Artist: Mixtapes & Cellmates
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The playlist for my radio show this week:
01. At the Gates - Suicide nation
02. TALK 1
03. Moving Oos - Stronger
04. Eskju Divine - Hold on
05. Mechanical Bird - Sunday
06. TALK 2
07. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
08. DS13 - Thrash lifestyle
09. Montt Mardié - Metropolis
10. Junior Senior - Can I get get get
11. TALK 3
12. Niccokick - Love & neon lights
13. Kristofer Åström - I collect knives
14. Death Breath - His protoplasmic worship
15. TALK 4
16. Mob - Ghost track
17. MZ412 - Unhealing wounds
18. Ugress - Manhattan sapphire
19. TALK 5
20. Shining - Låt oss ta allt från darandra
21. No Hope for the Kids - Rainy day
22. Moneybrother - Det blir ingen dans
23. Amandine - For all the marbles
24. TALK 6
25. Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle
26. Last Days of April - Aspirins and alcohol
27. M:40 - När bomberna faller
28. TALK 7
29. Espen Jørgensen - The immaculate conception
30. Motorpsycho - For free
31. The Carny - Man under the sun
32. TALK 8
33. Karin Ström - Klaustrofobi
34. Badun - Pulsen
35. Meshuggah - Future breed machine
36. Värttinä - Mero
37. TALK 9
38. Randy - Better than art
39. Closer - Open casket
40. Alog - Buffalo demon
41. TALK 10
42. On Trial - Speaking of witch
July's Record Club selection is the self-titled debut from Mixtapes & Cellmates. On backup: the new EP collection "A retrospective". Young, smart and oblivious to lame trends, Mixtapes are easily one of my favorite indiepop bands right now. That is, if you could label their music as merely that - there's so much else going on, from glitchy electronic beats to fuzzy shoegazer textures and more. For a debut album, this is incredibly well-composed and self-assured and probably just the very start of what I imagine will be a long and fruitful career. "The better half of cynical boys" builds off a clever acoustic guitar figure that frames a simple, frail vocal. The chorus introduces string textures and the guitar gets busier, but they never overwhelm the main vocal melody. It's a delicate balancing act as there's quite a bit going on, but they pull it off without a problem, without ever getting too self-indulgent.
Mixtapes & Cellmates - The better half of cynical boys
Hey look! New in the webstore: Tsukimono's new album "Time canvas" plus the new Mixtapes & Cellmates EP collection "A retrospective". Awesome!
Nomethod has confirmed release dates from One Little Indian/Tangled Up! for both Mixtapes & Cellmates and Aerial:
US:
08/15 - Mixtapes & Cellmates - s/t (Digital street date)
UK:
10/15 - Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet (download single)
10/22 - Mixtapes & Cellmates - s/t CD
10/08 - Aerial - My god it's full of stars (download single)
10/15 - Aerial - The sentinel CD
Look for Aerial to tour Europe in October as well.
Check out a live video of Mixtapes & Cellmates performing at Hultsfred: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0-TYUPvIoYc
The playlist for my radio show on Sirius this week:
01. Beyond Dawn - Far from showbiz
02. TALK 1
03. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
04. The Fine Arts Showcase - Dance with your shadow
05. Pan Sonic - Hinaaja / Tugboat
06. TALK 2
07. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Hold
08. The Bear Quartet - I don't wanna
09. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - When she's GONE
10. TALK 3
11. Laakso - High drama
12. Park Hotell - The guest who stayed forever
13. Fun - Hold it close
14. TALK 4
15. The Book of Daniel - Rabbit boy
16. Watain - Storm of the Antichrist
17. Viktor Sjöberg - w/Nothing
18. Kristofer Åström - Fallen
19. TALK 5
20. Mainliners - Olivia
21. Oddjob - Kings are walking out
22. Lemonator - Heart burns
23. TALK 6
24. Tobias Hellkvist - Slowly but surely
25. Attrap - Just a word away
26. Sahara Hotnights - Visit to Vienna
27. TALK 7
28. The Leather Nun - No rule
29. Alog - Son of king
30. Thunder Express - Vegas
31. TALK 8
32. Closer - Sensing the wake
8
I've often wondered if the point of music is to punctuate the sprawling, sequenced moments of life, to trap memories in such a way that when we hear a song five years on from that first listen we remember the smell of a room, the clothes a girl we knew was wearing, and, most importantly, how it felt to be alive at that time and place in our lives. Mixtapes & Cellmates' recent full-length seems to add weight to my idealistic, dreamer's philosophy; the first instants of "Hold" took me back to warm summer evenings in Stockholm with its wonderfully interwoven elements of Magnet, Last Days of April, and the Radio Dept. This unique layering of influences doesn't detract from the distinctly original approach of the members, instead giving the compositions the ability to bring whispers of nostalgia to a recognizable volume while still etching itself into the present. Mixtapes & Cellmates is a flowing expanse of youthful energy and maturely crafted songs. The production wonderfully highlights the talents of the members: electronic elements provide many of the core facets of the melodies, but without becoming annoying or distracting, providing the backdrop for the soft, yet confident vocals and lost, sprawling guitar lines. The end product is a collection of confidently written, well presented, and full-bodied songs, even in the sparser sections of compositions like "The better half of cynical boys". Mixtapes & Cellmates holds as much dawn as it does early evening, giving it the versatile strengths required to be both a good summer and winter album; hopeful even in its darker moments, as I'd like to look back on these moments of youth in five years.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Nomethod has signed Mixtapes & Cellmates frontman Robert Svensson to a solo record deal which he is currently recording at home in Stockholm for an anticipated October 10 release. Look for a free EP soon and listen to demos at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/robertsvenssonisalive
My special guest on my radio show this week was Ola Frick of the Moonbabies. Here's what we played:
01. Johndoe - Kjøtere
02. TALK 1
03. Mixtapes & Cellmates - The better half of cynical boys
04. The End Will Be Kicks - Ass of a friend
05. Breach - Lost crew
06. TALK 2
07. Silverbullit - Only gold
08. Lack - Primo Levi
09. Samuraj Cities - All along the shoreline
10. Rockettothesky - Barrie for Billy MacKenzie
11. TALK 3
12. Fireside - Let Rasputin do it
13. Heroes & Zeros - Into the light
14. Moonbabies - War on sound
15. TALK 4
16. Moonbabies - Cocobelle
17. TALK 5
18. Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom (comp version)
19. Björn Kleinhenz - Pocket of gold
20. TALK 6
21. Loney, Dear - Saturday waits
22. Revolvo - Marmelade
23. TALK 7
24. Emerald Park - Open up
25. KVLR - Capitol city child
26. TALK 8
27. David & the Citizens - Are you in my blood?
28. TALK 9
29. David Åhlén - Wasted breaths
30. Maia Hirasawa - Still June
31. TALK 10
32. Moonbabies - Sun A.M. (outtake version)
33. TALK 11
34. Moonbabies - Don't ya know?
Not only did Ola reveal that he used to be a member of the Mercyful Fate fanclub, but it also looks like he'll be recording the next David & the Citizens record. Excellent!
I've gotten a few amazing new releases in the mailorder these last few days (with more on the way), so I wanted to spend a couple days highlighting them. First we have the self-titled debut full-length from Mixtapes & Cellmates, one of Sweden's most promising new indiepop acts. No listless twee, no pathetic nostalgia; none of the issues that plague the scene are apparent. Like fellow Nomethod act (and recent One Little Indian signees) Aerial, the guitars are brilliantly interwoven and engaging. The music is nowhere near as aggressive, but the feeling I get is the same. The production is adventurous too - many of the tracks are backed by glitchy techno beats and little clicks + cuts. The smeary glissandos of digital distortion on today's track "I left" go so far as to replace any natural guitar sounds, a tact that works far better than I would imagine. Though the timbre of the sounds is unnatural, it's done in a way that still allows the emotional content of the music to resonate. Extremely well done.
Mixtapes & Cellmates - I left
Nomethod has confirmed that One Little Indian has officially signed both Mixtapes & Cellmates and Aerial for UK/international release. Look for more details, release dates, etc. soon.
Kristofer Åström's amazing new record "RainawayTown" is now available for non-Record Club subscribers and I also have the new The End Will Be Kicks "Ass of a friend" EP in-stock and ready for ordering as well. Lots more stuff on the way too, including new releases from Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, Tobias Hellkvist, Viola, Fun and Mixtapes & Cellmates. Go shopping!
Nomethod has posted the full tracklist for the forthcoming Mixtapes & Cellmates CD "A retrospective" which compiles both the "Juno" and "If there is silence..." EPs: http://www.nomethod.se/
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!
Mixtapes & Cellmates