While you couldn't really say that Koko has a unique premise about it, you could quite comfortably declare that it sounds interesting -- an '80s pop elixir laced with electro tanginess and served up by the tongue of Dear Euphoria. mmmm, tasty. The thing is that despite the potential here -- not least down to the unique and untouchable voice of Elina Johansson -- this debut full-length falls a good bit short of the mark in terms of retaining any initial interest. It just seems like second-rate, done-before, Swedish electropop that, while well enough executed, gets pretty tired pretty quickly. There's a thin air or pretension about "K.O." -- a feeling that a contrived effort to 'think outside the box' has been the main driving force of any kind of variation here. It's a shame, but at the end of the day -- whether contrived or authentic -- "K.O." just doesn't pack the punch it needs to render it essential. - John Norby
Ulver will be performing a newly commissioned piece of music at Tromsø Kulturhus with their 35-piece chamber orchestra on September 21. Their words: "The mass is new electronic/symphonic music specifically written for the evening, and it is grave." Furthermore, the proceedings will be recorded and will eventually become the band's next album. more details/tickets (in Norwegian): m/ulver" target="_blank">https://kulturhuset.tr.no/hovedscenen/program/ulver
has announced that Spiders' lead single for their upcoming album"Flash point" will be the tune "Weekend nights". It will get an official release on September 7 with a limited 7" run of 500 copies and will include a cover of "Lies" by 90s-era Swedish retro-rockers m/artist/67EWwhV7dZVfdyRDSmBzuN" target="_blank">The Strollers on the flip.
Swedish instrumental/prog act Gösta Berlings Saga's excellent sophomore release "Detta har hänt" will be getting a much-welcome vinyl next month and the band will celebrate by hopping on Switchblade's record release show on September 20 at Hornstull Strand in Stockholm. Details here.
Koko