Download the track "New Best Friends" from the band Wolverine right here. The track comes off of the forthcoming album "Cold Light Of Monday", tentatively due out on November 17 from Elitist Records. Look for a video for the song directed by drummer Marcus Losbjer.
JR Ewing will be touring the UK in December along with Sweden's Cult of Luna, Dillinger Escape Plan from America and the UK's own Beecher. Dates:
12/08 - Concorde 2, Brighton
12/09 - ACC 2, Birmingham
12/10 - Academy 2, Manchester
12/11 - Fleece And Firckin, Bristol
12/12 - Cathouse, Glasgow
12/13 - Rock City (Disco 2), Nottingham
12/14 - Mean Fiddler, London
In other JR Ewing news, the band is currently compiling material for a future DVD release. They already have a lot of great footage from the last two years, but are trying to track down older material from 1998-2001. If you can help them out, get a hold of em at thejrewing@yahoo.com.
And speaking of Cult of Luna, the UK-based webzine Drowned in Sound recently interviewed the band and you can read it here. It's not terribly in-depth, but they do name-drop fellow Umeå bands The Perishers and Isolation Years.
Johnny Cash, one of my most absolute favorite musicians, has died at age 71. Please take a moment to remember the life and work of this great man today.
The German music website cd-kritik.de has posted an extensive special report on Scandinavian pop music. Check it out. (in German, beware of flashplayer overuse)
A new newsletter from Bob Hund right here.
"Deathlike Silence: Norsk black metal 1993-2003" - a Norweigan essay on the past 10 years of black metal, as alerted to me by the Solefald site. Since they're much more eloquent writers than me, here's what they had to say on the paper:
On September the 5th the Norwegian review Samtiden (www.samtiden.no) published an essay by Cornelius entitled "Deathlike Silence. Norwegian Black Metal 1993-2003". The essay, unfortunately available in Norwegian only, contains memories from those first crazy years (Euronymous' "Helvete" shop), rare excerpts from the personal letters of Euronymous, and also comments on how the Norwegian media have been dealing with the genre over the last ten years. The essay has probably only little new to say to experienced Metallers; what is new is that a cultural review directed at a broader, educated public actually takes black metal seriously, both as an artform and as an ideological phenomenon. Mostly grimmer black metal bands such as Darkthrone, Satyricon, Emperor, Immortal and Mayhem are featured, as the origin and history of Norwegian black metal is the centerpoint of the essay. There is of course a lot to be written about the second generation of bands (from 1995 and onwards, roughly), acts such as Arcturus, Ulver, DHG, Borknagar, Khold, Myrkskog, and hopefully also yours truly... The title "Deathlike Silence" has rather melancholic implications, as August the 10th was the 10th anniversary of Euronymous' murder. Without the life and work of that twisted, idiosyncratic mind, Norwegian black metal would be just that, a deathlike silence. But since then, as we all known, black metal has evolved so drastically that in some cases it cannot simply be called "black" anymore, maybe "avantgarde" or "post-black" or "neo-black" or you name it (just not "Radical Designer Rock'n'Roll" [as Solefald labels themselves -ed.]).
I agree - it's definitely interesting to note the way the media has picked up the black metal phenomenon and how it's been covered throughout the years. I remember when I first heard those bands way back in the early nineties and how scary and inhuman they sounded. Strange how times have changed - Satyricon and Cradle of Filth are on majors now, for starters. Those of you like me who don't read Norweigan and are interested in learning more about the scene should definitley pick up the book "Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground" by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Soderlind. It's not perfect, but it does provide for a good primer.
The hardrocking Norweigan women of Mensen are doing some dates in Spain:
11/14 - Viernes Sant Feliu
11/15 - Sabado Vic
11/16 - Domingo Castellon
11/17 - Lunes Off
11/18 - Martes TV (Madrid)
11/19 - Miercoles Ourense Rock Club
11/20 - Jueves Ponferrada
11/21 - Viernes Madrid El Juglar
11/21 - Sabado Bergara
Updated tourdates for The Rasmus:
09/12 - Sabotage, Einslive Festival, Dortmund (GER)
09/13 - Columbia Halle, Berlin (GER)
09/15 - Grünspan, Hamburg (GER)
09/17 - Backstage, München (GER)
09/18 - Star Club, Dresden (GER)
10/27 - Mau Club, NJoy Rostock (GER)
11/01 - John Dee, Oslo (NOR)
11/02 - Hydranten, Hamar (NOR)
11/04 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
11/05 - Nalen, Stockholm (SWE)
11/06 - Valand, Gothenburg (SWE)
11/07 - Överlida, Kinna (SWE)
11/08 - Balders Hage, Älmhult, (SWE)
11/11 - Pumpehuset, Copenhagen (DK)
11/12 - Skraaen,Aalborg (DK)
11/13 - Train, Aarhus (DK)
11/15 - Columbiahalle, Berlin (GER)
11/16 - Docks, Hamburg (GER)
11/17 - Ringlockschuppen, Bielefeldt (GER)
11/18 - Modernes, Bremen (GER)
11/19 - Werk 2, Leipzig (GER)
11/21 - Limmathaus, Zurich (CH)
11/23 - Planet Music/Gasometer, Vienna (AUS)
11/24 - Elserhalle, Munich (GER)
11/25 - LKA, Stuttgart (GER)
11/26 - Capitol, Mannheim (GER)
11/27 - Capitol, Offenbach (GER)
11/28 - E Werk, Cologne (GER)
Apparently, the new Lene Marlin album has been leaked online and record execs are pissed. Read more.
Check out the video for "Et Sunnhetstegn" from the Norweigan band Johndoe right here. The band's new album "Ja Takk til Trøbbel" comes out September 15.
Download the new Home Groan single "Hey Revolution Now!".
Finnish jazz combo Trio Töykeät has signed with Blue Note and will be releasing an album of 'standards', which in this case means songs like David Bowie's "Starman" and Black Sabbath's Paranoid". Upcoming live dates for the group:
09/12 - Brussels (BEL)
09/13 - Maassluis (HOL)
09/14 - Beauforthuis (HOL)
09/15 - Utrecht (HOL)
09/16 - Villa Louvigny (LUX)
09/20 - St. Wendel (GER)
11/04 - Neuwied (GER)
11/05 - Århus (DK)
11/06 - 10 Copenhagen Tango Week (DK)
11/08 - Ingolstadt (GER)
11/09 - Aalen (GER)
11/10 - Leverkusen (GER)
Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:
01. Lasse Stefanz - Det här är bara början
02. Per Gessle - Mazarin
03. Carola - Guld platina & passion - det bästa
04. Fred Åkerström - Freds bästa
05. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
06. Robyn - Don't stop the music
07. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
08. Lars Winnerbäck & Hovet - Söndermarken
09. Pauline - Candy rain
10. Bad Cash Quartet - Midnight prayer
11. Pugh Rogefeldt - Pughs bästa
12. Ola Magnell - Vallmoland
13. Da Buzz - More than alive
14. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
15. Anna-Lotta Larson - Tidlöst
16. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
17. ABBA - ABBA Gold - greatest hits
18. Hardcore superstar - No regrets
19. The Sounds - Living in America
20. Moneybrother - Blood panic