Slow news day = me finding random interesting things to post. Check out Lovisa Nyström (sister of Jakob from Isolation Years) covering a Wilco song på Svenska with help from David Sandström: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyFfXyY0xdU

The playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Kaizers Orchestra - Ompa til du dør
02. TALK 1
03. Logh - Thieves in the palace
04. Élodie - At the end of the line
05. Beem - Ducker
06. TALK 2
07. Hell On Wheels - Alexander
08. Isolation Years - Albino child
09. Honey Is Cool - Bolero
10. TALK 3
11. Mob - Wait for me
12. Skywriter - For heaven's sake
13. Menfolk - Zero is also a number
14. TALK 4
15. Plain Fade - Datura
16. Division of Laura Lee - Dirty love
17. Det Gamla Landet - Det heliga landet
18. TALK 5
19. Elope - Black eyed citizen
20. Fontän - You, me & a tree
21. Gehenna - Touched and left for dead
22. TALK 6
23. Mustasch - I hunt alone
24. Cobolt - The Atlantic Ocean takes her back
25. Blinders On - Blinders are on
26. Madrugada - Higher
27. TALK 7
28. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - I could have sworn I heard them SING
29. Notre Dame - Into the coven
30. TALK 8
31. The Motorhomes - The man

MP3: Isolation Years - Albino child

"Albino child" is the second single from Isolation Years' most recent album "Sign, sign". It's also an easy pick as my favorite track. The far more upbeat "Landslide" made sense as the first single, but it's "Albino child"'s dark vibe and confusing religious imagery that put it over the top. In a sense, that's the classic Isolation Years formula. There's always been a deep foreboding feeling throughout much of their work, especially the debut "Inland traveller" which was ripe with apocalyptic imagery. The band's psyched-out folkrock sound compliments the words perfectly. It's been quite some time since I was immersed in theology studies, so I won't try to speculate as to what it all means, but the song - the song is excellent regardless of meaning.

Isolation Years - Albino child

Also on the way from NONS is the new Montys Loco album "Namibiaalster" in November plus new singles from The Lionheart Brothers ("To make you love me"), Isolation Years ("Albino child") and Asha Ali ("A promise broken") in the near future.

Listmania! 2007 so far

MP3: Closer - Sensing the wake

We're six months into 2007 and our halftime reports are now posted. There's been a good number of strong releases so far this year, Säkert! being a collective favorite and others such as Laakso, Shout Out Louds, Isolation Years, Aerial and Familjen making multiple lists. Whittling our individual picks to three each can be difficult, but I think it forces us to be more decisive and discerning.
One act that didn't make by list, but surely deserves a place is Closer. Problem is, their new EP "The 39" isn't officially released yet and I didn't want to be all, "this is the year's best record and no, you can't hear it." Actually, I did play the track "Sensing the wake" on my radio show a couple times, but I really have no idea how many people heard it. Well, those problems are now a thing of the past as the kind dudes of Closer have decided to let me offer up "Sensing the wake" as a free download. Still no word on an official release, but it'll come - just wait.
For those that have missed my description of the band in the past, Closer plays what I can only describe as intelligent rock music. It's heavy and dark, but not exactl metal and it has the intensity of hardcore without being, y'know, hardcore. The musicianship is stellar as well, but never too showy. Fellow musicians will pick up on it, but there's no conspicuous solos or anything else to draw attention to it. Thematically, the EP is a concept piece along the same lines of "Tokpela", their debut. This time, it's based on a linear story centered around a single person and a series of events. Various similar motifs are repeated throughout the record, tying it together as a whole. Vocalist Joachim Dahlberg describes "Sensing the wake" as part one, "where the sensing part is actually just the saxophone intro, the calm before the storm." Beyond that, you're on your own. Closer loves to be mysterious and is happy to let you draw your own conclusions.

Closer - Sensing the wake

MP3: Park Hotell - Born a thief

Luleå-based indierockers Park Hotell managed to score a nice bit of publicity thanks to Mattias Alkberg's flattering one-sheet writeup. That's fine and good, but how about the music? Well, surprise surprise: they sound like a Norrland indierock band. Naturally, I think that's great - I'm a huge fan of that style and besides the mighty Bear Quartet, count many other peers as my favorites such as KVLR, Him Kerosene and Isolation Years. Park Hotell emphasizes the lighter, airier side of things though that looming presence of northern darkess always remains in the background. Otherwise, expect tons of twisted guitars and plenty of the sort of unique melodies that are a given for the genre. "Born a thief" is one of the more driving tracks on "The guest who stayed forever", the bands new double-EP (two short CDs packaged in a nice gatefold sleeve). It's probably the one song that reminds me the most of HK which is maybe why I like it so much. My only complaint: it's a shame we had to wait so long for this to finally come out.

Park Hotell - Born a thief

Friday's Sirius Blog Radio playlist:

01. The Alpine - Mondays look the same
02. TALK 1
03. Gravy - Back with the nerds
04. Giant Robot - Best match
05. Jomi Massage - A detail
06. TALK 2
07. Broder Daniel - Shoreline
08. The Grand Opening - Don't drop off
09. Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom
10. Britta Persson - Oh how wrong
11. TALK 3
12. Lemonator - Would you die for me?
13. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Short ends
14. Billie the Vision and the Dancers - Overdosing with you
15. TALK 4
16. Folie - Rocin
17. Robyn - Handle me
18. Laakso - Norrköping
19. TALK 5
20. Magnet - I walk the line
21. Isolation Years - Albino child
22. KVLR - Construction work
23. TALK 6
24. Anna Leong - 61
25. Tigerbombs - One giant leap
26. Motorpsycho - Hyena
27. TALK 7
28. Oskar Schönning - Other birds
29. Pan Sonic - Rähinä II / Mayhem II
30. Mercyful Fate - Evil
31. TALK 8
32. Ricochets - Come around over
33. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
34. Smalltown - The music
35. Popface - In the night
36. TALK 9
37. Circle Six - 1

Tonight! Don't forget to check out my show on Sirius Satellite Radio at 10pm ET on Channel 26/Left of Center! I'll be playing new stuff from Gravy, Billie the Vision and the Dancers, Laakso and Isolation Years as well as a bunch of other favorites. Got a Stiletto? Set it to record!

Last night's playlist for my show on Sirius Blog Radio:

01. Isolation Years - Yellow cross on blue
02. TALK 1
03. Johndoe - Nattskift
04. Montys Loco - Wasteland
05. Once We Were - Cut corners
06. TALK 2
07. [ingenting] - Mycket vasen for ingenting
08. Margaret Berger - Robot song
09. Namur - Marching
10. Lampshade - New legs
11. TALK 3
12. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
13. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
14. Fattaru - 100:-
15. Juvelen - Hanna
16. TALK 4
17. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
18. Sonores - 16th of June
19. Detektivbyrån - E18
20. TALK 5
21. At the Gates - The swarm
22. Barra Head - Kill the lights
23. TALK 6
24. The Tough Alliance - Leg 7
25. Torpedo - My evil twin
26. Alog - Catch that totem!
27. TALK 7
28. Valley Days - 10k angels
29. A-ha - Celice
30. Victims - Who the fuck are we?
31. TALK 8
32. The Vicious - Alienated
33. Viola - Unreal life
34. Zweizz - Nowadays the only boring everything is so frustrating
35. Viktor Sjöberg - Winter guitars
36. TALK 9
37. Closer - The talker
38. Aerial - My god, it's full of stars!
39. The Kissaway Trail - La la song
40. Laakso - Italy vs Helsinki
41. The Psyke Project - Panic
42. TALK 10
43. C.Aarmé - We are the world

Next week: expect lots more killer jams including totally a brand new track from Closer and maybe even a spotlight set on post-rock/ambient music. Good times!

Isolation Years have posted one of the tracks from their new one-sided LP, out now on Do You Dream of Noise?: http://www.myspace.com/isolationyearsmusic
The song is called "Dear Satan" and it's great.

Check out Isolation Years performing "Landslide" on Swedish TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk87sgZ5lc4

MP3: Säkert! - Sanningsdan

It was never a matter of if I was going to post something from Säkert!, the Swedish-language project of Annika Norlin aka Hello Saferide, only a matter of when. Naturally, I am predisposed to enjoy the record - how could I not? I'm obviously a big enough fan of Hello Saferide that I decided it was worth a couple thousand dollars to press her debut album on vinyl and promote it in the US. Factor in that Annika is backed on the record by some of Umeå's best musicians and I'm sold before I've heard a note. It's no secret that I hold Norrland's capital city near and dear to my heart - my label's first release was from KVLR, another band from that same city. So what do you get when you have Henrik Oja from The Spacious Mind plus Mats Hammarström and Daniel Berglund from Isolation Years all making music together? Hopefully you've heard the brilliant debut single "Vi kommer att dö samtidigt" already; if not please recitify that right away. Um, can you say pop hit of the year? It's good enough that it's already inspired an English cover version from The Animal Five. I'm a bit torn on which track is the runner-up - it was either "Allt som är ditt" or today's mp3 post "Sanningsdan". The former is a fantastic song, but it's also a bit more downbeat (it reminds me a lot of something from Johndoe's "Dødvinkel", one of my favorite albums from 2006), so I've gone with the latter. It's a duet with Martin Hanberg of Vapnet and it practically stands up and demands a video treatment. It also demands repeat plays with the way it stops, restarts and fades out. So infectious! I wish I could tell you what it's about, but I can't so I won't. Just enjoy the song.
Buy the self-titled album: [click here]

Säkert! - Sanningsdan (ft. Martin Hanberg)

Stickman will release Isolation Years' latest album "Sign, sign" in Europe on April 27. They will also be doing a vinyl edition of the record.

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Weeping Willows - Fear & love
02. Caroline Af Ugglas - Joplin på Svenska
03. Lena Philipsson - Lena 20 år
04. Sophie Zelmani - Memory loves you
05. Salem Al Fakir - This is who I am
06. Lasse Stefanz - 40 ljuva år!
07. Calaisa - Calaisa
08. Säkert! - Säkert
09. Laleh - Prinsessor
10. Isolation Years - Sign, sign
11. Fläskkvartetten - Voices of Eden
12. Veronica Maggio - Vatten & bröd
14. Martin Stenmarck - Nio sanningar och en lögn
15. Moneybrother - Pengabrorsan
16. Anna Ternheim - Separation road
17. Nisse Hellberg - Snackbar blues
18. Björn Skifs - Andra Decennier
19. Jill Johnson - The woman I've become
20. Markus Fagervall - Echo heart