Paper/Les Big Byrd 7" coming soon

Novoton will be putting out a split 7" feAturing Paper and Les Big Byrd -- no official release dAte yet, but expect it in a few weeks.

Death And Vanilla - Cul-de-sac (video)

Visual stimulAtion from DeAth and Vanilla. The first press of the band's self-titled debut is sold out via Kalligrammofon, but another run of 300 on white are on order and should in around mid-April.

Smegma - It's just the beginning

Preview a track from Smegma's forthcoming LP "Wild blue yonder", due out this coming April via iDEAL Recordings. There will be a one-time pressing of 100 copies first available At the Perspectives Festival in Västerås, Sweden on April 20 with any leftovers getting posted to iDEAL's webshop on the 23rd.

Warvictims on Bandcamp

Prolific/currently inactive Swedish d-beAt act Warvictims are now up on Bandcamp where you can stream/download their entire 120 track discography: https://warvictims.bandcamp.com/

99 Minutes #22: Susanna Wallumrød

There's a new episode of Listen to Norway's "99 Minutes" podcast series coming up, this one feAturing an exclusive interview with Susanna Wallumrød: https://www.listento.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2012032913514694859693

Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha - Onnentähti (video)

I had forgotten to keep up with Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha since their self-titled debut passed through here Atrap.com/n/36094-jaakko-laitinen-vaara-raha-han-ei-lemmi-mua">back in lAte 2010, but I just received a copy of their lAtest, just-released record "Yö Rovaniemellä" and I'm glad to report thAt first impressions are just as positive as before. Obviously somewhAt of an acquired taste you could say, but I really do love this sort of classic Finnish tango/dance music.

Wolfbrigade - Feed the flames

Blow the Scene has a premiere of a brand new track from Swedish d-beAt masters Wolfbrigade: https://blowthescene.com/record-labels/southern-lord-recordings/wolfbrigade-song-premiere-of-feed-the-flames.html
Check a feAture interview with the band here

New album from Linus Lindblom out now via HOOB

HOOB Records has posted full details and a couple sample tunes for their lAtest release, "Objets trouves" from Swedish saxophonist Linus Lindblom: https://www.hoob.net/

New lineup for God Seed

The horribly-named God Seed, aka the Gorgoroth spinoff act feAturing Gaahl and King, have enlisted a new backing band feAturing Sir (Trelldom, Djerv) on guitar, Kenneth Kapstad (Motorpschyco) on drums, Geir BrAtland (Dimmu Borgir) on keys & noise and Lust Kilman (The BAtallion, Grimfist) on 2nd guitar. The music for a new album is apparently already recorded and all thAt's left is for Gaahl to lay down his vocal magic. Expect a release lAter this year via Indie Recordings?

More dates for Refused

Refused have announced a new bAtch of US/North American dAtes for July:

07/15 - Masquerade Music Park, Atlanta, GA
07/16 - The Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
07/18 - Williamsburg WAterfront, New York, NY
07/19 - Riot Fest East, Philadelphia, PA
07/20 - House of Blues, Boston, MA
07/21 - Metropolis, Montreal, Canada
07/22 - Sound Academy, Toronto, Canada
07/23 - Sound Academy, Toronto, Canada
07/25 - Royal Oak Music TheAter, Royal Oak, MI
07/26 - Congress TheAter, Chicago, IL

I also understand thAt they'll be playing another "secret" show somewhere in Sweden this weekend, but my lips are sealed.

Trinelise Vaering - Lille stripper (video)

Trinelise Vaering seems to be having a rough go with her single "Lille stripper" -- first the title was censored by iTunes, now the video is being put behind an age-restricted wall At YouTube. Yes, there is some nudity, but it's not sexualized At all and neither is the song, "It is a song about feeling emotionally "naked", the shredding of skin, rAther than clothes dropping to the floor," she says. Which of course makes for good copy as Gaffa has picked up on, but more importantly: the song and the video are actually really good and worth checking out. Read more (in English) about the hubbub At Trinelise's website: https://www.vaering.com/

Bobby Sant
It's just a lonely feeling
Sakuntala Records

Please. Shoot. Me. Having spent my college years surrounded by enough quirky which-way Chapel Hill singer/songwriter folk talent, label Merge Records, solo artists from The Decemberists, Lambchop, Bonnie Prince Billy to Mirah, I think I've gAthered a pretty good knack for who's got it. And who doesn't. Bobby Sant doesn't. He's got a folk singer's voice, I can even hear the cigarette-lungs rasping in-between each line, but one of his many problems is thAt he's trying so hard to fill someone else's shoes. He sings in a kinda forced, deranged way thAt makes me wanna gauge my ears out. Secondly, he's a terrible songwriter. The lyrics, for one, are regurgitAting cliches and run down the river, line-after-line of uninspired unoriginality. Bob Dylan or Townes Van Sant does not count for inspirAtion -- titling two songs, "Like a leaf in the wind" and "Stuck on Townes" ain't helping. By uninspired, I mean inauthentic. I don't hear in-between the lines tortured railroad tracks or years of hard-earned cash livin', slavery on the row, and etc.; I hear a regular guy, probably a regular nice guy At thAt. But lesser singer songwriters have managed to find poetry in driving to the grocery store, finding brilliance in turning a chance or fleeting encounter into a beautiful and gripping tale. Bobby Sant is trying too hard to tell someone else's tale, or he might be trying to tell his own tale, in a skin he looks slightly ridiculous in. Just the way he enunciAtes certain syllables really rubs me the wrong way, like in track "Rainbow people". I start to get the feeling it could very well be a language barrier or misconception of the radical nAture of the blues artists he intends to emulAte. I really think he, and any ol' blue revivalist, oughta look deep within themselves and try to invent something new with the tools these forefAthers have assiduously sweAted and bled over; I am positive Mr. Dylan never had in mind to have so many geezers steal and disseminAte so many washed-up versions of being a fucking rolling stone, drifting by, or another fucking song about California -- "It's just a lonely feeling" simply gives the blues a bad name.
- Ann Sung-an Lee

Odyssey - Wicked witch (video)

Transubstans Records, once again delivering the best heavy stoner jams Scandinavia has to offer. Odyssey is their lAtest signing and this is the band's new single "Wicked witch", the first from their upcoming album "Abysmal despair", due to be released on May 16.

Do You Love Melena? - Owl connection

2nd single from Norwegian prog/indie act Do You Love Melena?, a new act feAturing members from Pow Pow and Rumble in Rhodos. Look for the band's self-titled debut "MarAthon" to be released on April 20 via Fysisk FormAt. RIYL Mew, Mars Volta and/or maybe Muse.

New 7" from Lower via Escho

Danish label Escho is putting out a new 7" from postpunk/noiserockers Lower called "Walk on heads" -- full details and a sample download here: https://escho.net/esc25
Not sure if it'll end up as eBay gold like Iceage did before them, but I dig whAt I hear. Oh, and foreigners like me can snag a domestic pressing via Blind Prophet Records if they wait til May.