Pitchfork covers the topic of government/public support for the arts in Sweden/Scandinavia and beyond: m/features/articles/7776-whats-the-matter-with-sweden/" target="_blank">https://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7776-whats-the-matter-with-sweden/
members from the Swedish prog acts Anekdoten, makajodama and magnolia have formed a new band called my Brother the Wind. The band recently recorded a six-track live improv album called "Twilight in the crystal cabinet" which will be released via in may. more info and samples at myspace: myspace.com/mybrotherthewind" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/mybrotherthewind
Sign up for 's mailing list, get a new free track from Wildbird & Peacedrums: m/subscribe/" target="_blank">https://leaf.greedbag.com/subscribe/
Said track is called "Fight for me" and will be featured on the group's upcoming vinyl-only EP "Retina", due out may 10. Its companion EP "Iris" follows in June and then in August the two will be compiled for a CD/digital release entitled "Rivers".
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XmU:
01. Brothers of End - Beats for you (Rasmus Hägg remix)
02. TALK 1
03. Haust - A final effort
04. Rasmus Kellerman - Five years from now
05. Echo Is Your Love - Playlist song
06. EL-SD - Walking sideways
07. TALK 2
08. Axe - Harm
09. Khoma - From the hands of sinners
10. Zeigeist - Bunny
11. C.Aarmé - Assuan
12. TALK 3
13. The Fine Arts Showcase - This is the day
14. Sonic Ritual - Early graves
15. Death By Kite - Pills
16. Susanne Sundfør - O master
17. TALK 4
18. Simian Ghost - Star receiver
19. moloken - Untitled III
20. Darkthrone - I am the graves of the 80s
21. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XmU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on Xm and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
02. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
03. Aleksander With - Still Awake
04. Diverse artister - melodi Grand Prix 2010
05. Jenny & Arne - From Our Hearts
06. Thom Hell - All Good Things
07. Raga Rockers - Shit Happens
08. Jahn Teigen - Teigen - 40 Største Hits
09. Ingrid Olava - The Guest
10. Navigators - The Straight And Narrow
11. WigWam - Non Stop Rock'N'Roll
12. John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen - For Sant Til Å Være Godt
13. Batteri - Batteri
14. Burzum - Belus
15. Sigrid moldestad - Sandkorn
16. Frøya - my American Dream
17. Britt-Synnøve Johansen - Skyt meg med Tre Roser
18. Röyksopp - Junior
19. Audrey Horne - Audrey Horne
20. Vidar Vang - Sleepless songs
Finnish act Villa Nah will be releasing a 7" via 's famed singles club featuring the track "Running on" b/w "Ways to be". Official release date is may 3, listen to the flipside at myspace: myspace.com/villanah" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/villanah
The duo's new full-length album "Origin" comes out on may 17 via /
Long-running Swedish black/death metal act Necrophobic have a new video for the track "Revelation 666": m/watch?v=F5WxnKn_iL4" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5WxnKn_iL4
Some goofy visual to be sure, but the song is good (albeit a bit too long).
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Salem al Fakir - Ignore this
02. The Playtones - Rock'n roll dance party
03. Björn Skifs - Da capo
04. Sophie Zelmani - I'm the rain
05. Rigmor Gustafsson & Radio String Quartet Vienna - Calling you
06. Treat - Coup de grace
07. melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
08. Amanda Jenssen - Happyland
09. Kent - Röd
10. Torgny melin - Dansbandsnatt
11. Neo - Human frontier
12. Bruket - En annan klass
13. Lars Winnerbäck - Tänk om jag ångrar mig och sen ångrar mig igen
14. Erik Grönwall - Erik Grönwall
15. Reeperbahn - Samlade singlar
16. Nordman - Korsväg
17. Zekes - En sån natt
18. Claes Lövgrens - Vi lever nu
19. Calle Kristiansson - Calle Kristiansson
20. Tomas Andersson Wij - Spår
Swedish stonerrock act Truckfighters will be touring Europe in may:
05/20 - Wild at heart, Berlin (GER)
05/21 - Arena, Vienna (AUS)
05/22 - mKK, Crnomelj (SLO)
05/23 - Spinnerei, Traun (AUS)
05/24 - Backstage, munich (GER)
05/25 - Les Passagers, Besancon (FRA)
05/26 - Le Klub, Paris (FRA)
05/27 - Luxor Live, Arnhem (NL)
05/28 - Haus 73, Hamburg (GER)
05/29 - NIL, Potsdam (GER)
I've started to add m/tag/vinyl">vinyl tags to all relevant postings. It's also available in the custom filter list, should you want to use it there as well.
has released a new 12" single from The Je Ne Sais Quoi featuring a 10-minute version of "Protection" off their forthcoming record "Transparent for you all" along with a Richard Brain remix of the same. 300 copies, more info here: moptacodics.com/" target="_blank">https://www.moptacodics.com/
Norwegian prog act The Opium Cartel is giving away a 3-track digital EP featuring an alternative mix of "Beach house" as handled by mike Senior (Wet Wet Wet, The Charlatans, Nigel Kennedy) plus two bonus tracks from the vinyl edition of "Night blooms": m/842061357/ed2ee79dc0b806f0dfa05a585a7610d1" target="_blank">https://rcpt.yousendit.com/842061357/ed2ee79dc0b806f0dfa05a585a7610d1
RubikCritics are apt to hear "Dada bandits" opener "Goji berries" and label Rubik as frenzied pop auteurs, a sort of Scandinavian Animal Collective. And "Goji berries" does go from screamo-addled Beatles to punchy-drunk keys punctuated by Sufjan flutes, to a Dan Bejar saloon romp that segues into a typically eastern Beirut horn jam. While "Goji"'s schizoid scheme is certainly noteworthy -- it seamlessly switches gears and genres while never betraying its Nordic pop sensibility -- it's hardly metonymical of the album at large. Yes, Rubik's "Bandits" lifts considerably from all of the best in blog-ready sounds, but they do so with the canvases of entire songs. What results is not, strangely, a sugar-coated Scando take on guitar indie, but a rolodex of an album with a virtuoso aesthetic. Rarely is a musical contact called upon twice, and even after repeated listens, you're left reeling at the incredible scope of an album that's stacked like the Yankees.
"Goji berries" phantom-tempo midsection precedes the Canadian guitar battalion of "Radiants", "Wasteland" borrows Idioteque percussion before settling for an anthemic power pop chorus. "Fire Age" and "Richard Branson's crash landing" are album highlights, the former plotting Stars' vocals around a ska-synth breakdown, the latter a glimpse of Scandinavian twee perfection. Its swirling synths wash beneath upbeat melodies and falsetto-and-horns chorus to convince you that this is what Loney Dear's "Dear John" should have been. Rubik reloads and refires, each song an impressive foray into new sonic territory, strung together by catchy hooks and wiry guitars, underpinned by the astonishing depth of the arrangements. It's only on the fifth or six listen that you even hear the complex synth arpeggios buried under "Karhu junassa", or the jaunty riffs beneath "Fire age".
There's little bad to be said about this album. The mix occasionally favors layered instrumentation over Artturi Taira's vocals -- much of the album finds Taira swimming in his own arrangements. While that's likely a tactic to secure more Finnish listeners in their native country, it obscures the beauty of Taira's lyrics. His voice can adequately be characterized as "British Effeminate" indicative of all of those post-Radiohead mope-and-hope rockers that plagued the aughts in Western Europe. But Taira's falsetto exchanges their currency of faux-pathos for a well-placed sense of urgency, his yelps best on "Karhu junassa" and "Radiants" when buttressed by instrumental imitation.
So where is this album? It's tailored for the blogs in almost every way, it has registered heaps of e-praise, yet Rubik has no plans to return to North . maybe this album will be saved from obscurity by a forward-thinking movie director or cell-phone marketing exec, and maybe it won't. I might just like it better if it remains a diamond in the rough -- quietly pretending to 2010's indie throne.
- Nathan Keegan
Way more exciting than m/n/33715-no-really-this-time-it-might-just-happen">a potential ABBA reunion, but even still kinda underwhelming: renown recluse artist Jakob Hellman will once again grace the live stage on an 80s reunion tour under the banner "Forever Young" alongside Reeperbahn (and Alphaville): https://www.foreveryoung2010.se/
Still no plans for a new album and personally, I think it's better that way.
Silly Swedes, getting way too excited for even a glimmer of hope at an ABBA reunion: musik/article6845306.ab" target="_blank">https://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/musik/article6845306.ab