The Megaphonic Thrift - Talks like a weed king
Hear a new song from The Megaphonic Thrift at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/megaphonicthrift
As mentioned yesterday, the band's new album "Decoy decoy" comes out March 1 via .
Country: Norway
Free live recording from Svarte Greiner
Norwegian drone artist Svarte Greiner has a 45-minute live set posted for free download, recorded in Moscow last year: http://playmytape.net/page.php?id=85
Lindstrøm & Christabelle
Real life is no cool
Smalltown Supersound
The 80s sitcom that runs in Lindstrøm's head must be a good one. His punchy pianos and retrofitted synthesizers don't just wink and nod to some tinny ancestor, they're as at home in the era as the TV families that materialized behind the electro-cheese of their theme songs. If that's true, then "Real life is no cool", Lindstrøm's album with seductive Norwegian-Mauritian songstress Christabelle might as well be "Family Matters". Lindstrøm is the whitewashed theme, and Christabelle a young Laura Winslow, the pristinely beautiful center of attention. But while "Family Matters'" stiff and unsexy theme may be the most ill-matched theme of all time, Lindstrøm has no problem relating to Christabelle -- his retrograde stylings are an oddly synchronous fit for her breathy delivery. Nowhere is this faultless latticework more noticeable than on "Keep it up" and "High and low", two songs that tower above the album. On these, Christabelle's ineffable sexiness reigns supreme. Lindstrøm's vocal production here is a sort of anti-social enabler: the subtle cracks and pops of Christabelle's half-whispered consonants actually succeed at creating an air of intimacy. That's a massive compliment given that it's a dance album. So "High and low" and "Keep it up" are the consummate singles: they've got enough holdover from the spacey futurism of 2008's "Where I go you go too" to please the diehards, and enough short-form nostalgia to seduce the iTunes generation. But elsewhere on the album, Lindstrøm's backwards gaze becomes pure pastiche. "Baby can't stop" is an MJ retread without the slightest hint of distinction, and "Lovesick"'s Survivor bassline is just that -- a Survivor bassline. Ultimately, though, this album comes as good news to those of us who found Lindstrøm's earlier work too inscrutable or too lengthy for consumption. "Real life is no cool" distills Lindstrøm to sitcom-sized morsels of dance music deeply invigorated by the smoky sensuality of Christabelle's vocals.
- Nathan Keegan
Du - To bring down a house
is giving away the new Du track "To bring down a house": http://trustmerecords.com/nyheter/du-er-digg-og-vi-spanderer-free-download/
A-ha to play final US dates in May
US dates have been announced for A-ha's worldwide farewell tour: http://www.a-ha.com/tour/
NYC and LA only and fan presales are already gone, but that's the way it goes.
The Megaphonic Thrift confirm new album
Norwegian act The Megaphonic Thrift will release their new album "Decoy decoy" on March 1 via .
Susanne Sundfør - The brothel
Listen to Susanna Sundfør's new single "The brothel" at Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/susannesundfor/the-brothel
Motorpsycho will play your favorite album at Øya
Motorpsycho is letting fans vote on which album they will play in its entirety at this year's Øyafestivalen: http://oyafestivalen.com/pages/eng/547-motorpsycho_plays_your_favourite_album_at_oeya
Statoil stipend shortlist
Nö Music has the lowdown on this year's nominees for the Norwegian Statoil artist stipend: http://www.nomusicmedia.com/2010/01/30/nominees-for-statoil-funding-announced/
Also worth noting: a number of bands have refused to participate including hyped up-and-comers Kråkesølv, citing Statoil's offshore drilling near Lofoten as reason to protest.
2010 watchlist
One of the main reasons I created the site's new custom filter feature is to create lists, both for my own good but also for you, the reader's benefit. Instead of keeping my own private list of my most anticipated releases of 2010, along with tracking all the excellent albums I've already heard and rank highly, I've created a custom filter to do it for me: http://www.itsatrap.com/filter/2010-watchlist
Keep track of my favorites and follow what I say about them; create your own list and do the same!
Dusted reviews "Blackjazz"
Dusted reviews the new Shining record "Blackjazz": http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5502
MP3: Airbag - No escape
If you dig latter-day Anathema, ie. pretty much anything after they figured out that the progressive sounds of Pink Floyd better suited their melancholy doomscapes better than ye standard downtuned metal growl, you'll like Norwegian act Airbag. That is unless you're iffy on whether or not imitation is the sincerest form of flattery because Airbag sounds exactly like Anathema. Same tones, same vocal inflections, same everything. It's uncanny. Pick your side!
Airbag - No escape
Apparatjik album is out
As mentioned the other day, international all-stars Apparatjik have unveiled their debut album "We are here": http://www.theoutland.com/
New music from Serena Maneesh
There's a couple new tracks from Serena Maneesh now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/serenamaneesh
Sirius playlist week #5
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. The Goner - Within the hour
03. Moto Boy - The heart is a rebel
04. Detektivbyrån - Hemvägen
05. TALK 2
06. Valkyrien Allstars - Hvis jeg var deg
07. Tobias Hellkvist - Patience
08. Scarred By Beauty - We swim
09. [ingenting] - Tack
10. TALK 3
11. I'm From Barcelona/Daviel Lindlöf - Lower my head
12. Monazno - Yes we can't
13. Silver - The white logic
14. Eskatol - Siste dans
15. TALK 5
16. Murmansk - The surgical assistant
17. Dyno - Destroy! Destroy!
18. Folkvang - Folkvangs första
19. C.Aarmé - Angola (Princess version)
20. TALK 5
21. Abhinanda - Junior
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.