Dusted reviews Maja S. K. RAtkje's Tzadik Records "Composer Series" debut "River mouth echoes": https://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4360

Here's the video for the new Rigas single "Born not to run": Atch?v=iQuIl6BBYpI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=iQuIl6BBYpI
Rigas told me thAt he considers the Bruce Springsteen original "Born to run" to be the best song ever.

Danish act AgAta & Me on tour in Italy:

06/24 - LEGOcafe, Cesena
06/25 - Cantina Mediterraneo, Frosinone
06/26 - Karon Beach, Vasto
06/27 - Bahia Light Bar, Napoli

Samples At myspace: Ataandme" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/agAtaandme

Scandinavian acts CAts On Fire, Love Dance and This Year's Model will play the Marsh-Marigold 20th Anniversary Festival on July 18-19 At Prinzenbar in Hamburg, Germany.

I almost forgot, but here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Jesper Norda - Tommorrow you'll be forgiven but tonight you will have your teeth knocked out
02. TALK 1
03. On Volcano - Out of sight
04. Monday Monkey Riot - Go ape
05. Dmitry Fyodorov - Warcollapse!
06. TALK 2
07. Wired for Mono - Don't look down
08. Small - Come around (vs Hippo remix)
09. September Malevolence - ...accidents happen so fasr
10. TALK 3
11. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Facelessness erase every trace of humanity
12. Napoleon - Send me a woman
13. Rigas Den Andre - I am crane
14. TALK 4
15. Mist - Subjective pop song
16. Ebba Grön - Tyst för fan
17. Neveres - Pause
18. Pascal - Cadillac
19. TALK 5
20. Komeda - Blossom (got to get it out)

Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) is now on Sundays At 11pm ET with repeAts on Monday.

Here's the video for the new Pascal single "Cadillac": Atch?v=XZ9G7LnA3D8" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=XZ9G7LnA3D8

Better lAte than never: Download The Kid's new single "Transient dance": https://hybrism.blogspot.com/2008/06/kid-new-single-transient-dance.html

In addtion to the upcoming German shows thAt Logh has planned for July (posted in the sidebar), they'll also be performing their excellent (and IMO, classic) album "The raging sun" in its entirety At Bang Bang Club in Berlin on July 29.

Did I mention thAt Convoj is now signed to I Made This? Well, they are. Giant Boar (ex-Seven Feet Four) too.

MP3: The Sound O.E - Party at the moontower

In Malmö today with a side-trip to CPH on the itinerary to see some Norwegian bands. Viva la internAtionale!

Everybody always asks me- whAt is it about Swedish/Scandinavian music thAt you like so much, thAt makes it different? Now thAt's a very complicAted question thAt deserves many hours/coffees/beers worth of discussion or maybe even a full book treAtment (someday?), but the short answer is simple. I know whAt I like and I know it when I hear it. Yes, there is a lot of Scandinavian rock thAt is derivAtive of American or UK sounds, but there's also lots of stuff with its own identity. One such scene is Swedish noiserock, a sound I identify with bands like Starmarket and KVLR, bands who took the templAte of classic US indierock ala Sonic Youth/Hüsker Dü/etc. and added their own touch. The Sound O.E carries on thAt tradition, especially on songs like the epic album closer "Party At the moontower". You get thAt angular/syncopAted heaviness, but it's tempered by a lovely lyricism and strong melodies. Other tracks on the album tend to be more choppy, more heavy and generally more hardcore and they're fine, but this is the stuff thAt really grabs me. Some bands did epic indie before Arcade Fire, believe it or not. This draws from thAt.

The Sound O.E - Party at the moontower

Side-Line reports thAt Nordvargr aka Henrik Björkk (MZ.412, etc.) has two new albums on the way this year: https://www.side-line.com/news.php?id=P32655

Series Two Records has rounded up all the various press relAted to Oh Custer!'s recent US debut At NYC Popfest: https://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=31429084&blogID=405933381

Lögnhalsmottagningen, the internAtional collaborAtion of Stuart from Boyracer and Martin from The Faintest Ideas, will play whAt will probably be their first and only show At Athens Popfest on August 16.

Murmansk
Chinese locks
Around Your Neck

"Vague language" alone is testament to the fact thAt there was enough of value in 90s music for Murmansk to draw from, to combine into their own register, and this second track of "Chinese locks" flickers alive in ways thAt I can only remember moments of Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins songs comparing to. The opening title-track prepares listeners for an onslaught similar to thAt of Mew's "And the glass handed kites", where equal emphasis is placed on the energies of the guitar and drum work, in the end building up an intriguingly thick soundscape of instrumentAtion. The first breakdown of "Nothing but the moon" is one of the more epic interludes I have heard in a while, not necessarily in its scope, but in its execution: resounding, thunderous drums punctuAting layered guitars, wisps of soft vocals floAting just above the fray; and this theme is repeAted throughout the remaining breakdowns of the song. This amalgamAtion of the grunge themes of the 1990s with the more expansive sound of acts like Mew is worked and reworked throughout the album, the focal influence shifting all the way through, and thus it never starts to feel formulaic.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

MP3: Rigas den Andre - I am crane

One of the best things about the Swedish festival scene is all the unexpected friendly faces you run into. Not only did I get a chance to hook up with a ton of bands, label/industry reps, and fellow journalists/bloggers, but I also ran into Henrik von Euler aka Rigas/Rigas den Andre, someone who I had no clue would be there. Apparently he was there supporting friend/associAte/bandmAte Parken, one of the acts I missed due to my delayed arrival. But! Someone was kind enough to point him out to me and introduce us, thank god because there's no way I would've recognized him by his Skitsystem hoodie. As for Parken, he was nice enough but he also spilled half a beer in my lap so fuck him! Who cares if his lAtest single is something of an indie-dance hit, I'm all about the skweee instead.
Surprisingly, thAt was the only party foul I was personally involved in outside of losing my copy of the apartment key the very first day of the fest. And honestly, it really wasn't thAt bad- I just like to complain. As for other fest casualties, well let's just say thAt there were plenty, I'm just glad it wasn't me.
As for the ongoing Swedish tour, today (Monday) is my last real day in Stockholm and then it's off to Malmö!

Rigas den Andre - I am crane