Murmansk - Rüütli (trailer)
The first sample of Murmansk's upcoming album "Rüütli".
Country: Finland
The New Tigers - Clocks of destruction (video)
New moves from Finnish indie act The New Tigers.
New Murmansk in September
The new Murmansk album will be called "Rüütli" and it will be released in Scandinavia 'round mid-September with a G/A/S release to follow a month later. Been looking forward to this one for awhile now.
Damned by Light interviews Throat
Damned by Light interviews excellent Finnish noiserockers Throat: http://www.damned-by-light.com/articles/089.html
Also, note that the band's now sold-out split 7" with Fleshpress is available for free download via Bandcamp.
Beastmilk
Use your deluge
Svart Records
Now this is where it's at! This four-tracker kicks off like the ugly cousin of something that The Cult would have put out back in the day and it's immediately evident where talk of the Helsinki quartet being a lo-fi outfit comes from. It's not that they're lo-fi though, it's more that the guitars have been given a dirty post black metal(ish) production and remain subdued when compared to the sublime vocals. They're like an apocalyptic marriage of the voices of Ian Astbury and the enigmatic Czral from Norwegian oddballs Virus. Kvhost of Hexvessel infamy is the man here and he simply kills. After opening track "Void mother" the band venture into a more retro-based aesthetic and, as weird as it might sound, from here on out "Use your deluge" is probably best described as hippy '60s surf-punk for the 21st Century. There are many influences at work here and the concept has clearly been built from a punk foundation. It's also a grower that runs from "not sure" to "utterly amazing" in the space of a few days. Awesome stuff.
- John Norby
Top Tigers Play New Sound
Finland meets Sweden by way of gentle indierock. This is Finns The New Tigers covering Swedes Top Sound while the latter return the favor on the flipside. Hear both tracks and/or order the 7" here.
Back from vacation
Tattoo by Jonas at Göteborg Classic
I'm back home again and back at work after a two-week Swedish excursion -- thanks to all my friends, new and old, for hanging out and being awesome! In the meantime, I've got myself a mountain of junk to climb out from under so expect updates this week to be terse. I'll be back on top soon enough.
Best of 2012 (so far)
Been meaning to get this written up for over a week now, but I haven't found the time and now that I'm about head out on vacation to Sweden for a couple weeks, I figure I need to get at least something up. So without further ado, here's my picks for the best releases of 2012 so far (in alphabetical order):
Agent Side Grinder - Hardware ()
Beastmilk - Use your deluge ()
Diskoteket - Det ska se ut som slutet ()
Magnus Ekelund & Stålet - Supernova EP ()
Nitad - Rastlös & vild ()
Susanne Sundfør - The silicone veil ()
Tvärvägen - Staring directly into the sun ()
Vånna Inget - Jag ska fly tills jag hittar hem ()
On the cusp/too early to tell:
Anchorless - Every nook and cranny ()
Norra Kust - s/t ()
Westkust - Junk EP ()
Reissues:
Missbrukarna - Zooma in en zombie ()
Ratsia - Jäljet ()
Listen to a selection of these records below via Spotify:
Big Wave Riders - Sunny season (+ album news)
has confirmed that the new Big Wave Riders album "Life less ordinary" will be released on August 24 and they've posted another song to help build anticipation.
MP3: Beastmilk - Children of the Atom Bomb
I can think of no better to celebrate America's Independence Day than by listening to Cold War nostalgia as rendered by Finnish apocalyptic deathrockers Beastmilk. For those of us who came of age in the 80s -- an era of nuclear prep drills and scaremongering movies such as "Red Dawn" -- we are all "Children of the Atom Bomb".
Beastmilk - Children of the Atom Bomb
Hero Dishonest licensed to the US, tour in 2013?
reports that Hero Dishonest's most recent album "Dangerous" has finally been licensed for release in the US via later this year (or early next) along with the band's yet-to-be-released album, just in time for their next American tour in the spring. More details when I get 'em.
Magyar Posse is done
The excellent Finnish instrumental/postrock act Magyar Posse has officially called it quits, citing "lack of passion and motivation" as the culprits. Read the band's full statement: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150930301458823&id=21392133822
Svart to release two new albums from Arktau Eos
has announced that they will be releasing the next two albums from Finnish ritual/dark ambient artists Arktau Eos this coming fall, the vinyl-only release "Unworeleds" and the CD "Ioh-Maera". Even better, the band will coming to the US for their debut performance at the Esoteric Book Conference in Seattle on September 15 to be followed by an appearance at the Stella Natura Festival in the Sierra on September 20-23. See you there?
Combat Rock picks up First Times
has announced that they will be releasing the debut 7" EP from Finnish power-pop/punk-rockers First Times this coming August; sample two of the four tunes above. The label will also be releasing The Phoenix Foundation's new album "Silence" this coming August which I believe will be the band's 5th album in their 10 years as a band.