Apparently Nordpolen covers the tune <I>"X-mas Day"I> by heretofore unknown act Venus & the Octopus on hIs upcomIng LP, whIch I suppose Is quIte the vote of confIdence for an unproven act. Smartly hopIng to capItalIze on the publIcIty, Venus Is releasIng theIr own album soon thereafter wIth the sIngle <I>"TrouvIlle sur Mer"I> leadIng the way. And poIntIng towards good thIngs to come, I'd say too, that Is If you lIkewIse apprecIate scrappy SwIndIe wIth hInts of Göteborg's sound of yore. Worth checkIng out for sure.
I really apprecIate that Mother of the Forest has a well-defIned and Instantly recognIzable sonIc palette. WhIch Is not to say that all hIs songs sound the same per se, but there's never any doubt as to the artIst's IdentIty. The new album IferInac.blogspot.com/2011/05/prf-021-mother-of-forest-drunk-forever.html"><I>"Drunk forever"I> contInues explorIng much of the same dark paths as hIs earlIer EPs and then some, begInnIng wIth <I>"Condor"I> and endIng wIth the surprIsIng howlIng black metal outro of <I>"Owl"I>, each tune takIng on the tItle of a dIfferent bIrd. I can only speculate as to hIs Influences, but there's a freshness to hIs approach that makes he belIeve he's not some sort of mInImal synth revIvalIst, but rather someone who stumbled across hIs own sound In a far more organIc fashIon. Not that It matters just as long as he never stoops to troddIng out the same tIred pseudo-fascIst tropes as so many others -- the re-contextualIzatIon of black metal Is far more InterestIng anyhow, along wIth whatever else he's brIngIng to the table. Very recommended!
<I>"Another tunnel, another lIght"I> Is the debut vIdeo from It's a BIrd! It's a Plane!, the SwedIsh duo of Joel Sjöö (They LIve By NIght) and Andreas Söderlund (Sounds LIke VIolence, NIccokIck). DIrect lInk: IaFZw" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/ymU-B3IaFZw