The video for the excellent new Familjen single "Huvudet i sanden" is now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NOV_vmVFxc
Stream the entire new remix album at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/familjen
Swedish rockers Enter the Hunt are back in the studio with Jacob Hellner (Rammstein, Clawfinger, Backyard Babies) working on new material. They expect to emerge with completed material in May.
Winter Took His Life CDs are back in stock: [click here]
Also note that I've reinstated the store widget in the side-column and have added a new bar showing the top sellers for the past 30 days.
The new Pacific! album "Reveries" is streaming in its entirety on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/musicpacific
Björn Kleinhenz has scheduled himself a last-minute trip to Scotland:
03/03 - Whistlebinkies, Edinburgh
03/04 - Whistlebinkies, Edinburgh
03/05 - 13th Note, Glasgow
03/06 - Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh
PopMatters reviews Pascal's latest record "Galgberget": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/54141/pascal-galgberget/
More post-by:Larm thoughts from MIC Norway including their own top-10 list of favorite domestic artists: https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2008022711554441538109
Fluxblog on the Lykke Li single "I'm good, I'm gone": https://www.fluxblog.org/2008/02/youll-be-calling-but-i-wont-be-at-phone.html
Dusted reviews the new CD retrospective "Valkenee" from 80s Finnish hardcore act KTMK aka Kansanturvamusiikkikomissio: https://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4050
MP3: Meshuggah - Pravus
Meshuggah, at this point in their career, has lost the element of surprise. However, they continue to impress as they remain the world's greatest math-metal champions. I suspect that if anyone even attempted to challenge them, they'd be written off as mere imitators no matter how good they are because, let's face it, Meshuggah has the market cornered for hyper-syncopated metal. They wrote the damn book. So taking this into consideration, it's hard to give a fair assessment of the band's new album "obZen". It sounds like Meshuggah as only Meshuggah does. Personally, I find that it hearkens back a bit towards "Chaosphere" in that there's a fairly consistent mid-tempo 4/4 beat in the drum pulse. They mix it up a bit of course, but it's those deceptively simple riffs that are often their heaviest and most memorable and that's why I've chosen "Pravus" as today's mp3 selection. All the Meshuggah trademarks are present, including Fredrik Thorendal's signature discordant leads, though the best part though comes after the solo section in what I guess you could call the breakdown. When they settle into a groove like that, they're unstoppable. And the subtle melodic counterpoint is absolutely killer as well. It's great, but it's also exactly what you'd expect, so it's a bit tougher to get excited about it.
Meshuggah - Pravus
German label Adagio830 will be releasing a split LP featuring Tar...Feathers and related band Happiness later on this year. Seeing as how both bands share members, you can expect some sort of collaboration tracks as well.
Swedish synthpop act Kamera has a new website: https://www.kamerastyle.com/
Pitchfork is not so impressed by the new El Perro Del Mar record: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48761-from-the-valley-to-the-stars
Also at Pfork today, an interview with black-metal/industrial artist Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk (MZ.412, Nordvargr) in the latest "Show No Mercy" column: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/48894-column-show-no-mercy
Various Artists
Svenska punkklassiker vol. 2
MNW
It seems silly to call this "Volume 2" when disc one is essentially a reprise of the original "Svenska punkklassiker" comp with a slightly different tracklist and an extended timeframe. Sure, a few quality acts got culled in the process (or resigned to the excellent "Svensk postpunk klassiker" collection), but the heavy hitters (Ebba Grön, KSMB, etc.) remain. As for extending the date range to cover the entire 80s, well we can argue endlessly about who was unfairly left off and so on, but overall I think it allows for more variety, thus a better sampling of what early Swedish punk has to offer.
Disc two however, is where things become problematic. Swedish punk in the 90s was a mixed bag, to say the least, and I'm sure there's all sorts of folks out there who bristle at the inclusion of many bands here. C'mon, I love Fireside, but to call them classic Swedish punk is stretching things. Sure, they evolved from the right place, but to hear them followed by Skitsystem is quite a transition.
Anyhow, all issues of personal taste set aside, this collection does deliver a decent overview of the Swedish punk scene for novice listeners. The intro essay by Mikael Sörling gives the music historical context and the extra notes for each track (all på Svenska 'natch) are a most welcome touch, especially considering that they are sorely lacking from other collections in the Klassiker series. Of course, in an ideal world, we'd have a double-disc collection for each decade, but it still succeeds well enough as-is to earn a reserved recommendation.
- Avi Roig