Finnish/Swedish indie act Oriel Joans (feat. singer/songwriter Pekka Pörtfors) have a new single called "Knuckles whiten" and are streaming both it and the b-side "I only wish to lay" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/orieljoans
RIYL Isolation Years, Anna Leong, melancholy pop.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Gocart System - Always been the same
02. TALK 1
03. [ingenting] - Halleluja
04. The Kid - Transient dance
05. Thåström - Kort biografi med litet testamente
06. TALK 2
07. Small - Sunshine lover
08. Heroin and Your Veins - The trigger
09. Kongh - Tank pa doden
10. Villebråd - Vaknar aldrig
11. TALK 3
12. Anna Leong - Guillotine
13. Ison & Fille - Jag skrattar idag
14. Dyno - Burning blood
15. TALK 4
16. The Bear Quartet - Sweet beef
17. Entombed - State of emergency
18. Skatan - Top of the mountain
19. Familjen - Mine øyne de ska se
20. TALK 5
21. Suzy Thunder - Big
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.
Anna Leong's brand new video for the track "Frightened eyes" is now online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEs8_Br7FdY
Buy the band's most recent album "Terrorarium" right here.
Umeå-based melancholy rock act Anna Leong will see their latest album "Terrorarium" released in Germany on October 17. Check myspace for the first batch of reviews: http://www.myspace.com/annaleong
Coming up on Saturday at Debaser Malmö: It's a Trap! Clubnight featuring Thomas Denver Jonsson and Anna Leong! Of those two fine acts, Umeå's Anna Leong is far more underrated so I'm posting a track for you today off their latest album "Terrorarium". The band usually excels in northern melancholy pop mixed with a touch of twang, but "Frightened eyes" shows their range by mixing in a bit of blue-eyed R&B ala The Faces. Jonas Bergsten doesn't have the gravel tone of Rod Stewart, but he does have a nice falsetto and he employs it well, especially on the chorus. And dig that bassline! That's what makes the song more than anything. So see you on Saturday, right? Actually, I'll be in Phoenix, Arizona experiencing 105°F/40°C weather, so live it up for me in my absence.
Buy "Terrorarium": [click here]
Anna Leong - Frightened eyes
Details are now posted for next month's IAT! Clubnight at Debaser Malmö featuring Thomas Denver Jonsson and Anna Leong. It should be awesome and it all goes down on August 9. Be there!
Anna LeongSometimes, going into a record-review without knowing anything about the band can be rewarding - like watching a movie without having seen the usual Don LaFontaine-narrated trailer madness before and then being caught off guard by its strength. My encounter with Umeå-based indiepop-rockers Anna Leong's new album "Terrorarium" was something like that: You'll have to excuse me, but given the bandname, I'd half expected a female singer-songwriter, so Anna Leong's slightly psychedelic indiepop-rock came at some surprise to me. One could surely dig out countless reference points and influences to their seemingly classic sound, their choruses rich with vocal harmonies, and the very "Swedish-indie" voice of singer Jonas Bergsten that gives everything a more modern edge. But what makes the record stand out amidst other retro-ish acts of the moment is its extremely solid songwriting and the sheer amount of catchy melodies and hooks. Somehow though, the album's riches are also its biggest downside. Despite all the accessibility and pop-ness, the eleven songs feel a bit too disparate and make it hard for the listener to get a coherent feel for the album. The band seems to have quite a turbulent record with the music-industry in the past (and now run their own label), and I hope that their situation will allow them to release further albums that focus more on their obvious songwriting-strengths and less on post-psychedelia and sound-variability. Still, a recommendable album with a couple of highly virulent popsongs.
- Arnulf Köhncke
In-stock and ready to ship: "Museum of future sound vol. 2"
Yes, the new Flogsta Danshall skweee comp is here and it is amazing.
Also new in-stock today: Anna Leong - Terrorarium
The Umeå-based bands sophomore album! RIYL Isolation Years, David Sandström Overdrive, etc.
Here's the playlist for this past weekend's radio show:
01. Pluxus - Bootstrap
02. TALK 1
03. Marit Bergman - Straight into my lovers arms
04. Grande Roses - Dead town
05. Mikko Singh - Rauha
06. TALK 2
07. Namur - Draw us near
08. Lapko - Sawyer the brother
09. Paper - To her
10. TALK 3
11. Johnossi - Train song
12. Markus Krunegård - Rocken spelar ingen roll längre
13. Printer - You need to
14. TALK 4
15. Firefox AK - Once I was like you (Boeoes Kaelstigen remix)
16. Aerial - Time is on fire
17. Sahara Hotnights - Visit to Vienna
18. TALK 5
19. Siena Root - Time will tell
20. Kristofer Åström - I collect knives
21. Anna Ternheim - Better be
22. TALK 6
23. Anna Leong - Guollotine
24. Folie - Krogg
25. Hearts of Black Science - Empty city lights
26. TALK 7
27. Inuit - En förlorad generation
28. The Psyke Project - Dark halls red floors
29. Memento Mori - Epilog
30. TALK 8
31. The Bear Quartet - Lights out, sound off
32. Fun - I know Ted Kennedy
33. Johan Heltne - Hjärta. Instinkt. Principer.
34. TALK 9
35. Lama - Bussi
36. Niccokick - Love & neon lights
37. Little Jimmy Reeves - Drowsy dogs
38. C.Aarmé - Visions
39. TALK 10
40. No Privacy - Blood over Denmark
Reminder: my show on Sirius Blog Radio runs Saturdays at 12 noon and midnight ET on channel 26 (Left of Center).
The new Anna Leong album "Terrorarium" is streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/annaleong
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Peter Morén - This is what I came for
02. TALK 1
03. Entombed - Hollowman
04. King Of All The Animals - Concrete skyline
05. Jettie - The lay up
06. TALK 2
07. Happy Trash Culture - Frisky pet
08. Josse - You had a plan
09. Ondo - Sleep
10. TALK 3
11. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - This room seems empty without you
12. Håkan Hellström - För sent för edelweiss
13. Marvins Revolt - Deliberate deeds
14. Marybell Katastrophy - Hey Frank
15. TALK 4
16. The Bear Quartet - Mvh contempt
17. Lögnhalsmottagningen - Snacka gär ju
18. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
19. TALK 5
20. September Malevolence - I shut doors and windows
21. The End Will Be Kicks - Ass of a friend
22. Anna Leong - Battered, bruised and cold
23. TALK 6
24. Bright Oak - On the list
25. Tape - Moth wings
26. Axewitch - Hot lady
27. TALK 7
28. Nationalteatern - Jack the Ripper
29. Tsukimono - Heart beater
30. Zeigeist - Bunny
31. TALK 8
32. First Floor Power - The jacket (Karin Dreijer remix)
33. No Hope for the Kids - Angels of destruction
34. Docenterna - Popmusik
35. Vapnet - Skorpan
36. TALK 9
37. Björn Kleinhenz - Olis
38. Fireside - Ambulance
39. Looptroop Rockers - Living on a prayer
40. TALK 10
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Franke - Jag älskar dig
02. TALK 1
03. White Knives - Welcome transplants
04. Bobby and Blumm - Drow a bow
05. Anna Leong - Guillotine
06. TALK 2
07. Juvelen - Don't mess
08. Eucharist - The Eucharist
09. Sophie Rimheden - Go away (ft. Aaron Phiri)
10. TALK 3
11. Form One - Money (ft. Vincent)
12. Tape - Augustan chateau
13. Moneybrother - They're building walls around us
14. TALK 4
15. Lapko - Killer whales
16. The State of Floral Beings - Bad broker
17. Opération Zéro - Grand Pere
18. TALK 5
19. Pistol Disco - Beat of the tune
20. Kusowsky - Jonny
21. Motorhomes - Into the night
22. TALK 6
23. They Live By Night - Endless summer
24. Cleaning Women - Clean up your body
25. Kaka - What a frame
26. Gorgoroth - Krig
27. TALK 7
28. Markus Krunegård - Samma nätter väntar alla
29. Snöleoparden - Waterpuppet theatre
30. Oskar Schönning - Stoner
31. TALK 8
32. Tellu - Tuulet
33. Convoj - Cultural legacy
34. Lukestar - White shade
35. Silver - The personal decay
36. TALK 9
37. Brick - Labrador
38. Callisto - Anastasis
39. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - When she's GONE
40. TALK 10
41. Magyar Posse - Singlesparks are spectral fires
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. The Bear Quartet - Put me back together
02. TALK 1
03. Karin Ström - Silent night
04. Camouflage - Syster sol
05. Ulf Ljusberg - Whatever was
06. TALK 2
07. Juvelen - Don't mess
08. Invocator - Breed of sin
09. The Grand Opening - Secrets revealed
10. TALK 3
11. Motorpsycho - For free
12. Coldworker - Flammable
13. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Photo Jenny
14. TALK 4
15. Egil Olsen - Singer/songwriter
16. Last Days of April - Will the violins be playing?
17. Desert Planet - Riot sector 68
18. TALK 5
19. Printer - Satisfaction
20. Psyke Project - Physical romance
21. Promise and the Monster - Light reflecting papers
22. TALK 6
23. Marybell Katastrophy - Hidden agenda
24. Pan Sonic - Johdin
25. Opération Zéro - Etude no. 1
26. TALK 7
27. Jonas Game - Nothing to lose
28. Mari Boine - Tundra flower
29. Vapnet - Plötsligt händer det inte
30. TALK 8
31. Moto Boy - Ride my wild heart
32. Markus Krunegård - Jag är en vampyr
33. Gravy - Behind my walls
34. TALK 9
35. Looptroop Rockers - The building
36. Victims - Victims in blood #5
37. Anna Leong - Guillotine
38. Zeigeist - Humanitarianism
39. TALK 10
40. Ef - Appendix
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Tiger Lou - The loyal
02. TALK 1
03. Karin Ström - Silent night
04. Saft - I do not smoke
05. Caesars - Strawberry weed
06. TALK 2
07. Meshuggah - Bleed
08. Pacific! - Number one
09. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
10. TALK 3
11. Logh - An alliance of hearts
12. Benea Reach - New waters
13. Astrid Swan - Sea/e life
14. TALK 4
15. Lykke Li - I'm good, I'm gone
16. The High Hats - Bitterswede
17. Lis Er Stille - Lorelei
18. TALK 5
19. The Tough Alliance - Leg 7
20. Cosmic Overdose - En av dom
21. The Second Band - The piano machine
22. TALK 6
23. De Stijl - Date times
24. Death Breath - Death breath
25. Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
26. Randy - Freedom song
27. TALK 7
28. Jonas Knutsson & Horn Please! - Snygg Olles polska
29. Moonbabies - Forever changes everything now
30. Kristofer Åström - Conjure me
31. TALK 8
32. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Wedding
33. Anna Leong - Guillotine
34. Convoj - RAMJAC
35. TALK 9
36. Tsukimono - Gloomy Sunday
The new Anna Leong single "Guillotine" is pure Umeå pedigree. The folkiness of Isolation Years, the melodic melancholy of The Perishers; it's all there amidst the pleading and prostration. And though the sound of the city is obvious, they make it their own by adding various subtle touches. For example, listen to that organ refrain - it's maddening, like something you'd expect to hear at an evil carnival ala "Something wicked this way comes". Compared to feeling conveyed by last Friday's Caesars Palace post, this is the polar opposite, despite the actual tone not being all that different. What I like best about the song though are all the little, unexpected melodic shifts that carry it along. Like the way the bridge sounds so uplifting before the triplet fill into the chorus. And those tossed off blue notes in the guitar solo - that seals it for me. They seem so ugly at first, but they really take the song to another level. Without them, the piece would be pleasant but forgettable. As-is, it's a great track which makes me excited to hear the rest of the album.
Watch the video here.
Anna Leong - Guillotine
