Pantherman, aka the trip-hop solo alias of Spleen United frontman Bjarke Niemann, has a new wood-housed USB album released in collaboration with design studio AIAIAI and clothing brand Libertine Libertine: http://www.aiaiai.dk/blog/libertine-pantherman-usb/
has announced the signing of Bjørst and will be releasing their debut LP "Blandt de levende" on May 2 with a record release show celebrating the occasion on April 29 at Raahuset in Copenhagen. Hear a few sample tunes at SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/jkrogholt/sets/fg-1/
Swedish/Danish improv/prog act Øresund Space Collective has a long list of new releases in the works, including an expanding CD reissue of "Dead man in space", a 2LP live album recording at Roadburn in 2010 and a trilogy of vinyl LPs culled from their September 2010 studio sessions: http://www.transubstans.com/?module=main&news=46
New music from Denmark's The Psyke Project, showing off a track from the forthcoming record "Ebola" with a significantly more streamlined sound. I'm not so sure about the goofy texts they're flashing on the screen, but these dudes are most def at the top of the genre.
Check out Alcoholic Faith Mission performing for Finnish live music site Off the Record: http://offtherecord.fi/alcoholic-faith-mission-den/
Turboweekend will be doing a one-off gig at the Borderline in London on April 6.
Though I like the idea of making stiff indie kids perform synchronized dance routines, it doesn't seem so fresh anymore, at least not in this instance. Decent Tears for Fears vibe in the tune though.
There's more than a few bands who call themselves Trust, but only one of them is a gnarly math-rock band from Denmark. Forget the French thrashers, the Canadian synth act or whatever other variation might pop in your head because none of them will be covered here. Much like their labelmates Obstacles, Trust excels at matching their instrumental acuity with heaviness and melody and comes out sounding very similar to two excellent bands local to me: C Average and Helms Alee. The former is an obvious comparison due to the drums + guitar duo format (stir it up, add plenty of octave pedal), but it's those soaring vocals and epic riffs that really make the band and are far more comparable to the latter. Similarily, I can only presume that they are likewise underrated, as these kinds of bands so often are. Get through the flurries of notes and take note of what you find on the other side!
Trust - Battle rattle
The new Aqua single "How R U doin?" is streaming at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aqua.dk?v=app_178091127385
XLR8R has a free track from new Danish electronic duo Taragana Pyjarama: http://www.xlr8r.com/mp3/2011/03/ocean
The debut single from the band's debut EP. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuYcm_H6sA
PopMatters reviews Danish act When Saints Go Machine who apparently seem to be making a decent amount of international headway: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/137305-when-saints-go-machine-fail-forever/
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
Pitchfork is streaming The Raveonettes' new video "Recharge & revolt": http://pitchfork.com/tv/#/music-videos/1590-raveonettes/2510-recharge-revolt/
FigurinesAs with "When the deer wore blue", the dreamy echoes of '60s pop continue on through Figurines' self-titled release, coloring the album in nostalgic, sun-bleached tones and textures and casting strange shadows across their music. As fans of the band have come to expect, the swells of the compositions, both with respect to instrumentation and emotion, are layered and intricate, but not inaccessible or pretentious. The bright, clean production is subtly subverted by pop songs that are not reliant on guitar or vocal hooks, and tracks that evoke a summery feel often turn from the sun to explore the shade created by so much light -- "Have you always been someone that you've never been?" This perspective does not feel staged, as if the songs were deliberately crafted to include funhouse mirrors distorting the images reflecting back out of the music -- there is a natural, effortless flow to the compositions, even when a track turns corners that, at first, take the listener by surprise. On "We got away", what opens as a "Pet sounds"-inspired track evolves into something else: a love song that feels distanced from its central premise, and painfully aware of this detachment, as the subtle, clever refrain "I love her like a lover should love her" suggests. There is something this band brings to the table that so many other acts just cannot, an originality that is hard to pin down, but is nonetheless on full display on "Figurines".
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
