SVT sent a number of popular musicians way up north to create new music together with select Sami artists for a new program series entitled "Sapmi sessions", premiering on April 21 with episode #1 featuring Markus Krunegård and Inga Juuso. Read more: https://svt.se/2.152083/start (in Swedish)
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week unique to our group:
01. Anna Järvinen
02. Jens Lekman
03. Jenny Wilson
04. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
05. Bob Hund
06. Håkan Hellström
07. Peter Bjorn and John
08. Me and My Army
09. Acid House Kings
10. Those Dancing Days
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: https://www.last.fm/help/
Now confirmed for It's a Trap! Clubnights in July: Kajsa Grytt! Hopefully you are already aware of her legacy, from her more recent solo career to her time with pioneering (post-)punk act Tant Strul and beyond, but if not, she's got a new album (produced by Jari Haapalainen) and autobiography (!) on the way -- learn more here/hear some sample tunes: https://www.kajsagrytt.com/
A montage of curious new stuff from Göteborg-based indie/psych duo Bird People. Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7yZGHQveNw
Swedish punkrockers Tyred Eyes will be releasing a 3-song 7" on sometime before the summer. Preview at Bandcamp: https://tyredeyes.bandcamp.com/
In other news, the band has recruited Johanna Hellqvist as their new guitarist and are planning to start recording their debut full-length very soon.
The world may end tomorrow, but at least you can listen to the apocalyptic pop of Torpedo's new album "WE" in the meantime: https://torpedoband.com/we/
Said record is officially released in GAS on April 22, elsewhere on April 27. The band will head on the road to support it starting in late May -- dates at the aforementioned link.
Me and My ArmyIt was hard not to be intrigued by this album after reading that Me and My Army was made up not only of Andreas Kleerup, but members of Timo Räisänen's band. What I heard in my head when I read about Me and My Army was Kleerup making a guest appearance on Räisänen's "My valentine". This is not a good expectation to have going in. After the distinctly '80s-sounding opener, the band channel their inner Grateful Dead on the title track. This is not to disparage either Me and My Army or the Dead, but to emphasize the strange turns this album makes. There is a lot to like about "Thank god for sending demons", but very few of the album's highpoints have anything in common with the other standout moments: "Far, far away", with its fantastic female vocals and electro-pop sensibilities, feels very removed from the tracks surround it; "Chemicals" opens with Eagles-like swagger, tying it to some of the other Neil Young/'70s Americana-influenced tracks on, but distancing it from many of the other compositions. This album, while definitely worth a listen, is such a disparate collection of influences and attitudes that it is difficult to tell where the heart of the band lies. This is definitely a talented collection of musicians, but the album listens more like a soundtrack than a focused creative effort.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Les Big Byrd cover Me and My Army: https://lesbigbyrd.viinyl.com/
Why?
As promised, the new episode of Klubbland with Säkert! is now online: https://klubbland.se/2011/04/15/30-sakert-2/
Cult Norwegian label has released Mortiis' "The song of a long forgotten ghost", his very first solo recordings from 1993 after leaving Emperor: https://kyrck.t35.com/main.html
I don't remember his early material being very good, but who knows? The vinyl is limited to a mere 150 copies, so it'll definitely be a collector's item regardless.
is holding a Tv-resistori remix contest: https://www.fonal.com/remix/funtsi/index.html
There's a new episode of 99 Minutes online and it's a special feature on the UK's Cheltenham Jazz Festival so the musical focus is contemporary jazz: https://www.listento.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2011041512231884829022
Better late than never, PopMatters reviews Icelandic act Kimono and their excellent album "Easy music for difficult people": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/138744-kimono-easy-music-for-difficult-people/
Discobelle has a new tune from Swedish hip-hop artist Sexfemman: https://www.discobelle.net/2011/04/15/sexfemman-kolla-in/
Coming to the Pacific Northwest in a little over a week. Live dates for Seattle, Portland and Olympia will be posted soon.