Artist: Carpet People
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This band continues to evolve with every album and this, their third overall, finds them trying to incorporate more standard pop conventions into their particular brand of heavy postrock. There's still plenty of focus on long, interwoven guitar parts and complex arrangements, but there's also a lot more vocals than ever before and a renewed attempt at redefining and refining their sound. Bits of Fireside-esque post-hardcore gets intermingled with other, more contemporary post-indie/rock/whatever and the end result turns out to be a bit more schizophrenic and far less consistent than previous album "This is a copy is this a copy". However, at the same time, it's far more interesting to hear a band grow with each new release and that's certainly what SoT are doing and the tracks that do work well are easily their best material yet. For each misstep, such as two unnecessary and out of place cover tunes (A novelty slowcore version of Minor Threat's "Filler" plus "Eric" by the terminally underappreciated Carpet People), there is a stride forward. An inspired idea on paper, sure, and undoubtedly fun for the band to play, though not so hot in execution. I foresee "Grand letdown" as a transitional work, a bridge for things to come. It's worth noting too, that many of their peers are going through similar musical soul-searching (Aerial, Immanu El, etc.), all struggling to break free of expected genre trappings and all ending up in a slightly different place. So far, so good... let's see what happens next.
- Avi Roig
Hard to believe, but It's a Trap! turns seven years old today, an age that could be considered near-ancient in the context of this whole interweb doo-hickey. Yep, I've been slogging away at this thing all those years, slowly improving my foreign language skills, refining my tastes, fighting burnout and maybe even becoming a better writer along the way (not really). I've sent out over 300 weekly newsletters, posted nearly 32,000 news items, visited Sweden three times (with a short sidetrip to CPH once), listened to countless albums and have also had the great pleasure of meeting a ton of lovely people along the way. So a huge thanks to you, my readers and also to all of the great artists who inspire me to keep this thing going -- without you, I am nothing.
Breach's final album "Kollapse" came out in 2001 towards the end of a period when I was intensely seeking out Norrland indie/hardcore. I don't remember my first connection, but that's how I got into KVLR, Fireside, Him Kerosene, Starmarket, Carpet People, Isolation Years and many other neighboring acts. Many of those bands remain favorites today and Breach is definitely near the top of the list, with their swansong record being an absolute classic. Nothing sounds like it, not even any of the band's other records. As for posting it today, it's mere luck they happen to have a song with a title fit for the occasion.
Breach - Seven
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Elmo - Blind heart
02. TALK 1
03. Moritz von Oswald Trio - Pattern 3
04. Carpet People - All that ails must pass
05. Fronda - Andas
06. TALK 2
07. Siena Root - Time will tell
08. Cortex - No connections
09. Kornstad - Oslo
10. TALK 3
11. The Silent Section - In snow forever
12. Familjen - Huvudet i sanden
13. Band in Box - B33
14. TALK 4
15. The Bear Quartet - Northern
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.
"Grand letdown". Before the music even starts I hear the sound of hacks worldwide sharpening their pencils, rising to the challenge of who can scribe the punniest headline. Take the time to actually, truly listen and you'll hear a band growing and expanding on their already expansive sound. More vocals, more dynamics, more beauty, more... songs? Still too postrock to ever be pop, but they sure toe the line. As for the letdown? Verse one implies self-doubt, but the track moves to external anguish as it proceeds. Or is it just changing to a third-person view? Regardless, I just like the way the two guitarlines intertwine and dance. You can't hear it quite so much on this title track, but there are also strong echoes of classic Fireside in the new Scraps of Tape. And classic Swedish indie in general; witness their cover of "Eric" by cult favorites Carpet People for example. Proving once and for all that we must learn from the past in order to move ahead.
Scraps of Tape - Grand letdown
Scraps of Tape's new album "Grand letdown" will be out in March via Tenderversion. I'm not sure if the tracklist has been 100% confirmed yet or not, but I've been told that the band has recorded covers of both "Filler" by Minor Threat (awesome) and "Eric" by Carpet People (more awesome). And the five songs I've had the pleasure of hearing so far: very, very awesome. Be patient!
After spending last weekend in SF where it was clear and sunny (September and October are the hottest time of year there), I almost forgot that it was fall everywhere else in the world until I got back home to shortened days, slanted sunlight and rain rain rain. Yup, the summer is over and don't you forget it. No band defines that better than Umeå's Carpet People. It's crazy that these guys haven't released anything new since 2003's "More bad weather coming out of the rain", but my understanding is that singer/songwriter Anders Hellman doesn't think enough people care so he doesn't bother. For all I know, he probably has three albums worth of material just waiting to go and he's sitting on it. It's ridiculous! Get it online! Do something!
In other news, It's A Trap! turned 6 this week. Hooray! Hard to believe I've been keeping on for so long already, but there you go. Thanks for your support and hopefully I'll keep at it for many years to come.
Carpet People - Can I touch your trauma
Check out The Rocket Bank, a new-ish Umeå-based act featuring members from KVLR/Kevlar, Puffin, Carpet People and more: http://www.myspace.com/therocketbank
Here's the playlist for my radio show on Saturday:
01. Ted Gärdestad - Räcker jag till
02. TALK 1
03. The Setting Son - In a certain way
04. Beyond Dawn - TRNQL
05. Miss Li - Let her go
06. TALK 2
07. Jonna Lee - Dried out eyes
08. Death By Kite - Hiroshima
09. The Motorhomes - I wanna make you sing
10. TALK 3
11. Printer - Minds out
12. Alarma Man - Sweden, Sweden
13. Pistol Disco - Radiation
14. TALK 4
15. Knugen Faller - Lugna favoriter
16. Scraps of Tape - Since all the birds are moving, shouldn't we
17. Carpet People - If I lose my voice
18. TALK 5
19. Asha Ali - A promise broken
20. Ingenting - Punkdrommar
21. Holiday for Strings - I got two hands
22. TALK 6
23. NEI - City of gold
24. FAP - Sjömannen
25. Monoton - Hours
26. TALK 7
27. Deathbed - Everyday heroin
28. Dibaba - Go marching in
29. Johnossi - Execution song
30. Sista Sekunden - Se opp
31. TALK 8
32. Laakso - Worse case scenario
33. Tiger Lou - Sell out
34. Peter Bjorn and John - Matchmaker
35. TALK 9
36. Johndoe - Hardt som faen
37. Espen Jørgensen - Move ahead - quickly
38. Säkert! - Och jag grät mig till sömns efter alla dar
39. TALK 10
40. KVLR - Slow clapping
41. Anna Leong - 61
42. Final Exit - Bent out of shape
43. TALK 11
44. The Bear Quartet - Lights out, sound off
My playlist for this week's radio show on Sirius:
01. Bogus Blimp - By five o'clock tea
02. TALK 1
03. Sivert Høyem - Smalltown supersound
04. Pluxus - Kinoton
05. Brick - No names
06. TALK 2
07. Hebosagil - Let us go
08. Dialog Cet - Crocodile hunt
09. Hurdy Gurdy - Ynglingen
10. Anja Garbarek - The last trick
11. TALK 3
12. E.S.T. - When god created the coffee break
13. Miss Li - I'm sorry, he's mine
14. Afenginn - Ralli i d-mol
15. Magyar Posse - Whirlpool of terror and tension
16. TALK 4
17. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
18. Sällskapet - Nordlicht
19. Nisse Hellberg - Kärlekens express
20. TALK 5
21. The Spacious Mind - Rider of the woodlands
22. TALK 6
23. Him Kerosene - Ladybugs
24. Svenson - Don't get lost
25. Namur - Marching
26. TALK 7
27. Tellevika + Firefox AK - Eric
28. Carpet People - A girl without a skin
29. Anna Ternheim - Lovers dream (feat. Fyfe Dangerfield)
30. Knife and Ape - No arms no legs
31. TALK 8
32. Brighter Death Now - American tale
I loved Munck//Johnson the very first moment I heard them. Their haunting, stripped-down sound proves the maxim that less is more. Just like Carpet People, one of my other most favorite downer-acts, I find that musical simplicity works best to convey raw emotion. And also like with Carpet People, Munck//Johnson was an easy choice for inclusion in the "Reader's companion" series. I don't have copies of their latest work "Count your blessings" in stock quite yet, but they are on the way and should be here any day now. In the meantime you can download their latest single "The streets" from the mp3 playlist today, buy "Reader's companion volume two" for the track "Slavesong" (and all the other good stuff contained therein), buy buy their split 7" with fellow Danes Pluto or purchase mp3s of their first album "Unlike you" (CDs coming soon as well). All of which are highly recommended, of course.
I loved Munck//Johnson the very first moment I heard them. Their haunting, stripped-down sound proves the maxim that less is more. Just like Carpet People, one of my other most favorite downer-acts, I find that musical simplicity works best to convey raw emotion. And also like with Carpet People, Munck//Johnson was an easy choice for inclusion in the "Reader's companion" series. I don't have copies of their latest work "Count your blessings" in stock quite yet, but they are on the way and should be here any day now. In the meantime you can download their latest single "The streets" from the mp3 playlist today, buy "Reader's companion volume two" for the track "Slavesong" (and all the other good stuff contained therein), buy buy their split 7" with fellow Danes Pluto or purchase mp3s of their first album "Unlike you" (CDs coming soon as well). All of which are highly recommended, of course.
Munck//Johnson - The streets
We did it - as of today, Olympia Washington has broken the record for the most consecutive rainy days in a row with a grand total of 34. Obviously that still doesn't compare to the terrible conditions in some places, but it's still not anything this California transplant is used to. Anyhow, I've decided to mark the occasion with the song "More bad weather coming out of the rain" from the Carpet People. What could be more perfect than that? The ideal soundtrack for a grey, dreary day.
We did it - as of today, Olympia Washington has broken the record for the most consecutive rainy days in a row with a grand total of 34. Obviously that still doesn't compare to the terrible conditions in some places, but it's still not anything this California transplant is used to. Anyhow, I've decided to mark the occasion with the song "More bad weather coming out of the rain" from the Carpet People. What could be more perfect than that? The ideal soundtrack for a grey, dreary day.
Carpet People - More bad weather coming out of the rain
Scraps of Tape