Jaga Jazzist album preview
You can now stream all of Jaga Jazzist's new record "One-armed bandit" at this e-card: http://www.universalmusic.no/ecards/jagajazzist-pk/
Country: Norway
Casiokids to support Hot Chip in UK
Casiokids will be touring the UK with Hot Chip in February:
02/12 - Academy, Glasgow
02/13 - Picture House, Edinburgh
02/15 - Rock City, Nottingham
02/16 - Academy, Leeds
02/19 - Academy, Manchester
02/20 - O2 Academy, Birmingham
02/21 - Joiners, Southampton*
02/22 - O2 Academy, Bournemouth
02/23 - O2 Academy, Bristol
02/24 - O2 Academy, Norwich
02/25 - Barfly Camden, London*
02/26 - O2 Brixton Academy, London
*Casiokids only
PopMatters interviews Ihsahn
PopMatters interviews ex-Emperor frontman Ihsahn about his new solo record "After": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/118581-the-life-aquatic-with-ihsahn/
I have yet to hear it myself, but consensus seems to be quite positive and I found his last record "angL" to be a pleasant surprise.
Du! - Softness (video)
Check out the video for "Softness" from Norwegian act Du! (nee Det är jag som är döden): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8uMUcoqn8o&hd=1
Sirius playlist week #3
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Monty - En till himmel
02. TALK 1
03. Gösta Berlings Saga - Kontrast
04. Yamon Yamon - The darker place
05. Next Life - Paladin warrior
06. Haust - Skate rock
07. TALK 2
08. Okkultokrati - On mouth of hells
09. Blood Command - Party all the way to the hospital
10. Karin Ström - Hon som älskade dig
11. Kommun - The open relationship
12. TALK 3
13. Mattias Alkberg - Nya nya testamentet
14. Boy Omega - Follow the herd
15. No Hope for the Kids - Century of warfare
16. Labbet feat. Russell Morgan - Heart and soul of a lion
17. TALK 4
18. Champagne Riot - The champagne anthem
19. Movits! & Zacke - Först tar vi Manhattan
20. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Soon
21. TALK 5
22. No Balls - Suffering contest
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.
Pitchfork pans new Serena-Maneesh single
Pitchfork is not big on the new Serena-Maneesh track "Ayisha abyss": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11716-ayisha-abyss/
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Stage Dolls - Always
02. Frøya - My American Dream
03. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
04. Vidar Johnsen & Peter Nordberg - Ild & Vatten
05. Claudia Scott/Casino Steel/Ottar Big Hand Johansen - Honky Tonk Night - The Best
06. Sivert Høyem - Moon Landing
07. Bjørn Eidsvåg - De Beste
08. John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - For Sant Til Å Være Godt
09. Dum Dum Boys - Tidsmaskin
10. Jahn Teigen - Teigen - 40 Største Hits
11. Jokke & Valentinerne - Levende (så lenge det varer)
12. Kråkesølv - Trådnøsting
13. Jonas Fjeld feat Henning Kvitnes - Den Gamle Veien
14. Röyksopp - Junior
15. Solveig Slettahjell - Tarpan Seasons
16. Torbjørn Egner - Samlede CD-er
17. Tellusalie - Man Across The Fountain
18. Herborg Kråkevik - Kvar Ein Dag
19. Malin - Malin
20. Helene Bøksle - Det Hev Ei Rose Sprungen
Obliteration
Nekropsalms
Fysisk Format
There's so much metal in so many shapes and guises out there these days that it's inevitable a proportion of bands will rage against the shimmery-shiny output of many of today's bigger acts and opt for the down and dirty approach adopted -- usually out of necessity -- by those who first kicked off the extreme metal movement. Indeed, Kolbotn's Obliteration have done just that and, while a lot of latter day old-school acts whet the whistle with demonic nods towards dirty metal's formative years, this Norwegian crew come across so authentically ancient that they could easily be mistaken as having been around during the early days of Darkthrone's bleak death metal reign. It's no wonder that Fenriz himself praises them for having succeeded in accomplishing what he and Nocturno Culto had attempted to do with "Soulside journey" and "Goatlord" between '88 and '91. Indeed, "Nekropsalms" harks right back to that era in terms of sound and song structure and offers a superb album that sounds even more old-school than some of the genuine mature stuff out there. There's not much point in highlighting examples of nostalgic vibe on this, the band's second full-length effort, when it oozes early-‘90s atmosphere from start to finish. If you want to relive the experience of discovering this type of music when it was first clawing its way out of subterranean Norway, then this is the album with which to do it. Death, doom, despair, horror and -- indeed -- Obliteration await.
- John Norby
Pitchfork reviews Immortal
Pitchfork finally gets around to reviewing the Immortal reunion record "All shall fall": http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13671-all-shall-fall/
Kings of Convenience to tour the US, world
Kings of Convenience will be touring extensively this year, including a nice run of US dates:
02/12 - Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
02/13 - Webster Hall, New York, NY
02/14 - Warsaw, Brooklyn, NY
02/15 - 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
02/17 - Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
02/18 - Phoenix Theater, Toronto, Ontario
02/19 - Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, MI
02/20 - Metro, Chicago, IL
03/19 - Esplanade, Singapore (SG)
03/21 - Bently Music Auditorium, Kuala Lumpur (MY)
03/25 - Hitec Rotunda 3, Hong Kong (CN)
03/27 - Upper Room, Jakarta (ID)
03/28 - Sabuga, Bandung (ID)
03/31 - White Space Manila, Manila (PH)
04/02 - Legacy, Taipei (TW)
04/04 - Olympic Hall, Seoul (ROK)
04/06 - Club Quattro, Osaka (JAP)
04/07 - O-East, Tokyo (JAP)
The Quietus talks to Rockettothesky
The Quietus talks to Jenny Hval of Rockettothesky: http://thequietus.com/articles/03523-jenny-and-the-jets-the-musical-universe-of-rockettothesky
Good to see that she's starting to get some international attention -- she deserves it.
Jaga Jazzist e-card
Here's an e-card for the new Jaga Jazzist record "One-armed bandit" featuring a free download of the track "Toccata" and a few upcoming tourdates: http://www.ninjatune.net/jagajazzist/toccata
Said album comes out in Europe on January 25, the US on February 23.
Zyklon officially break up, will release box set
Norwegian metal act Zyklon are officially calling it quits which really shouldn't be a big surprise since they haven't been active for awhile now. However, the band is not bowing out quietly and will be releasing a boxset called "The storm manifesto" featuring all three of their studio albums, bonus material and a full live set from their final show in Tokyo on September 28, 2007. No release date yet, just "later this year."
Moddi vs. Kråkesølv - "Magpie eggs" (video)
Via Eardrums comes this nice live clip of the Norwegian acts Moddi and Kråkesølv performing the Moddi track "Magpie eggs" together: http://vimeo.com/8681914
Four debuts on the way from Fysisk Format
is releasing four new debut albums in coming months:
02/22 - Kollwitz - Like iron I rust
03/23 - Okkultokrati - No light for mass
04/12 - Blood Command - tba
04/19 - Nils Bech - tba
Hit up the label website to sample a track from each: http://www.fysiskformat.no/