Label: Startracks
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A new Kristofer Åström release is always something I make a mental note of, as he has long been a sentimental favourite of mine, Fireside being the band that really got me into Swedish music. "RainawayTown" may come as a bit of a surprise, as this is the first full-length to be recorded without his long-time backing band Hidden Truck. To compare this album to one of his peers, It would be safe to say the consistency prevalent on this album, his first full-fledged alt-country venture, is that which Ryan Adams has been searching for, as this surpasses his excellent "Cold roses". After the stellar (and very indie) "So much for staying alive", I wasn't sure what Kristofer Åström had in his bag of tricks, but I'm very glad that he'd still got a lot in there.
- Matt Giordano
7
I have been quite interested in hearing the upcoming Moonbabies record ever since hearing "Take me to the ballroom" on "Reader's companion volume two" last spring. The album version of said track is just stellar, which is hard to imagine based on the quality of the older version. I still consider that to be one of the album's top tracks, and actually, the band's success on the album lies mostly in the uptempo numbers. "Don't ya know?" carries the album into the danceable stratosphere, whereas "Weekend a-go-go" harkens back to some of the best alt-rock that come out a decade ago. The production on this album is just so full, yet retains a playful atmosphere. I can see this album really bringing the band a ton of success especially in the States, as I can easily see the songs on both radio and TV.
- Matt Giordano
His somewhat delayed new EP starts off very strong, with the vocal energy in "So much for staying alive" carrying the listener through the fingerpicked guitar and beautiful organ lines. However, the energy of that track is lost with the second track ("Black Valley theme") on the record being an instrumental, and it's kind of out-of-place on a four song EP (thus making it only three tracks with vocals). While the final two tracks ("Finally home" and "The blackest pond") are great songs, I feel as if they'd flow better on a complete album. Overall, the songs on this record are good, but it's lacking as a cohesive unit and I feel as if this is only a teaser for a new album.
- Matt Giordano
Sometime at the end of last year, my next-door neighbor emerges from his door and tells me he's on his way to see a band called Tiger Lou and that I should probably do the same. Operating under the assumption (sorry to say, but from the name of the band) that TL was probably just going to be another band of indie-rock sissies in horizontal stripes, I opted to go to a cheesy dance club in Malmö instead. Whoops. Tiger Lou are one of the more promising new bands to hail from Sweden within the last couple of years and exhibit a considerable aptitude for penning catchy pop tunes of a darker persuasion: while the songs on the "Nixon" single exude a sort of characteristic moodiness, they never quite veer into truly somber territory – at least not sonically. Most of the songs on the "Nixon" single can be found in one form or another on TL's full-length, "The loyal". The last two tracks are remixed versions of "The loyal" (by Martin Vogel) and "The war between us" (by Rupesh Cartel). The remix of "The loyal" is at best, a little dull: the only thing that salvages the track's tired electro-pop is the quality of the original song itself. The "War between us" remix is even worse as it epitomizes the awful b-side dance remix: imagine the Pet Shop Boys without the nuances that make the Pet Shop Boys well... palatable. The verdict? Ditch the single and buy the album.
- Jessica Numsuwankijkul
I've been a fan of Christian Kjellvander for a long time, I really like his old band Loosegoats, and I adored his last solo album and the Songs of Soil record that he did with his brother was better than butter. So for a long time now I've been a bit baffled that I haven't listened to "Faya" more than I have. I've only put it on with the intention of 'checking it out', or for me being able to review it. The songs on the album give a bit of more 'refined' impression than on his earlier releases (a bit more mature, I guess), but they also lack something that has been the key to Kjellvander's songs previously. Sure, the songs are pretty good, but I expect something more than standard alt. country numbers from someone like Christian Kjellvander and I try to tell myself that "Faya" is just nothing but a singular half-good album in a great career which will surely be followed by much greater things. Yeah, this is what I think will happen and in the future it will make perfect sense when you think of how "Faya" was such an obvious stepping stone for the greatness that came afterwards (just like how Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen, for example, have released some dubious stuff throughout their careers). These are not just mere fantasies! Oh well, they are, but soon they'll be facts! FACTS!
- Simon Tagestam
If you are in a band and you are reading this: You know when the label says we need a hit record? Well take heed - "The loyal" may be a blueprint for others to follow. Oh yeah, of course there's one modicum of criticism levied - let's just say the old maxim: If you are going to plagiarize, plagiarize with conviction. So to sound like Genesis with 'I'm still standing' on "All I have" matters not one iota. And "The loyal" is carried off so competently that even that modicum is delivered to positive effect. But screw it because TL swears on it, and vernacular is good over here. I like the word 'fuck' - think about it. We all do?! This album is shocking. Shockingly good. They say sometimes it has to hurt to enjoy. So any masochists out there can unite on this disc, at least via track 6, "Nixon". The Loyal conjures up images of "Blair Witch Project", a horror scene, the video could have been a torch lamp and a forest. There's some distortion for underlay, digital drums and a effects textured to the song swagger. Swagger is a theme throughout and a darker edge to this disc than "Is my head still on?" "Patterns" is a blast of 80's pop, a blast of the Mudd Club circa '87 – foot tappingly deft... and this is the continuum. Darker production, dance floor hits. Hits Hits Hits. If you missed the beauty of Tiger Lou, get this album, lock all the doors, stay up until 4am, put your headphones and be very frightened.s
- Troy Convers
I got goose-pimples when I heard Britta perform at Vinterviken in '04, and still do every time "I search in you, you search in me" from "Demo 2" is played. So with great anticipation "Found at home" was initially welcomed here at review HQ. So lest not beat about the bush: much of Persson's attraction is her relationship to the KÅ/Hidden Truck/Fireside/Startracks family, and the natural interest which that brings. This is singer/songwriter Persson's first a "real" release. It has a fuller more complete sound, thanks perhaps largely to bedfellow Kristoffer Åström's backing vocals, production, and guitar playing. Åström guests from on "A dad for you" and again on track 4 "The past is not for real". This is a predominately two chord, slightly folkesque song (in her voice there is a Irish lilt, sometime shrill, in his a gruff hung over tone!). Neither a bad thing, because I want to rave about this release. But it is hard. Persson sounds like Cranberries singer O'Rioden or Sinead O'Conner (read again: Irish lilt) just a bit too often for my tastes. Sad, it would seem because Persson is definitely doing something... although the songs are lyrically naive. This EP somehow falls short of the virgin feeling created on her own self released EPs from 2004. The positive effect of considered production seems, in my ears, to detract from the former urgency held on the DIY demos. Next question: When will this singer try out a backing band? It might be the progressive step she needs.
- Troy Convers
Sounds to me like someone's been listening to quite a bit of country music. More specifically, the "countrypolitan" style of the 70s. Unfortunately, I think it's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way, especially with sappy, heavy-handed numbers like "Until tomorrow". That tune sounds straight-up like something producer Billy Sherrill could've done. Lucky for me, I'm already a fan of that stuff, so I'm cool with it. I do have one major complaint about this record though - the vocals sound really bad. It has nothing to do with Kristofer's performance which, as always, is spot-on. Rather, the timbre of the recording is sub-par and makes Kris' voice sounds thin and tinny. I can't tell if it's the choice of microphone or the mix that's the problem, but it's quite disappointing because it brings down the entire album. I still enjoy the record, just not as much as I had hoped.
- Avi Roig
Two new acoustic-based releases from the Fireside frontman. The "There For" EP is a mostly bare-bones affair with just a bit of string augmentation and not much more. Good stuff, but probably just for people who are already fans. Now "Loupita" is a different story. It's all acoustic as well, but it's much more fleshed out and features plenty of guest vocals from Britta Persson and beautiful slide guitar work from Mattias Friberg of Logh. The obvious point of reference is Iron & Wine for the style and instrumentation, but the recording quality is not nearly as quaint. Well, except for the one home-recorded instrumental track "Loupita #2". At first I was thinking this was going to end up more as a teaser for the upcoming full band album due out later this year, but it is more than capable of standing on its own. As always, the songs are great. There's no question about that, but it's the vibe that takes it to the next level. The atmosphere is so relaxed and comfortable that Kristofer breaks a string on the song "Devil" and they left it on the final CD version. That sort of touch brings an extra sense of humanity and intimacy to the music which is something that can't be manufactured with rack units, mixing consoles or the like. And unlike a lot of stuff I've been hearing lately, the CD gets better the deeper you get into it. The second half (including the Friberg-penned track "I collect knives") is absolutely sublime, right through the end with the closer "Just another lovesong". Highly recommended.
- Avi Roig
This is one heckuva big pop record. Everything about it is huge: the production, the hooks, the songs. We're talking full-on indie arena rock, akin to bands like Guided by Voices or maybe the Flaming Lips. There's all sorts of quirky instrumentation too, from the North African woodwinds the ghaita and arghul, to electric cicada sounds, theramin, bowed satellite dish and tons more. This is a fun, sugary-sweet album and I like it a lot, but just like candy, it's best enjoyed in small doses. After having it on constant rotation for a couple days in a row, I grew sick of it and had to put it away for a week or so. I don't want to get a cavity, y'know.
- Avi Roig
I'm really impressed by this record. I've liked everything I've heard from the Tiger so far, but this really raises the bar. The material here has much more depth and personality than his previous work and the mood tends towards the somber and dark. It's obvious that he's really been developing his craft. The production is more heavy-handed on this album, too. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I just know that when I saw him play "The war between us" live solely accompanied by guitar, it was quite powerful. The studio version is great, but it lacks the emotional impact of the sparser arrangement.
- Avi Roig
Kristofer Åström
Kristofer Åström
Tiger Lou
Christian Kjellvander
Tiger Lou
Britta Persson
