Petter Seander - When something dies (video)
Brand new from Petter Seander off his upcoming sophomore solo album "Til death do us apart", due out August 31 via .
Scraps of Tape + Cecilia Nordlund - The memory tricks (live video)
Scraps of Tape and Cecilia Nordlund perform the new SoT tune "The memory tricks" which will be the 2nd single off the upcoming album "Resident flux".
PopMatters reviews When Saints Go Machine
PopMatters reviews Danish electro/pop hype When Saints Go Machine: https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/146515-when-saints-go-machine-konkylie/
120 Days to China
Norwegian act 120 Days will be doing a couple festival dates in China:
09/16 - Black Rabbit Festival, Beijing
09/18 - Black Rabbit Festival, Shanghai
New Sinikka Langeland album in late September
Norwegian vocalist and kantele player Sinikka Langeland will release her new album "The land that is not" on September 23 via .
Emma Acs - Green stars and an orange sun (video)
A new video from Danish artist Emma Acs.
Invasionen to tour China
Invasionen is heading to China in September:
09/16 - Little Bar, Chengdu
09/17 - Nuts Club, Chongqing
09/19 - VOX, Wuhan
09/20 - Yuyintang, Shanghai
09/21 - 61Club, Nanjing
09/22 - Yugong Yishan, Beijing
09/23 - 7Live, Zhengzhou
16bit - Dinosaurs (video)
The music isn't Swedish, but the animation is and, since I'm a fan of Kristofer Ström (Ljudbilden & Piloten), I'm posting it regardless.
Kellermensch fall tour
Kellermensch is touring Europe again in late October:
10/27 - 13, Tilburg (NL)
10/28 - Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL)
10/29 - tba (BEL)
10/30 - Cafe Central, Weinheim (GER)
11/01 - Sputnik Halle, Münster (GER)
11/02 - Das Bett, Frankfurt (GER)
11/04 - Kantine, Augsburg (GER)
11/06 - ISC Club, Bern (CH)
11/07 - Szene, Vienna (AUS)
11/08 - Garage Club, Saarbrücken (GER)
11/09 - E.Werk, Erlangen (GER)
11/10 - Headcrash, Hamburg (GER)
New album from The Embassy in September
Officially confirmed for release in September, a new LP from The Embassy called "Life in the trenches": https://srvc.se/the-embassy/life-in-the-trenches-lp
Amy Diamond in print
Swedish pop artist Amy Diamond will be launching her own magazine this November in cooperation with / and OKEJ editor Anders Tenger. Full details here: https://cosmosmusicgroup.com/index.php?newsdetail=36
Punk of Country - My happy days (video)
Shame this clip didn't find its way online until now, but better late than never! 80s indierock nostalgia circa 2004 courtesy of now-defunct Swedish act Punk of Country.
Deer Bear confirm EP, tour
Danish duo Deer Bear have confirmed that their new 12" EP "The other side" will be released on September 26 via . Look for them to tour with like-minded melancholy countrymen The Alcoholic Faith Mission this fall with their full-length debut to follow in early 2012. Listen to sample tunes here: https://deerbear.com/music/
Pitchfork reviews Razika
Pitchfork reviews the debut album from Norwegian teen indie/post-punk act Razika: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15730-program-91/
Night Minutes
Grateful depression
self-released
As with any recent addition to a niche subgenre, newcomers to the '60s girl group/surf rock-inspired scene are going to be compared to the movement's forerunners and inspirations. Night Minutes' debut full-length is sure to receive at least a handful of comparisons to fellow Scandinavians The Raveonettes (It's a Trap! already got that ball rolling a year ago with a review of the song "Sweetheart at the funeral" from their self-titled EP), and while these comparisons can be useful to establish an idea of the band's sound, with smaller subgenres these parallels can prove limiting -- if I'm already into The Raveonettes and Glasvegas, I may feel that I've reached my saturation point for jangly, Jesus and Mary Chain-esque indie pop and not even bother to read past the first mention of Phil Spector. Night Minutes certainly share characteristics with groups like The Raveonettes and Glasvegas, especially in the latter two's darker moments, but it is where the overlap ends that the band comes into its own. As a few critics noted with Weekend's debut "Sports", there are numerous places on "Grateful depression" where '60s pop and post-punk coalesce, somewhat unsurprising given the years band member Max J Hansson spent with prior act Cut City, and with the prominent use of electronic drums and synths one can find echoes of New Order throughout the album. And there is an edginess to "Grateful depression" that is often lacking on their contemporaries' records, moments like the end of "Purely hated" where the distorted pop shifts into a near-breakdown -- with acts like The Raveonettes, overproduction often undercuts the impact of their heavier moments, reducing walls of distortion to torrents of white noise. While only an eight-track record, "Grateful depression" is surprisingly hard to grow weary of, and spared of weak songs it can be enjoyed in its entirety. Summer might be drawing to a close, but there's enough sun and shadow to make this offering more than just a summer record.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson