Finnish artist Astrid Swan has signed with Cargo Records in Germany who will be releasing her latest album "Better than wages" over yonder on January 29. She'll also be heading down for some shows too:
01/27 - Private Show, Brussels (BEL)
01/30 - tba, Furstenwalde (GER)
02/03 - Bassy, Berlin (GER)
02/05 - Bunker Ulmenwall, Bielefeld (GER)
02/06 - Lothars alte nähfabrik, Schrobenhausen (GER)
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Kommun - I don't say anything
03. On Volcano - Out of sight
04. Turboweekend - Something or nothing
05. TALK 2
06. The Idle Hands - Hearts
07. Thåström - Linnéa
08. Fronda - Mitt allt
09. TALK 3
10. We Are the Storm - A song for our city
11. High Hats - The end
12. Wardruna - Kauna
13. Halph - New money
14. The Scrags - TV messed up mind
15. TALK 4
16. They Live - Magic glasses
17. Ison & Fille - Jag skratter idag
18. Nitad - Rädslan
19. TALK 5
20. Elmo - Shine down on us
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.
Scandinavian acts confirmed for SXSW 2010: Ólöf Arnalds, Julian Berntzen, Adiam Dymott, Francis, The Kissaway Trail, Unni Lovlid, Lowood, Mixtapes & Cellmates, Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks), Movits! and Surrounded.
Indiepop label Matinée Recordings has announced new albums from Northern Portrait and The Electric Pop Group as well as a new comp featuring cuts from both bands as well as Cats on Fire and lots more. Head to their website for full details, samples and preorder info: http://www.indiepages.com/matinee/news.html
PopMatters reviews the Children of Bodom covers album "Skeletons in the closet": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/114932-children-of-bodom-skeletons-in-the-closet/
The new Lapko single "I shot the sheriff" is now officially released and is currently available as a free download for a limited time: http://www.lapko.com/
Check out the video here: http://vimeo.com/7753431
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Bastard Priest - Under the hammer of destruction
02. TALK 1
03. Monty - En till himmel
04. Superfamily - Songs of the weak will die
05. Agent Side Grinder - Black vein
06. TALK 2
07. Murmansk - Silver heel
08. Cleaning Women - Across the void
09. Pintandwefall - Jail
10. TALK 3
11. Tobias Hellkvist - Scars and stripes
12. Truckfighters - Traffic
13. Rockettothesky - Barrie for Billy MacKenzie
14. TALK 4
15. Peter Bjorn and John - I don't know what I want us to do
16. Håkan Hellström - En vån med en bil
17. Barra Head - Common ground
18. TALK 5
19. Makthaverskan - Vi var människor från början
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.
Finnish act Mesmer tends to take a kitchen sink/anything goes approach to their music, but they are definitely at their best when they settle into a motoric Krautrock groove. Or at least at their most comfortable. Regardless, I of course am drawn to the aggro freak-out of songs like "On fire" -- nothing comfortable about it. They still hit that groove though, just at high BPMs and with more of a Suicide-level intensity. Why can't more modern Kraut bands attain this sort of energy level more often? Too much Kraftwerk? That is why they fail and Mesmer does not.
Mesmer - On fire