Search: m
Your search returned 39417 results. Viewing results 24271-24285
I had never heard of this band until Avi began posting about them and his passion for them made me want to give it a listen. Here's my verdict: this is great. In a year (like every year) with fantastic indiepop albums coming out of the Nordic lands, Lemonator has really found a true gem, but one of those that doesn't need polish because the flaws are what truly makes it shine. This is an epic album, not in length, but in feel and movement. Lemonator perfectly portrays the feelings of love, happiness, loss and admiration with it's somewhat simple lyrics and perfect music. The vocal melodies take center stage and send chills, most notably on the album closer "The perfect couple" (which is just amazing, that's the only way to put it). This band has found out how to make a stellar album, and I can just hope it continues.
- Matt Giordano
This classically trained Swedish singer/songwriter has pretty much summed up her own album (her second, I believe) with that title. It's actually sort of a grower; I don't want to start off by criticizing it. Lithell is a thoughtful lyricist, apparently haunted by memories of her childhood and disturbed by the oft-impersonal nature of modern life. In the appealingly honest song "Free society," she sings: "For hours in a row/I've walked these lonely walks/Where everyone's on the phone/And no one really talks/mobile - but not free/Eyes wide - but cannot see...This progress is no solution/It alienates us instead..." Gosh, I've been waiting for SOmEONE to write a song about the social downer of rampant cell phone and iPod use; thanks, maria! That's one of the few rhythmically upbeat tracks on this otherwise rather stately, richly orchestrated chamber pop collection. Elsewhere, strings and things dominate, like marco Chagallo's fine violin on "I'm still me" and the perfect orchestration on "Will I ever learn," a tune where Lithell shows off her vocal range but somehow fails to inject enough emotion to truly put it over. I suppose that's my main complaint: Lithell's technically solid as a singer, but about half these tunes are missing the extra emotional edge that the lyrics demand. Where it does kick in is on the last two songs: "The ice is singing," a hauntingly spare tone poem featuring Fredrik Hermansson's stirring piano, and "Freeze the frame," an undeniably poignant song about wishing you could stay young, eternally enjoying the quiet magic of nature and simpler times. That one might make you cry, but some numbers like the title track and "Bed full of flowers" are a bit bland by comparison. "Have I asked the right questions?/Have I got the answers right?" sings Lithell on the latter tune. Well, maria, I'd say your lyrical concerns are quite thoughtful and most of the arrangements are lovely. Just turn up the "emote-o-meter" and try varying your vocal approach a bit more, and I'm sure your NEXT record will be an even greater blessing.
- Kevin Renick
I'm retiring the word "shoegaze" from my personal reviewing vocabulary; I think it's demeaning and overused. I much prefer the acronym-friendly "electro-ambient dream-pop" (EADP) to instantly place the sound of bands like Sweden's Red moon in its rightful category. This delightful 4-track demo is a sublime, confident rush of lush, melancholy drone-song from the minds of Katarina and Eva Thulin. Although they're mining territory similar to majessic Dreams, the Thulin girls build up a chiming surge of atmosphere throughout these tracks that carries you along like a fast-moving glacier (and there's a chilly ambience that provides plenty of Nordic allure). "Nothing there" generates a soothing flow from the soft keyboards and whispery vocals, but then drums kick in unexpectedly and give the tune a stellar peak, showing the pop smarts these girls possess. "Landslide" blends a lush soundscape with just a wisp of percussion, lyrically seeming to be about a lover who can't keep his promises (the vocals are mesmerizing, but are mixed to a near drone, so the words aren't always easily discernible). "The height" utilizes acoustic guitars and a static-laden foreground before launching a fairly hypnotic rhythmic element that sounds terrific through headphones. I admire the willful creative aesthetic that goes into generating sonic landscapes like this. The lyric says something about being "in the land of the midnight sun," and the music makes you feel that you are. "Closer" is a bit reminiscent of "Victorialand"-era Cocteau Twins, with subtle alterations in the vocals-to-soundscape ratio. You get the sense that the soft female voices here could dissolve into gentle static at any moment, and maybe that'll be a Red moon trademark, who knows. But on the basis of this first recording, the Thulin sisters are certainly engaging practitioners of this particular strain of dreamy Scandinavian drone-pop, and I'll look forward to their full-length.
- Kevin Renick
Continuing with their piano-laden brand of indie-pop, The Second Band bring us another EP of great sing-a-long catchy tracks, and soft downtempo numbers. While the band still flows best with the uptempo pop tracks, their craft for writing solid slower songs has improved greatly (see "A song I can't recall" with its Bright Eyes meets Counting Crows feel), and if they come up with a new full-length album, could easily cement themselves at the top of the Swedish indie pop scene.
- Matt Giordano
I'm not sure how many people would consider ambient music to be romantic, but I definitely think the best of it can be (depending on your definition of romance). Swedish instrumentalist Viktor Sjöberg must also think so. On the sleeve of this recording, he writes: "'On a winter's day' tells the story of living with the sweetest human being in the world. This music is an attempt to reflect this experience through acoustic guitar. The setting is Gothenburg, Sweden." It's quite charming to know this while listening, because rarely does quiet, minimal landscape music seem (at least overtly) to be inspired by love. Sjöberg's music is mostly built around processed guitar tones, and he sure makes them glow throughout this CD. There's often a distinct acoustic guitar in the mix, but sometimes the timbre of the instrument is almost unrecognizable. The standout track "Further variation" creates a spellbinding mood out of a simple repeating guitar interval, layered keyboards (or is that densely processed guitar?) and some lo-fi static. "24:00" is punctuated by muted snatches of trumpet and a bit of glitchy electronica, building on a rather mesmerizing airy drift that seems to commence about halfway through this record. The heartfelt title "The sensation of your head on my chest" and the truly blissful "Protect you from all evil" have that inner glow that the best ambient music offers the patient listener, reminiscent at times of Eno's early work. Other pieces such as "Something to be learned from a rain storm" favor Sjöberg's minimal guitar plucking and tend to be under three minutes long. This is not hi-tech stuff, and you have to be willing to go with its languorous drift to really appreciate it. But a peaceful heart beats within this music, and it has numerous moments of warmly enveloping ambient beauty.
- Kevin Renick
Avi described this band as "like the Caesars, only Finnish" and frankly I'm having a hard time coming up with a better snappy summary of this duo's second full length release. Like their aforenamed Swedish brethren, Tigerbombs (not to be confused with British band Tigerbomb) play short catchy pop songs influenced by 60s garage rock, heavy on the organs. They describe the record as more like adolescence than adulthood, and it does brim with teenage punk energy (think Buzzcocks or Undertones). It's an innocuous enough record - fun, catchy, energetic -- but ultimately the songs do a better job of suggesting the pop classics they could be than they do of achieving that perfection. Still, it's a nice release, and I wouldn't be surprised if they sharpened up their song writing and put out a brilliant fourth or fifth record one of these days.
- Nancy Baym
Tract Records really knows how to put together a pretty good split and by doing it with four artists they really know how to maximize the releases' potential. It begins with two stellar contributed by Kristofer Åström, who gives two solid tracks (on top of the four he'd already released this year). I had come to the conclusion long ago that this man should be releasing albums whenever he wants, and this gives him the opportunity to. Stylistically, Racingpaperplanes is the perfect segue into the rest of the split, with a beautiful acoustic number right after KÅ's numbers, followed by more fleshed out efforts, but still retaining the soft, somberness. Boy Omega brings all to the table with perhaps the album's most spectacular track in "Fool around". The composition of this song is absolutely gorgeous with its subdued melody, but by contributing four songs, one feels like maybe it's a little heavy ("For I cannot breathe" could have been dropped, mainly for continuity purposes). Two Times The Trauma closes out the session with two rather moody electronic-influenced tracks and an acoustic number in the middle, yet the acoustic track makes the most sense on this album and in my eyes is the far superior of the songs.
- Matt Giordano
Even though I know I should probably sick to death of it by now, I somehow keep finding new Swedish electropop artists to talk about. Of the three songs on Papercut's demo, the first track "Time" is by far my favorite. The sound is fairly typical: arpeggiated keyboards over a pounding 4/4 bass drum-heavy beat 'cept that Papercut layers on pink noise and buries the vocals into the mix giving the song more of an ambient, drifting feel. It's nothing groundbreaking obviously, but I like it just the same. The other two songs (which can be heard at myspace.com/musicbypapercut" target=_blank>myspace) are more standard electropop and far more vocal-centric. They're okay, but the mixes need more work to make everything blend better. Seeing as how this is their very first public recording, I'm sure they'll only get better.
Papercut - Time
Congrats to Gaz Bennett, this week's winner of the promopack giveaway. Thanks again to everyone who entered and maybe we'll do it again sometime.
Please note that we have now added guest DJs from m" target=_blank>Last.fm to the lineup of Tack! Tack! Tack!'s opening night on October 16. Good times!
Peter Bjorn and John have added a few different songs from their most recent album "Writer's block" to their myspace page: myspace.com/peterbjornandjohn" target=_blank>https://www.myspace.com/peterbjornandjohn
Buy "Writer's block" here: m/store.php?item=243">[click here]
Wilmer X frontman Nisse Hellberg will release his new solo album "Snackbar blues" on October 4. The record was produced by Chips Kiesbye (Sator) and Nisse will do a few dates around Sweden in support.
A West Side Fabrication has announced that mattias Alkberg BD, the solo project of mattias Alkberg obviously, will release their new album "Ditt hjärta är en stjärna" on October 4. The first single "Reevolution" will be available as a paid download as early as September 11. The record was produced by fellow Bear Quartet member Jari Haapalainen and features guest appearances by Carla Jonsson of Eldkvarn and famed Swedish jazz sax player Jonas Kullhammar.
In other West Side news, Henry Chapman will release a download-only two song single ("(Känn dig riktigt) Blåst" b/w "Isär") on September 11 and Björn Norestig's new full-length "Hello inside" will be released on September 27.
Viktor Sjöberg
Various Artists