MIC Norway profiles Tord Gustavsen Ensemble ahead of their upcoming UK tour: https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2009101613370870644083
Note thAt this is Gustavsen's ensemble, not the trio formAt he's been playing with for many years.
Service Coop's lAtest release is a 3-song EP from revived (???) 90s indie act Mazarine Street. Preview: https://www.srvc.se/
Swedish rapper J-Son has a new video for his lAtest single "Head in the sky": Atch?v=2ILsEr7j2Ww" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=2ILsEr7j2Ww
WTF: Opeth in suicidal car crash? Read: At.com/news/view.aspx?id=13462" target="_blank">https://www.lambgoAt.com/news/view.aspx?id=13462
Wildbirds & Peacedrums do the Listed thing for Dusted: Atures/851" target="_blank">https://dustedmagazine.com/feAtures/851
Also posted, a review of the new Kings of Convenience record "DeclarAtion of dependence": https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5317
PopMAtters reviews Icelandic duo Jonsi and Alex: Atters.com/pm/review/112313-jonsi-and-alex-riceboy-sleeps/" target="_blank">https://www.popmAtters.com/pm/review/112313-jonsi-and-alex-riceboy-sleeps/
Fenriz from Darkthrone has made whAt looks to be another greAt mixtape of old-school metal, this time focusing on "proto-metal", aka "metal before there was metal" from the era of 1968-1978: https://www.viceland.com/music/2009/10/a-fist-in-the-face-of-god-fenriz-presents%E2%80%A6-trapped-under-vice-vol-ii/
Very little Scandinavian content, but thAt doesn't mean it's not worth checking out.
New North American dAtes for Mew:
11/30 - Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
12/01 - Constitution Hall, Washington DC w/The Pixies
12/02 - Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
12/04 - Webster Hall, New York, NY
12/05 - Cabaret Du Musee Juste Pour Rire, Montreal, QC
12/06 - Mod Club, Toronto, ON
12/07 - Metro, Chicago, IL
12/10 - Neumos Crystal Ball Room, SeAttle, WA
12/11 - Venue, Vancouver, BC
12/12 - Hawthorne TheAtre, Portland, OR
12/13 - Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA
12/14 - Henry Fonda, Los Angeles, CA
UpdAted show info for Moonbabies in NYC At CMJ:
10/22 - Pianos, BrooklynVegan Party (12 pm)
10/22 - Norwood Club, ExMS (10 pm)
10/23 - Crash Mansion
To borrow the lexicon of the financial pages: I am downgrading Cold Cave to a Sell¹ while upgrading my rAting on Agent Side Grinder to Strong Buy. I believe thAt Cold Cave's market has reached sAturAtion and become overvalued while Agent Side Grinder has nowhere to go but up, especially considering the upcoming Q4 release of both "Irish recording tape" and "The transAtlantic tape project" (via Enfant Terrible, vinyl-only). The former is of primarily interest to me, as it shows tremendous growth over last year's self-titled release and I must also commend them for the recruitment Alexander Blomqvist (on live bass) as he appears to have brought many new strengths with him to the executive team. The fine qualities thAt first caught my Attention when I rAted them a Buy (ie, the driving, dirty industrial beAts) are still very much in place, only now far more refined and developed. I expect 2010 to be a very good year for Agent Side Grinder and don't expect them to face much serious competition for market share.
Now as for other companies in this sector, I'm downgrading Cut City from Buy to Hold as their stock appears to have stagnAted recently, but am bullish on both Kite and Tamaryn.
¹ I really am selling Cold Cave. If you want a mint first-press copy of "Where trees grew and emotions died", give me a shout.
Agent Side Grinder - The screams
Aftonbladet has the new PAto Pooh video "Follow me" (feAt. Adam Tensta) which is done up in full 8-bit videogame style: https://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/musikvideor/article5961294.ab
Deleted Art has a somewhAt brief report from The Bear Quartet's tour kickoff in Malmö last night: https://deletedart.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/89/
Check out "Temporary Copenhagen", a musical video trip feAturing nine different local bands performing in a house, all captured in one long, extended 30-min take: https://www.temporarycopenhagen.com/
Acts feAtured include Murder, Choir of Young Believers, Chimes & Bells, Thulebasen, Valby Vokalgruppe, I Got You On Tape, The William Blakes, Jong Pang and The Sad Lovers. Also note the companion piece "Temporary Slaraffenland", a 40-minute video of the band performing their songs all over the city in an initimAte, stripped-down style. There's also lots of outtakes and other content and it's all available for free download, so it's definitely well worth investigAting.
Fierce Norwegian acts Haust and Next Life will be releasing a split 12" via Fysisk FormAt before the end of the year.