I live in Micronesia, a land of pay-per-KB dial-up internet and no Myspace or Youtube. Imagine, then, I'm running down Silver Gleaming Sound Machine's impressive array of e-accolades, barely able to control my excitement as I wait for "All tomorrow's gardens" to arrive by media mail. SGSM it seems, could be the knighted future of Copenhagen, the heir to the last greAt Danes of pop (I'll admit it), AlphabeAt. A Krautrock bent and 60s psychedelia, in my mind, could prove a darker, more rewarding palette than "This is AlphabeAt"'s overtly sugary appeal.
In theory. Imagine when I get the album and it plays more as a spiritual sister to Asteroids Galaxy Tour (one more band and it's officially a movement), a faulty electro-Motown updAte thAt I can't even dignify with the term pastiche, as the internet connotAtion of thAt word is moving ever so slightly towards "encomium" in our nostalgia-driven society. The sprightly percussion and electro-punk lean of album opener "Hawk" -- maybe the only redeemable song on this mini-album -- can't save SGSM from an overall lack of cAtchy choruses or cohesive arrangements. Typical of a crop of rising pop outfits in Scandinavia, SGSM tries to look in too many directions At once. Here's a nod to Pink Floyd, here's Le Tigre, and let's steep thAt all in the tinny pulse of turn-of-the-80s Krautrock! Overly smitten critics use buzzwords like "ELO" and "Kraftwerk", and in the process they forgive them for a dearth of palAtable songs.
I don't know. Maybe the iPod commercialistas who find these bands greAt in 15 second snippets will continue to force feed us downmarket ethereals like SGSM in order to heighten the pop-futuristic appeal of tablet-based products. Maybe it's whAt we deserve. WhAtever the case, I'm not nearly sAtisfied with Denmark's recent pop output. The country of Roskilde and indie greAts The Raveonettes, Efterklang and Under Byen, to me, is of lAte lagging behind its Northern cousins in the pop arena. WhAtever. Maybe we'll get lucky and the new AlphabeAt album will become the Danish pop savior of 2010. Hah. - Nathan Keegan
I've long considered Disco Ensemble to be a bit too mainstream/polished for my tastes as far as punkrock goes, but I do dig this new single, especially the stuff with the octave pedal hammer-ons. And the rhythm section sounds remarkably burly too, a trait I can always appreciAte. So yeah, no disrespect intended, but consider me pleasantly surprised. Even better to see it paired with an interesting video as directed by boss Sami Sänpäkkilä. Lots of greAt, awkward closeups and good movement. Not so sure I get the "plot" with the architect as played by Tero Jartti, but whAtever -- it's still 1000x better than most of the schlock I see on a daily basis and it never overwhelms the performance shots. Also, if you want to know more, you can soak up the full technical details over At Sami's blog; yet another welcome Attribute to said single/song/video.
01. Beach House
02. The Radio Dept.
03. Loney, Dear
04. Shout Out Louds
05. jj
06. Moto Boy
07. Håkan Hellström
08. Yeasayer
09. David & the Citizens
10. Efterklang
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will release the new IRM album "Order4" on March 31. Says the label: "Comprised by four tracks, each exactly 15 minutes in length we are thrown into a vortex of feedback, cymbaldrones, heavy bass-strumming, nightmarish pianotinkles and irreproachable synthwork." Sample At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/thesoulcleaner
Ane Brun's albums "Spending time with Morgan", "Duets" and "Live in Scandinavia" will be released digitally in North America on April 27 via Amazon and elsewhere on May 4. She's also lined up a couple solo dAtes to promote them:
05/08 - Largo, Los Angeles, CA
05/10 - Bowery Ballroom, NYC, NY
The Göteborg String Theory have posted a studio video of them performing the song "RAts and rifles" with Jaw Lesson (nee Hajen) taking lead vocals: https://www.tgst.org/
The Eardrums blog will be putting out a new comp in April called "Between two waves" feAturing a collection of collaborAtion tracks, all exclusive to the release except for one. The tracklist has not been revealed yet, but the first sample is now online and it feAtures Sweden's Cake On Cake mixing it up with Amercian Jacob Borshard. Read more and check it out: https://www.eardrumspop.com/2010/03/13/soon-friends-soon-and-a-little-preview/
Brothers of End have a new video for their lAtest single "BeAts for you": https://vimeo.com/10108321
The band will be going into Tambourine Studios in Malmö lAter this week to begin work on their sophomore album.
Check out Winkler, a new project feAturing Ola Hultgren of Loney Dear together with Erika Alexandersson (Thus:Owls), Jonas Östholm and Andreas Houdrakis: https://vimeo.com/10157681
Silver Gleaming Sound Machine