Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson has a new website for his upcoming solo endeavor where you can hear the new song "Boy lilikoi": m/" target="_blank">https://jonsi.com/
His new album "Go", composed with help from Nico muhly (Grizzly Bear, Antony and the Johnsons) and produced by Peter Katis (Interpol, Tiger Lou, The Kissaway Trail, etc.), will be out sometime next year.
The Avant-garde metal webzine has published yet another exhaustive interview, this time featuring Espen Ingierd of Beyond Dawn, one of Norway['s most criminally underrated acts and also one of my longtime favorite bands: metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=134" target="_blank">https://www.avantgarde-metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=134
There's also a previously unreleased track hidden therein, so go check it out.
Tom KarlssonThe label that brought us the most recent Brainbombs album ("Fucking mess") blesses us yet another lesson in uneasy listening, Tom Karlsson's "Pojknacke". However, this time the bummer vibes come not from harsh repetitive riffs and questionable lyrical content, but from minimalist industrial sound collage layered with the sort of overcooked narration you expect to hear at a puppet show. Can't say I'm all that into it though, especially without the proper Swedish comprehension skills to follow the narrative, but what it comes down to is that the music simply isn't all that compelling. Songs start and stop without much in the way of drama or dynamics and after a while I'm left thinking "is this it?" Thankfully no, mr. Karlsson did see fit to provide us with a spectacularly gruesome gatefold cover image, so at least it's got that going for it.
- Avi Roig
Swedish electro/EBm act Backlash will release the 2nd of their planned 4-part EP series on December 18, this one containing the single "Divine", a remix, 2 b-sides and a cover of "Wishing" by A Flock of Seagulls. Sample at myspace: myspace.com/mementomateria" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/mementomateria
Fünf interviews the guys in Danish act marvins Revolt: m/2009/11/23/waiting-room-1/" target="_blank">https://funfunfunf.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/waiting-room-1/
When pondering Tobias Hellkvist's new record "Evolutions", keep the title in mind and remember that evolution takes place over huge periods of time. It is not revolution and though this new album does show progression, it does not reflect monumental change. The readily identifiable guitars are gone, replaced by tones and drone, all drifting towards monolithic ambience. "Arms" is a track built on echoing chimes and overtones, sounding something like an underwater clockshop. Or maybe it's your head that's underwater, as the cacophony eventually reveals a deep the groan of a sinking ship that in turn shifts into a light roar of rushing currents and cracking ice. Of course, this being Tobias and his music being the way it is, it's far more dreamy than dreadful. The term "Dronepop" has been floated before, but Tobias is the one artist who I think personifies it best.
Tobias Hellkvist - Arms
Kasper Bjørke's forthcoming record "Standing on top of utopia" now has an official release date: February 15. The 2nd single "Alcatraz" will be out in mid-January.
Opeth will be celebrating their 20th anniversary next spring with an international series of special concerts that will feature them performing the album "Blackwater park" in its entirert along with an additional set of material spanning the band's entire career. Read more: mbgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=13689" target="_blank">https://www.lambgoat.com/news/view.aspx?id=13689
"Boys who rape (should be destroyed)" by The Raveonettes is NPR's song of the day: mplates/story/story.php?storyId=121055410&sc=nl&cc=sod-20091203" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121055410&sc=nl&cc=sod-20091203
A Fist in the Face of God talks to Kenneth, one of the gentlemen who runs the Oslo-based specialty metal/punk store Neseblod Records: m/2009/11/interview-with-kenneth-of-neseblod.html" target="_blank">https://afistinthefaceofgod.blogspot.com/2009/11/interview-with-kenneth-of-neseblod.html
Finnish indie act Captain Couger have finished their new album "Of dreams long gone", a concept work "telling a story of two people living in Finland in the beginning of the 20th Century," and have posted the first sample tune at myspace: myspace.com/captaincougar" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/captaincougar
Worth checking out, I must say -- expect the album to be released in January.
Various ArtistsThis fourth installment in Great Northern Recordings's sampler collection offers yet another foray into the realm of the avant-garde and ambient lives of four Swedish artists. Lakes of Grass and Gold kick off the proceedings with a feedback-induced drone that winds up the most unsettling of the units on here. This is particularly evident on second track "Lament" with its eerie, almost Native American chants laid over a creepy soundscape. Stockholm trio Tape offer a selection that, while much brighter in the use of playful melodies, is reflective and ponderous in its melancholic phrasing. There's the very slightest hint of a bleak industrial touch on "Brakes" while "millipede cathedral" displays an innocent beauty quite at odds with the former effort. First track from The magic State, "Something else", is firmly ensconced in the uneasy otherworld where pure dark ambient resides, while "Spectrum" comes off as a self-styled dark electronica that offers allure and desperation in equal measures. The icing on this rather atmospheric cake, however, is with closer Tsukimono, the super-prolific Johan Gustavsson from Göteborg, who demonstrates that minimalism can truly evoke emotion when administered with style and expertise. "A little heart explodes" oozes a sort of ethereal euphoria, while closing track "mimilalanono" does the very same in the blending of styles to create one, unique, trance-inducing sequence. Yet again, Great Northern have shown that they have the vision necessary to bring together Sweden's anomalous underground and showcase the creative talent that the country's scene quite obviously has.
- John Norby
The blog Pringles for Breakfast reviews the "Six idealists for Ideal" cassette comp, singling out the Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words track as a "ripper": m/2009/11/six-pack-outstanding-review-new.html" target="_blank">https://pringlesforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2009/11/six-pack-outstanding-review-new.html
Pitchfork reviews the new album "24/7" from Icelandic act GusGus: m/reviews/albums/13674-247/" target="_blank">https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13674-247/