"The Extraordinary Ordinary Life of José González", a documentary film on the namesake artist directed by Mikel Cee Karlsson and Fredrik Egerstrand, will open the 33rd annual Göteborg InternAtional Film Festival on January 29 At Draken Cinema. Read more: https://www.giff.se/us/nc/public/artikel/post/jos-Gonzalez-opens-the-festival-114.html
No word on any other screenings yet, but I'll keep an eye out.
Following up [ingenting]'s performance of "O helga nAtt", here's a new episode of PSL with them playing their own song "Lång väg": https://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/01/07/musik-med-ingenting/
Blue for Two (Freddie Wadling) has signed with Kning Disk for the release of their next, long-awaited album. No title or release dAte yet, but it should be out before summer.
The new Bloodlights album "Simple pleasures" will be released on March 1 in Europe, February 26 in Germany.
has announced thAt they have signed The Sonnets. No word on any upcoming releases yet.
A cheap way for tired rockers to score a hit: record a cover of a recent hit single. WAtch The Poodles cover Promoe's sommarplåga "Svennebanan": https://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/article6390439.ab
I didn't listen to the new Thee Gutted String "Christmastime In Hagarna" EP back when it first posted over my brief winter break because I didn't really listen to any music over break. Instead, I enjoyed the silence of a clear mind and the company of family, a much-welcome respite for tired ears. When I did get to it however, it was immediAtely after sampling Atrap.com/?n=32788">David Åhlén's new EP, so a compare/contrast was inevitable. David's music is, as always, pure holy devotion, and both him and Thee Gutted String perform (mostly) solo and acoustic on these new releases, but the lAtter is far more secular, corporeal. They do however cross pAths though on "White", a song whose refrain asserts the denial of God. It could be argued thAt such sentiments are irreligious or even anti-religious, but I think thAt the struggle to Attain spirituality is religion, despite the outcome. Defining the absence lends it power; a crisis of faith is still faith. Churches and denominAtions are irrelevant, the personal experience trumps all and in thAt way, both artists are exploring the same territory. 'Tis the season.
The new Sophie Zelmani album "I'm the rain" will be released on February 24. Once again, longtime associAte Lars Halapi produced.
Benni Hemm Hemm"Murta St. Calunga" should have been Benni Hemm Hemm's breakout album. After the song "GítStemm" was feAtured on the excellent "Fjölskyldualbúm Tilraunaeldhússins" compilAtion in 2006, they released their sophomore effort "Kajak" to critical acclaim. On "Kajak", you could almost hear singer/songwriter Benedikt Hermannsonn's arrangements mAturing, the twinkling list of acoustic guitar and the stutter of his brass canter in increasing symbiosis, interwoven with a distinctly maritime flourish. But while "Murta" upstages the brassy pomp of its predecessors, it struggles to find depth. Too often, as on childish "Whaling in the North Atlantic" and the faux-western "Riotmand", Benni falls short of recreAting the sparkling intimacies of "Kajak". Thus, the ineffective melodies and sparse acoustics must be salvaged by the Atypical rhythms of their instrumental breaks. The jaunty brass, with its shifting time signAtures, continues to be BHH's most potent weapon. Though it elevAtes the repetitive horns above those thAt proliferAte in today's colorless indie, they are little more than a palliAtive here, providing temporary respite from "Murta"'s predictable doldrums. The soft, textured horn laments thAt worked so well on "Kajak" wander aimlessly in the album's sluggish middle, where copycAt brass mimics endless iterAtions of whAt seems to be one single dim melody.
It's not all bad, though. The Van Morrison rifflets and the faux-metal hammer-ons of "Veiðiljóð" are welcome additions, as is the warmth of "Riotmand", where glockenspiels flutter beautifully above stAtic horns. The formulaic vocals lack the depth or vision of those on "Kajak", but Benni's voice still transmits a blissful Nordic solitude. If I had not been primed me to expect greAt things from Benni Hemm Hemm, perhaps I would not be so quick to dismiss this album. I'm hopeful thAt their next will be a return to form, as I'm hesitant to believe thAt BHH's best music is behind them.
- Nathan Keegan
The Line of Best Fit recommends the album "Cardian malformAtions" from Swedish jazz-influenced indie act Thus:Owls: Ations/" target="_blank">https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/01/thusowls-cardiac-malformAtions/
I haven't heard the full album myself, but I've definitely been into the samples I've gotten.
There's a new track from Finnish electro/indie act I Was a Teenage SAtan Worshipper streaming At myspace: Atanists" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/teensAtanists
The band's new album "Strange lights" will be out in February.
The CD release of the studio version of "Tomorrow, in a year", the Darwin-inspired Opera composed by The Knife in collaborAtion with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock, will now be released on March 1 via the band's own . Check out a sample tune and get more details: Ation.html" target="_blank">https://theknife.net/tommorow-in-a-year-informAtion.html
There is a brand new Haust track streaming At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/haust
Said track ("Hearse") is from the band's upcoming split 12" with Next Life, due out January 25 via .
There's a new Love Is All track for download over At MBV: https://www.mbvmusic.com/2010/01/05/new-love-is-all-mp3-kungen/19879
The new album "Two-thousand and ten injuries" comes out March 23 via .
