Oscillatone Records (Majessic Dreams, Kompjotr Eplektrika) has just released a new cassette from Swedish experimental artist Luva (aka Gustav M Karlsson) entitled "The invisible colours of Do Re Mi". Samples and more details: http://www.myspace.com/luvan1
Majessic DreamsThe influence of 1960s folk music is wrapped perfectly around the mechanism of Scandinavian pop music with Majessic Dreams. Finger-picked acoustic guitars find themselves awash in a sea of warm keyboards and distinctly Scandinavian voices, sometimes echoing the themes of The Radio Dept., other times recalling more Americana influences, especially with tracks like "Wish he was you". Like Promise and the Monster, this act crafts magnificent dreamscapes with their stratified instrumentation, the guitar strings retaining their staccato appeal without coming across as coarse or brash. The only failing of "Beautiful days" is that its emotional core seems rather stagnant -- tracks flow too easily into one another, and soon the entire affair becomes a beautiful blur instead of a collection of beautiful, individual songs. With repeated listens, this failing may slip away for some. Definitely worth a listen, if nothing else.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
The new Majessic Dreams album "Beautiful days" is disappointing because it's not at all what I was expecting. Only a few tracks (such as the one I've posted today) retain the lush electronic dreamscapes that characterized their previous work. Instead, the duo has pared back their songs to their organic core, a time-honored approach, but one that renders them mediocre. It makes them more human, more approachable, but also less interesting. The more layers they pile on, the more they hide themselves, the deeper I want to dig. I want to put on headphones and get lost in the music. I can do that with "Naked walls". My head swims in the soft waves of loops, cascading gently in series. It's still nowhere near as alien-sounding as their first album, but a happy medium. I can live with that.
Majessic Dreams - Naked walls
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Lögnhalsmottagningen - Bodybuilder
02. TALK 1
03. Svart - Carl du lever i en dröm
04. Majessic Dreams - Beautiful days
05. Antennas - Lies (Oscar Tillman remix)
06. TALK 2
07. The Sound O.E - Universal tourist
08. Kaipa - Nattdjurstid
09. Murmansk - Pale
10. TALK 3
11. On Volcano - Ride the wolf
12. Markus Krunegård - Samma nätter vänter alla
13. Ondo - Mahavishnu
14. TALK 4
15. Popsicle - Hey princess
16. CMX - Tulikiveä
17. Ström i P2/Håkan Lidbo - Strömavbrott (Boeoes Kaelstigen Etsi remix)
18. TALK 5
19. The Goner - Kill them all save Simon Joyner
20. Cult of Luna - Eternal kingdom
21. Montys Loco - Ages ago
22. TALK 6
23. Mattias Alkberg BD - Allting är drömt
24. Masshysteri - Monoton tid
25. Ljudbilden & Piloten - You know you're doing OK
26. Abduktio - Thermador
27. TALK 7
28. Hebosagil - Big sun
29. Anna Ternheim - To be gone
30. Kusowsky - Tjuvar
31. Fredrik - 1986
32. TALK 8
33. Johan Heltne - 16 Avenue de l'Opera
34. Cortex - Arkham
35. Kleerup - Until we bleed (ft. Lykke Li)
36. TALK 9
37. Coldworker - Citizens of the cyclopean maze
Heads-up: my show is moving to a new time next week! Starting on Sunday, June 8 my show will be on at 11pm Eastern / 8pm Pacific with a repeat on Monday at the exact same time. I'm also paring down to an hour of programming a week, so expect all-killer/no-filler from here on out! Also, seeing as how I'm leaving for Sweden on June 9, this week's coming show will be a Hultsfred Festival special so mark your calenders, update your alarm clocks or do whatever it is you need to do to remind yourself to listen in!
Majessic Dreams have a new song up on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/majessicdreams
The duo's new album "Beautiful days" is out now via PonyRec.
Swedish experimental pop duo Majessic Dreams have added yet another new track to their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/majessicdreams
Look for their new album "Beautiful days" to be released on April 7.
The release date for the new Majessic Dreams album "Beautiful days" has been confirmed for April 7 via PonyRec. The duo will play a release show at Art & Colour in Copenhagen on April 4.
Listen to a new track from Majessic Dreams' forthcoming record "Beautiful days": http://www.myspace.com/majessicdreams
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Britta Persson - Cliffhanger
02. TALK 1
03. Death By Kite - Sweet M
04. KVLR - Traitors and thieves
05. Anna Ternheim - Today is a good day
06. TALK 2
07. Don Juan Dracula - Take me home (Johan Angebjörn remix feat. Sally Shapiro)
08. Amorphis - Weaving the incantation
09. Thomas Denver Jonsson - Dreams at the film club (feat. Nina Kinert)
10. TALK 3
11. Don't Be A Stranger - Lonely together
12. Madrugada - Tonight I have no words for you
13. Majessic Dreams - Have to go
14. TALK 4
15. Pavan - The bird
16. Bröderna Lindgren - Om en guldfisk (feat. Kristofer Åström)
17. The Tarantula Waltz - Where I end and you begin
18. Adam Tensta - They wanna know
19. TALK 5
20. Commando M Pigg - Mot stjärnorna
21. Gravy - Rock scientists
22. Jonas Game - ADHD
23. TALK 6
24. Linus Larsson & John Roger Olsson - In the shadow
25. Idiot Kid - Go to sleep
26. Mats Öberg - Cool water - på Den Gyldene Freden
27. TALK 7
28. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
29. The Bear Quartet - I would be poor
30. Peloton - Aranburu
31. Royal Downfall - Lightning strikes twice
32. TALK 8
33. Made In Sweden - Winter's a bummer
34. Erik Enocksson - The state the sea left me in
35. Asha Ali - Coward heart
36. TALK 9
37. A-ha - Celice
Swedish label Oscillatone (Majessic Dreams, Kompjotr Eplektrika) has a nice new website: http://www.oscillatone.com/
New releases on the way from Danish label PonyRec:
Munck//Johnson - Live 10" EP, December
Majessic Dreams - "Beautiful days", CD + LP, early 2008
Løzninger – "Noboby knows" 7", early 2008, new signing from France who was worked a lot with Danish label BSBTA
Evil Death Machine - tba 7", early 2008
Livaventura - tba 7", spring 2008, ex-Low Frequency in Stereo
Heartbreak Basement - tba retrospective 2LP, spring 2008, another BSBTA-affiliated act
Halph - tba CD + LP, spring 2008, working with producer Mario McNulty
For more info and myspace links, go here: http://www.ponyrec.dk/
The playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Isolation Years - Frosted minds
02. TALK 1
03. Hyacinth House - Lucky stranger
04. Immanu El - Kosmonaut
05. Kamera - Fragile
06. TALK 2
07. Pay TV - Fashion report (clubmix)
08. Fun - I've got a truck
09. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
10. TALK 3
11. Superfamily - Warszawa
12. Majessic Dreams - Still inside
13. The Indecision Alarm - Time for the big guns, baby
14. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
15. TALK 4
16. The Fine Arts Showcase - Modern love
17. Karin Ström - Ordlös
18. Meleeh - Malign
19. TALK 5
20. Kongh - Pushed beyond
21. Baby Woodrose - Let yourself go
22. TALK 6
23. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet (Cat Burgler remix)
24. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Rhythm
25. The Bell - I need nothing
26. September - Satellites
27. TALK 7
28. Piroth - Waltz for prima ballerina
29. Sällskapet - Järnstaden
30. Montt Mardié - Birthday boy (drama)
31. TALK 8
32. CS Nielsen - Bottle for the road
33. Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - Love will tear us apart
34. Voices Break the Silence - Mopo3
35. TALK 9
36. Plain Fade - Blue skies ahead
The playlist for my radio show this week:
01. Paper - My life is going under
02. TALK 1
03. Mr. Suitcase - You don't smile anymore
04. Camouflage - Violetta du
05. Majessic Dreams - Black out
06. TALK 2
07. Amorphis - Towards and against
08. Beyond Dawn - Among the sedatives
09. Don't Be A Stranger - Perfect problem
10. TALK 3
11. Totalitär - Nej vi ska inte ha nåt
12. Miss Li - I'm glad I'm not a proud American
13. Tiger Lou - A lucky escape
14. Oskar Schönning - Fraid
15. TALK 4
16. Karsten Pflum - Draworder
17. Anna Ternheim - Lovers dream
18. Front and the Factory Lies Beneath - Drown in misery
19. TALK 5
20. Midaircondo - Could you please stop
21. Pg.lost - Yes I am
22. The Perishers - Carefree
23. TALK 6
24. Pistol Disco - Upside down
25. Nasum - The system has failed again
26. Sweatmaster - Mystery
27. The Second Band - The modern age
28. Träd, Gräs och Stenar - In kommer gösta
29. TALK 7
30. Ultralyd - Low waist
31. Ambulance - Forever friends
32. The Social Services - Up in arms
33. TALK 8
34. Barra Head - Overseas
35. Sivert Høyem - Exiles
36. Viola - Imaginary times
37. TALK 9
38. Kornstad - Turkey, Texas
I'm retiring the word "shoegaze" from my personal reviewing vocabulary; I think it's demeaning and overused. I much prefer the acronym-friendly "electro-ambient dream-pop" (EADP) to instantly place the sound of bands like Sweden's Red Moon in its rightful category. This delightful 4-track demo is a sublime, confident rush of lush, melancholy drone-song from the minds of Katarina and Eva Thulin. Although they're mining territory similar to Majessic Dreams, the Thulin girls build up a chiming surge of atmosphere throughout these tracks that carries you along like a fast-moving glacier (and there's a chilly ambience that provides plenty of Nordic allure). "Nothing there" generates a soothing flow from the soft keyboards and whispery vocals, but then drums kick in unexpectedly and give the tune a stellar peak, showing the pop smarts these girls possess. "Landslide" blends a lush soundscape with just a wisp of percussion, lyrically seeming to be about a lover who can't keep his promises (the vocals are mesmerizing, but are mixed to a near drone, so the words aren't always easily discernible). "The height" utilizes acoustic guitars and a static-laden foreground before launching a fairly hypnotic rhythmic element that sounds terrific through headphones. I admire the willful creative aesthetic that goes into generating sonic landscapes like this. The lyric says something about being "in the land of the midnight sun," and the music makes you feel that you are. "Closer" is a bit reminiscent of "Victorialand"-era Cocteau Twins, with subtle alterations in the vocals-to-soundscape ratio. You get the sense that the soft female voices here could dissolve into gentle static at any moment, and maybe that'll be a Red Moon trademark, who knows. But on the basis of this first recording, the Thulin sisters are certainly engaging practitioners of this particular strain of dreamy Scandinavian drone-pop, and I'll look forward to their full-length.
- Kevin Renick
PonyRec, one of my favorite up-and-coming labels, has signed Swedish duo Majessic Dreams. Their abstract dreamy and droning pop music has been well-liked at IAT for a long time, so I'm definitely looking forward to their next full-length when it's released in spring 2007. Check out their earlier releases right here: [click here]
