Swedish jazz label hasn't put out anything new since may of 2009, but they're coming back in full effect this spring with a tremendous lineup of new albums:
mats Öberg Trio - So very mats (out now) Nicolai Dunger & Jonas Kullhammar - Vallmo OST (180g vinyl only, 300 copies) Kullrusk - Digital (180g vinyl only, 525 copies) Nacka Forum - Leve Nacka Forum (also vinyl only, I think) Jonas Kullhammr Quartet - Från och med herr Jonas Kullhammar Espen Aalberg Trio feat. Jonas Kullhammar & Torbjörn Zetterberg - tba Zanussi Five - Ghost dance The Core - tba magnus Broo - tba Gilbert Holmströms Kvintett - Utan misstankar (Remastered reissue, first time on CD w/20min bonus track feat. Åke Johansson)
I still remember, though I'm getting awfully impatient about a new album/single/anything. "Pretty scary silver fairy" is one of my favorite Nordic pop albums, but it's 4 years old now and aside fromRobyn, I don't think I've heard anything else since then that can touch it. So what's the deal? Did drop the ball? That seems likely, as I'm sure those post-Idol contracts are brutally restrictive. Or did you simply move on to other things? That too is understandable. Still, I'd just like to know one way or the other.
is expanding their Finnish punk + hardcore vinyl reissue business and will be releasing two old LPs from a pair of the label's more recent acts: Endstand - "Never fall into silence (, 2002) and manifesto Jukebox - "Desire" (, 2000). No exact release date yet, but they should both be available in may.
On last year's well-received debut "n° 2", jj brought a summery sound akin to a hypothetical The Tough Alliance-light, if such were a project (and an obviously close reference, as they're on their label). Its mixture of slower ballads with down-tempo firelight pop numbers took in the breezy coastal Swedish twilight. Perhaps they've not waited long enough before issuing their second album, perhaps they've had this release written and recorded before their first was out, but it's glaringly obvious that it doesn't reach the heights of "n° 2". It's as though they took the median of their first record and wrote each track accordingly, while also leaving out (both melodically and sonically) those aspects which would cause one to randomly hum"masterplan" or "Are you still in Valda?". And that's quite a shame, too. - Matt Giordano
Gonna continue with another mp3 post of dirtball metal-punk because, well, just because. metal was my first musical obsession so it's never far frommy heart, but we do fall out of favor from time to time. As any fan will tell you, the stereotypes are true too often and they make for a major stumbling block to the uninitiated; factor in a serious predilection towards the worst, most over-compressed, trigger-happy recordings ever and there's plenty not too like. Still though, I stick it out because metal has and always will be very important to me and also, despite all the machismo and misogyny, classic Heavy metal (in caps, always) is the one kind of music my wife and I see eye-to-eye on. Can't get her into most modern torch-bearers though, but I try and Sonic Ritual are probably one of the better candidates -- unlike Darkthrone (see m/n/33692-darkthrone-those-treasures-will-never-befall-you">yesterday), the vocals are always clean, they've got strong choruses and they have a female guitarist. I wish the latter wasn't important, but in a male-dominated world/genre, it most certainly is. Anyhow, whether or not you know that shouldn't affect your appreciation of the music because these dudes rip. "Early graves" is the first taste of what will be their debut LP I believe and, as always, I'm eager to hear more.
Grande Roses have broken the cycle of endless delays and can now confirm that they will release their third EP "Say it to my fervent heart" on April 29. Of course, many things can go wrong between now and then, but I think this might actually happen.
Niels Nielsen is offering up a new track for free download called "Shadow twin": https://nielsnielsen.net/
Look for his new album"Cmon vultures part: 2" to be released soon.
jj