Nomethod and Carcrash Records including restocks of Convoj (at last!), Svenson and Dialog Cet as well as new stuff from C.Aarmé, Aerial, Mixtapes & Cellmates, The Bear Quartet and more! Get shopping!

MP3: The Sound O.E - New bankruptcy

One of the big things that got me deeper into Swedish/Scandinavian rock way back when was explosive, guitar-heavy indierock. Fireside, Starmarket, Him Kerosene, KVLR - these are the bands that caught my interest and had me pouring through liner notes looking for more names to track down. Sadly, that scene is nowhere near as strong these days though there are a few who keep the fire burning: The End Will Be Kicks, Seven Feet Four, Aerial Convoj plus young upstarts like Traktor and today's post subjects The Sound O.E. The band has been lurking in the shadows for a couple years now, but it wasn't until very recently that they seemed to rise above and the new three-song EP "Me and Laureline" proves it. The screechy sprechstimme delivery of the verses might be a bit much for some, but remember that what they're doing is essentially sloganeering - the words are meant to be heard loud and clear. It's call & response; a call to action. When the harmonies of the chorus come in, the intentions are indisputable. The Sound O.E know exactly what they're doing. I think the arrangement could still be tightened up a bit, but I like what they're doing and definitely look forward to hearing more.

The Sound O.E - New bankruptcy

Top 10s for 2006: Magnus Öberg (Nomethod Records)

Top 10s for 2006: It's a trap!

Top 10s for 2006: Staff picks

Nomethod has posted a new Aerial song for download: http://www.nomethod.se/Aerial_My_god_its_full_of_stars.zip

Profile: Voices Break the Silence

Nomethod has the cover art and tracklist posted for the new Aerial album "The sentinel": http://www.nomethod.se/main.php
It comes out in Japan on December 13 via Thomason Sounds/Impartmaint Inc and one month later in Sweden/GAS via Nomethod/Hausmusik.

Video mix: Mr. Velcro Fastener, Aerial, South Ambulance, Strip Music, Gabriel Munck, more...

Interview: Joakim Westlund (The Giant's Dream)

Swedish noiserockers Aerial on tour around Northern Europe:

10/06 - Musikcafeen/Club Futastic, Århus (DK)
10/07 - AJZ Kita, Rostock (GER)
10/10 - Astrastube, Hamburg (GER)
10/11 - Kulturbunker Mühlheim, Köln (GER)
10/12 - Magnet, Berlin (GER)
10/13 - AZ Conni, Dresden (GER)
10/14 - Shelter, Wien (AUS)

Sandviken-based noisemakers Aerial report that they are just about done with their new record which they describe as a seven-track/four-chapter "intense and spectacular work of art." No word on a release date yet, but once again Stefan Aronsson of FAP (see my recent post on them here) is producing/engineering. Go see them on tour in Germany:

10/07 - AJZ Kita, Rostock
10/08 - tba
10/09 - tba
10/10 - Astrastube, Hamburg
10/10 - Kulturbunker Mühlheim, Köln
10/11 - tba
10/12 - Magnet, Berlin w/The Samuel Jackson Five
10/13 - AZ Conni, Dresden w/The Samuel Jackson Five

In related news, Aerial electronic sideproject The Giant's Dream will release a 3" CDEP on the Japanese label Duotone. The band says the material is more electronic than their earlier material and therefore, much greater as well. It will also be made available as a free mp3 download, but details are still tbc.