Sort Sol boxset details

Full tracklist details have been revealed for the upcoming 11CD Sods/Sort Sol boxset coming out at the end of the month: http://gaffa.dk/nyhed/47476

Sort Sol prepares massive boxset

Gaffa reports that Sort Sol will be releasing an extensive 11xCD boxset featuring all eight of the band's studio albums plus three discs of bonus material including EP cuts, comp tracks, radio recordings and other such rarities: http://gaffa.dk/nyhed/46521 (in Danish)

MP3: Iceage - White rune

Today is the release of Iceage's debut full-length "New brigade", available on vinyl via Escho and CD/digital via Tambourhinoceros, is the first great new release of 2011. Knowing that Peter Peter of The Sods/Sort Sol produced their self-titled 7" and that it was subsequently picked up by MRR as a band-to-watch should give you a good idea of where these kids are coming from, but just in case, let me elaborate: Iceage are a group of Danish kids in their late teens playing tense postpunk as if the last 30 years of music never happened. There's no "tryhard" feeling to it either, it really does sound like these dudes naively picked up instruments and the sounds you hear are exactly what came out. No false affection, no retro posturing, all natural rock'n'roll. "White rune" is my favorite tune from said album, but there's plenty more where that came from.

Iceage - White rune

Sort Sol are back, sort of

Gaffa reports that Danish postpunk act Sort Sol is back together once again, this time without founding guitarist Peter Peter or bassist Knud Odde, and will be touring in the spring: http://gaffa.dk/nyhed/43802

Sirius playlist week #27

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

01. TALK 1
02. Makthaverskan - Inside of me
03. Swedish House Mafia - One
04. Elias & the Wizzkids - Waste of time
05. TALK 2
06. The Animal Five - Dancing on my own
07. Miasmal - Creation of fire
08. The Aches - Count slowly to ten
09. Karin Ström - Reptilian brain
10. TALK 3
11. Dear Euphoria - No more time to weep
12. Delay Trees - Cassette 2012
13. Sort Sol - Marguerita
14. TALK 4
15. The Tallest Man on Earth - The wild hunt
16. Cut City - The sound and the sore
17. The Hives - Civilization's dying
18. The Nature - Din medicin
19. TALK 5
20. Kaka - Below this sun
21. The Scrags - Psycho cyclone
22. On Volcano - Ride the wolf
23. TALK 6

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.

Red Tape update for June

In their latest news update Danish indie label/collective Red Tape has announced they'll be doing a 7" with Danish post-punk legends Peter Peter Schneidermann (Sods, Sort Sol) and Fritz Fatal (Before, Mental Midget) later this year. The label also has plans for new albums from Papir and The City Kill, the first set for release in August, the latter set to be recorded later this month.

Johnny Stage to release solo album

Danish artist Johnny Stage (Martin Hall, Sort Sol, Glamorama) will be releasing his debut solo album "Unknown album" in early 2010. The music is described as "sophisticated rock ala Roxy Music, Brian Eno and David Bowie" and more info can be found at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/johnnystage

Festival report: Roskilde 2009

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.

Knud Odde from long-running Danish postpunk act Sort Sol has recorded a new Christmas single with Henrik Hall entitled "Perler I Sne". Check it out at their label's myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/prickupyourearsrecords
Said song is actually a new version of the Sort Sol track "Rhinestone" from 2001 with new lyrics.

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

01. Tomas Halberstad - Travel as I wait
02. TALK 1
03. Robert Svensson - 1991
04. Auton - El Dorado
05. Parken - Jag har varit vilsen, Lisa
06. TALK 2
07. Tiger Lou - Trust falls
08. Promise and the Monster - Night out
09. Park Hotell - Black hole
10. TALK 3
11. Sort Sol - Excalibur
12. Convoj - The shovel
13. Satyricon - Black crow on a tombstone
14. On Volcano - Out of sight
15. TALK 4
16. Hello Saferide - Anna
17. Him Kerosene - Ventilate
18. Tobias Hellkvist - Ships of the North Atlantic
19. TALK 5
20. Division of Laura Lee - LAX
21. Oskar Schönning - Nino casino
22. Haust - Success
23. TALK 6
24. Passiv Dödshjälp - Helvetet, tur och retur

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XM U. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

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

01. Suis La Lune - Förmögenhet
02. TALK 1
03. Dmitry Fyodorov - Leisure
04. M:40 - Konfrontation
05. Cola Freaks - Ingenting set
06. TALK 2
07. Sort Sol - Boy/Girl
08. Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
09. Fy Fan - Arbetslos inte dum i huvdet
10. TALK 3
11. Those Dancing Days - Home sweet home
12. Viktor Sjöberg - Bostadsrätt
13. Frivolvol - And the youth of a nation sang
14. Jesper Norda - Tomorrow you'll be forgiven but tonight you will have your teeth knocked out
15. TALK 4
16. Norma - Waste
17. Häkan Lidbo - Mental hardcore
18. Celestial - Crystal heights
19. TALK 5
20. Mattias Alkberg BD - Här är ditt liv
21. Smalltown - The music
22. Audionom - Han gar och fiskar
23. Nitad - Rädslan
24. TALK 6
25. Broder Daniel - Underground

My show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday at the same time, but is pre-empted next week (10/12) by a Beck special.

MP3: Nitad - Klimatförändring

I spent the last five days or so hanging out in SF, working at the corporate HQ for my dayjob and seeing friends and family. I know it's not ordinary for my demographic, but I almost never listen to music on headphones when I travel, so I barely heard any music at all these past five days. All I bothered to load into my mp3 player were those four Sods/Sort Sol albums I mentioned on Friday and the new Nitad disc "Ibland kan man inte hindra sig själv". And y'know what? It was plenty. Nitad, especially - it's a total ripper and the inclusion of all their earlier 7" EP tracks on the disc only makes it better. The review in the new MRR compares the band to Fucked Up which I guess was true once upon a time, but FU's new album "The chemistry of common life" takes the band into entirely new, uncharted territory (it's highly recommended - I'll def be picking up the vinyl next week when it's officially released) and Nitad keeps things raw and to the point. You get picks of the same progressiveness such as that very first opening riff here on "Klimatförändring", but most of the song is killer hardcore punk, some of the best I've heard in awhile. It also helps that despite my limited Swedish skills, I can easily pick out the last line of the chorus: "Jag är ingen jävla hippie!" So yeah, very recommended and be sure to order direct from the source so you can score one of those limited one-sided 7"s.

Nitad - Klimatförändring

MP3: Sort Sol - White shirt

Of all the people who regularly pass along musical recommendations, I am most deeply indebted to Mattias Alkberg for his consistent, spot-on advice. I may not be crazy about the new Mogwai (I find that Helms Alee is a far more exciting band in that vein) and Chad VanGaalen is a bit of an uphill climb (I'm working on it), but as for his insistence I check out early Danish postpunk act Sods/Sort Sol, I'm all about it. Upon given the choice of the band's first four albums, I ask where to start. He says, "all of them" and of course he is 100% right. From the band's early roots as a more straight-ahead punk act under their first moniker to their later, more gothic leanings as "Black Sun", they created a consistently killer discography that was completely unknown to me until now. Whether you like tightly wound, frenetic punk ala "Pink flag"-era Wire or darker, more art-damaged rock with hints of Gun Club type melodrama, there is something for you here. Seriously, I am blown away. I am infatuated. Like Mattias says, there's really no perfect place to start, but since "White shirt" from 1983's "Dagger & guitar" is one of the first tracks I heard when I threw the tracks on shuffle, that's the song you get today. Sweetly sinister, devilish and beautiful; that's what it's all about. Tack igen Mattias!

Read more about Sort Sol/Sods at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sort_Sol

Sort Sol - White shirt