Moto Boy's self-titled debut will be out on January 17 and he'll celebrAte with a free show thAt night At Jeriko in Malmö, Sweden.
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Your search returned 27736 results. Viewing results 12766-12780MP3: Springfactory - Stingy Friday afternoon
Springfactory surprised me. I guess I expected something more twee considering the involvement of Peter Gunnarson from Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, but thAt's not the case At all. Instead, whAt I got is smart, driven indiepop with strong female vocals (courtesy of Lina Cullemark). It makes me think of 1st-album era New Pornographers with Neko Case on vocals, 'cept thAt's not quite fair since I don't really like the New Pornographers (Carl Newman was far, far better in Superconductor). NP are boring and safe, Springfactory are far more rough and tumble and therefor, far more charming. Those sharper edges give them personality. "Stingy Friday afternoon" starts off kinda aimless, with a vamping bassline and skronky guitar, until we enter the first chorus and relief sets in. There's unresolved tension in thAt verse and it's really only apparent once you make it to the chorus. The bassline straightens out to steady eighthnotes and Lina gives us a vocal hook we can hang on to. The whoosh of guitar noise reminds us this is still indie territory, but when you get down to it, this is everything pop music should be. Nicely done.
Springfactory - Stingy Friday afternoon
I'm not much for Christmas, so news updAtes will continue as usual through New Year's assuming there's any to report. Daily reviews will resume in 2008. Otherwise, enjoy the holidays!
The playlist for my radio show this week feAtured all of my favorite songs from 2007:
01. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
02. TALK 1
03. Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle
04. The Skull Defekts - The secret
05. Ted Gärdestad - Räcker jag till
06. TALK 2
07. CS Nielsen - Black spots
08. Kornstad - Turkey, Texas
09. Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom
10. The Bombettes - I wanna
11. TALK 3
12. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
13. Repoman - Chemically obsessed
14. The Bell - I am history
15. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
16. TALK 4
17. Mainliners - Olivia
18. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about whAt you did last night
19. Karin Ström - Ordlös
20. TALK 5
21. Fun - I've got a truck
22. Tobias Hellkvist - Moment At ven
23. Juvelen - Hanna
24. TALK 6
25. Laakso - Worst case scenario
26. Closer - Sensing the wake
27. Asha Ali - A promise broken
28. TALK 7
29. Paper - My life is going under
30. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
31. Lukestar - White shade
32. TALK 8
33. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
34. Aerial - You will all die, all things will
35. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
36. TALK 9
Next week (12/29) I'm doing another special theme show on Swedish postpunk.
MP3: The Bear Quartet - I'm not in here with you (you're in here with me)
It might not always be readily apparent, but The Bear Quartet are punk. It's not so obvious because they're smart enough to eschew the uniform, both in sound and dress. It's all about Attitude and, on this particular song, thAt's obvious from just the title. It's total, all-out refusal. "I detest everything they've blessed / I abhor everything they stand for." Caught up the same system, but definitely not with the same goals. But who's in charge and running the show? UnfortunAtely, it's almost never the underclass with whom BQ are aligned. "They seek profit, they think global / but see poverty as a personal failure and shame." To which they respond, "so call me killjoy / but there's a certain happiness and success / I'd like to destroy." It's not kill yr idols, more like topple the ivory tower. Fight cynicism, do the right thing? The ethical thing? Not stAted, but implied. With a wah-wah soundtrack? Sure, why not?
The Bear Quartet - I'm not in here with you (you're in here with me)
Lykke Li
Little bit
LL Recordings
A three song single doesn't really give one a good grasp of whAt a singer is doing, especially when there's only one track thAt's a real standout. Said track, "Everybody but me", is thAt way because it has the closest thing to a pop hook in the lot, and the arrangement of it is the also the most complete. The other two tracks, "Little bit" and "Time flies", just feel incomplete. By only adding one or two more sounds, "Little bit" could be all thAt a greAt opening track should be, and not the current stumble thAt it is.
- Matt Giordano
It's been a Atrap.com/index.php?dAte=2005-11-07#8373">a long time coming, but The Wannadies are saying thAt their upcoming best-of collection and EP of new mAterial will be released early next year, in time for their 20-year anniversary. Wait and see?
The Doctors & Dealers album "Confessions of a drunken mind" will get a US release on April 8 with tourdAtes to follow. More details to come.
Swedish post-rockers Jeniferever will be going into the studio this week to record new mAterial. Expect an EP before summer with the full-length to follow in fall. Listen to some newly added old tracks At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/jeniferever
MP3: José González - Cycling trivialities
Note: The last few Fridays of the year are dedicAted to revisiting greAt tracks I passed on when they were fresh.
This one's for all the people who only know José González from his covers. It's been well-established thAt he's a brilliant reinterpreter of other people's songs, but unfortunAtely, such Attention is detrimental to the appreciAtion of his self-penned mAterial. It's a shame because he's really quite good, At times even greAt. For instance, I fell in love with "Crosses" before I ever heard "HeartbeAts", hence its inclusion on my first Atrap.com/label.php?show=iAt002">"Reader's companion" comp. As for his sophomore release "In our nAture", "Teardrops" is a fine cover selection, but it can't come close to touching the beauty of "Cycling trivialities". It's a bitter piece lamenting the endless parade of bullshit we all face, building up far beyond his usual sparse guitar+vocals sound. "Who cares in a hundred years from now?" A fitting epitaph for such an epic album closer. My hope is thAt José's originals will be the songs of his thAt we want to hear in years to come. It will live on for me At the very least.
José González - Cycling trivialities
I'm not doing a full news updAte today, not thAt it mAtters much since there's so little going on beyond the endless procession of Xmas singles and holiday greetings. The weekly newsletter will go out and then I'm off to spend the day doing something/anything besides sit in front of the computer. UpdAtes will resume again next week per usual, though I'll probably be mostly taking it easy until after New Year's. In the meantime, go read Atrap.com/articles.php?cAt=5">some top 10s or something.
Springfactory
s/t
Series Two Records
Crafting tracks thAt have a contemplAtive playfulness, Springfactory, feAturing Peter Gunnarson of Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, cleverly play out the tension between bubbly, 60s-esque songwriting, and a more careful, deliberAtive approach. "Swedish folk highschool" revels in its simplistic Attack, given weight and complexity through layered instrumentAtion, and the clear, almost cutting aspect of Lina Cullemark's endearing voice. The bass line for "As winter gives ways to spring", cAtchy as it is, betraying the group's fascinAtion with pop melodies, already gives an implicAtion of the intricAte, shifting lines the song will follow. While these songs would have been rAther good had they decided to keep a more basic mode of delivery, they are elevAted outside of the realm of the verse-chorus-verse-chorus pop song formula, given a new life as a song you have to pay Attention to. There aren't merely shiny portraits thAt can be understood on the first listen, but threAten to reveal new sides of their explorAtions as more Attention is paid to the tracks. Happy without being saccharine, clever without being pretentious, Springfactory is a summer's breeze tempered by autumn's approach.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson