The Skull Defekts are back home after their US tour and report that they took a day off to record at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, RI as a six-piece with Asa Osborne of Zomes contributing on synth. Expect a one-sided LP release later in 2011.
The new Sexpistolstanten & Mockfjärdsvapnet LP, out now on , made a bunch of MRR top-10 lists this month: https://maximumrocknroll.com/2011/04/20/top-tens-336/
I got a copy of it too, but I've yet to spend too much time with it. First impressions are quite good though.
Swedish speed-metallers Wolf have a new track up at Facebook from their new record "Legion of bastards": https://www.facebook.com/officialwolf?sk=app_178091127385
Swedish Radio's electronic music program Ström's new compilation project for 2011 will consist of "Chinese whispers" -- something like a musical version of the game telephone -- whereupon 14 Swedish producers will create a track according to the following formula: the first artist creates a piece of music and sends 2 "typical" sounds plus the final 12 seconds to the 2nd artist who then creates his/her own piece based on the provided fragments then does the same on down the line with the final result airing on July 8. Read more: https://hakanlidbo.com/archives/1947
Jennie Abrahamson's new single "Wolf hour", available now as a free download. Link: https://soundcloud.com/hstsound/wolf-hour-single-mix-edit
Been awhile since we've heard anything new from Danish act Late Night Venture, but they're back now with a new post-rockish tune called "Birmingham": https://soundcloud.com/latenightventure/birmingham
Expect a new album later this year.
The RaveonettesEvery time The Raveonettes put out an album, an all-too-familiar discourse emerges -- some critics think it is a step forward for the band, others posit the new record as further evidence of the band's stagnant sound and production, and a number of reviewers try and tie these disparate opinions together, claiming the newest effort as a creative evolution that maintains the duo's distinct vision. "Lust, lust, lust" was heralded as a triumph, lauded as an intriguing development of the band's unique mix of the influence of '60s surf rock and The Jesus and Mary Chain, and just as often dismissed as 'yet another Raveonettes album' that failed to demonstrate any discernible creative growth. A quick visit to Metacritic and you can see the same thing happening with "Raven in the grave", which surprises me. There are a few places where The Raveonettes stumble on this album (I will not even try and defend the adolescent, throwaway lyrics), but these missteps are easily overshadowed by the duo's exploration of new musical territory. Going against the grain, I'd say "Summer moon", a song that has inspired some very strange negative response in quite a few of the reviews I've read, is one of the album's highpoints, reminding me of the hauntingly reworked '50s pop of "Twin Peaks", and I think it could be argued that the influence of David Lynch and Angelo Badalementi doesn't stop there. The standout for me, however, is "Evil seeds", which channels the talents of The Raveonettes down avenues home to far more shadows than usual. I've always enjoyed the band, though their records don't often hold my attention for very long. In the case of "Raven in the grave", while it took me a few listens to really get into it, I still find myself enjoying some new aspect of a song or two with each listen. It may not rank very high on my Best of 2011 list, but "Raven in the grave" has been a welcome companion the last few weeks, especially as spring seems to have finally arrived.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
UK label , in collaboration with -- the label run by renown DJ/East End Mod Eddie Piller and Chess/Cosmos Records vet Fred Ekander, will be putting out a new 7" from Magnus Carlson & The Moon Ray Quintet in July featuring their English-language soul cover of the Oskar Linnros single "Från och med du" henceforth retitled as "From now on". Check it out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MagnusCarlsonMRQ
Compare with the original at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJaFgeLTYgY
Torpedo's newest single "Islands in eternity", now streaming in full. Direct link: https://soundcloud.com/flagstone/sets/torpedo-islands-in-eternity
Swedish psych act Mandorla has confirmed that "Victim of the sun" is their new single, the second off the still-forthcoming album "...based upon an idea by Mandorla" which is due out May 23 via . Listen here: https://blogs.playgroundmusic.com/intlpub/mandorlas-new-single-is-definitely-a-victim-of-the-sun
Norwegian artist Bellman will be making his UK live debut next week:
04/27 - Silver Bullet Par, Finsbury Park, London
04/28 - The Regal Rooms, Hammersmith, London
Norwegian jazz act In the Country will be releasing a new live album/full length concert video/artfilm/film noir this June featuring content from three separate mixed in with additional footage. As to what that will look like, I guess we'll have to wait and see, but us folks in North America will also get a chance to see the band live too:
06/17 - Rochester Jazz Festival, Rochester, NY
06/18 - Rochester Jazz Festival, Rochester, NY
06/19 - Nordic Jazz Festival - House of Sweden, Washington DC
06/20 - Nordic Jazz Festival - Twins Jazz Club, Washington DC
06/21 - Yoshi, Oakland, CA
06/23 - The Missions Theater, Portland, OR
06/24 - Tula's, Seattle, WA
06/30 - Scandinavia House, New York, NY
07/02 - Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreal, QC
has announced the signing of the new artist Big Fox, aka Malmö-based artist Charlotta Perers, and will be releasing her debut single "Saturday" b/w "Cut you out" on May 25. More about her here, including a stream of said single: https://bigfox.se/
In other news, has also signed Azure Blue, the solo project of Tobias Isaksson of vets Irene and Laurel Music. His debut single "The catcher in the rye" is out today and can be previewed here, while his forthcoming album "Rule of thirds" will be out in September.
Aversionline covers the new 7" from Norwegian hardcore act Morethanthis, a new-ish band featuring two ex-members of Lash Out: https://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2011/04/20/morethanthis-st-7/
The new "Black hole" EP from Danish techno act Fagget Fairys is out now via and is also currently streaming in its entirety at SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/palmsout/sets/pos026-fagget-fairys-black-hole