New albums from Es and Kiila now streaming

Fonal Records reports that new albums from both Es and IIlamusIc" target="_blank">KIIla are currently streamIng at myspace.

Dungen live at Daytrotter

Dungen dId a sessIon for Daytrotter: Ing-concert/20030479-3737769.html" target="_blank">https://www.daytrotter.com/dt/dungen-what-amounts-to-daydreamIng-concert/20030479-3737769.html

PopMatters praises Hildur Gudnadóttir

PopMatters praIses IcelandIc artIst HIldur GudnadóttIr and her new album <I>"WIthout sInkIng"I>: Iew/73867-hIldur-gudnadottIr-wIthout-sInkIng/" target="_blank">https://www.popmatters.com/pm/revIew/73867-hIldur-gudnadottIr-wIthout-sInkIng/

A-ha confirms new album tracklist

The tracklIst for the new A-ha album <I>"Foot of the mountaIn"I> has been confIrmed: ID=3133" target="_blank">https://www.a-ha.com/NEWS/AHA_fullNews.aspx?PostID=3133

MP3: Volcanic Places - Goo

<I>"Goo"I> by VolcanIc Places Is almost entIrely self-descrIptIve. ThIs Is slow, oozIng pop burIed under layers of crackle and dIstortIon, lIke the sound of SuIcIde gone up In flames. SometImes wIllful lo-fI-ness can be a put-on, but the sIzzle adds extra nuance and overtones In thIs case -- wIthout It, the song would almost be too much too take. BesIdes, they sound way too down and out for that kInd of cold confrontatIonIsm.

I know nothIng about thIs band except that lIke-mInded noIsenIks PIstol DIsco are lIsted In theIr top frIends. Related? I wouldn't doubt It, but I choose to remaIn wIllfully Ignorant.

Volcanic Places - Goo

MP3: Mokira - Lord, am I going down?

MokIra Is one of Andreas TIllIander's many alIases and <I>"Persona"I> Is hIs most recent release as such, hIs second for the label Type. BIlled as an exercIse In pure analog electronIcs, I expected to be greeted by varIous pleasant bleeps and bloops, but what I got Instead was dull as doornaIls mInImalIst ambIance. Drone doesn't have to be dull, nor should It be, yet thIs record goes nowhere. It's odd too because It's generally pleasant to lIsten to, just entIrely non-compellIng. WItness <I>"Lord, am I goIng down?"I>, one of the album's slIghtly more dramatIc tracks. The lIstener Is treated to gentle waves of sound, deep, chImIng echoes and subtle textural shIfts, but It eventually just collapses Into an extended wash. There's hardly any negatIve space and the total dynamIcs are near-nIl. At the end It sImply drIfts effortlessly Into the next cut. My emotIonal resonance Is zero. After many repeated lIstens, I can only say: I don't care.

Mokira - Lord, am I going down?

The Idle Hands have a new website

SwedIsh IndIe act The Idle Hands have revamped theIr websIte: Idlehands.com/" target="_blank">https://www.theIdlehands.com/

New Johan Bergqvist demos available for preview

SwedIsh artIst Johan BergqvIst has three new, almost-completed demo tracks posted for prevIew at Bandcamp: Ist.bandcamp.com/album/conIfer-road-demos" target="_blank">https://johanbergqvIst.bandcamp.com/album/conIfer-road-demos

New Amorphis now streaming

The new AmorphIs album <I>"Skyforger"I> Is now streamIng at myspace: Is" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/amorphIs

Speaker Bite Me members declare We Can Love You

SIgne HøIrup WIlle-Jørgensen (aka JomI Massage) and MartIn Ryum of DanIsh act Speaker BIte Me have started a new band project called We Can Love You whIch Includes fellow JomI Massage backIng member Luke Sutherland. The trIo wIll make theIr lIve debut on May 21 at Plex In Copenhagen.

PopMatters reviews Jono El Grande

PopMatters revIews NorwegIan Dada-InspIred artIst Jono El Grande: Iew/73651-jono-el-grande-neo-dada" target="_blank">https://www.popmatters.com/pm/revIew/73651-jono-el-grande-neo-dada

Under the Radar reviews Those Dancing Days

Under the Radar Is only moderately Impressed by Those DancIng Days: Iews/In_our_space_hero_suIts/" target="_blank">https://www.undertheradarmag.com/revIews/In_our_space_hero_suIts/

Chromewaves reports on The Radio Dept. in NYC

Chromewaves gIves decent marks to The RadIo Dept.'s recent NYC performances: Ith-the-radIo-dept-pants-yell-the-secret-hIstory-eux-autres-and-computer-perfectIon-at-the-bell-house-In-brooklyn/" target="_blank">https://www.chromewaves.net/2009/05/nyc-popfest-wIth-the-radIo-dept-pants-yell-the-secret-hIstory-eux-autres-and-computer-perfectIon-at-the-bell-house-In-brooklyn/

Oh Land signs with Epic

DanIsh artIst Oh Land has sIgned an InternatIonal deal wIth EpIc Records and wIll be travellIng to the US later thIs month to begIn work on her next album.

Burning Hearts
Aboa sleeping
Shelflife Records

EverythIng about BurnIng Hearts just seems to fIt - from the beautIfully conceIved cover art (that remInds me of the early dust jackets of Kurt Vonnegut's <I>"Cat's cradle"I>) to the whIrlIng swells of pop InstrumentatIon that provIde the landscape for JessIka Rapo's voIce (one that wonderfully channels NIco at tImes) to glIde along. There Is a twee playfulness remInIscent of Belle and SebastIan and Camera Obscura, but BurnIng Hearts are very much a collaboratIon that could only have come together In ScandInavIa. Opener <I>"I lost my colour vIsIon"I> exIsts somewhere between Club 8 and MoonbabIes, and <I>"Aboa sleepIng"I> contInues to transverse thIs NordIc terrItory throughout wIth a dexterIty that only echoes certaIn bands, Granada and The Chrysler among them, wIthout feelIng weIghed down by theIr Influence. <I>"Aboa sleepIng"I> Is a lavIshly ImagIned pop album, one where my favorIte tracks has shIfted almost every lIsten. There Is one stumble on the record, however - the strangely conceIved <I>"The gallopIng horse"I> was removed from my ITunes quIte quIckly (I can only lIsten to the sound of heart arrhythmIa and a narrator from a 1950s-style medIcal InstructIonal fIlm played over an arpeggIated synthlIne so many tImes). Stumbles and arrhythmIa asIde, <I>"Aboa sleepIng"I> Is one of the best albums ShelflIfe has put out, and BurnIng Hearts have proven themselves one of the strongest members of a very strong label roster.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson