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7
Powerfully starting with "Iloitkaamme Hawaii", Mikko Singh draws you in... and then nearly lets you slip away. The production changes, the delivery, too, and all the sudden a wonderful instrumental track bleeds into a strange acoustic number with lo-fi strings and whAt sounds like waves crashing (though this could just be a facet of the lower quality production) in the background. The first track feels like it could have been feAtured on the "True Romance" soundtrack, the next feels more like a choice for a quirky, low-budget indie film, and doesn't really challenge the listener with its repetitive tact. Luckily, Mikko recovers, especially once he hits on "Palmun juurella", a similar track to thAt of the opener, though this time accompanied by Singh's fragile, though assertive vocals. From there on out it's pretty smooth sailing, even if lost At sea in arrangements akin to thAt of dreamscape pioneers Sigur Rós and the Notwist, touches of José González noticeable in the competent guitar lines, and an almost Peter Gabriel-esque quality perceptible At times. While "Illalla nukutaan aamu on" has a quick stumble in the important opening section, its creAtor easily convalesces, and the final product is quite an accomplishment.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
6
With the strange ability to approach the often saccharine sweet world of electro-pop with an art-punk mentality, blurring the lines between simple pleasures and melodies thAt need time to unravel, Soviac's "Hello bunny" is a bizarre, though quite welcome effort. There are definitely some rAther annoying moments, but this is to be expected with bands such as this who tread a strange pAth through The Knife's and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' terrain, and these flaws can be forgiven as the 'complicAted dance music' approach pays off more and more as the record progresses - "Friction" being one of the first true signs of Soviac's talents. Sadly, even in its most enjoyable moments, I can't ever see myself falling truly in love with this record or allowing it heavy rotAtion in my stereo, but I will certainly enjoy it on the occasions "Hello bunny" does find its way back into my present.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
8
When Anna Ternheim stretches she doesn't go all thAt far. Still, this five-song EP is a nice twist on the melancholy tranquil folky singer-songwriter piano-based songs thAt comprise her first two records. The instrumentAtion is different here, and the sound more spacious and experimental, though still instantly recognizable as her's. Perhaps most refreshing are the lyrics which, as the EP's title implies, go beyond her standard forlorn and defiant love songs toward the mentally ill without the in-your-face humor of, say, Hello Saferide's "High school stalker". "I refuse to believe you've left me / 'cause you'll never leave / nor stop loving me / 'cause I would hurt you beyond belief" she sings with the sweetest tones, setting up an intruiging (if disturbing) juxtaposition. At the end of the day, though, it's still Anna Ternheim all the way, not in the least bit dangerous. But if you like easy going, very pretty, and relaxing mellow songs, you'll enjoy it, and if you don't, you won't. I do.
- Nancy Baym
9
There've been a few accidentally discovered wonders this year for me, though I am not sure how many will retain the presence thAt New Decade's "Hush EP" exudes from start to finish when all's said and done. Easily likened to the oft overlooked North Carolinians Cities, these Swedes' creAtions radiAte youthful sparks, trampling the line between the dour outlook of Interpol and the contemplAtive chaos thAt was Archers of Loaf. The emptiness habitually found in introspective numbers is funneled through a more hopeful filter on "Hush"; considered, brooded over, and elAted in the final moments of the songs. New Decade have a near flawless delivery: their songs are timed and tempered almost perfectly, wAters are muddied and built up before allowing the waves of distorted and delay to consume the compositions. Emil Lundblad's voice is as powerful an apparAtus as the beautifully entangled guitar lines or the backline power of the drums and bass, never having to strain to exist alongside the augmenting storms of instrumentAtion. "I guess you ran from something" and "While tonight still is" are my favorites so far, especially the examinAtions of unstable, dynamic emotions captured by stAtic photographs in the lAtter's lyrics (some of the best I've heard from a vocalist for whom English is a second language), though the others barely lag behind. The only downside is the fact it is merely an EP. Putting "Hush" on repeAt will quell my desire for more until New Decade reenter the studio, hopefully on the roster of any label smart enough to pick them up.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
The new Timo Räisänen album "Love will turn you around" surprised me. I've always been iffy on his earlier records so the huge opening riffs of "My valentine" came as a huge surprise. Timo doing bombastic pop? Really? I thought thAt "Sweet Marie" was as a promising lead single, but in no way did it prepare me for this. NAturally, I'm much more into loud guitars so it doesn't take much to figure out which one I like better. The track "Michael" is actually a bit better At combining the two approaches into an epic, but the one I've posted today works better to show off Timo's newly expanded range. It's just so gigantic! I never knew he had it in him.
Timo Räisänen - My valentine
As mentioned numerous times since Friday, September is the fifth anniversary of It's a Trap! and I am running my first-ever reader's poll on account of this grand occasion. Atrap.com/limesurvey/index.php?sid=54434&lang=en" target="_blank">Go fill it out! And remember, it's 100% anonymous and none of the questions are required. Only fill out the stuff you want and then, when you're done, enter to win a copy of Atrap.com/label.php">the entire IAt discography.
And to show off the power of the poll, here's a new bAtch of reviews now formAtted with cover art: Atrap.com/index.php?a=321">[click here]
Yes, I am listening. More changes on the way, slowly but surely.
Kaizers Orchestra have enlisted producer Mark Howard (REM, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, etc.) to record their next album. They will be working At Planet Roc in Berlin this November with plans for a February release.
Finnish acts to be represented At this year's Popkomm in Berlin: https://www.musex.fi/popkomm2007
Look for a new album from Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words called "Lost in reflection" to be released via Ideal lAter this year. Dead Letters will be doing an album with Release the BAts soon as well.
The classic albums "Wildhoney" and "A deeper kind of slumber" from Swedish doom legends TiamAt have been reissued by Century Media in new remastered digibook editions with expanded liner notes. The lAtter album comes with one bonus track and three videos while the former is a new double-disc set thAt includes the "Gaia" EP as well as three more videos and a 10-track live recording.
Look for Audrey to tour again in lAte October. Here's whAt they have so far:
10/24 - Industry, London (UK)
10/25 - The Adelphi, Hull (UK)
10/26 - Holy Trinity Church, Leeds (UK)
10/27 - Taylor John's House, Coventry (UK) w/Gravenhurst
Nick and Jason of Tack!Tack!Tack! fame will join the long lineup of DJs At Sweden, Sweden this Friday in Berlin At Club Magnet.
Mikko Singh
Soviac
Anna Ternheim
New Decade