mute has signed The Knife and will release their latest record "Silent shout" in the US on July 25. They will also release a single for the title track on June 27 on both CD and 12" vinyl. No word of any tourdates yet, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Could there be a more perfect show than The Ark playing Gay Pride in San Francisco? Nope, I think not. Some new US tourdates for the band:

06/21 - The Troubadour, LA
06/23 - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco
06/25 - Gay Pride Day (Outside stage), SF
06/26 - Schubas, Chicago
06/28 - Bowery Ballroom, New York
06/30 - TT The Bears, Boston

MP3: The Tiny - Kind of like you

I absolutely love The Tiny's first album "Closer". Vocalist Ellekari's childlike voice and the group's intimate chamber-pop arrangements aren't just befitting to their name, they are beautiful and touching. Seeing them perform at Umeå Open was even better as their copious charms spilled freely from the stage into the audience. It's no wonder then that I was tremendously excited to hear their follow-up record "Starring; someone like you", but I'm sorry to say that my excitement faded quickly once I actually heard it. It's not that the record is bad (it's not), but this new recording has destroyed so much of what made The Tiny special. Layers of unnecessary instrumentation. Extraneous sound effects. Over-baked. What happened to The Tiny that I used to love? I used to feel a close kinship with you, but now you're pushing me away. The band I once knew is still there - I know because I can still hear it on songs like the one I've posted today, but our relationship has changed. maybe we just need some time apart, but I tell you what: I'll be here waiting for you when you decide to come back.

The Tiny - Kind of like you

Asha Ali
Warm fronts
NONS

Please someone pass me the bourbon to go with this record... oh and get me a cigar, book me into a New York City hotel, get me a seat by the window and let classically trained, north Stockholm resident Asha Ali be playing. Simplistic electric piano, plucked acoustic guitar, minimal backing harmonies and accompaniment is the recipe, deviated upon on one track "Just a light touch" which features some vibraphone/organ/accordion. She does the singer/songwriter thing, but with more instrumentation and sullen tones. Ali's pitches can at times reach The Tiny or montys Loco quality, but cuts above as she manages not to warble or become too overly sentimental. An outstandingly worked EP that is sure to keep doing me in.
- Jason Christie

Holy Madre
s/t
NONS

On their website, Holy madre describe themselves as making "popmusic that sounds like a mixture of Fleetwood mac, The Boss, Pink Floyd, television-shows for children and Bryan Adams," which I suspect may be Swedish for "run screaming in the opposite direction." It's true that much of this record of quiet restrained melodies would have fit just fine on 1970s album-oriented radio, somewhere between Al Stewart and Steely Dan, but the rest offers moments far more compelling. The strongest songs are "Shallow bay," a fun romp not unlike early Jayhawks without the harmonies and "The sun," with more of a late 60s almost Beach Boys feel. Other songs have their moments, but as a whole the record falls short and, by the final third, vacillates between boring and annoying.
- Nancy Baym

Jomi Massage
From where no one belongs, I will sing
Morningside Records

Jomi massage transports you to the type of place that I like: a dark, claustrophobic, yet beautiful landscape. It is like stepping into a Tim Burton movie where he finally decided to wise up and let go of Danny Elfman. The range of emotion displayed is just as wide as film scores tend to be and goes from the sadly melancholic to happy-pissed off to depressingly lovelorn. The closest thing I could compare this to is the most depressing PJ Harvey records, but Jomi massage also has a rock side that is sprinkled throughout the record. The music uses every instrumentation technique in the book, from a capella to straight rock to minimalist electronics. This is a very good record and effective, if a little too overproduced in parts, but certainly the type of record that I find pleasing to my ears.
- Simon Thibaudeau

Le Sport
Euro deluxe dance party
Songs I Wish I Had Written

Songs I Wish is one of the best new labels in Sweden right now. Their forté tends to be poppy electronic music, indebted to the 1980s. "Euro deluxe dance party" is the first full-length album released on the label and you may well already be familiar with the hit "Your brother is my only hope", which may also be the greatest pop song released in the last year. Upon first listening to the record, it came across as being too kitsch for my liking with its Italiiano-style house pianos and multi-coloured artwork (heck, they even list DJ Bobo as an influence). However, after putting up with it, I realised that there is very little irony here. It's all the better for it, as "Euro deluxe dance party" is the perfect blend of Pet Shop Boys and New Order. Notable highlights on this are the instrumental wigout "Love train" and the plinky plonky piano-led "Every lovesong" which occasionally veers into mid-eighties Italian style house music. You need this record in your life.
- Nick Levine

The Milestone Corporation
Big night out
self-released

"Big night out" it is as the milestone Corp. goes through the motions of being clones of the Deadly Snakes, the awesome Toronto blues-rock band. I am not saying that the Snakes have the exclusive rights to this sound, but the fact that they rock about twice as much as anything that is on this record has me wondering if the milestone Corporation's songwriting is up to par. Some of this stuff is actually pretty good, but nothing close to what they would need to keep me interested. It's also pretty badly mixed and a little reverb on those vocals would take the edge off. Better luck next time.
- Simon Thibaudeau

Monoton
Greenwood
PlayRec

monoton, for all intent and purposes, should not have finished "Greenwood". The band lost their singer, morten Havn, following complication after a surgery, right after almost finishing an Albini-produced sophomore album. After rebuilding themselves and the band, they reconvened with Søren Vibjerg to finish that damned sophomore album. The results are good, if not very good. Their brand of slow, heavy and country rock reminds oneself of some of Nick Cave's output or Johnny Cash's American recording series in which the legend managed to create the heaviest material of his career by stripping things down to its bare essentials. monoton use a similar technique by relying in elongated chords, ringing bass notes and 3 note leads to create some very interesting music. The only problem I have is Vibjerg who tries way too hard to be dark and uses a deeper voice than he is able to. His voice sound way too forced for this to work properly. You can imagine Till Lindemann of Rammstein doing this perfectly, but Vibjerg is just unable to achieve it. Still, pretty enjoyable.
- Simon Thibaudeau

Under Byen
Samme stof som stof
Morningside Records

For the stupid two language dude that I am, there is something inherently charming about a women singing in a Nordic tongue, must be Björk-envy. In any case, Under Byen singer Henriette Sennenvaldt sings in this dreamy whispery voice that is simply incredibly sexy, yet triste. The music underneath is post-rock in a similar fashion to Do make Say Think, but with a more noisy aspect of raw percussion and field recordings. Under Byen also uses a lot of minimal arrangements to create a thin curtain behind Sennenvaldt, only to explode a few minutes later in an intense fury. Instrumentation is all over the place and adds to the overall brilliance. I have heard plenty of post-rock in the last few years, but this is amongst the best.
- Simon Thibaudeau

Vijaya
s/t
Exergy Music

After a couple of EPs , it was time for singer-songwriter Vijaya to spread her wings and show what she is able to do on a full-length. The result is an intimate album with minimal, but brilliant instrumentation that is only enhancing her beautiful voice. The palette of emotion is displayed is limited, going from the melancholic to the slightly annoyed. When on her melancholic game, she just creates some amazing melodies and textures, with just her voice and electric guitar. mostly simply electronics and keyboards are sprinkled throughout the record, as well as reeds, harmonica and a few more, as simple as the arrangements are, they are completely amazing. I really like this, in more ways that I thought I would. This is intelligent, well crafted singer/songwriter music.
- Simon Thibaudeau

Profile: Kristoffer Ragnstam

Podcast: Q1 highlights

We close out our demo week, not with yet another new track from an undiscovered band, but instead with a repost of a track from Circle Six. Two reasons: 1) I am a lazy, lazy man and 2) I've been listening to these guy's four-song demo waaaay more than most of the new CDs I've received in the last six months. As I said the first time I posted this, Circle Six plays slow, crushing doom. We're talking glacier slow and face-melting heavy. I know there's a bazillion other bands doing the same kind of stuff right now, but I kid you not - this is some of the very best I've heard. Few can reach this level of intensity. It's the perfect soundtrack for Good Friday, doncha think?

I know it's late Friday for all you Europeans out there, but I've just posted the m/index.php?article=177">first entry in our artist profile series with a spotlight on Swedish artist Kristoffer Ragnstam as well as m/index.php?article=178">a brand new podcast, my first in months! Enjoy!