More pop from the archives. One thing I neglected to mention in that last post is how Spotify has affected by current listening habits. While I'm still spending way too much time listening to all the new releases that come my way, I'm mostly exploring the vast acres of music I could never get access to previously. There's still huge gaps in availability (no Bob Seger WTF? and howabout some more Finnish folk?), but there's more than enough good stuff to keep me satisfied for a long, long time. For instance, yesterday I spent a lot of time exploring the catalog, something I would have never enjoyed without shelling out top dollar for import CDs (I highly recommend "Vesper" by New Tango Orquestra). My cup runneth over; it's easy to become overwhelmed. But let us not forget the obscure hits of years past: Boys of Scandinavia do goth/wave-y/funky synth-pop like no other. Will they ever release a new record?
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.
"Lion tamer vs. tigers" is easily the most pop thing that Echo Is Your Love has ever done. They've still got the noiserock dissonance and artrock sensibilities that define them, but the songwriting is much more structured and concise. It's also got a great postpunk discobeat, perfect for the Boys of Scandinavia remix that wraps up the EP. Why BoS excised the chorus from said track baffles me though; that's the bit that makes the song. They tease you with it a few times in the beginning, giving a quick taste before hammering it home on repeat at the end, leaving it ringing in your ears. It's still the classic tried and true verse/chorus/verse formula, but far less obvious and far more smart. Also, while I can certainly appreciate EIYL's experimentalism, it doesn't always hold up so well to repeated listens. This track does. I'm looking forward to see what they do next.
01. Boys of Scandinavia - Worse than a girl
02. TALK 1
03. Markus Krunegård - Jag är en vampyr
04. Deathbed - Neon light fantasy
05. The Grand Opening - Dark dark dawn
06. TALK 2
07. The Bear Quartet - I have an itch
08. C.Aarmé - Dustin
09. Noxagt - Wall's end
10. TALK 3
11. Menfolk - Hell is in Texas
12. Detektivbyrån - Hemvägen
13. Folk&Røvere - Solveigs sang
14. TALK 4
15. Bobby Baby - Goodbye love
16. Häive - Raina: Yömyrsky
17. Peter Bjorn and John - All those expectations
18. TALK 5
19. Meleeh - Vittra
20. Rigas - The hardest pocket to pick
21. The Kid - Mayhem troopers
22. TALK 6
23. Cortex - Warrior night
24. Tiger Lou - The war between us
25. Sophie Rimheden - Stay the night (ft. Adam Tensta)
26. TALK 7
27. Moto Boy - Beat heart
28. Nina Ramsby & Martin Hederos - Kanske jag kommer hem
29. September Malevolence - Who watches the watchmen?
30. TALK 8
31. Säkert! - Sanningsdan
32. Paper - Before that day
33. Moonbabies - Walking on my feet
34. TALK 9
35. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
36. Stina Nordenstam - Trainsurfing
37. Red Moon - The height
38. TALK 10
39. Broder Daniel - When we were winning
Finnish noiserockers Echo Is Your Love will celebrate their 10-year anniversary this year with the release of a new EP in April and a new full-length in autumn. The latter is still in the planning stages, but the EP will feature three new tracks, a remade old song and a remix by fellow Finns Boys of Scandinavia (who happen to be currently working on their own new album, something that I'm really looking forward to). The band also hopes to post all of their out-of-print material for free download (some already available here) and should have samples of the new stuff up around March.
01. Boys of Scandinavia - Beautiful as a person
02. TALK 1
03. Don't Be A Stranger - Perfect problem
04. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
05. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
06. TALK 2
07. Deathbed - When hope leaves a body
08. Closer - Sensing the wake
09. TALK 3
10. The Tarantula Waltz - Two arrows
11. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
12. Anna Järvinen - Götgatan
13. TALK 4
14. Eric Malmberg - Slutet på en epok
15. Mustasch - Bring me everyone
16. September - Until I die
17. TALK 5
18. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
19. Frode Haltli - The latter
20. Lykke Li - Little bit
21. TALK 6
22. Downstairs - Peephole city
23. The Cardigans - Don't blame your daughter (Diamonds)
24. Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
25. TST - We are the kids
26. TALK 7
27. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
28. Mikko Singh - Palmun juurella
29. Audionom - Dc2
30. TALK 8
31. Ulver - Solitude
32. The Psyke Project - I get paralyzed
33. Silverbullit - Winter coat
34. TALK 9
35. Bodies Without Organs (BWO) - Let it rain
36. Icos - On my own
37. Torpedo - Hang me high
38. TALK 10
39. Graveyard - Satan's finest
FYI, in case you missed my announcement: next week will be a spooky Halloween-themed program.
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
Finnish electro-goths Boys of Scandinavia have posted an exclusive live version of the track "Hallucination" up on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/boysofscandinavia
I've been obsessing a bit about goth music lately, it's true. The world is going through dark times and that demands dark music. It has been awhile since I heard from 1999. They released a single on Release the Bats! a few years ago and posted a few other tracks on their website, but after that... nilch. I even attempted to email them about appearing on my latest "Reader's companion" comp, but got no reply. So when stumbled across Celebrity Lifestyle Records (named after the Swans song), the new label that released their full-length debut, naturally I was excited. Luckily CLR was more open to communication and before too long I had a copy of the CD in-hand. Let me tell you: this is the shit. It's borrows heavily from the past (Joy Division, Bauhaus, yadda yadda), but also incorporates more noise and Krautrock influences. Deceptively simple and hypnotic, cyclic riffs, dancefloor-friendly beats and sloganeering vocals - not quite to the level of, say Nitzer Ebb, but definitely leaning in that direction. Like a rawer, more primal version of Boys of Scandinavia. The particular track I've posted today is the album's opener. Deceptively simple and driving. I love how the guitar just turns into a wash of noise with barely any distinguishable attack. The cavernous tone provides the right balance of melody and noise while letting the drums and bass carry the song. Simplicity is key. Beauty is the winner, indeed.
Indieworkshop on Boys of Scandinavia: http://www.indieworkshop.com/music.php?id=2459 Like most everything on If Society (the label that originally put it out), I really enjoy BoS and heartily recommend them. Buy it here if you're interested.
The Scaramangas new single "The sun" will be out on April 5 and will feature the b-sides "Sail on pt. 1" and a remix of "Sunday morning" as done by fellow Finns Boys of Scandinavia.