This week's It's A Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 albums of the week:
01. Radiohead – In Rainbows
02. Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills
03. The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
04. Jens Lekman – Oh You're So Silent Jens
05. Familjen – Det snurrar i min skalle
06. The Radio Dept. – Lesser Matters
07. The National – Alligator
08. Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
09. The Knife – Silent Shout
10. Tiger Lou – The Loyal
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Join us! Go here to learn more: https://www.last.fm/help/
4
About four years ago Mange Schmidt became semi-famous by doing Swedish versions of classic hip-hop tracks, then he released his first album last year and got a hit with "Glassigt". Schmidt raps in Swedish and his lyrics are really, really terrible; his rhymes are some of the worse I've ever heard in Swedish, and it grates on the ears to listen to him deliver one weak rhyme after another. He (or his producer) has got a knack for writing infectious hooks though, "Giftigt" and "Jag talar ut" are catchy songs with very poppy choruses that have a high hit factor. The beats on the album are actually not that bad, and I'm surprised that the once esteemed Thomas Rusiak has produced three songs on the album, it's a shame that Schmidt ruins all of them with his awful rapping. There's been a lot of talk about ringtone rappers this year, and I guess you could call Mange Schmidt Sweden's first real ringtone rapper. Lucky him!
- Simon Tagestam
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. The Bombettes - I wanna
02. TALK 1
03. Anna Järvinen - Helsinki
04. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
05. Pay TV - Fashion report
06. TALK 2
07. Timo Räisänen - My valentine
08. Jonna Lee - And your love
09. José González - Killing for love
10. The Bear Quartet - It only takes a flashlight to create a monster
11. TALK 3
12. Kristofer Åström - The dark
13. Munck//Johnson - The streets
14. Bertine Zetlitz - Draggin' me down
15. Dieter Schöön - Warm hearts
16. TALK 4
17. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
18. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Ashen like the sky
19. Kazakstan - Song to the past
20. TALK 5
21. Marvins Revolt - Bugs in time
22. Menfolk - Ghosts
23. Pelle Carlberg - I love you, you imbecile
24. TALK 6
25. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
26. Stina Nordenstam - So Lee
27. Tobias Hellkvist - Abomination
28. TALK 7
29. Marybell Katastrophy - Slabiak
30. Sinikka Langeland - Høstnatt på Fjellskogen
31. David Åhlén - Wasted breaths
32. Printer - Minds out
33. TALK 8
34. Montys Loco - Wasteland
35. Lampshade - Fjäril
36. NEI - Trip to Luleå
37. Laakso - Hang me in the Christmas tree
38. TALK 9
39. Honey Is Cool - Drums and boys
Don't forget to vote for Sirius Blog Radio at the Plug Awards! Vote here: https://www.plugawards.com/general_vote.php
We are nominated under the category "Media (Obsessive) > Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)".
7
This, the four song debut EP of Suburban Kid Johan Hedberg [the Labrador licensed rerelease adds an extra track, hence the "5 spårs EP" -ed], I actually find more a logical step from the band's earlier EPs Nos. 1 & 2. The Caribbean beach style beats, horns, and mariachi leaning guitar strumming are all highly present, along with Hedberg's sad croon. The two major differences are that the vocals are in Swedish and that there is much better production. The latter actually makes this more enjoyable for repeat listens, especially on tracks like "Grammisgalan" and "Har du själ?". At four songs it's obviously a bit short, but with some acts, formats such as this prove to be a wise decision.
- Matt Giordano
The lyrics of this track are straight out of the Big Black playbook. To slip into the persona of someone disreputable, not necessarily looking for sympathy, rather taking it as matter-of-fact. A glimpse into their life, for better or worse. For an early Bear Quartet track, it's surprisingly discordant as well. Nothing quite Albini-esque, but there is a definitely level of unease in the melody, especially in the way that the first half of each line in the chorus is left hanging. It's a sophisticated arrangement actually and quite a bit different from their other material of that time, hence the EP b-side treatment. I bet if they had put a bit more punch into the performance, it might even sound like Chavez. As is, it's not hard to imagine how it could be transformed as such in a live setting. So many tiny buildups and (potentially) soaring guitar lines! Typically I am anti the slacker approach, but it kinda works here. At least it gives it a touch of their own, despite my various attempts at artist comparison.
The Bear Quartet - Hot meal
The Cardigans' forthcoming best-of collection is now confirmed for release on January 30 in Europe, January 28 in the UK. It will be available both as a single disc version and as a 2CD with extra rare tracks and b-sides. Both collections will include extensive liner notes from the band with background info on each and every track.
Säkert!'s next single will be "Det kommer bara leda till nåt ont", a duet featuring Markus Krunegård of Laakso. Look for a video soon.
Swedish shoegazers LKWRM report that they have recorded a cover of "Throwing back the apple" by the Pale Saints for inclusion on the 3rd volume of Club AC30's "Never lose that feeling" compilation series. In other news, the band insists that their long-awaited mini-album will be released this spring.
Little Big Adventure has posted two new, older tracks for free download: https://www.littlebigadventure.se/?p=39
Swedish punks Fy Fan have started to post dates for their US tour in March: https://fyfan.hardcorepunk.se/
Dark Essence will be releasing a new live 7" from Taake early next year entitled "Svartekunst". Four tracks, including a cover of "Over fjell og gjennom torner" by Darkthrone.
Mange Schmidt
Johan Hedberg