Legendary Norwegian black-metal act Emperor will once again fleece the people with two more reunion shows:
10/07 - Motstoy Festival, Notodden (NOR)
10/28 - Astoria, London (UK)
It's not that they aren't a good band (they deserve their legendary status), they just aren't good live. Trust me, it's true. Anyhow, in other news, the band will be putting out a tabulature book to accompany the previously released "Scattered ashes: A decade of emperial wrath" greatest-hits disc. That's pretty cool, especially considering how intricate some of the band's guitarwork is.
Gorilla vs. Bear is hooked up with the "Beyond the wizard's sleeve" remix of Peter Bjorn and John's "Young folks": https://gorillavsbear.blogspot.com/2006/08/young-folks-remix.html
Elite Finnish label Musapojat has released a new EP from Anssi Kasitonni & Kovat piipussa, a group that I'm lead to believe in a sideproject of Black Audio. At least, I assume that's the case as they have new samples and details on Black Audio's website: https://www.blaudio.net/
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Peter Jöback - Flera sidor av samma man
02. Lars Winnerbäck - Efter nattens bränder - 1996-2006
03. Patrik Isaksson - Patrik Isaksson
04. Tomas Ledin - Plektrum
05. Backyard Babies - People like people like people like us
06. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader (sjunger Dan Andersson)
07. Eric Gadd - Eric Gadd
08. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Bao på turné
09. Peps Persson Oh boy - Det bästa med Peps Persson
10. Björn Skifs - Decennier sånger från en annan tid
11. Carola - Från nu till evighet
12. Amy Diamond - Still me still now
14. Thåström - Skebokvarnsv 209
15. Robert Wells and His Rhapsody Lounge Orchestra - Full house boogie
16. The Poodles - Metal will stand tall
17. Marie Fredriksson - Min bäste vän
18. Totta & Wiehe - Dylan
19. Sabaton - Attero dominatus
20. Laleh - Laleh
T!T!T! reports from the road to Emmaboda that they are enroute, but 12 hours late following an ardous journey from London. "We were some of a few to make it out of Standsted and are now Emmaboda bound." More updates and maybe even pictures to come.
Sahara Hotnights have posted another new demo track on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/saharahotnights
Marit Bergman's brand new single "No party" is streaming on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/maritbergman
What happens to punks when they get old? Prevailing wisdom seems to indicate that they become country singer/songwriters. At least that seems to work for the first generation. But what about those of us who a bit younger and grew up on stuff like Dischord? Where do we go next? Maybe they decide to push further out into the unknown. That seems to be the case with Chronic Heist. Veterans of acts like JR Ewing and Trapdoor Fucking Exit, but you'd never know it from cursory listening. They call it "suburban gothic" and I think that's fairly apt. You can certainly hear the roots of Nick Cave in their reliance on piano and dramatic vocals. It's not quite as sinister as Paper Chase, but I'd call them kindred spirits. Something for grownups who have gotten over the aggression of hardcore. I am not as angry as I was when I was a teenager, so why should I keep listening to angry music?
Buy "Great Northern Recordings compilation no. 1", the collection this song comes from: [click here]
Chronic Heist - Gather little tricks
In case it wasn't totally obvious from the cover art, this is a heavy slab of fuzz-heavy stoner-rock. Two bands, six songs each, a grand total of just over 60 minutes of music. Since I consider Black Sabbath to be the greatest band ever, I can def get into this, but since I also tend to prefer later Ozzy-era Sabbath ("Sabbath bloody sabbath", "Sabotage" and yes, even "Never say die"), I'm kinda lukewarm on this disc. As with most stoner-rock, this stuff leans much more heavily on early Sabbath - all bludgeoning power chords and heavy doom'n'gloom atmosphere. I can dig it, but it's also been done to death and doesn't touch upon all the other reasons that made Sabbath so amazing. Trouble figured it out with "Manic frustration". It can be done. So before I run my mouth off with a treatise on my favorite band, let me leave it at this: Asteroid and Blowback are good bands. This is a good CD. Just not great.
- Avi Roig
I'm convinced that alien DNA has somehow gotten into a bunch of Swedish musicians recently, and they may not know it. The very odd sounds and arrangements being generated by bands like The State of Floral Beings, The Knife and The Bear Quartet just can't be explained merely by saying "they're hard-working musicians and they're looking for new sounds." I defy anyone who listens to "Eternity now", the brand-new Bear Quartet CD, not to tell me that something not quite of this realm is driving the band. Holy smoke, is this thing wild and uncategorizable. I chuckled at a description of these guys online as "Sweden's most legendary pop band." What you hear on this CD bears only a tangential relationship to traditional "pop." Let's start with the mindblowing 21-minute centerpiece "Bear Quartet International Airport". This is one crazily brilliant, jaw-dropping track that kept me up half the night in awe. It starts with a jagged, killer guitar riff that burrows into your brain, ferocious drumming and an overall sense of sonic abandon before zigging and zagging through uncharted musical terrain. There are tempo shifts, just a snatch of weird vocals and a beautiful section where all the music sounds bowed (even though it's probably done on a synth). Honestly, this piece sounds like it's attempting to reinvent prog rock for the new millennium, and I'm not gonna argue against that. Thrilling stuff. Elsewhere, the short "Broken heart" and ultra-strange "The repairing of the Red Sea" utilize innovative pitch-shifting on the vocals, a technique used by Ween and Iceland's Eberg, but still in its infancy as far as the creative possibilities. It's a delight to find Bear Quartet exploring this sort of terrain. "Sailors" has a fairly simple rhythm track and synth, but then proceeds to alienate the general listening public (although not ME) with a high, moaning vocal that is clearly NOT the work of a band with record sales as their top priority. And there are several percussion-heavy tracks like "Where I cried," as well as a spooky ambient instrumental called "Peders forlat," which goes even further in making this platter hard to summarize. You can almost hear them laughing at the listener's expectations. Bear Quartet have made a dozen CDs and umpteen EPs over the years; "Eternity now" is clearly one of their weirdest and most delerious. Yes, that's a thumbs up.
- Kevin Renick
Galento, a Swedish act who are brave enough to cheerfully explore the mostly uncharted terrain where instrumental pop/rock and film music overlap, have done themselves proud on this new release. "From the sea" is a real charmer of a disc, avoiding formula at almost every turn and providing a soundtrack for almost any soft-focus scenario you choose to imagine. Me, I pretended I was driving around some small village in a foreign country, occasionally getting disoriented but always reassured by the smiling faces of the locals. The film music influence is obvious: you can hear strains of Angelo Badalamenti on "Gunnar Hardings Paraply" (which is genuinely hypnotic with its repeated dreamy horns and surreal ambiance) and a touch of Morricone on the short, but evocative, keyboard-laden "She was an excellent driver". The 12-minute "2005... and the moon still turns the tide" is the obvious highlight, and I've coined the word 'psychedelicate' to describe this lush, panoramic, constantly changing moodscape. This isn't rock music, but it's definitely compelling, stirring aural scenery, with something new around each bend. I could've done without the occasional spoken word interludes on this disc, but that minor grumble aside, this is rather warm, transfixing music perfect for kicking back in your recliner to, or for complementing a scenic drive through unfamiliar territory--which pretty much sums up what this lovely recording is.
- Kevin Renick
The style of music offered up by Namur, essentially the solo project of Sweden's David Åhlén, deserves a good, descriptive name. I'm sick of words like "slowcore" and "shoegaze" to describe this style of heavily atmospheric, churning melancholia. But there may be no substitute for "electro ambient dream pop," the title of a real Yahoo! group. That's pretty accurate, so let's go with it. "Songs from the valley of Baca" is the third Namur release and it's a thing of fragile beauty. Rather minimal, with some fuzzy, My Bloody Valentine-style guitar drone and superb drumming complementing Åhlén's soft, compellingly shy vocals. "Consuming fire" and "Marching" are exceptionally fine, emotionally stirring tunes (especially the keening vocal on that latter track), and again I have to mention the beauty of the drums... clean, loud and hypnotic a la John Bonham. The vocals are mixed almost in the background, like they're just part of the blissful, foggy ambience. "Vesper" is a solemn, beatless song which is deeply melancholy... you'll get as lost in thought as the singer seems to be if you just drift with this wisp of a tune. And "Brighter than the sun" sounds uncannily like Sigur Ros, just a bit less lush; but the textural organ and little snowflake synth flurries are quite captivating. And the vocal's emotive power is doubled here. Rebekkamaria from Lampshade provides harmonies on one track, but otherwise, this is a pretty singular affair, and it's as light as a dream. Very pretty, haunting music worth drifting off to sleep to...
- Kevin Renick
I don't know if there's a proper term to describe what Noxagt exactly is. When I listened to their third release on Providence, Rhode Island's Load Records, the only word I could think of was 'intense'. I had an assumption of what to expect with this record when I saw it was a Load release: it was definitely going to be noisy and maybe even challenge me to enjoy it (which I did.) Although some may think that seven tracks is a bit short for an album, Noxagt make effective use of this by playing unrelenting instrumental/sludge rock in the vein of bands like High on Fire and labelmates Lightning Bolt. Each track pummels into the listener's ear as bass, drums and spring-loaded guitar combine to create droning soundscapes that get progressively more violent and intense as you listen.
- Navy Keophan
The Bear Quartet
Namur