Pitchfork loves JJ

JJ's album "n° 2", Sincerely Yours' latest release, gets the "Best New music" tag at Pitchfork: m/reviews/albums/13326-jj-n-2/" target="_blank">https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13326-jj-n-2/

Pre-orders for Fire!, Motorpsycho begins Monday

Rune Grammofon will beging taking pre-orders for the debut album "You like me five minutes ago" from all-star Swedish freejazz act Fire! on monday: mmofon.com/artists/fire_/rlp-3091---fire_-you-liked-me-five-ago-_lp_" target="_blank">https://www.runegrammofon.com/artists/fire_/rlp-3091---fire_-you-liked-me-five-ago-_lp_
Fire! consists of mats Gustafsson (The Thing), Johan Berthling (Tape) and Andreas Werliin (Wildbirds & Peacedrums). The official release date is August 10. Also, note that the new motorpsycho LP will also be available for preorder next week as well.

Datarock back to North America in late August

New North American dates for Datarock:

08/28 - Foufounes Electriques, montreal, QC
09/04 - The modern, Vancouver, BC (DJ set)
09/04 - Gossip, Vancouver, BC
09/06 - Broken City, Calgary, AB
09/07 - Starlite Room, Edmonton, AB
09/09 - The Zoo, Winnipeg, mB
09/10 - 7th Street Entry, minneapolis, mN
09/11 - Double Door, Chicago, IL
09/12 - Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
09/14 - Paradise, Boston, mA
09/17 - Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
09/18 - Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA
09/19 - Rock N Roll Hotel, Washington DC
09/20 - Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
09/22 - masquerade, Atlanta, GA
09/23 - Republic, New Orleans, LA
09/24 - Warehouse, Houston, TX
09/25 - Emo's, Austin, TX
09/26 - Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
09/28 - Rhythm Room, Phoenix, AZ
09/29 - Brick By Brick, San Diego, CA
09/30 - El Rey, Los Angeles, CA
10/01 - Slim's, San Francisco, CA
10/02 - Holocene, Portland, OR
10/03 - Nectar, Seattle, WA

'Found songs' to get physical release

Erased Tapes will be doing a proper physical CD release of Icelandic artist Ólafur Arnalds' m/?n=29950" target="_blank">"Found songs" project. The official release date is set for August 31.

Avant-garde Metal interviews Bergraven

Avant-garde metal interviews Pär Gustafson of Bergraven: metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=108" target="_blank">https://www.avantgarde-metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=108

MP3: Skatan - Top of the mountain

Absolut Noise m/2009/07/next-big-swedish-thing.html" target="_blank">called me out, so I guess it's only fair that I respond. Skatan is okay I guess, but I doubt I would have given her a 2nd thought without prompting. I don't like those little scoops she does with her voice and she's got to work harder to keep her affectations in check. Less is most certainly more in that department. The songs m-skaten/" target="_blank">Swedesplease posted are my least favorite of the five from myspace.com/xskatan" target="_blank">her myspace and the worst offenders of overdoing it. "Poisoned sky" is decent though: quiet and moody with a definite dramatic arc. And I have to agree with Aymeric that "Top of the mountain" is the best of the bunch, so that's the one I'm re-sharing today. A little swing does her a lot of good; it also better suits her singing style. But next big thing? No, sorry. I'm not that excited.

Skatan - Top of the mountain

And the Sound now with Border

Swedish post-rock label And the Sound (Ef, Immanu El) has signed a new distro deal with Border music for the territory of Scandinavia.

New Uncurbed tracks at myspace

Swedish hardcore act Uncurbed have a few new tracks posted at myspace: myspace.com/theuncurbedfamily" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/theuncurbedfamily

On Volcano back in the studio

Finnish pop-shoegazers On Volcano start recording their new album today.

Rubik - Wasteland

RCRD LBL is giving away a track from Finnish indie act Rubik: m/artists/Rubik/track/Wasteland" target="_blank">https://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Rubik/track/Wasteland
The band's latest record "Dada bandits" gets a North American release on September 15 via Paper Tiger.

Enforcer to tour North America

Swedish retro-metal act Enforcer will be embarking on North American tour with like-minded Canadian act Cauldron starting on August 20 at Cafe Lura in Chicago. Dates confirmed so far:

08/20 - Café Lura, Chicago, IL
08/21 - Blondies, Detroit, mI
08/26 - Samurai Duck, Eugene, OR
08/27 - Gusto's, Boise, ID
08/31 - Bubba Thrasher's, Redding, CA
09/01 - tba, San Francisco, CA
09/06 - mad Italian's Club 101, Flagstaff, AZ
09/08 - Whiskey Dix Bar, Lubbock, TX
09/09 - The Conservatory, Oklahoma, OK
09/10 - The Riot Room, Kansas City, mO
09/11 - PJ's, manhattan, KS
09/13 - Dysfunction Junction, Panama City Beach, FL
09/14 - The Haven, Winter Park, FL
09/16 - The Ultimate Basement, mill Spring, NC
09/17 - tba, Pittsburgh, PA
09/18 - The Sterling Hotel, Allentown, PA
09/19 - Club Diablo, Buffalo, NY
09/21 - muddy River, Portsmouth, NH

Audrey - Black hearts (video)

Check out Audrey's new video for the track "Black hearts": meo.com/5215366" target="_blank">https://vimeo.com/5215366

MP3: Villebråd - Vaknar aldrig

One last Transubstans-affiliated mp3 for this week: Villebråd is an anomaly in the label's roster in that they aren't very heavy at all, at least not anymore. Progressive, yes, but also way more synth/post-punk than rock'n'roll. It's a streamlined sound, very clean and sharp and with a dark, artsy edge. "Vaknar aldrig" is all awkward up-and-down riffs, trading voices and speaking in staccato rhythms. So yeah, things get complicated, yet they've got everything so honed and locked down that it never feels messy, no matter how many different things are going on (and there are a lot). It's still not as immediately satisfying as m/?n=27889">the other Villebråd track I posted years ago, but it still sticks out for being undeniably interesting.

Villebråd - Vaknar aldrig

Elias and the Wizzkids Swiss tour

Elias and the Wizzkids will be heading down to Switzerland for a few shows in September:

09/03 - La Catrina, Zurich
09/04 - Gare de Lion, Wil
09/05 - KiFF, Aarau

Next Life turns 10, adds live drummer

It only took them 10 years, but Norwegian gamer/tech-metal act Next Life has added a live drummer to their lineup. Anders Hangård (NoPlaceToHide, Saprophyth) will take the stage with the band for the first time on July 16 at the Slottsfjell Festival in Tønsberg, Norway.