Silverbullit bassist Jukka will be collaborating with Gustav Nygren and Niklas Korssell (The Plan) on the music for a dance performance project called Apart happening at Kulturhuset in Stockholm on may 3-7. The choreography is by Helena Franzén and you can preview three tracks at Silverbullit's website: https://www.silverbullit.se/ (see 'Lyssna här' under the pic)

Kristofer Åström
Black Valley EP
Startracks/V2

His somewhat delayed new EP starts off very strong, with the vocal energy in "So much for staying alive" carrying the listener through the fingerpicked guitar and beautiful organ lines. However, the energy of that track is lost with the second track ("Black Valley theme") on the record being an instrumental, and it's kind of out-of-place on a four song EP (thus making it only three tracks with vocals). While the final two tracks ("Finally home" and "The blackest pond") are great songs, I feel as if they'd flow better on a complete album. Overall, the songs on this record are good, but it's lacking as a cohesive unit and I feel as if this is only a teaser for a new album.
- Matt Giordano

Deltahead
s/t
Peace&Junk&Drums/V2

This record has taken me a long time for me to compose a review for, mainly because I really am unsure how to describe Deltahead's sound to anyone who is unfamiliar with them, but I'll try: Deltahead are a band that plays a drunken combination of blues, punk, rockabilly and garage rock, so fans of The Black Keys, take note. I believe this works best for the on the tracks "Don't move to Finland", "my mama was too lazy to pray" and "I smile at you". These three songs make the first half of the album fly through, but the second half drags a little as the tempo is taken down. Although it's only thirty minutes total, it makes it seem as if the album is a little too long. However, I can see this band's sound working best in the live setting and, as they progress in songwriting together, putting out one rocker of an album.
- Matt Giordano

Eskju Divine
Fears EP
Imperial Recordings

On their new EP, Eskju Divine continue their epic-styled indie rock. At points reminding me of Adom, with parts Radiohead, The mercury Program and The Cancer Conspiracy. I was unsure what to think about it as first, but after listening multiple times, it's really the instrumentation that shines on this recording. It creates a surreal dreamland for the listener and is the most effective when the vocals are absent. And while the vocals are not bad at all (at points, they are good segues into different song-parts), I particularly find the music to be the strong point.
- Matt Giordano

Hets
Live @ Debaser, Stockholm, 04/22/06

Hets are something of a Swedish indie "supergroup", with members from Laakso, Doktor Kosmos, Fireside and moneybrother. With those bands in mind, you don't really expect Hets to play Swedish punk sung in Swedish, but that's exactly what they do. Everyone seems to mention mattias Alkberg BD when they talk about Hets and I can see why, since Hets do sound like mABD (although I don't think mABD should be the only people allowed to make punk music sung in their native language). Living in London, it's not every day I get to witness a concert like this, so perhaps I'm overreacting slightly, but I really enjoyed this show and I think I will now look into getting my hands on Hets' album (I assume and hope that the punk ethos is reflected in the price of their CD).
- Simon Tagestam

Kira & the Kindred Spirits
s/t
Copenhagen Records

This Danish quartet is led by a talented female vocalist who is somewhere between melissa Etheridge and PJ Harvey on the "gritty pipes" spectrum. She also reminds a bit of Sofia Hardig, a Swedish vocalist who mines similar brooding, guitar-based indie rock territory. There's an emotional edge to the 13 tunes here that's really gripping. "Turn around" is a particularly great song, with its artfully muted background ambience and intimate upfront vocals; when strings enter the mix subtly, the effect is spine-tingling. The single "Seldom lost" is a sharply arranged guitar rocker, and if you're the type that digs brooding mid-tempo indierock, you'll reach nirvana in tunes like "Frosty fingers", the kick-ass "Pressure" ("I put pressure on you to leave me be/I put presuure on anybody who'd prefer a smile"...lines that sum up Kira's aesthetic nicely), the bluesy jangler "Let it out", and the achingly lovely acoustic tunes "Sullen girl" and "I won a while". Serious attention seems to have been paid to the overall pacing of this album and the very potent rendering of both the vocals and the often fiery, '60s-influenced guitar work. It has paid off nicely; this is probably one of the sturdiest and most consistent Scandi-rock platters of the year.
- Kevin Renick

Lo-Fi-Fnk
Boylife
La Vida Locash

I have to be honest, I wasn't that keen on Lo-Fi-Fnk's debut EP "...and the JFG?" that came out last year. Amid brilliant releases from other Swedish "electro duos", such as The Tough Alliance, Three is a crowd, Cat5, and Le Sport (then known as Eurosport), Lo-Fi-Fnk just didn't cut it. Now, with no new TTA material around, a dissapointing album from TIAC, Cat5's album yet to be released, and an album from Le Sport that's got a lot of great songs although I've heard most of them before - "Boylife" comes as a true saviour. The first half of the album is superior to the second, but that's mainly due to starting off with the two magnificent tracks "City" and "Adore". If you're into any of the bands I mentioned above, you should check this one out as well; it's one of my favourites of the year so far.
- Simon Tagestam

Peter Bjorn and John
Writers block
V2

This record just may be the best one released in the pre-summer months, and will prove listenable throughout said sunny days and warm nights. Peter Bjorn and John offer up their third proper full-length here, and although I was skeptical at first, upon more listens I'm finding myself loving this. It could just be the trees and flowers blooming and that everytime I listen to the album it's bright and sunny out, but I also think it's the trio's songwriting. With this record they have honed their craft into lilting pop melodies, yet still retaining the sounds and production values older fans have grown to love. "Young folks" is a damn fine first single, but the real highlights are "Amsterdam", "Paris 2004", "Let's call it off" and "The chills", with the last song containing one of the most beautiful closings I've heard in a long while. It may take the older fans a little while to get acclimated to a happier Peter Bjorn and John, but once you do, you'll realize that this record fits perfectly in the collection of what is becoming a tour de force in Swedish music.
- Matt Giordano

Sir Eric Beyond and the Avant-garde
s/t
Flora & Fauna

I've always been a fan of male vocalists with really high voices. From Jon Anderson to Thom Yorke to Daniel Smith, there's something really compelling about both naturally high pipes as well as falsettos stretched to the max. So when Avi described Eric Beyond as having such a voice, I was immediately interested. And this self-titled release does not disappoint. It's a curious blend of styles, mostly a kind of proggy psychedelia with both pop and musical theatre underpinnings. Remarkably, the disc is only half an hour long, yet the instrumental passages (and a few tunes like "Seabisquit" are entirely instrumental) unquestionably recall the halcyon days of '70s prog; you can hear a bit of Yes, Faust and others in the arrangements. On "If this is the way", Beyond sings "If this is the way everything is falling apart/I want it to happen," going to the upper reaches of his falsetto on that latter phrase. You almost hold your breath listening to it. The pretty piano ballad "Shadows" also gives him a chance to go up, up and away, while on the uptempo "I don't follow", great bass and percussion work (and the guitar parts dazzle throughout) share impact with the hilarious lyric "I got to admit it, I can't listen to you/Cause you're consuming too much contemporary Cul-CHUR," Beyond singing the last syllable high and, uh, outside. Big fun! There's a couple of almost-normal indie-pop kinda songs here like "One of those days", but most of this is willfully eccentric stuff, and if you can't take that voice, you'll be weirded out immediately. me, I dug the heck out of this; it really doesn't sound much like anything else, and I wish it had been twice as long.
- Kevin Renick

Profile: Aerial

many people consider them to be Sweden's most overrated band, but Refused's influence is undeniable. I personally go back and forth on my feelings with regards to their legacy, but I cannot deny that "The shape of punk to come" blew me away when it first came out. I have yet to see the "Refused are fucking dead" DVD, but I'm still quite curious even though almost all of what I've heard about it has been less than positive. As an aside, the title is a reference to a song by Born Against, possibly the greatest hardcore act of the 90s. Or at least one of the most important. I'm not sure about all the backstory, but it involves beef with the dudes from Sick of it All and I'd imagine there's a good summation of events somewhere out there. Anyhow, for today's Friday mp3 post I've dug up an old version of Refused's "New noise from the "Straight edge as fuck III" compilation released back in 1997 by xDesperate Fightx, the label that defined the zeitgeist of the legendary hardcore scene in Umeå in the 90s. Enjoy!

If you're on the fence about attending that marit Bergman/Firefox AK show at Tack! Tack! Tack! may 15, I'm gonna let you in a secret that should hopefully help make up your mind: if you don't m/event/9761" target=_blank>buy tickets before monday, you will end up paying more money 'cuz the price goes up. It's pretty much a given that the show will sell out, so get on it if you want in. Remember: you snooze, you lose.

Check out a stream of the new Fibes, Oh Fibes! single: m/" target=_blank>https://www.fibesohfibes.com/

Swedish Love Story (SLS) has posted some new songs for download on their horrible flash-heavy website: music.se/" target=_blank>https://www.slsmusic.se/

mexican netlabel Poni Republic recently posted a comp for free download featuring a new song from Swedish artish musika 77: m/#music" target=_blank>https://www.ponirepublic.com/#music