It's a Trap! is on the road! I'll be traveling throughout Sweden from June 10-22, so expect updates to be somewhat sporadic during that time. Friends who want to meet up are encouraged to get in touch!
Miss Li
Best of 061122 - 071122
National
Love her or hate her, Miss Li has proven herself one of the more prolific Swedish acts of recent memory. Personally, there is something about her music -- the strangely functional blend of theatrical, cabaret-like eccentrics, her voice that simultaneously holds the innocence of a child and the wisdom of a young woman who grew up rather quickly -- that draws me in, sometimes quite against my own will. Miss Li covers a lot of ground on this celebration of a year's worth of her music: "Seems like we lost it" would not feel particularly out of place on the soundtrack to "American Graffiti"; "Leave my man alone" has a peculiarly Eastern European feel to it; and "I'm sorry, he's mine" seems to find a convergence point between the two previously discussed tracks, working in the Old World European elements into a 50s American musical vehicle. If you can fall in love with her quirks, Miss Li is a richly rewarding pop musician -- not just in her voice or her skillful musicianship, but in the amount of personality and fun that she imbues her compositions with.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
MP3: Hebosagil - Big sun
I'm leaving for Stockholm today, but that doesn't mean I leave you reader's empty-handed. Expect mp3 posts and review updates to continue more or less as usual the next two weeks.
Hebosagil's self-released debut EP was my favorite demo release last year¹ and now their proper full-length debut "Colossal" is out via Kaos Kontrol. I am not privileged enough to have heard the entire thing at this point, but judging by the first track they've released for public consumption ("Big sun"), they've decided to take their music into more of a conventional doom/stonerrock direction. It's still plenty heavy and crusty, but way less thrashy and with way less old-school death-metal flavor (think early Entombed, Autopsy). Kinda of a let-down, if you ask me. I mean, it's still good, but it takes them until the solo section to finally push things into the red and get way blitzed out. Now that's the Hebosagil I want to hear! While the track is indeed growing on me more and more with with each subsequent listen (it's been on steady rotation all week, despite my low rating), it's falling short of ideal. Give me more grinding, more feedback! More damage!
Hebosagil - Big sun
Norway's Quart Festival, originally scheduled for July, has been canceled due to financial concerns: https://www.quart.no/
Finnish experimental/industrial label Some Place Else has posted details and samples for new releases from Ovro and Metaorganism: https://www.someplaceelse.net/current/2008/06/06/presenting-forthcoming-releases/
Go here to hear the Rufus (JP) remix of Säkert!'s "Vi kommer att dö samtidigt": https://www.myspace.com/secondroyalrufus
Speaking of Säkert!, she's playing a "secret" show at Debaser in Stockholm on June 12 as a warm-up for Hultsfred. I'll already be at the fest by then, but maybe you can go?
Soundvenue is suggesting that Danish pop act Alphabeat has signed with Warner in the US: https://www.soundvenue.com/news.asp?id=7204
Check out the video for the latest Looptroop Rockers single "Naïve" (ft. Timbuktu): https://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=35522610
Karisma Records has just put out a new Lonely Crowd digital download single featuring the tracks "Aren't you forgetting something?" b/w "Learning the hard way". Both are from the band's new full-length "The end of the roadie", due out June 30.
Music with Parken at PSL featuring backing musicians Henrik von Euler aka Rigas and Anders Rudström: https://blogg.svt.se/psl/2008/06/06/musik-med-parken/
Fluxblog on the new Annie single "I know ur girlfriend hates me": https://www.fluxblog.org/2008/06/cold-and-sadistic.html
Personally, I don't really understand the fuss as I find Annie's voice to be entirely unremarkable. Decent production does not make up for it.
Lo-Fi-Fnk WTF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blEsBl0XeaY
Danish indie act The Holiday Show has signed with Slow Shark Records (Maborosi, Jetpetz, Girls In Hawaii) and will be releasing their debut album later this year. Listen at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/theholidayshow
IAT favorite Tobias Hellkvist reports that he is done with his new album "Sides" which will be divided in two parts. More info to come.
Once again, Norway's Hovefestivalen (June 23-27 in Arendal) is taking their pledge of environmentalism seriously and is providing a carbon neutral experience. Read more about their concerns and plans for action here: https://hovefestival.com/Default.aspx?CatID=milj%C3%B8