Label: NONS
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10
I'll admit that I had a little difficulty at first with Norma's debut "1". I fell hard for "Love no other", but found it slightly demanding to be as powerfully drawn to the rest of the EP. As an English professor of mine would carefully say about a book he didn't appreciate to the extent his colleagues did: "I'm not ready for it yet." Still, something about Norma imbedded itself into me and I couldn't shake them. I can say now: I'm ready for Norma.
"Book of Norma" is overwhelming and disconcerting, yet it is precisely in this difficulty that Norma best profess their talents. No band attempting to provide a facile listening experience would start a record with "S.A.M", a track that starts off as though its been recorded from the backstage room of a club. Even in the most simple, driving moments of "S.A.M" or "Waste", there is a fullness that most bands lack - in "S.A.M" this comes from the dark amplitude of the production and in the bridging of Krautrock with indie rock; in "Waste", Norma separate themselves through attitude and approach alone, taking what could almost be a track from Tiger Lou's "The loyal" and saturating it with a dysphoria present not only in the song's pacing, but in the detached lyrics. "Book of Norma" is brilliant, be it in the near freak out of "Evelyn", the unsettlingly fast/slow pacing of "You go, we follow", or in the beautiful closer "Empty hands" which is only made more remarkable through Andrea Kellerman's (of Firefox AK) backing vocals. I've never given full marks to a band before, nor do I hesitate to do so with this - "Book of Norma" is the record to beat in 2008.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
7
This latest offering from Sophie Rimheden wades deeper into experimental fields with reasonable success. Her sweet melodic voice is backed up with support from dark and unlikely places, most notably by Swedish hip-hop artist Aaron Phiri on the first track to be released from this album, "Go away". This pairing of soft and sweet with hard-edged hip-hop is surprising and played out to nice effect, without overdoing it. Other stand-out tracks include "Stay the night" and title track "Travel". The whole album reaches a tricky balance of sticking closely to a theme without ever becoming repetitive.
- Rhiannon Elston
8
Finally, a dance-punk band that is doing it all right and will keep you moving all night. The second full-length from The Je Ne Sais Quoi is quite a stunner, and a much-welcomed improvement upon their first album and EP. The band has (for the most part) traded in their previous to the lo-fi production, hestitant drumming and angular guitars for lush orchestrations, vocoders, gorgeous melodies and rock-solid beats - and the results are truly amazing. Having released "Chameleon" as a single what seems over a year ago, the band has used that as a rough blueprint when it came to solidifying what makes "Rhythm" so captivating. Songs such as "Heroica" and "I see it faint tonight" are of the mellow kind, but still are quite danceable, as mellow is a term used loosely to desribe them. "DWTTATF" melds a Parliament-esque synth bassline with incredible hooks, and the following track "Skeletal shakes" harkens on a slight angular guitar riff, but then the chorus hits an almost hip-hop style beat and achieves greatness. To be honest, I really wasn't expecting this album to be as good as it is and, for their own sake, The Je Ne Sais Quoi have created one of the best Scandinavian releases of the year.
- Matt Giordano
7
While I have nothing but respect for our dear editor-in-chief, and find myself agreeing with Avi's sentiments far more than not, I personally think "Victorious" is a pretty surprising record. Not evolving all that noticeably from their sound on "Let there by morning", The Perishers are one of the few bands whose sound is tempered just right, thus rendering what would usually be a 'stagnant rut' or 'inability to progress' for any other band to feel just fine, a welcome return, even. Songs like "Almost pretty", one of the most depressing, yet wonderful songs I've heard in quite some time, and "Come out of the shade" overshadow some of the other tracks on the album, but there isn't anything on this album that approaches the territory of 'poor craftsmanship'. Solid throughout with moments of brilliance and innovation peppering this album with more than enough occasions of intense beauty to make this record one worthy of owning in it's physical form.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
8
The newest from Norway's Lionheart Brothers is a sweet little pop-rockin' 10-song confection that bears a heavy Beach Boys influence (the "Smile" era of Brian Wilson and crew, that is). Everything here is bright and peppy, with horns, organ and loads of other instruments adding delightful adornments to the concise tunes. Marcus Forsgren's lead vocals tend to be in the high register and they're mostly smooth as honey. The signature track is probably "Down at my place," which dazzles with a slinky mid-tempo arrangement, an infectious lead vocal and distinctive wordless backing vocals. Also stellar is "I burn myself on you," a cleverly constructed song that straddles major and minor keys in a compelling manner. Peter Rudolfsen's drumming is more than just timekeeping - there's artful intricacy in his playing. And the presence of instruments such as vibraphone, bouzouki and clavinet keeps the sound mix fresh and appealing - "Bring it down" is a good example of this. Although consistent and self-assured, one or two more really top-notch songs would have elevated this one a bit. But it's still a genuinely charming album, and I'd bet on Lionheart Brothers being one of the next Nordic outfits to gain attention stateside.
- Kevin Renick
8
This is the fourth record from one of Sweden's best kept secrets. On their first two, singer-songwriter Jakob Nyström, if never quite gloomy, sounded like a seeker out of place in the world around him, a status that lent a certain mystical magic to his already poignant vocal delivery and the band's unusual folky/psychedelic/rock sound. 2005's "Cover the distance" found them alternating that sound with cheer, and on this, their most consistent record, they sound almost (dare I say it?) happy. While touching on many of the same themes - Jesus, secularism, connection and lack of connection to place and people - this time around it's poppy and even bouncy throughout. There are no jaw-droppingly magnificent tracks like "Hemisphere" (from 2001's "Inland traveller") and it's no artistic stretch, but it's Isolation Years all the way, which is to say it's a solid, tuneful, beautiful piece of jangly folky rock that sounds like no one else.
- Nancy Baym
Ashi Ali is another promising, beguiling talent for pop panache and at time captivating compositions built on piano. Judge Miss Ali on one song: "To bed" and she will own you. It could have been written by Damian Rice but, while the musical base is not a million miles away from The Tiny, it might be the crescendos? Indeed, Ali has a similarity in tone to Asa of Hell on Wheels and "Fire, fire" is surely the long lost First Floor Power epitaph? "These months" offers darting and swirling epic psyche. "Are you here soon" is a delicate little waltz meets country number, "Warm fronts" comes out of Portishead territory, "Somewhere else" could've been a Cardigans album classic. All impressive comparisons - it is a bit fraught at times, but musically deft - so when Ali decides her fuller path, she will be [even more] genius, because here are 11 smoldering teasers, and not a jot to hamper the Ali's credibility.
- Jason Christie
Please someone pass me the bourbon to go with this record... oh and get me a cigar, book me into a New York City hotel, get me a seat by the window and let classically trained, north Stockholm resident Asha Ali be playing. Simplistic electric piano, plucked acoustic guitar, minimal backing harmonies and accompaniment is the recipe, deviated upon on one track "Just a light touch" which features some vibraphone/organ/accordion. She does the singer/songwriter thing, but with more instrumentation and sullen tones. Ali's pitches can at times reach The Tiny or Montys Loco quality, but cuts above as she manages not to warble or become too overly sentimental. An outstandingly worked EP that is sure to keep doing me in.
- Jason Christie
On their website, Holy Madre describe themselves as making "popmusic that sounds like a mixture of Fleetwood Mac, The Boss, Pink Floyd, television-shows for children and Bryan Adams," which I suspect may be Swedish for "run screaming in the opposite direction." It's true that much of this record of quiet restrained melodies would have fit just fine on 1970s album-oriented radio, somewhere between Al Stewart and Steely Dan, but the rest offers moments far more compelling. The strongest songs are "Shallow bay," a fun romp not unlike early Jayhawks without the harmonies and "The sun," with more of a late 60s almost Beach Boys feel. Other songs have their moments, but as a whole the record falls short and, by the final third, vacillates between boring and annoying.
- Nancy Baym
This could have been the compilation album that would make other compilation albums obsolete, since it's a brilliant idea – get some critics to write reviews of non-existent songs then let the bands record them. What a shame then that most of the tracks here are rubbish. Before I dug into this album, I read the individual reviews, and they made me expect something great, which is a bit unfortunate since "Jävla kritiker!" only contains a couple of interesting songs. There are definitely none of those masterpieces that the reviews suggest that there is to be found here. It's kind of odd that they've managed to get some of Sweden's best critics and writers together for this project, but hardly any of Sweden's best bands (ok, Sophie Rimheden is perhaps the undisputed master of what she does and Nicolai Dunger seems to hit the right strings with certain folks). The best thing about this compilation is how some of the artists (like Nicolai Dunger) have either submitted a song chosen on random, or totally ignored the text they were meant to base their song on.
- Simon Tagestam
An opening track strong enough to belt Tyson 'round the chops. "Man overboard" is produced by Björn Yttling to provide that "Swedish sound" mixed with a lot of Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette from the female duo. A folk hum, musical underlays, dubs and effects, plus mixed up quirky yet always emotive lyrics give the finese. Given the Cardigans unique early sound on "Emmerdale" and "Life!" albums, it is easy to see why Montys Loco are slated to support them on the band's Scandinavian tour (ahead of Anna Ternheim we hear). There's a warble lyric thing going on in places and if singer Anja Bigrell let herself go a bit she would be out into Björk wilderness - at least, that is, via the production - mind, there are artists out there falling into the same strength, one to start with is Sara Culler. And why do these sort of record stop short of hitting full wackiness a la Imogen Heap? Leaves one thinking only: radio. All told this album is WOW!
- Jason Christie
Norma
Sophie Rimheden
The Je Ne Sais Quoi
The Perishers
Isolation Years
Asha Ali
Asha Ali
Holy Madre
Various Artists
Montys Loco
