Top fives: 2005 so far

Hooray! If you look to the right, you'll see that the time has finally come for the second installment of the IAT.MP3 series. The Grand Opening is the musical alias of Roger Olsson from Stockholm, Sweden. If you're at all into melancholic slowcore acts like Idaho, Low, Early Day Miners, American Music Club or maybe also countrymates Logh, you're sure to love the "Location" EP. I know it's probably not all that cool to admit it, but some of the music reminds me of early/mid-90s midwestern emo rock, the kind of thing I used to listen to before the genre became synonymous with garbage. Anyhow, you don't have to take my word for it - download it and listen for yourself. As always, all IAT.MP3 releases are distributed under a creative commons music license, so it's free to share. Enjoy!

I can finally confirm that Hydrahead will be releasing Logh's most recent album "A sunset panorama" in the US sometime later this year. There's no confirmed release date yet, but the American edition will also include the bonus DVD that came with the Bad Taste Records version.

Thomas Denver Johnsson has updated his tour schedule:

04/17 - Scheune, Dresden (GER)
04/18 - Strandperle, Limburg (GER)
04/19 - tbc
04/20 - ppc, Graz (AUS)
04/21 - Shelter, Wien (AUS) w/Björn Kleinhenz
04/22 - Siegls, Wr. Neustadt (AUS) w/Björn Kleinhenz
04/23 - Sublime, Aflenz (AUS) w/Björn Kleinhenz
04/24 - Arena, Wien (AUS) w/Logh
04/29 - Boa, Luzern (SWI) w/Logh
04/30 - Hafenbuffet, Rorschach (SWI)

The excellent Finnish music blog Lupatarkastaja has posted a link for the Mattias Friberg (Logh) and Switchblade collaboration from the latter's special-edition tour 7"/CDR for download: http://lupatarkastaja.blogspot.com/2005/03/switchblade-w-mattias-friberg-705-mp3.html
Of course the result is great - how could it not be with such amazing talents working together? I thought about posting this track awhile back, but decided against it as I figured the bands wouldn't be too pleased. Glad to see Deathwish is spreading the word as they will soon be releasing it in the US.

Updated tourdates for Logh:

03/23 - Molotow, Hamburg (GER)
03/24 - Alex Skatehall, Osnabrück (GER)
03/26 - Prager Frühling, München (GER)
03/27 - Cafe Central, Weinheim (GER)
03/28 - Péniche 6/8, Paris (FRA)
03/29 - JUZ, Saarlouis (GER)
03/30 - Phoenix Club, Liege (BEL)
03/31 - 013 Popcentre, Tilburg (NL)
04/01 - JC De Klinker, Aarschot (BEL)
04/02 - Blue Shell, Cologne (GER)
04/03 - Patronaat, Haarlem (NL)
04/04 - Hirscheneck, Basel (SWI)
04/05 - Sidecar, Barcelona (SPA)
04/06 - Siroco, Madrid (SPA)
04/07 - Meu Mercedes, Porto (POR)
04/08 - Santiago Alquimista , Lisbon (POR)
04/09 - Metropol, Sevilla (SPA)
04/12 - Bistroy, Lyon (FRA)
04/13 - Club 74, Bologna, ITA
04/15 - Rec Club, Patras (GR)
04/16 - AN Club, Athens (GR)
04/17 - Mylos (Xylourgeio), Tessaloniki (GR)
04/18 - Balans Music Hall, Istanbul (TUR)
04/19 - Area 51, Varna (BUL)
04/20 - Shipka, Sofia (BUL)
04/21 - Kset, Zagreb (CRO)
04/22 - Shotoclub, Izola (SLO)
04/23 - Channel Zero, Ljubljana (SLO)
04/24 - Arena, Wien (AUS)
04/26 - 007, Prague (CZ)
04/27 - Salon Hansen, Ulm (GER)
04/28 - ISC, Bern (SWI)
04/29 - BOA, Luzern (SWI)
04/30 - Antagon (show at 23.00), Frankfurt (GER)
04/30 - Final Cut #7 (show at 18.00), Karlsruhe (GER)
05/01 - Scheune, Dresden (GER)
05/02 - Knaack club, Berlin (GER)
05/03 - Triptychon, Münster (GER) w/Isis, Jesu
05/04 - Vera, Groningen (NL) w/Isis, Jesu
05/06 - Pusterviksbaren, Gothenburg (SWE) w/Isis, Jesu
05/07 - John Doe, Oslo (NOR) w/Isis, Jesu
05/08 - Debaser, Stockholm (SWE) w/Isis, Jesu

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (04) De Stijl - "Queen Midas"
02. (01) 22 Pistepirkko - "Rat King"
03. (19) New Order - "Krafty"
04. (NY) Hello Kinski - "My Baby Should Be Home By Now"
05. (02) Lo-Fi-Fnk - "... and the JFG"
06. (08) Jenny Wilson - "Summer Time"
07. (05) Hot Hot Heat - "Goodnight Goodnight"
08. (ÅT) Stereophonics - "Dakota"
09. (07) Maximo Park - "Apply Some Pressure"
10. (NY) K-OS - "Crabbuckit"
11. (10) Basement Jaxx - "Oh My Gosh"
12. (NY) Psycho Candy Cindy - "Hey Hey Hey"
13. (NY) Chick Habit - "Rule the World"
14. (ÅT) Moby - "Lift Me Up"
15. (ÅT) Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck - "The Good You Bring"
16. (09) Embee med José González - "Send Someone Away"
17. (ÅT) Doves - "Black and White Town"
18. (06) Diplo - "Newsflash"
19. (NY) Amerie - "1 Thing"
20. (NY) Millencolin - "Ray"

Leaving the chart: Timo Räisänen, Wolfmother, The Donnas, Estelle, The Postal Service, Radio Luxemburg, Logh, Beck, The Lovekins and Maxim.

Finland's 22 Pistepirkko is still managing to hold onto the top spot on the Swedish student radio top 20:

01. (01) 22 Pistepirkko - "Rat King"
02. (02) Lo-Fi-Fnk - "... and the JFG"
03. (05) Timo Räisinen - "Don't Let the Devil Ruin it All"
04. (04) De Stijl - "Queen Midas"
05. (06) Hot Hot Heat - "Goodnight Goodnight"
06. (ÅT) Diplo - "Newsflash"
07. (07) Maximo Park - "Apply Some Pressure"
08. (NY) Jenny Wilson - "Summer Time"
09. (15) Embee featuring José González - "Send Someone Away"
10. (19) Basement Jaxx - "Oh My Gosh"
11. (08) Wolfmother - "Woman"
12. (03) The Donnas - "I don't Want to Know (If You don't Want Me)"
13. (11) Estelle - "Go Gone"
14. (13) The Postal Service - "We Will Become Silhouettes"
15. (ÅT) Radio Luxemburg - "It's Cruel Up North"
16. (NY) Logh - "Destinymanifesto"
17. (12) Beck - "Epro"
18. (16) The Lovekins - "Happy Happy"
19. (17) New Order - "Krafty"
20. (NY) Maxim - "I don't care"

Leaving the chart: Stereophonics, Moby, Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck, Kent and Sambassadeur.

Indieworkshop reviews the new Logh album: http://indieworkshop.com/reviews/1548/
I don't think I'd agree with their assessment that it's the best Logh album, but I agree with the rest 100%.

Don't forget to also check out the new batch of reviews posted yesterday evening. We've got the lowdown on new singles from Moneybrother and The Chrysler, demo reviews of Punky's Dilemma and The Sunday Orchestra, my official take on the new Logh and Simon Tagestam's assessment of a couple new Labrador releases.

Jim from Parasol goes in-depth with what's so awful about Pitchfork's review of Logh: http://www.parasol.com/blog/archives/00000478.htm
My sentiments exactly.

Logh
A sunset panorama
Bad Taste Records

This is the kind of record that really takes a long time to sink in and make an impression. As with most every other review I've seen, I was considerably underwhelmed when I first heard the album, but I made myself go back and relisten numerous times before delivering a verdict. i'm glad I did because the more times I listen, the more I find to appreciate. Look, it's no secret that Logh is one of my favorite bands, but that doesn't mean I think they're beyond criticism. "A sunset panorama" is a noble experiment of live-in-the-studio recording, but it is most definitely not the band's best work when compared to the greatness of "The raging sun". Does that mean it's not worth getting? No, of course not - it's still better than most of the new stuff I've heard so far this year and a fine example of music that sounds unequivocally Nordic without being folk.
- Avi Roig

Pitchfork reviews the new Logh album "A sunset panorama": http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/logh/sunset-panorama.shtml
I knew they were going to pick on the lyrics, but what the heck is that dude talking about otherwise? I agree that the album seems kind of boring on initial listens, but after repeated plays it really starts to grow on you and reveal itself. Sure, it doesn't top "The raging sun", but it's still a fine album and a noble experiment in live recording.

Logh has a new website up: http://logh.se/

On-demand video site Musicbrigade is currently hosting a Logh spotlight with a few clips from the upcoming album/DVD "A sunset panorama": http://www.musicbrigade.com/