Swedish melodic metal act Bloodbound has signed with Blistering Records. Expect their third album "Tabula Rasa" in early 2009. Samples at myspace: myspace.com/bloodboundonline" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/bloodboundonline

Pitchfork reports that Norwegian pop artist Annie has parted ways with Island Records: media.com/article/news/147757-annie-leaves-island-records" target="_blank">https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/147757-annie-leaves-island-records
Hard to say if the record delay troubles are related to modern-day label troubles or speak to the possible low quality of the music, but I guess we'll probably never know for sure. Whichever it is, I still think she's one of the most vastly overrated Scandinavian artists being promoted internationally in recent memory.

MP3: Sad Day For Puppets - Mother's tears

90s-style guitar-based indierock never fully went away, but I think we're finally ready for a proper resurgence. Hopefully all the retarded "rockism" talk has faded to the background enough for folks with loud guitars to emerge unashamed. And why should they be? I like rock music; rock music is good. I like plenty of other music too, but it's hard to compete with the classic distorted tones coming out of a cranked-up amplifier. It's not just a silly masculine thing either, just listen to Sad Day for Puppets or think back to all the other exceptions. It speaks to the hardcore/punk roots of indierock -- level the field, anyone can (and should) play. "mother's tears" obviously hearkens to the blueprint set by my Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and mary Chain with even a bit of The Sundays tossed in for good measure, but they succeed with more than retro rehash. Yes, it strongly evokes the giants of bygone, but it sounds fresh in their hands. Digging deeper into the album "Unknown colors" offers even more variety and surprises, reminding me how much I love this stuff. I want mORE.

Sad Day For Puppets - Mother's tears

Tiger Lou
A partial print
Startracks

I'm going to admit from the start that I had some difficulty with "A partial print" when I listened to it on Startracks' page a week or so before its release. I was overwhelmed and excited by the opening five compositions, and then this feeling slipped a little - the abandonment of Tiger Lou's typically quite structured, complete arrangements on tracks like "Trails of spit" seemed to dilute the weight of the songs' conclusions, and the closing, nine-minute long opus felt too ambling and unfocused to be a proper culmination of the album's energies. I admit these issues here only to demonstrate that "A partial print" is not an album that reveals its immediacy, its intentioned presence on a first or second listen - what you are presented with is a collage, a collection of images, all of them darkly beautiful extensions of the emotional landscape of "The loyal", but the connections between these impressions can take some time to present themselves, but they will, and then "A partial print" comes fully into being.

The tone of "A partial print" is a dark one, represented not only in the recurring theme of leaving a small fragment of yourself behind, but in the intricate abandon and melancholy of the instrumentation which, on a number of occasions, evolves into heavy, post-hardcore breakdowns akin to the efforts on Small Brown Bike's brilliant swansong "The river bed". The production on the album is fantastic, accentuating the full drum arrangements, the beautiful guitar and bass work, and, of course, Rasmus Kellerman's magnificent, haunting voice. "The less you have to carry", in my opinion the greatest song Tiger Lou have crafted, is the first to truly bear the burden of "A partial print", and is therefore the song that fashions the aesthetic tenets of the album. The line "A partial print is all that I'm leaving behind, a little something to remember me by" is repeated in the closing title track, giving the record an unsettling conclusion - that of an endless cycle of departure and loss, but, as Tiger Lou established themselves as the masters of harrowing grace with "The loyal", this journey doesn't feel haunted or disillusioned, not even as you retrace your footsteps. Nor is it all a cynical, disheartening experience - glimmers of hope shine through in "So demure" and the single "Crushed by a crowd".

"A partial print" is difficult, complicated, heartbreaking, and inspiring - everything we've come to expect from Tiger Lou.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Rune Grammofon's 10-year anniversary book + CD collection "money will ruin everything 2" will be released on December 8. Full details here: mmofon.com/artists/various/rcd-2072---various_-money-will-ruin-everything-2" target="_blank">https://www.runegrammofon.com/artists/various/rcd-2072---various_-money-will-ruin-everything-2
I have the first edition from five years ago and it was well worth the money.

Pfork has a new solo track from D. Lissvik of Studio: media.com/article/download/147654-new-music-d-lissvik-of-studio-track-6-mp3" target="_blank">https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/download/147654-new-music-d-lissvik-of-studio-track-6-mp3

For everyone who pre-ordered the new Tiger Lou album "A partial print" -- copies are finally here and being shipped out as quickly as possible. Everyone else, please note that yes, I do indeed have the full double-disc edition with remixes as well as m/store/product.php?productid=600">the 7" single for "Crushed by a crowd" and m/store/product.php?productid=599">the vinyl LP version of the full album. You know you want it!

Norwegian rock act The September When, the old band of solo artist morten Abel, will have a new album called "Judas kiss" out on December 5.

The video for the new David Sandström Overdrive single "Not a good boy" is now online: m/watch?v=4pmjSquuw3Y&fmt=18" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pmjSquuw3Y&fmt=18
Fellow ex-Refused member Kristofer Steen is the director.

Watch a trailer for Timo Räisänen's new b-sides/covers album "...and then there was Timo": m/watch?v=8NPLfoq7g7I&fmt=18" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NPLfoq7g7I&fmt=18

A West Side Fabrication will be releasing a new Christmas single from power-pop act The Drowners in the near future.

Listen to a sweet classic metal mix put together by Fenriz of Darkthrone: m/track/darkthrone" target="_blank">https://fairtilizer.com/track/darkthrone

MP3: A Gilbert Play - All together now

A Gilbert Play's new album "lay-by" is unassuming to the point of near-invisibility. I swear I must've listened to the disc 5 or 6 times looking for a standout track to post with no luck. Which is not to say it's no good, it's more that it's emotionally flat, content to hover in the realm of quiet and mysterious without ever sticking its head above the surface. The band hasn't progressed too much from their previous release -- they're still mining the same 90s-era postrock textures ala Tortoise, mixing jazz, electronics and other elements into a mish-mash of sound. "All together now" only has a touch of the playfulness they sometimes exhibit; instead, it's more of a furrowed-brow work requiring a steady hand and pulse. Flickers of sunshine come up here and there, but they mostly keep it on the serious tip, heads down, no eye contact, floating onwards. There's an intricacy to the arrangement, but you gotta strain to hear it. Listen casually and it'll float on by.

A Gilbert Play - All together now

Swedish noiserockers Giant Boar (ex-Seven Feet Four) have new music posted at myspace: myspace.com/giantboar" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/giantboar
If you dig KVLR, you'll love this. I know I do.

Tomas Halberstad's debut solo album "The anger" (m/mp3.php?t=805">remember this? Or maybe m/watch?v=8s9NWLythno" target="_blank">you've seen this?) is now available as a paid digital download: mashalberstad.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/album-release-buy-it-now/" target="_blank">https://tomashalberstad.wordpress.com/2008/11/22/album-release-buy-it-now/
There will be somewhat of a more official release on December 1.