Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Midlake
02. Beach House
03. Hot Chip
04. Jonathan Johansson
05. The Bear Quartet
06. El Perro del Mar
07. Shout Out Louds
08. Håkan Hellström
09. The Radio Dept.
10. Yeasayer
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I'm sure most fans have already seen it by now, but is giving away another new song from The Radio Dept.: http://www.labrador.se/heavensonfire
I don't think that anything can convince me at this point that this band is not totally boring.
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Shout Out Louds
02. First Aid Kit
03. Jonathan Johansson
04. Håkan Hellström
05. Kent
06. The Magnetic Fields
07. Oh No Ono
08. Beach House
09. Loney, Dear
10. The Radio Dept.
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
The long-awaited new album from The Radio Dept. "Clinging to a scheme" now has a release date of April 21, or so says label . The band seems to think otherwise. Anyhow, in other Labrador-related news, the new Club 8 record "The people's record" also has a release date: May 12.
Labrador Records says that they'll be releasing vinyl editions of upcoming albums from The Mary Onettes, The Radio Dept. and so on.
The Radio Dept.'s long-awaited new album "Clinging to a scheme" is now set for a February 2010 release via Labrador Records.
The Radio Dept.Waiting for the next album by The Radio Dept. has been a tedious affair. First it was announced for September, then they pulled back at the last minute without much explanation, only to now, somewhat surprisingly, release this new EP. Generally, I've always found The Radio Dept. to be better at EPs than albums -- compare the longing "This past week"-EP or the stellar "Pulling our weight" for example. Unfortunately, "David" comes nowhere close to these classics. In fact, only the title track manages to combine catchiness with innovation, longing, and a popful dose of kitsch (though opinions on that may vary). The other songs, however, just can't live up to that level. Most are plain uninteresting and have a B-sidish feel. The remix of "David" is really interesting though, but the dramaturgy of it seems counter-intuitive: It only takes off after more than half the track and then doesn't dare to take its clever repetitiveness to the much-needed extreme. All in all, this really seems more the single it's intended to be than like a full-fledged EP. And though I'm still eager to hear "Clinging to a scheme" when it finally comes out, I'm not exactly getting my hopes up for a new "Lesser matters". But then again, who in their right minds would hope for that?
- Arnulf Köhncke
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Bob Hund
02. Håkan Hellström
03. Mew
04. The Soundtrack of Our Lives
05. The Radio Dept.
06. Moneybrother
07. Deportees
08. Britta Persson
09. Broder Daniel
10. Hello Saferide
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Håkan Hellström
02. The Legends
03. Mew
04. Kristofer Åström
05. Fanfarlo
06. Anna Ternheim
07. The Radio Dept.
08. Phoenix
09. Jonathan Johansson
10. Red House Painters
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Pitchfork isn't so hot on The Radio Dept.'s new single "David": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11330-david/
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. The Radio Dept.
02. Jens Lekman
03. Håkan Hellström
04. El Perro del Mar
05. Phoenix
06. Deportees
07. The Concretes
08. Anna Järvinen
09. Loney, Dear
10. Jonathan Johansson
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Loney, Dear
02. The Radio Dept.
03. The Bear Quartet
04. Kleerup
05. Camera Obscura
06. Fever Ray
07. Phoenix
08. Kristofer Åström
09. Hello Saferide
10. Jens Lekman
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. The Radio Dept.
02. Deportees
03. Loney, Dear
04. Jens Lekman
05. Phoenix
06. Tiger Lou
07. The Bear Quartet
08. Grizzly Bear
09. Passion Pit
10. Kent
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
As regular readers should know by now, I'm no fan of The Radio Dept. Their tepid shoegaze leaves nary an impression on me and, even at their supposed angriest ("Freddy and the Trojan Horse"), they're still not much more than musical wallpaper. But I acknowledge that I am probably in the minority, so before I head off to the dentist this morning, I'll let contributor Arnulf Köhncke talk up the new single "David":
After such a long time waiting, it feels strange when something comes around that's this unexpected and yet so painfully obvious. But when the four-beat piano chords set in after the first line, it all falls into place. All that soul, the swaying chord changes, the secret-agent movie strings, the glockenspiels and melodicas. Even that hip-hop interlude and the 60's pop ending. No more Prefab Sprout'ness for now, no more distorted keyboards, no more analogue drums -- just those trademark vocals singing about longing and love, despair and hope.
The Radio Dept. - David
