Artist: Agent Side Grinder
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8
You might wonder why Agent Side Grinder have decided to release two albums at once -- I certainly did -- but, far from this endeavour mirroring the Guns N' Roses "Use your illusion" double-whammy (two albums of the same type of music; one album's worth of decent music), upon cranking this up after giving "Irish recording tape" (see review here) a rattle I can see why. While its companion album offers a pretty conventional Krautrock/electropunk nostalgia trip, "The transatlantic tape project" is an entirely different entity, exploring soundscapes that appear infinitely more contemporary and more ethereal. At times akin to some of Red Harvest's electronic uneasiness, at times sounding off like Genghis Tron's ZX Spectrum moments, and at times simply sounding like pure, unadulterated dread, ASG succeed in outputting a little under a half hour of dark ambient electronica that's the perfect accompaniment to inebriation and candlelight. It doesn't get much bleaker than on "210-392", surely a track to herald the impending onset of a nuclear holocaust, while "008-199" could serve as the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic planet Earth, devoid of civilization bar a handful of desperate survivors clawing at some hope of redemption. Oddly enough though, it all winds down on a decidedly beautiful note with "090-219", signing off with a nice piano passage that shows us there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Or is there...?
- John Norby
7
This is one of a duo of albums released simultaneously by the Swedish new wave minimalists and it adheres to more conventional song structures than its companion "The transatlantic tape project". The album is firmly ensconced in the retro cyber-punk quirkiness of the 1980s and, through its idiosyncratic outlook, finds its niche in the Krautrock movement. There's plenty on offer here, from the uneasy industrial catatonia of opener "Pulse" to the pop-pogo beats of "Die to live" to the abstract happiness of "Eyes of the old". It's littered with a Cold War clinicism that keeps the album rooted in that era despite the fact that the world-at-large is years ahead of that age (or so we're led to believe). The likes of "The screams" and "Telefunk" wouldn't sound out of place on an early John Carpenter soundtrack (if the vocals were removed) and that's an added bonus in my book. I'll not say that Agent Side Grinder are doing anything new when it comes to a genre known for its penchant for innovation, but the fact that they've stripped things right back to their roots -- that they sound authentically old-school -- may well be their own form of experimentation. Far from unique but, surely, that's the point.
- John Norby
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, special year-end top 10 edition:
01. TALK 1
02. Tyrant - The rebirth (reclaim the flame)
03. C.Aarmé - Dustin
04. Pintandwefall - Bird of the birds
05. Ironville - Sweet perfume
06. Dear Euphoria - Tell me
07. TALK 2
08. [ingenting] - Halleluja!
09. Agent Side Grinder - Die to live
10. Pistol Disco - Beat of the tune
11. TALK 3
12. The Bear Quartet - Carry your weight (Strange Maps remix)
13. The Fine Arts Showcase - Looking for your love
14. Wardruna - Dagr
15. TALK 4
16. Björn Kleinhenz - Fårö
17. Samuraj Cities - Spoonful of talk
18. David Åhlén - Stir our hearts
19. TALK 5
20. Elmo - Darkness falls
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Interlace - Nemesis
02. TALK 1
03. Kråkesølv - Skredder
04. Mata de Leon - He's alright
05. Agent Side Grinder - 210-392
06. TALK 2
07. Lapko - I shot the sheriff
08. Obliteration - Exterminate
09. Frivolvol - Blades of steel
10. Adam McCormack - Dead sailor
11. TALK 3
12. Marvins Revolt - Organize your arms
13. The Bear Quartet - Least loved (of the unloved)
14. Håkan Lidbo - Let's rock
15. TALK 4
16. Eskatol - Hevn
17. Elias & the Wizzkids - Oh these nights
18. Grande Roses - Factory
19. C.Aarmé - Assuan
20. TALK 5
21. Le Sport - Love in stereo
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Excellent Swedish industrial act Agent Side Grinder has signed with US label Kill Shaman Records (Factums, Pink Noise, Swann Danger) who will be rereleasing the band's self-titled debut on CD in a new version with revised artwork and a bonus track. Expect an early 2010 release, but until then you can still grab a copy of the OG vinyl from me right here.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Bastard Priest - Under the hammer of destruction
02. TALK 1
03. Monty - En till himmel
04. Superfamily - Songs of the weak will die
05. Agent Side Grinder - Black vein
06. TALK 2
07. Murmansk - Silver heel
08. Cleaning Women - Across the void
09. Pintandwefall - Jail
10. TALK 3
11. Tobias Hellkvist - Scars and stripes
12. Truckfighters - Traffic
13. Rockettothesky - Barrie for Billy MacKenzie
14. TALK 4
15. Peter Bjorn and John - I don't know what I want us to do
16. Håkan Hellström - En vån med en bil
17. Barra Head - Common ground
18. TALK 5
19. Makthaverskan - Vi var människor från början
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Swedish industrial act Agent Side Grinder have added yet another new track to their myspace profile, this one being "Pulse": http://www.myspace.com/agentsidegrinder
As I've said before, I recommend them highly.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Paper - Out of it into it
02. TALK 1
03. David Åhlén - Spirit fall
04. Rickard Jäverling - The wedding ring
05. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - This room seems empty without you
06. Erik Enocksson - Non strigis
07. TALK 2
08. Pistol Disco - Organ and drum
09. Dear Euphoria - Pop pills
10. The Skull Defekts - Waving
11. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Radius
12. TALK 3
13. Björn Kleinhenz - HAZ 920
14. [ingenting] - Medan vi sov
15. Agent Side Grinder - Black vein
16. Johan Heltne - Hjärte. Instinkt. Principer.
17. TALK 4
18. Jesper Norda - We have the guts
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
To borrow the lexicon of the financial pages: I am downgrading Cold Cave to a Sell¹ while upgrading my rating on Agent Side Grinder to Strong Buy. I believe that Cold Cave's market has reached saturation and become overvalued while Agent Side Grinder has nowhere to go but up, especially considering the upcoming Q4 release of both "Irish recording tape" and "The transatlantic tape project" (via Enfant Terrible, vinyl-only). The former is of primarily interest to me, as it shows tremendous growth over last year's self-titled release and I must also commend them for the recruitment Alexander Blomqvist (on live bass) as he appears to have brought many new strengths with him to the executive team. The fine qualities that first caught my attention when I rated them a Buy (ie, the driving, dirty industrial beats) are still very much in place, only now far more refined and developed. I expect 2010 to be a very good year for Agent Side Grinder and don't expect them to face much serious competition for market share.
Now as for other companies in this sector, I'm downgrading Cut City from Buy to Hold as their stock appears to have stagnated recently, but am bullish on both Kite and Tamaryn.
¹ I really am selling Cold Cave. If you want a mint first-press copy of "Where trees grew and emotions died", give me a shout.
Agent Side Grinder - The screams
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Bröderna Lindgren - Annan sort (feat. Britta Persson)
02. TALK 1
03. Rigas - Tonite
04. Sienna Root - The road to Agatha (Ahir Bhairav)
05. The Gentle Act Incident - The city doesn't know me
06. Asha Ali - Hurricane
07. TALK 2
08. Agent Side Grinder - Die to live
09. Moloken - My enemy
10. Boys of Scandinavia - Good looking
11. TALK 3
12. Sivert Høyem - Moon landing
13. Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom
14. The Movements - Save me
15. TALK 4
16. Mikkel Meyer - Tunge (feat. Non)
17. Sahara Hotnights - Impressed by me
18. Samuraj Cities - The weekend is almost over
19. TALK 5
20. Adjagas - Mánu rávdnji
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Excellent Swedish industrial act Agent Side Grinder are now streaming a new version of the track "The screams" from their forthcoming record "Irish recording tape", due out November 11: http://www.myspace.com/agentsidegrinder
"The screams" was previously released on the Enfant Terrible comp CD "Radio resistencia".
In addition to the two new streaming tracks posted yesterday, Enfant Terrible has also posted two new Agent Side Grinder video clips promoting the industrial act's two upcoming releases: "Die to live" / "Life in advance"
The excellent Swedish industrial act Agent Side Grinder will be releasing two new albums on November via Enfant Terrible. First up is a vinyl reissue of "The Transatlantic Tape Project" which was originally a cassette-only release as mentioned here. Second, and more exciting, is a new full-on studio record called "Irish recording tape" with 9 new tracks. The band will be counting down until the day of release by adding a new track to myspace every week and the first two are up now for preview: http://www.myspace.com/agentsidegrinder
Agent Side Grinder
Agent Side Grinder
