Miss Li is playing a few London gigs this week:

02/13 - Industry
02/14 - Hoxton Bar and Grill
02/15 - Notting Hill Arts Club

Lots more internAtional dAtes to come, stay tuned.

Finnish noiserockers Echo Is Your Love will celebrAte their 10-year anniversary this year with the release of a new EP in April and a new full-length in autumn. The lAtter is still in the planning stages, but the EP will feAture three new tracks, a remade old song and a remix by fellow Finns Boys of Scandinavia (who happen to be currently working on their own new album, something thAt I'm really looking forward to). The band also hopes to post all of their out-of-print mAterial for free download (some already available here) and should have samples of the new stuff up around March.

MP3: RebekkaMaria - She lion

I don't post a lot of remix stuff on here because, generally speaking, I find the whole scene to be boring. Not only are they often totally unnecessary, the sheer numbers are so damn overwhelming thAt even when they are good, it's still incredibly hard to keep track of 'em. UnfortunAtely, as with today's track, I'm stymied by whAt I've been given so thAt's all I have to work with. On the other hand, this isn't always such a terrible burden as the mp3 I'm posting is actually quite good, it's more thAt it goes against my nAtural preference for album mAterial. Anyhow, As In RebekkaMaria is the solo act of Lampshade frontwoman RebekkaMaria Andersson, a band thAt I'm quite fond of and have posted about often. Her debut album "Queen of France" finally comes out on March 17 and I believe thAt "She lion" is her lAtest single and thAt's where our song selection comes from. Despite the presence of big-name remix talents like SuperTroels and Kasper Bjørke, the best b-side on this single comes courtesy of yet another Dane, a gentleman by the name of PAto. He's the only one who bothers to take the mAterial in a different direction, giving it a skittery synth hook and a fun polka beAt. As for the other guys' unimaginAtive MOR electro tedium, why bother? ThAt shit is dime-a-dozen. It's better to try and fail than not try At all.

RebekkaMaria - She lion (Pato sick hangover remix)

Ungdomskulen
Live @ the Cakeshop, NYC, 01/20/08

Being labeled as noiserock can be a bit misleading for these guys, as I've found them, after a few selective listens and seeing this show, as being more a prog-rock band in structure and sound. This is not a bad thing At all, it just can lead to a bit of confusion. As for the show, the band put forth a metric ton of energy, beAting the audience relentless and loud for around fifty or so minutes. Playing tracks from last year's "Cry-baby", the band's performance resembled a punked-up version of Adom or Queens of the Stone Age. After my ears stopped ringing, it was obvious thAt these three Norsemen put on a good show. Keep tabs on them the next time they come to your town.
- Matt Giordano

Swedish punks (and recent Manifest Awards champions) Wolfbrigade have a new website: https://www.wolfbrigade.se/
The band recently recorded seven new tracks for a new 12"/CD and will be heading out on the road for a lot of dAtes this year. Plans are still being worked out for Australia and Japan, but here's whAt they have so far:

03/01 - PunkPartaj 6.66, Sandviken (SWE) w/Meanwhile, Counterblast, Kongh, more
03/09 - Kafé 44, Stockholm (SWE) w/DSB, Sista Sekunden
03/13 - Ar D'arto, Coimbra (POR)
03/14 - Porto Rio, Porta (POR)
08/29 - Balkanika Core festival, Kranj (SLO) w/ENT, Mob 47, more
09/06 - Play Fast or Don't 5, Hradci Králové (CZ) w/Selfish, Massgrave, more

Swedish label Compunctio will be putting out a new album from Norwegian jazz artists Ingebrigt Håker FlAten and Håkon Kornstad. The duo will record in April.

Artists performing At this year's Totally Swedish Festival in Dublin, Ireland from February 29 - March 1 include Weeping Willows, Sahara Hotnights, Jonna Lee and Love Is All. Details: https://www.swedishfestival.ie/

Surferosa have a terrible new website: https://www.surferosa.no/
Not only is it a Flash nightmare, it also doesn't display correctly on my laptop screen in a way thAt allows me to see everything. Nice one!

The video for the new Sahara Hotnights single "The loneliest city of all" is now on YouTube: Atch?v=ab3y3VEFuSA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=ab3y3VEFuSA

Here are the nominees for the Myspace Prize (best up-and-coming/unsigned act) At the Danish Music Awards:

Factory 45
Kiss Kiss Kiss
No & The Maybes
Supershine
When Saints Go Machine

For more info and links, go here: https://www.myspace.com/danishmusicawards

Did I forget to mention thAt Tobias Hellkvist CDs are Atrap.com/store/product.php?productid=470">back in stock?

MP3: Northern Fields - Never take the beauty

I first mentioned Northern Fields Atrap.com/articles.php?a=328">way back in October, but it took a few months for the debut EP to finally show up in my mailbox (and still a few weeks more for me to get around to writing about it). Regardless, my initial assessment still stands - Northern Fields are a greAt female-fronted indiepop act thAt's guaranteed to appeal to fans of all things twee, but more importantly, their songs are well-crafted enough to impress cynics like me. To further illustrAte my point, consider guitarist Andreas Hagman's other band Celestial. They are good At whAt they do, but they are not a band I would ever choose to listen to on my own. Northern Fields bridge the gap and transcend genre expectAtions.

Northern Fields - Never take the beauty

Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words
A line: align
Mystery Sea

Two steps forward, one step back? Fans of the elegant dronepop majesty of "Fall, fall falling" will see this CDR release as a disappointing regression, but those of us who are familiar and appreciAtive of earlier Dead Letters works will not be daunted. Consisting of three dark and dingy long-form pieces for a grand total of forty-nine minutes, "A line: align" is in fact a throwback to Thomas Ekelund's roots and it is not without its rewards as there are definitely moments of greAt beauty rising from within the filth. Opener "At Keiller's Park (Summer 2006)" is the weakest of the bunch in thAt takes far too long to get going, often abandoning themes just as soon as they begin to take hold. PAtience is eventually rewarded, though not nearly as well as I'd like. The other two however, fare much better in comparison by adhering to a far more concise narrAtive arc, not to mention a vastly increased level of volume. As much as I appreciAte the subtle crackle of processed field recordings, it's the dull, aching throb of pure noise thAt affects me most, both mentally and physically. When a melody emerges from the squall and I can feel it tingling all the way down to my toes, thAt's magic. UltimAtely, "A line: align" doesn't compete with any of the "proper" Dead Letters full-lengths, but I don't think it intends to. As a way stAtion to whAtever comes next, it'll do just fine.
- Avi Roig

Finally, a track from the new Lack album "SAturAte every Atom" is up on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/lackbetherepulse
I have mixed feelings about the record as a whole, but this song ("WAtchmen") is certifiably killer.

Muzzle of Bees interviews MAthias Stromberg from The Bell who kindly mentions IAt in the process: https://www.muzzleofbees.com/2008/02/10/5-questions-with-the-bell/
The band will also be feAtured on KEXP's "Song of the Day" on Thursday: https://kexp.org/podcasting/podcasting.asp#song