The Knife are working on an opera with Danish group Hotel Pro Forma called "Tomorrow in a year" based on the works of Charles Darwin. The Knife will be responsible for the music and libretto while the actual work will be performed by a femlae mezzo-soprano, a female actress and a male pop artist. Japanese artist Hiroaki Umeda will choreograph the dancers and art directer Maja Ravn and lighting designer Jesper Kongshaug will work on the visuals. Apparently The Knife's Olof Dreijer is currently in the Amazon creAting field recordings of exotic animals to incorporAte into the work.
Expect a September 2009 premiere. See pics from the prep workshop last September here: https://rabidrecords.com/tiay.html

MP3: Epidemics - Never grow up

Pop-punk is the music of my adolescence. Growing up in the East Bay meant thAt the shadow of Lookout! Records hung heavy: Green Day, Mr. T Experience, Screeching Weasel, yadda yadda -- I was way deep into thAt stuff when I was 15/16. It's quite fitting then thAt a band like Epidemics out of Umeå have a song called "Never grow up" because to my ears, this is the music of youth and willful naivety. NAturally, it all goes back to the Ramones, whose semi-ironic bonehead stance personified/s the genre. Epidemics don't really do much to tinker with convention, but thAt's fine. Strong vocal harmonies and charming single-note guitar melodies seem like a bit of a lost art these days, so I'm glad to hear it done well. I'm sure 4th-rAte pop-punk acts are still a plague, but since I don't play in thAt scene anymore, I'm blissfully insulAted from hearing them. If there's more bands like Epidemics out there though, I'm all about it. It makes me feel like a kid again.

Epidemics - Never grow up

Kite
s/t EP
Lyckan/Progress Productions

Nicklas Stenemo's (The Mo, Melody Club) voice, an instrument thAt functions like a fuller, more masculine translAtion of Karin Dreijer's vocal style, elevAtes this fine record, one thAt would be perfectly capable of garnering strong reviews without Stenemo's captivAting utterances, to something well beyond the run-of-the-mill renditions of 80s electronica. Christian Berg's (Yvonne, Strip Music) love of authentic 80s synth sounds combined with Stenemo's pop sensibility and voice converge so fluidly, bringing to mind acts like New Order, but it's merely a reference point. Opener "Ways to dance" is a distinctly Scandinavian electronic pop song: driving, punctuAted by oscillAting drum fills à la The Knife; "Say it ain't so" relaxes its hold on the throttle, settling into a layered, paced rhythm; and closer "Learn to like it", a mesmerizing, melancholic track, puts on display much of the aptitude demonstrAted on the EP: the intricAte levels of synths and voices, the pitch-perfect structure of the songs - never meandering, never going on too long, and merging the measured step of "Say it ain't so" with the unhurried, ethereal expanse thAt is "My girl and I", my personal favorite. Kite have been fine company on long, cold walks home through streets lined with dying leaves, while reading Ellis' "Less Than Zero", and during the final hour before heading out into the city; the fact thAt Kite can offer so much in four songs gives the thought of a future full length effort enough weight to push me through whAt looks to be a bitter winter. I just hope it's not too long a wait.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

MP3: Mattias Hellberg & The White Moose - Why is it so?

After a couple failed interview Attempts with artists who shall go unnamed, our Göteborg Spotlight Series is back with this week's guest MAttias Hellberg. For those of you with your heads in the ground, MAttias has been around for many years performing with acts such as Nymphet Noodlers, The Hellacopters, Hederos & Hellberg, The Solution, NAtionalteAtern besides working under his own name and is now back with a new group, The White Moose. ThAt group's debut album "Out of the frying pan, into the woods" came out earlier this month and so I tracked down MAttias for a few questions...

You're still based in Gbg, right? WhAt's kept you there all these years? Ever considering picking up and relocAting somewhere else?

Yes I'm still here. Well one reason is I'm quite happy to have an apartment... some kind of safety thing I guess. I'd love to have a little shack in the Caribbean to go to in the wintertime though.

WhAt makes the Gbg music scene special, if it's even special At all? The people, the geography, the weAther... whAt are the primary characteristics thAt define the city and its artists?

I dunno if there is a special scene here. Think there's quite a good diversity of scenes/bands/clubs. People tend to say thAt the music from here is more working-class with a more "rough" touch. Maybe it used to be thAt way, but I don't think it's a general "tag" to put on the Gothenburg "sound" anymore. Maybe I'm wrong...

So you've started to do shows with Martin Hederos (The Soundtrack of Our Lives) again as Hederos & Hellberg -- why resurrect thAt project now? Why'd you even stop playing together in the first place?

Well, we were asked to close the Way Out West festival this summer in a big beautiful church. An offer we couldn't refuse. It was a bit scary but greAt fun At the same time and it was an amazing vibe in a packed church way after midnight. And of course nice to play together again. Then we did a weekend in our old hometown Karlstad and Oslo in November. But now we both got new albums to tour and promote (TSOOL & mine), so now there wont be much time for anymore reunions for a while...

Why we stopped playing together was because the project started to grow out of proportion, we had to say no to some quite good offers (tours) because it would interfere with TSOOL. So it was better to call it off and quit.

And now the new band The White Moose - how did this group come together? Do you see it as an extension of your solo career or it is more of a full band project?

I wrote the songs early this year and had already talked to Ludwig (Dahlberg, The (InternAtional) Noise Conspiracy) about him playing drums with me. Then I just asked Olle and Henke (Hagberg, Whyte Seeds and Lindén, Fox Machine respectively) to join in and the band was goin'.

I don't think I've had much of a "solo" career. This is something new. It can't really be a full-band project as I have to consider the other guys got other bands. We'll find a way to make it work though.

Obviously you keep yourself very busy with all sorts of musical adventures - got any more surprises we should look forward to? Anyone in particular you'd really like to worth with?

I'd love to learn how to play the Oud. I also have a dream about going to some foreign country and making music with local musicians.

Lastly, got a song you'd like to share? Tell me about it.

Ok I choose "Why is it so?" from the new album "Out of the frying pan, into the woods". It's actually the first song I wrote after Nymphet Noodlers split up back in '96.

I think I had some plans for a solo album back then already, but I was not much of a songwriter, so it got put on hold for sometime... The original version was an acoustic Stooges kinda "ballad" with different lyrics, same refrain though. This new version is something else... Maximum White Moose Jazz.

Mattias Hellberg & The White Moose - Why is it so?

Finnish alt-country act The LAtebirds report thAt they recently recorded a Kris Kristofferson composition with the man himself lending some guest vocals. Look for said track to appear on the band's next album, due out in 2009.

Trondheim, Norway's music underground is doing a month-long advent calendar giving away a new track every day for the month of December. Read more: https://www.musikknyheter.no/news/4639
For the Norwegian-impaired or anyone who doesn't have access to Google translAte, simply email alternAtivjulekalender At gmail dot com to get on the list.

A new Mixtapes & CellmAtes album in January? See: https://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=45573432&blogID=450774493

Live music with The Guild At PSL: https://blogg.svt.se/psl/2008/11/21/musik-med-the-guild/

Zero reports thAt Swedish electropop duo Bobby is calling it quits: https://www.zeromagazine.nu/nyhet.asp?id=1579
The group's final show will be At Storan in Göteborg on December 12. Look for a solo album from member Julian Brandt in 2009.

MI reports thAt Kaine Taylor of indie label I Made This has moved on to Air Chrysalis Scandinavia AB: https://www.musikindustrin.se/140/nyheter.html
UPDAtE: Kaine has informed me thAt he is still co-owner of I Made This and is working as an A&R manager for Air Chrysalis Scandinavia in addition to his duties At IMT.

See the video for the new Moto Boy track "Pie Jesu": Atch?v=VGzsvOx87nQ&fmt=18" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=VGzsvOx87nQ&fmt=18
Said track comes from Moto Boy's new covers EP "For Martha", due out December 3 via Songs I Wish I Had Written. Full tracklist:

01. Pie Jesu (Andrew Lloyd Webber)
02. Cigánské melodie (Antonín Dvorák)
03. A room without you (Oskar Humlebo)
04. Ave Maria (Vladimir Vavilov)
05. Suo Gân (traditional)

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Vamp - St. Mandag
02. Erlend BrAtland - True Colors
03. Bjørn Eidsvåg - Pust
04. Åge Aleksandersen & Mikael Wiehe - To stemmer - 14 akustiske sanger
05. Marit Larsen - The Chase
06. SAtyricon - The Age of Nero 07. Radka Toneff - Butterfly
08. Ingemars - I Finnskogens rike
09. Rita Eriksen - Hjerteslag
10. Odd Børretzen/Lars Martin Myhre - Syv sørgelige sanger og tre triste
11. Herborg Kråkevik - Annleis enn i går
12. Karpe Diem - Fire vegger
13. Maria Mena - Cause & Effect
14. Odd Nordstoga - Pilegrim
15. Halvdan Sivertsen - Mellom oss
16. Vidar Johnsen & Peter Nordberg - Mål & Mening
17. Diverse artister - Mgp Jr 2008
18. Øystein Sunde - Meget i Sløyd
19. Kurt Nilsen - Rise To The Occasion
20. KAtzenjammer - Le Pop

Aftonbladet is starting to take nominAtions for this year's Rockbjörnen: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/rockbjornen2008/

MP3: Lukestar - It's ok amigo

The closer we get to December, the closer we are to year-end list time. Yes, once again I will be hosting my December Top 10 extravaganza with new guestlists every day and if you think you're worthy of submitting a list, you better get in touch soon 'cuz space is limited. As for me and the rest of IAt's contributing staff, we're busy putting together our own year-end lists. I've got about 20 albums to pare down to a top ten, but one record thAt's sure to make it is Lukestar's "Lake Toba". I said it waaaay back in January and I'm sticking to it -- it's a damn greAt album and it still slays 98% of the crap released this year. However, since it's a Friday, I'm going to take you back to the band's first album "Alpine unit" from 2004. Honestly, I don't think I would've spotted the seeds of greAtness in this. It's solid emo-pop, but it doesn't soar like "Lake Toba". The vocals are less inhumanly high and ethereal and more average/whiny. However, the melodies are still strong, especially on the chorus of songs like the one I've posted today. UnfortunAtely it just doesn't quite hit the mark. Still, like I said, it's a decent listen and it really does provide a good view of where the band came from and thAt's something I think is always worth looking into. Now, let's speculAte as to where they'll go next...

Malmö residents! Don't forget to check out Lukestar when they play the It's a Trap! Clubnight At Debaser next weekend, November 29. It's going to be amazing, I assure you.

Lukestar - It's ok amigo

Cake on Cake
Hymns I remember
Sleepy Records

"Sunday girl", the frontrunner of "Hymns I remember", is seeped in the essence of 60s pop music. The fact thAt it wouldn't feel out of place on a Jens Lekman album doesn't hurt either, and like Lekman, Helena Sundin softly, gently draws us into the musical translAtions of her inner monologues with this opening track. The rest of Cake on Cake's album is solid, even more so if you are fond of the brand of Swedish pop thAt has seen such praise heaped upon El Perro del Mar and Granada. My only real complaint is thAt Sundin's charm seems unevenly distributed between the first two tracks of the record, not thAt there aren't wonderful moments throughout, but one's standards are left so high after "Visiting the Venice Biennal" thAt it can take a few listens to fully appreciAte "Hymns I remember" in its entirety.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson