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8
Samurai Cities delivers. And with a bang I might add. Uncompromising as a supporting act for indie-darlings Ladytron, these guys never made an effort to reach out and play the easy cards. It's dark, gloomy and right up my alley. The crowd however, consisting exclusively of Ladytron-fans waiting for the headliner to get up on stage, didn't really seem to appreciate these Göteborg-lads. But only for that reason, I assume. Nevertheless, with one record released, the band has already great qualities live and the danceable, electronic indierock that is "Cheap deluxe" is well adjusted onto the stage. Being more of a rawkdude I like the more distorted tunes where it sometimes sounds a bit like Dinosaur Jr. but hey, no one can really resist "my modest ones" with its similarities to The Knife and Bright Eyes (aiming at the "Digital ash in a digital urn"-record). Along with mixtapes & Cellmates, this is by far one of the most interesting electronic acts Sweden has to offer at the moment.
- Jonas Appelqvist
9
Pistol Disco are a coercion in much the same way Josh Wink managed to harmonise the repetitive and extremely limited keys on "Higher state of consciousness". Is there a genre for installation art noise, or has it just been mentioned - bar exposure to the UK's Appliance I am unaccustomed to the likes of Pistol Disco's ilk - who I must admit have the best name of any act naming them self "disco". It's one of those heavy synth-laden, instrumental guitar swirling affairs full of careering soundscapes but with one hell of a callpynous rear and overtly indulgent, not least the final track "Cheree" which runs to 14.36 minutes. Not since Donna Summer's 1980, real Disco classic, "I feel love" (15 minute mix) have I been as vortexed!
- Jason Christie
7
Swedish rock and rollers murder By Guitar sound like The Ramones, Kings of Leon, Randy and The Clash, albeit not all at the same time. most of these tracks are pretty decent, although I can't stand the bluesy "See it in your eyes". There are about three songs on "On parade" that are of very high quality, "Ain't no surfer" being the best one with a chorus that sounds very much like The Ramones and goes "I ain't no surfer, but I hope you can love me anyway". Ahh - how sweet! It's not rocket science but it works very well for me (I'm pretty much a sucker for anything that sounds like The Ramones). You can purchase the album from the band's website for the cheap price of €8, and if you're into sweet and simple rock'n'roll it might be worth doing just that.
- Simon Tagestam
10
I've been formualting this review for a the better part of a couple of weeks and now I think I've got something that makes a bit of sense. To start, the album is flawless - and is the work of a band fully realizing a vision and fully realizing their detachment. Laakso has always been a band slightly skewed, in what direction (or directions) I don't know, but it's always been prevalent in their music and part of their charm. This time around, the music is a bit sunnier, yet the lyrics are some of their darkest. "No one is completely faithful" is the acceptance of defeatist truth, yet sung with one of the band's prettiest melodies to date; "Norrköping" is one of the best coming-of-age songs to be written in a long, long time; and "Dropout" just stuns with its Freddy mercury-esque wall of harmonies bridge. The lead single "Italy vs. Helsinki" is, just m/index.php?d=1209">as Avi posted before, completely over the top in all aspects. In fact, one may view the whole album as being a bit over the top, but it works perfectly - in fact, if anything played or sung on this album was absent, the album would feel incomplete. Fans of Laakso with fall in love with the record, but its natural detachment may not be understood by all, but then again, not everyone gets the best albums.
- Matt Giordano
7
If ever there were a CD whose playfully loopy, zigzagging synth sound was tailor-made for colorful animated videos, this outing by brothers matti and Simon Kallioinen is it. The eleven tracks on this disc sound like they were made by robot-children, or perhaps intricately constructed toys that have suddenly come to life. Everything is whirring, bleeping, dancing up the synthesized keyboards and generally running amok with glee. most tracks are instrumental; the few with vocals, such as "Emerald", rely on vocoder or "Virtual Singer programming" to keep the voices as electro-fied as every other sound. "marble zone" and "Eon" are thoroughly enjoyable romps, and there's a brightness of color and youthful zippiness throughout that you can't help but respond to. I would have preferred a slightly darker edge and a couple more experiments with pitch-shifting, but that's just personal taste. Overall, this is an entertaining synthesizer/programming foray that pushes the right buttons (literally) in creative ways.
- Kevin Renick
10
And I found this girl. She took the stage alone, armed only with a great big acoustic guitar that seemed to dwarf her tiny frame. Then she opened her mouth and whispered out her first song, and the entire crowd went silent in awe. Her name was maia Hirasawa, and until then she had been known to most as 'that other girl in Hello Saferide'. No longer. That November night in Glasgow she truly stepped out from the shadows and demanded attention. Hopefully this album will do the same to a much larger audience. Like her live performance, she eases us in slowly, with a breathy ballad that showcases her angelic voice superbly. She doesn't need a backing band or fancy production to massage her music – the girl sighs and boys swoon. It all seems so unbelievably effortless. And simple. Yet listen closely, and you'll hear the same type of smart, snappy lyrics that make her friend Annika Norlin so likeable. There are a lot of love songs on this album, but they're not old and schmaltzy. On the contrary, they're modern and moving, even featuring myspace in the stellar "mattis and maia". Critics are already falling over themselves with praise for feel-good single "And I found this boy", and with good reason. maia is possibly THE find of the year. Have a listen and you may soon find yourself rushing to join her swelling army of fans.
- Stacey Shackford
7
Steely Dan fans rejoice! Sylvester Schlegel of The Ark has shed his shiny glam rock Eurovision leotard and slipped on some worn leather cowboy boots to deliver a fine collection of country-tinged anthems. Been searching high and low for the perfect soundtrack for the big family reunion you've got planned this summer? Look no further, my friends. Opening track "One of your dreams" will have Uncle Bob doing the two-step quicker than you can say Creedence Clearwater Revival, while "Klara's waltz" will send Grandma mae into wistful reveries about them good ol' days. I bet Sylvester's mum is very proud. Apparently their first gig was her 50th birthday party. Aw, bless.
- Stacey Shackford
7
Although I'm getting kinda sick of groups influenced by Radiohead or other leading Britpoppers, the Danish indierock band Ave add just enough sparkle and energy to that oh-so-familiar sound to hold your interest. Vocalist Dennis Winterskov has Thom Yorke's style down pat, but for the most part, he avoids outright impersonation. Of course there's the high-register, emotive singing, dramatic shifts from quiet to loud playing and multi-layered production you expect from this genre. But some nicely rendered synth passages and an occasional trumpet flourish (also played by Winterskov) liven up the six tunes on this EP. The mastering results in a clean, crisp sound throughout, and you get the sense Ave have lofty ambitions. It's all fairly pleasant, just a little too familiar at times...something I hope Ave will work to change.
- Kevin Renick
In her best moments, Rockettothesky sounds a touch unhinged, the kind of girl who probably gets labelled as crazy, but in reality is probably a heckuva lot of fun to be around. The opposite of prissy, I guess you could say - to the point where it might make the more conservative of us uncomfortable. musically, she lets he voice spiral off into twittery territory far too often for my taste, but she keeps things nicely reined in on this particular track and it's really quite lovely. I'm not familiar with the work of mackenzie" target=_blank>Billy macKenzie, so I assume that I'm missing out on a significant portion of the lyrics, though I am definitely curious the more I read into it. Anyone have any recommendations of where to start?
Rockettothesky - Barrie for Billy MacKenzie
European tourdates for Swedish d-beat act Victims, one of the best bands I saw play last year:
05/01 - Rote Flora, Hamburg (GER)
05/02 - The Little Devil, Tilburg (NL) w/Anaphylactic Shock
05/03 - Sparrow, Klazienaveen (NL)
05/04 - AK47, Düsseldorf (GER)
05/05 - Carlo Levi, Liege (BEL)
05/06 - ExHaus, Trier (GER)
05/07 - JUZ, mannheim (GER)
05/08 - Kunstverein, Nürnberg (GER)
05/09 - Klub 007, Prague (CZ)
05/10 - Archiv , Potsdam (GER) w/Disfear, Crowskin
05/11 - Beat Club, Dessau (GER) w/Another Breath
05/12 - JH, Rosswein (GER) w/Another Breath, Just Went Black, Empty Vision, Anchors Aweigh
05/13 - Feierwerk,OrangeHouse, münchen (GER) w/Another Breath
05/14 - Schlachthaus, Dornbirn (AUS) w/Another Breath
05/15 - Arena , Wien (AUS) w/Another Breath, Boy Sets Fire, Satura Lanx
05/16 - mochvara, Zagreb (CRO) w/Another Breath
05/17 - C.S. Rivolta, Venice (ITA) w/Another Breath
05/18 - Circolo Arci Giuncarico, Grosseto (ITA) w/Another Breath
05/19 - SGA, Arese (milano) (ITA) w/Another Breath
05/20 - Sonic, Lyon (FRA) w/Another Breath
05/21 - Soap Box, Nancy (FRA) w/Another Breath
In other Rump Recordings news, the label has just annouced the signing of Danish electronic duo Vektormusik and will be releasing their debut EP in may. Listen to samples at myspace: myspace.com/vektormusik" target=_blank>https://www.myspace.com/vektormusik
Pelle Carlberg on tour in Germany:
05/12 - Flockenpopfestival (tbc), Hannover (GER)
05/13 - Zeise Kino, Hamburg (GER)
05/14 - Blauer Engel, Kiel (GER)
05/15 - Unikeller, Osnabrück (GER)
05/16 - Pretty Vacant, Düsseldorf (GER)
05/17 - Stereowonderland, Köln (GER)
05/18 - Sparte 4, Saarbrücken (GER)
05/19 - Noch Besser Leben, Leipzig (GER)
05/20 - PrivatClub, Berlin (GER)
05/21 - Südstadt, münchen (GER)
05/22 - Das Bett, Frankfurt (GER)
Salem Al Fakir and Slagsmålsklubben to perform live on the web. Read more: https://www.luger.se/_nyheter.asp?PK_Id=734 (in Swedish)
Pistol Disco
Laakso
Kallioinia
Maia Hirasawa