Håkan Johansson (Division of Laura Lee) has once again teamed up with Carcrash Records partner/fellow Frantic Mantis member Shelby Cinca (Frodus) in a new band called Man and Wasp, also featuring Mike Schleibaum from Darkest Hour. Listen at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/manandwasp
Check out a musical slideshow that Anders Teglund's (Cult of Luna) father Sven Teglund made: https://ryssbalt.blogspot.com/2007/12/heartbeats-and-icebeat.html
Monster & Maskiner has produced a 5-track EP of remix tracks from Last Days of April's "Might as well live" that LDOA will be selling on tour. Fans unable to attend any of the band's upcoming shows are encouraged to either write the band directly or wait for digital release early next year.
The new Montys Loco album "Farewell Mr Happy" is confirmed for release on March 5 via NONS. If you haven't heard the new songs posted on myspace yet, do so now: https://www.myspace.com/montysloco
Definitely one of next year's most anticipated releases.
MP3: Lamont - Take a bow
Lamont's "Take a bow" cribs heavily from The Clash's "Lost in the supermarket", serving to emphasize just how disco/pop the original song really is. It's kind of a bummer to hear such a blatant ripoff of a classic tune, but Lamont, to their credit, almost pull it off. If you're gonna steal, might as well aim big, right? The Clash sarcastically state "I've got my giant hit discoteque album" when, ironically, that's pretty much exactly what Lamont is going for. I applaud their attempt at a novel distribution scheme and really do enjoy the rest of their album, but it's hard for me to look past this. To take something so iconic (The Clash are, after all, "the only band that matters") and completely suck the meaning out of it, is inexcusable. I only hope it wasn't intentional.
Lamont - Take a bow
A West Side Fabrication has new tracks from both The Culture In Memoriam and Tupelo Honeys posted on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/westsidefabrication
The Knife's live film "Silent shout - An audio visual experience" will be screened in San Francisco on December 19 at Mezzanine.
Hell On Wheels have a brand new track on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/hellonwheelss
Rigas
The hardest pocket to pick
Flora & Fauna
Starting off with the Radio Dept.-like "Keep pushing it forward", Rigas and company establish the modus operandi for their second album: to lambaste us with melodic, quirky electro pop. So, not much has changed really, and, depending on whether you are already a fan or not, this is either great or disappointing news. While they never return to the slower, more reflective mood of the opening track, Rigas compensate with dirty beats and catchy synth leads evoking dance floors of the early 90s and the more idiosyncratic compositions of hip-hop artists like Robyn. If 'playfully bizarre' sounds like something you're into, you can't go too far wrong with "The hardest pocket to pick". Not stellar, but definitely not boring.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Listen to NPR program All Things Considered discuss the music of Denmark: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16846072
The Carny has a new holiday single posted on myspace to commemorate the release of their new album "...so let's give a great big oldfashioned welcome to The Carny": https://www.myspace.com/thecarnyband
Jazzwise talks to Esbjörn Svensson Trio about their new album "Live in Hamburg": https://www.jazzwise.com/news/item/7675
Said album is #3 on their albums of the year chart.
The upcoming Under Byen live EP that they recorded with The Danish Radio Sinfonietta is now confirmed for release on February 18 with the title "Siamesisk".
In other Under Byen news, check out some of the band's sideprojects (Nils Gröndahl & Oliver Hoiness, The Sad Lovers and Dazzle Ships) on the new SOPA comp "Sopa Deliciosa": https://www.sopa.dk/sopadeliciosa
Totalt Jävla Mörker are celebrating 10 years as a band and will be releasing a DVD to commemorate the occasion: https://www.totaltjavlamorker.com/