Hell On Wheels have a nice selection of various covers they've done posted for your pleasure at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/hellonwheelss
Swedish art-rock ensemble Baron Bane will release their new single "Solace" as a free download this Friday via their website. The track is the first taste of their forthcoming "Orchids" EP, due out March 23 via Stupid Dream Records. Upcoming live dates:
03/23 - Gävle teater, Gävle (SWE)
03/27 - Hoxton Bar & Grill, London (UK)
04/20 - Pipeline, Sundsvall (SWE)
04/27 - Arenan, Falun (SWE)
Automaton Industries reviews Asha Ali: https://atmtn.com/2007/02/17/asha-ali-st/
Swedish indierockers Rusty Flores have two new songs on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/rustyflores
Grammy-nominated remix artist Bill Hammell has posted his version of Asleep's track "I lost you" on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/billhamel
This week's It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group top 10 artists of the week:
01. The Arcade Fire
02. Bloc Party
03. The Shins
04. Sufjan Stevens
05. Modest Mouse
06. Of Montreal
07. The Knife
08. Peter Bjorn and John
09. The Radio Dept.
10. Jens Lekman
Album charts are still not working and the top 10 tracks are all from the same 2-3 records, so I'm not going to bother. If you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod, please join us! The more people that join, the more interesting our chart will be, the more interesting new music you'll discover. Go here to learn more: https://www.last.fm/help/
Swedish indie blues-rockers Deltahead will tour Italy in March:
03/09 - Vidia Club, Cesena (FC)
03/10 - Sky Lab, Terni
03/11 - Cantina Mediterrane, Frosinone
03/12 - Clandestino, Faenza (FC)
03/14 - Circolo Magnolia, Segrate (MI)
03/15 - C.R.C., Abano Terme (PD)
03/16 - Bachelor, Pesaro
03/17 - Interzona, Verona
03/18 - Mono, Pescara
03/19 - Garage Records, Avellino
03/20 - Bohemien, Bari
03/21 - B-Side, Cosenza
03/22 - La Chiave, Catania
03/23 - Dude, Carpi (MO)
03/24 - Spazio 211, Torino
Dharma, the Norwegian band founded by ex-Euroboys member Ole Øvstedal, has a new song on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/lyxpop
Franky Lee has posted "Shatterproof", the Japanese bonus track from their record "Cutting edge", on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/frankylee
MP3: Scraps of Tape - Death as it should be
My recurring complaint about post-rock: it's almost never heavy enough. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem for a genre whose entire raison d'etre is based upon epic build-ups, but it's the sad ugly truth. I've heard way too many pieces that fall just short of awesomeness and it drives me crazy. Just when you think they'll kick it up that extra notch, they wimp out. So anticlimatic! Thankfully Scraps of Tape, young upstarts that they are, are not afraid of wielding such power. This is the opening track from "This is a copy is this a copy" (due out tomorrow and available in the webstore) and there's no mistaking that they mean business from the get-go. There's plenty of introspective parts with beautiful melodies elsewhere on the record, but I'm all about the loud bludgeoning parts today. The end, when they take it up to an even higher notch that you didn't think was possible, totally gives me a Beevis & Butthead "Yes!" moment every time I hear it. I may not be a teenage metalhead anymore, but I can't disregard my past.
Scraps of Tape - Death as it should be
MP3: The Bear Quartet - Fuck your slow songs
I hate irony in music. Hate it with passion. That's one of the reasons that Scandinavian music is appealing to me - it's so refreshingly irony-free. Bands like The Hellacopters play ridiculous, over-the-top arena rock, but there's no "ha-ha, we're only joking" wink-wink/nudge-nudge to it. They play it like that's what they were meant to do and they do it well. There's nothing half-ass about it and that's why it's awesome.
So why does The Bear Quartet's "Fuck your slow songs" appeal to me? It's approach is so blatant, but that too, is the point. The lyrics:
"Your criticism has been noticed
and we plead guilty to a major part
but nothing's easier or more fun
than annoying young punks
so we slowed it down
and added strings and a steel guitar
we wrote song words
about how misunderstood we are"
It's entrapment! If you're annoyed, it means they've won. It's true - nothing is easier than annoying young punks and I know that first-hand. The song itself isn't exceptional, but it serves as a fine anthem for the band's dissatisfaction with the musical norms of the day and proves to be prognostic with regards to their future path. That's more than enough to make it Important with a capital i.
2001's "Gay icon" was the first BQ album I bought. Despite my horror at the gatefold image, I found it to be a great introduction to the band as I immediately set off to devour their vast back catalogue. The music tends to be a bit too typical slacker/indierock for my tastes, but that's okay - there's plenty of highlights to make up for it.
The Bear Quartet - Fuck your slow songs
MP3: Weeping Willows - Broken promise land
Weeping Willows have a new album out, but I haven't heard it yet so I figure it's a good excuse to visit some of the band's early material. It is Friday, after all. And what could be better for the Friday after Valentine's Day than a grand ol' heartbreaker like the title track to 1997's "Broken promise land". Each and every line drips with over-the-top melodrama. Take it to the bridge: "You made me cry / You make me want to die / Why, baby why? / Why did you lie?" and then driving it home with a final anguished sigh. It's so grandiose, it's almost comical. But that's the beauty of WW and a big part of what makes them so good. There are no feeble gestures here, only broad brushstrokes. It's bigger than life and a Swedish melancholy rock classic.
As for the new album "Fear & love"? They're trying to sell it as a return to form. I enjoy later-era WW, but I also agree with AMG's assertion that the more they tried to discover their own identity and change their sound, the less unique they became. Regardless of whether or not they've successfully regressed, I'm still looking forward to hearing it.
Weeping Willows - Broken promise land
Updated tourdates for Mew:
03/14 - SXSW (KEXP's Live from Austin City Limits show), Austin, TX
03/15 - SXSW (Brooklyn Vegan/Advanced Alternative Media party), Austin, TX
03/16 - SXSW (Under the Radar party), Austin, TX
03/17 - La Zona Rosa (SXSW), Austin, TX
03/20 - Black Cat, Washington, DC
03/22 - Irving Plaza, New York, NY
03/23 - Paradise, Boston, MA
03/26 - Mod Club, Toronto, Ontario
03/28 - Double Door, Chicago, IL
03/31 - Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
04/02 - Neumos, Seattle, WA
04/03 - Richard's on Richards, Vancouver, BC
04/04 - Aladdin Theatre, Portland, OR
04/06 - Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
04/07 - Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
07/03 - Quart Festival, Kristiansand (NOR)
Some new US dates for Danish duo The Raveonettes:
03/10 - Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY
03/11 - Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
03/12 - The Mercury Lounge, Manhattan, NY
03/14 - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA
03/15 - T.T. The Bears, Boston, MA
03/16 - The Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
Thomas Dybdahl will support fellow Norwegian Sondre Lerche on the latter's upcoming US tour> Dates here: https://www.sondrelerche.com/schedule.asp