Shelflife signs Dylan Mondegreen
Norwegian artist Dylan Mondegreen has been picked up by US label who will be releasing his new album this fall.
Label: Shelflife Records
Viewing posts 1-13 out of 13
Burning Hearts
Extinctions
Solina Records/Shelflife Records
Burning Hearts' second full-length "Extinctions" is a treat. Delving into description disguised as heavy-handed metaphor would be a disservice to such a carefully crafted, thoughtful album, so I'll simple start with a hearty "wow." (It's worth noting the decision to forgo poetics was made after several spins marked by hand flailing and randomly squealed superlatives)
Yeah. It's good.
Other than injecting a note of mystery to their otherwise light-as-air pop confections -- perfected with the debut, "Aboa sleeping" -- very little has changed since the last time we met the Finnish quintet. Not that anything needed altering. The band has created another charming outing that leans just as much on French pop as Scandinavian melancholy, its nine tracks (including "The swallows" and "Into the wilderness" which first hit ears with last year's excellent "Into the wilderness" EP) splitting the difference between wistful refrains and modern synths. The album benefits heartily from vocalist Jessika Rapo's latter-day Nico delivery, but nowhere does it hit such heights as on "Love and dissonance", the soaring line, "Beautiful, beautiful sing me a song the way you used to do," rendered downright beatic in her melodic whisper. On "The best" her languid call hopscotches over the band's near near-folk instrumentation, complete with steel drum backing. But perhaps most surprising is "The swallows", where their formula of gentle instrumentation is turned on its head in favor of 1980s synths, with Rappo as a slow-motion dancing queen. Sure, their music is still sweet, but "Extinctions" -- in all its subtle variations -- only servers to demonstrate that Burning Hearts should be considered pop heavy weights.
- Laura Studarus
Shelflife announces Balloon Magic EP
has announced that they will be releasing a new EP from Danish indiepop act Balloon Magic on November 17 entitled "Mornings". Full details and a sample tune: http://www.shelflife.com/catalogue/LIFE076.html
Shelflife unveils new Burning Hearts EP
has posted preorder info for the new EP "Into the wilderness" from Finnish indie act Burning Hearts, due out June 21: http://www.shelflife.com/catalogue/LIFE075.html
Check the sidebar for a free download of the title track and keep an eye out for a new EP from Danish act Balloon Magic on the label sometime later this summer.
Le Futur Pompiste to Shelflife
has signed Finnish act Le Futur Pompiste and will be releasing an album from them in November. Preview the track "Five hundred heartbeats" at the label's website: http://www.shelflife.com/
Thieves Like Us
Again and again
Shelflife Records
As a fan of "Play music" [review here] and 's releases in general, I was very much looking forward to Thieves Like Us' newest offering. But where "Play music" reveled in its dark minimalism, "Again and again" is a mess of repetitive saccharine-sweet simplicity. The record starts off alright with the playful "Never known love", but quickly begins its downward spiral. There are moments of redemption -- the aforementioned "Never known love", "Lover lover", and a few hooks scattered sporadically through the album's tracklist -- but these moments are fleeting and far too few to make much of an impact against the record's overall negative impression. On any other album, "Lover lover" would be an 'okay song'; the fact that it is one of the highlights of "Again and again" speaks to its weaknesses. The record feels and sounds like something a few New Order fans cranked out over a weekend in an apartment studio, most of its hooks wasted on meandering compositions and its best efforts easily overshadowed by other New Order/Justice-inspired acts. It's not a total waste, but, sadly and surprisingly for a band of Thieves Like Us' caliber, it's not far off.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
New Burning Hearts single in February
has announced that they'll be releasing the new Burning Hearts 7" single "Night animal" on January 26.
Thieves Like Us
Play music
Shelflife Records
There are few genres that evoke such a strong connection with urban settings as post-punk -- from decaying factories and warehouses of Manchester to New York City streets littered with cigarette butts and shadows cast by streetlights and neon signs. While post-punk's claim of the metropolitan landscape has slipped in recent years with the rising popularity of remixes and the increasing prevalence of electronic music, Thieves Like Us have crafted a dark, creeping record that contains very few organic elements, evoking a strange marriage of Wire's "154" and the minimalist production existent throughout the Junior Boys' catalogue. In the near-absence of guitars, Thieves Like Us employ synthesizers and pads to create the atmosphere of "Play music" -- a menacingly ethereal tone on tracks like "An easy tonight" and "Program of the first part"; a dancehall-ready minimalism on "Drugs in my body" and "Miss you"; and a driving, mutedly violent desperation on "Your heart feels", the stand-out track on the album. Where Cut City's brand of post-punk oscillates between the atmospheric and the all-too-present, Thieves Like Us deconstruct pop songs, warping them into skulking, introspective shadows existing somewhere between the likes of Cut Copy and Gang of Four. The seductiveness of an album like "Play music" is in the strength of its skeletal nature, in the unvarnished and austere compositions, and in the breadth of emotion explored within this unembellished format -- all of which Thieves Like Us succeed and excel at.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Burning Hearts
Aboa sleeping
Shelflife Records
Everything about Burning Hearts just seems to fit - from the beautifully conceived cover art (that reminds me of the early dust jackets of Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's cradle") to the whirling swells of pop instrumentation that provide the landscape for Jessika Rapo's voice (one that wonderfully channels Nico at times) to glide along. There is a twee playfulness reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obscura, but Burning Hearts are very much a collaboration that could only have come together in Scandinavia. Opener "I lost my colour vision" exists somewhere between Club 8 and Moonbabies, and "Aboa sleeping" continues to transverse this Nordic territory throughout with a dexterity that only echoes certain bands, Granada and The Chrysler among them, without feeling weighed down by their influence. "Aboa sleeping" is a lavishly imagined pop album, one where my favorite tracks has shifted almost every listen. There is one stumble on the record, however - the strangely conceived "The galloping horse" was removed from my iTunes quite quickly (I can only listen to the sound of heart arrhythmia and a narrator from a 1950s-style medical instructional film played over an arpeggiated synthline so many times). Stumbles and arrhythmia aside, "Aboa sleeping" is one of the best albums Shelflife has put out, and Burning Hearts have proven themselves one of the strongest members of a very strong label roster.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Champagne Riot
Paris & I
Shelflife Records
Somewhere between the melodic realms of The Radio Dept. and Sambassadeur's "Migration" exists Champagne Riot's contribution to the Scandinavian electropop scene. The production is fantastic, the voice resting perfectly amongst the swells of synthesizers and the hammering of programmed drums, and the songwriting is usually quite solid, producing interesting twists and turns down alleys and avenues not necessarily expected, all without sacrificing the melodic core of the music... Unfortunately, "Paris and I" treads very little new ground. "Before we wave goodbye" wouldn't feel too out of place on "Lesser matters", opener "Scandinavian warfare" echoes the driving, orchestral pop of Sambassadeur's latest effort; in fact there's very little to be found on "Paris and I" that one can confidently label unique. This said, Champagne Riot do not come off as mere imitators and have actually produced a rather entertaining collection of songs. The band's main failing is that they try to burrow into the exact same part of your heart that other acts have already established residence within.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Kuryakin
Still here
Shelflife Records
The most obviously Scandinavian of the three Shelflife Records acts I delighted in this past weekend, Kuryakin open their EP with "Take my hands", a song that combines the lush dreaminess of The Radio Dept. with the sample-happy, Motown feel of Jens Lekman -- which is quite an accomplishment to say the least. Effortlessly integrating the organic with the electronic, Kuryakin may carry a torch that many would feel The Radio Dept. initially lit, but this torch lights a very different path for Kuryakin. On "Still here" there is a buoyancy where similar bands explore melancholy, and Kuryakin retain this optimism without sacrificing any of the ethereal quality of their songwriting. "Peace of mind", the closer of the EP, has all the makings of a heartrending composition, instead the song channels all of these genre techniques down brighter avenues. The deft craftsmanship that went into "Still here" has put Kuryakin firmly on my list of artists to keep an eye on. I have the feeling these recordings are only the beginnings of a wonderful catalog.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
The Ruling Class
Tour de force
Shelflife Records
Like C.S. Nielsen's pitch-perfect recreation of Johnny Cash's style of songwriting, the part-Scandinavian/part-British The Ruling Class similarly adopt a faultless Stone Roses style (with maybe more than a few nods to The Charlatans). The reason artists like this succeed is because they follow in exactly the same footprints as their influences -- not beating around the bush (because the songwriters can't quite find the vein they're attempting to replicate), or providing listeners with a karaoke-esque recreation, but deftly hitting every emotional chord that caused us to fall in the love with legends like Johnny Cash and renowned Manchurians The Stone Roses. Our parents have boundlessly assured us that "there will never be another group like The Beatles," and maybe they're right, but The Ruling Class have stepped into shoes that haven't moved quite like this in a long time. There's an art to what they have done that is beyond imitation; it's more like disproving the idea that lightning never strikes the same place twice.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Days
Downhill
Shelflife Records
On their EP and 7", Days adopt all of the delicate splendor that made us all fall for Johnny Marr's guitar lines within The Smiths' catalog, and the James-like approach of Australia's criminally neglected Youth Group. The end result is a luxuriant collection of indiepop tunes, contemplative but upbeat, without either leaning taking up too much of the focus; a delicate balance between sweetness and reflection that easily could have become a saccharine-sweet mess in less able hands. Along with The Mary Onettes, Days have established themselves as among the best musicians continuing the lineage set up in 1980s.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
