Norwegian act The Opium Cartel, the sideproject of White Willow's Jacob Holm, is currently recording a new album with mattias Olsson (Änglagård, Pineforest Crunch, Nanook of the North, etc.) and will also be doing some recording/mixing with producer Brian mcTear (Espers, Swearing at motorists, etc.) later on at his studio in Philadelphia. Holm also reports that he is mixing songs for an album with Italian electronica artist Giancarlo Erra and No-man/fellow Opium Cartel collaborator Tim Bowness. Read more about the process on mattias Olsson's studio blog: https://www.roth-handle.nu/

The Hives have thankfully added a few headlining gigs to their upcoming US tour supporting maroon 5:

09/30 - metro, Chicago, IL
10/03 - Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, Ontario
10/09 - Webster Hall, New York, NY
10/14 - middle East, Boston, mA
10/17 - The Black Cat, Washington, DC
11/01 - The Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA
11/07 - Avalon, Los Angeles, CA

The video for the new José González song "Killing for love" is now online: myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=15943380" target="_blank">https://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=15943380

MP3: November - Men mitt hjärta ska vara gjort av sten

I don't know much about the band featured in today's mp3 post except for one very important fact: I like it a lot. As for some background, here's everything I've managed to scrape together:

Swedish heavy rock trio. They came together in the suburbs of Stockholm in the late sixties (Snowy White had been an early member for some months). The group adopted their name after a very successful concert as support act for Fleetwood mac in Göteborg on November 1, 1969. "En ny tid ar har", their debut album, is a heavy blues rock album with loads of guitar work inspired by Cream, Led Zeppelin and the like. November were among the first bands to use Swedish lyrics, sung in a very characteristic, moaning way by bassist/frontman Christer Stalbrandt, possibly influenced by Jack Bruce. "2:a November", their second album (and the album today's track comes from), was produced by Georg Wandenius (made In Sweden) and showed a greater range; the music is heavier when guitarist Richard Rolf lets loose, but also softer in parts with piano and melancholic vocals. Stalbrandt later started the group Saga. Drummer Björn Inge became a member of heavy jazz-rockers Energy.

November - Men mitt hjärta ska vara gjort av sten

Festival report: Way Out West

Arch Enemy
Rise of the tyrant
Century Media

Let me start with saying I really wanted to like this album a lot. maybe too much. I absolutely loved "Doomsday machine" and was hoping this would, if not top it, at least be something close. To my total surprise, I was really disappointed with this release. Angela Gossows' voice is left almost without effects, which surely makes her sound vicious, but also very mundane and annoying for an entire album. However, this is not the only weak point of this album. most songs lack a catchy chorus and I often can't tell one song from the other. Sometimes they are saved by shredding leads, but that's one of the few things that stand out as positive on this album. I hope it grows on me, but it seems unlikely.
- Richard Wilson

Death By Kite
s/t
Quartermain

Denmark's Death By Kite have the unique ability to exude all the confidence of influences Placebo, mew, and Sonic Youth, whilst simultaneously enjoying a degree of forgiveness afforded by their youthful energy and honest approach. The end result is a record that feels at once familiar and novel, both responses enhanced by their diacritically juxtaposed counterparts. There's a strangely nostalgic quality to the music, fashioned from the band's influences and the lo-fi production, that also adds yet another touch of authority to Death By Kite's self-titled effort. If you've been looking for a record drenched in delayed guitars and vocals reminiscent of Brian molkos' delivery, that concurrently radiates a record overlooked in the late 90s and an album combining the dirtier approaches of contemporary bands like Figurines with the wonderfully dark musings of Joy Division... look little further. The Swedish part of me hates to admit it, but these Danes really have done well.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Killerchaps
s/t
Adore Music

The self-titled Killerchaps album is, in many ways, everything a 70s saturated indierock album should be. Composed of ten catchy, concise burst of songs, "Killerchaps" wraps up in just over 25 minutes. Unfortunately, while the tracks are well crafted and the brevity of the record never allows for any awkward pauses, the approach becomes nearly formulaic as the record continues. It never develops into a ghastly or horrific exercise, Killerchaps just wind themselves tightly around the straight-forwardness of their songs, allowing for little lateral movement of the guitars, bass, drums, or vocals. It feels that with the obvious talents of the band, that the 60s, Sonics-like style, combined with the contemporary influences of groups like modest mouse and Kings of Leon, should allow for a bit more playful variation in the composition. "Hound like tigers" and "Equally dumb", the standout track of the album, both take a few steps away from the standard sound and succeed resolutely for doing so. Overall, "Killerchaps" hits the mark, it just may be forgotten when all is said and done with this year of releases.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

The Kissaway Trail
s/t
Playground

Drawing as much from the layered swells of bands like Decibully and Broken Social Scene, as from the anthemic approach of Arcade Fire, this is a fine, if not damned accomplished debut album. While there are touches of bands like The National, another band oft quoted as having 'jumped on the Arcade Fire bandwagon,' there is as much of the lost, jangled melodies reminiscent of indie music from the late 90s to give The Kissaway Trail an oddly nostalgic quality while simultaneously being placing themselves alongisde contemporary artists presently in the public mind. "Forever turned out to be too long" is everything an opening track should be: elusive and alluring, bringing to mind bands that garnered our love of music, and obviously influenced the band's delivery, though composed of unique strata that give the compositions an original tangibility. Bleeding out of the opener in one of the finest transitions on record, "Smother + evil = hurt" brings the pulse of record to bear for the first time, and pushes this wonderful album off on its way. "La la song" and "Eloquence and elixir" are yet more examples of their brilliance as artists, and provide as much energy in the latter minutes of the album as the opening tracks instilled. As a proud half-Swede who used to call Stockholm my home, I'm once again forced to admit that Denmark has unveiled yet another talented band.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Kornstad
Single engine
Jazzland

Jazz is a strange beast, and I can understand why many people of my age bracket are not quite as impressed by the genre as those of previous generations - though this statement by no means condones this depraved, limiting attitude towards music. If there was vote for the contemporary artist to impress upon people the importance of the jazz movement, I would most likely throw my voice behind that of Norwegian talent Håkon Kornstad. "Single engine" is one of the most engaging and interesting jazz albums I've heard in quite a while, nearly on par with John Coltrane's "Ballads", whose wonderful "You don't know what love is" was brought to mind as I listened to Kornstad's "Korkade". Vocals seem totally unnecessary as Kornstad's saxophone provides a medium, as playful as it can be mournful, through which to reminisce, to create (for I've found writing to jazz has actually been one of the finest uses of my time), or to just relax after a long day of running so hard to stay in one place, or push oneself a few inches closer to that ultimate goal. "Ambergris" feels almost like the jazz equivalent to Sigur Rós' powerful "Untitled 3". If you've ever been curious about jazz, pick up a few Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, and michael Becker albums. Then, if you're thoroughly smitten, you'll be in the perfect place to be overwhelmed by this Norwegian's fabulous narratives. He's the frontrunner of the current lot.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Monomen
s/t
TrustMe

I want badly to give this record an 8 or a 9, though while "Drum of glass", "Neon", and "Lowlife" all convey that nervous energy perfect before a good night out, there is a complete lack of focus on monomen's self-titled LP. The huge synth rock approach similar to that of fellow Scandinavians Strip music and 80s champions New Order is bizarrely abandoned for a series of instrumental tracks in the latter half of the album. Why the band thought removing the vocalist's near perfect 80s goth delivery would in any way enhance the record is beyond me. These instrumental compositions are not bad, "Aurora" is even damned good, but the sudden shift in gears detrimentally affects the overall feel and solidity of the album. Luckily, monomen close with "Lowlife", and much can be forgiven when lost in those final minutes of the record. The "monomen LP" is a worthy collection of tracks, I just hope that the next records keep the instrumentals, interesting and competent as they are, as b-sides only.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Susanne Sundfør
s/t
MBN

The self-titled debut by this Norwegian lass inevitably makes you think of great female singer/songwriters of the '70s like Carole King and Joni mitchell. When Susanne play piano (which she does on most of the eleven songs here), the way she confidently strikes those big chords and belts out the lyrics certainly brings "Tapestry"-era King to mind. But when she strums an acoustic guitar, it's Joni you'll think of, even though Susanne's vocal timbre is quite different - more akin to Ane Brun, actually. She's got a lot of competition, but there's plenty of evidence here that Susanne could evolve into one of Norway's best singer/songwriters.
- Kevin Renick

I picked up a few extra copies of the new Regulations 7" "Different needs" last night. Email me if you're interested in picking one up 'cuz I'm not sure they'll make it to the webstore. I also forgot to mention it, but I've restocked copies of m/store/search.php?mode=search&by_title=Y&by_shortdescr=Y&by_fulldescr=Y&substring=Kleinhenz">both Björn Kleinhenz CDs. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, the new album sounds fantastic from what I've heard so far. No idea when it will be done, but I'm sure I'll be the first to let you know.

Check out A Saga, a new act on West Side Fabrication featuring singer/songwriter Anna Lindén along with help from Jari Haapalinen, Nicolai Dunger and Thomas Tjärnkvist: myspace.com/ensaga" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/ensaga

Swedish act The models and Denmarks' Powderhog are participating in something called EuroRock 2007, a US tour which kicks off in NYC at the end of the month. Dates and details: myspace.com/eurorock" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/eurorock