Lukestar - Where the circus winters

IAT favorites Lukestar are streaming a new track: http://www.myspace.com/lukestar
Too bad myspace doesn't allow downloads anymore.

Sirius playlist week #52

Here's the playlist for last week's radio show on 12/28, a special all-jazz program to close out the year:

01. TALK 1
02. Jan Johansson - Visa från Utanmyra
03. Saft - Marching for no. 1
04. Auton - El Dorado
05. TALK 2
06. The Splendor - Canary Islands
07. Kornstad/Opsvik - Happy house (live)
08. TALK 3
09. Yttling Jazz - Konstant krease
10. Jonas Knutsson - Glaciär
11. Moha! - Teknosangen
12. Oskar Schönning - Faustine
13. TALK 4
14. E.S.T. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) - Leucocyte (ad initio)

And in case you happened to catch it, here also is my Sirius XMU top 10 most important albums of 2008 playlist:

#10 - Fucked Up - Days of last
#09 - Commando M Pigg - Baby doll
BEST COVER SONG - The Kid - Mayhem troopers (Cortex)
#08 - Katzenjammer - Le pop
#07 - Tobias Hellkvist - Wintervarm
#06 - The Goner - Field ceremony
BEST REMIX OF 2008 - Firefox AK vs Laid - Once I was like you
#05 - Haust - Ugly fucking Oslo
#04 - Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Which way to go
#03 - Sort Sol - White shirt
BEST LIVE ACT OF 2008 - Sex Vid - Cleansing
#02 - Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
#01 - Lukestar - White shade

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.

Top 10s for 2008: It's a Trap! (albums)

MP3: Lukestar - It's ok amigo

The closer we get to December, the closer we are to year-end list time. Yes, once again I will be hosting my December Top 10 extravaganza with new guestlists every day and if you think you're worthy of submitting a list, you better get in touch soon 'cuz space is limited. As for me and the rest of IAT's contributing staff, we're busy putting together our own year-end lists. I've got about 20 albums to pare down to a top ten, but one record that's sure to make it is Lukestar's "Lake Toba". I said it waaaay back in January and I'm sticking to it -- it's a damn great album and it still slays 98% of the crap released this year. However, since it's a Friday, I'm going to take you back to the band's first album "Alpine unit" from 2004. Honestly, I don't think I would've spotted the seeds of greatness in this. It's solid emo-pop, but it doesn't soar like "Lake Toba". The vocals are less inhumanly high and ethereal and more average/whiny. However, the melodies are still strong, especially on the chorus of songs like the one I've posted today. Unfortunately it just doesn't quite hit the mark. Still, like I said, it's a decent listen and it really does provide a good view of where the band came from and that's something I think is always worth looking into. Now, let's speculate as to where they'll go next...

Malmö residents! Don't forget to check out Lukestar when they play the It's a Trap! Clubnight at Debaser next weekend, November 29. It's going to be amazing, I assure you.

Lukestar - It's ok amigo

PopMatters finally gets around to discovering Lukestar: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/58798/lukestar-lake-toba/

NME is streaming Lukestar's excellent album "Lake Toba": http://www.nme.com/mediaPlayer&playlist_id=1817&on=media
If you have yet to hear it, here's your chance.

Besides the previously announced dates for October, it looks like Lukestar will be back in France in November to support the French release of "Lake Toba", out now on Rock's My Ass Records: http://www.myspace.com/rocksmyassrds

Updated Lukestar tourdates:

09/23 - Saint-Etienne, L’Assommoir (FRA)
09/24 - Soraluze, Gaztetxe (ESP)
09/25 - Basauri, Basozelai (ESP)
09/26 - Torrelavega, Centro andaluz (ESP)
09/27 - Madrid, Art brut (ESP)
09/28 - Don Benito, The Rincon Pio Sound (ESP)
09/29 - Badajoz (ESP)
09/30 - Cádiz (ESP)
10/01 - El Picazo (ESP)
10/02 - Málaga (ESP)
10/03 - Zaragoza (ESP)
10/04 - Barcelona, Sidecar (ESP)
10/06 - Toulouse, Pavillion Sauvage (FRA)
10/07 - Clermont Ferrand, Atoutazar (FRA)

Look for the band to play CMJ in NYC in late October as well.

Extra, extra! Norway's Lukestar is now confirmed for the It's a Trap! Clubnight at Debaser Mamlö on November 29! Look for a support act to be named soon! Also note that Finnish acts Disco Ensemble and Lapko are playing on October 17 if you didn't already see it posted in the sidebar. Good times!

International release dates for Lukestar's excellent album "Lake Toba":

09/19 - Germany/Austria/Switzerland (Riptide Recordings)
09/22 - Denmark (Tuba/Bonnier), UK (Tuba/Backs/Shellshock), France (RocksMyAssRecords), Belgium/Holland (Tuba/Berthus), Spain (Arindelle Records)

Still one of the best releases of 2008. Look for them to tour Europe extensively this coming fall too - dates soon!

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
02. TALK 1
03. Division of Laura Lee - Central Park
04. New Decade - While tonight still is
05. Abduktio - Uutisia rintamalta
06. TALK 2
07. Echo Is Your Love - Lion tamer vs tigers
08. Fireside - Silver muscle car
09. Him Kerosene - Ladybugs
10. TALK 3
11. NEI - New morning
12. The Bear Quartet - All your life
13. Park Hotell - Dead ringers
14. KVLR - Spit
15. Electric Retard - Skate girl
16. TALK 4
17. Samuraj Cities - Ugly kids are alright
18. Barra Head - Iron to skin
19. Death By Kite - Himmelfahrtskommando
20. TALK 5
21. Blithe - Haven
22. Starmarket - You can't come
23. Lukestar - White shade
24. Monkeystrikes - Tahonga take away
25. TALK 6
26. Voices Break the Silence - This awful friend

Reminder: My show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday at the same time.

The video for the title track of Lukestar's album "Lake Toba" is now online: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=35895920

MP3: Montys Loco - Criminal

I'm bored with new music but since we oh-so-conveniently just passed 2008's halfway mark, I figure it's a perfect time to revisit some of my favorite releases of the year thus far. Hopefully I've harped on about Lukestar enough already for you to get the point (and the album, dammit!), so let's talk about Montys Loco. As I mentioned before, I love their pseudo-industrial pop sound, but even more, I love their attitude. I've spent a huge amount of time this year getting down with all sorts of bad-vibes hardcore and while I love that stuff, I can feel myself turning into a knuckle-dragger the deeper I get into it. It's a scene that's ripe with machismo, so it's incredibly refreshing to hear similar negative emotions from the fairer sex. Face it, women have every right to be just as pissed, if not moreso, it's just rarer that we get to hear it, especially outside of a hardcore/metal context. Loud guitars? Bah! Who needs em? I rather have off-kilter drum loops and clanging metal percussion for variety's sake. Anyone can recycle post-"Damaged" Black Flag riffs. This is something else entirely.

Montys Loco - Criminal

Pitchfork reviews Lukestar and Truls and the Trees: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/51003-lake-toba-ailanthus
Too bad they got it mixed up; I still think that Lukestar album is one of 2008's best releases. Truls and the Trees, not so much.

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Johan Heltne - Din alkoholism är ingen alkoholism
02. TALK 1
03. Doktor Kosmos - Doktor Kosmos spelar på Tensta torg
04. Oliver North Boy Choir - New folder
05. Firefox AK + Laid - Once I was like you
06. TALK 2
07. THe Eight Arms Around You - Guilt ridden
08. Efterklang - Step aside
09. Orjan Hultén Trio ft. Fakir Karlsson - Untitled
10. TALK 3
11. Kornstad Trio - Intornette
12. Dmitry Fydorov - Greetings, D!
13. Disfear - Live the storm
14. TALK 4
15. I Are Droid - Time on time
16. Ihsahn - Unhealer
17. Juvelen - Don't mess
18. TALK 5
19. Henrik Rylander - Information and disinformation for alien civilizations
20. Namur - Draw us near
21. Lukestar - Clockworks of tomorrow
22. TALK 6
23. DS-13 - Prechewed rebellion
24. The Kid - Mayhem troopers
25. Sophie Rimheden - Go away
26. Anders Persson och Carl Smith - Morgonsol i April
27. TALK 7
28. Masshysteri - Monoton tid
29. NSI - 12
30. Zanussi Five - Azrah illusion / Street woman
31. TALK 8
32. Washington - Landslide
33. The Grand Opening - Dark dark dawn
34. Bobby and Blumm - Hiss and rustle
35. Paragon - Aavisst
36. TALK 9
37. Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Bebopalulia