mstation interviews Zweizz: mstation.org/zweizz.php" target="_blank">https://mstation.org/zweizz.php
As is often the case, the conversation centers mostly on the old black-metal scene, but there is also some discussion of his current work in the noise/experimental world of music.

Swedish crustpunk act End of All has announced the addition of Rikard Häll as their new guitarist. Listen to a new track off "The art of decadence" at myspace: myspace.com/endofallsweden" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/endofallsweden

MP3: The Opium Cartel - Flicker girl

One of the perks of running this site that I enjoy most is developing relationships with artists I admire. It's not just interacting via email interviews, but moreso the conversations that go on off the record. Stuff like m/mp3.php?t=743">talking Broder Daniel with Gustaf Kjellvander or even shooting the shit with the dudes from The Swedish model, discussing the future of physical products. Of course, it's always about the music in the end and so when I get a chance to peep in on the creative process, that's always the best. I'm not much a collector of b-sides and alternate mixes for the most part, but sometimes that really is the best way to get inside an artist's head to see how they work. moonbabies are a great example -- their songs go through so many variations before arriving at the finished product and it's amazing to hear how many different ways a single piece of music can be expressed. Another great example is Jacob Holm-Lupo and his current project The Opium Cartel. Like moonbabies' Ola Frick, I get the impression that Jacob labors endlessly in the studio, adding endless layers of instrumentation until he can finally realize the symphony in his head. Ah, the double-edged sword of modern technology! So naturally, when presented the opportunity to share a work-in-progress from him, I gotta jump on it.

If you remember m/mp3.php?t=510">the previous Opium Cartel track I posted last September, this one mines similar territory, though is a bit quieter/folksier. I still hear a bit of the same dark, atmospheric vibe that's in all of Jacob's work dating back to White Willow, however the guest vocals from Rachel Haden (currently on tour with Todd Rundgren, believe it or not) push it closer to Kate Bush avant-pop territory. It starts off twinkly, but slowly progresses into, well, progressive territory. This mix isn't even close to refined so I'm sure the finished version will be even bigger (Jabob: "None of the TOC tracks have actually been mixed yet, and this one suffers a bit from that, as it has like a million tracks"), but it's pretty damn good as-is, so listen up and let your mind fill in the blanks for its as-yet untapped potential. The song and the main melody are in place and that is what's most important.

Errata: the lineup for this recording is Jacob and Rachel plus frequent collaborator mattias Olsson (Pineforest Crunch, molesome, etc.) and flautist Ketil Einarsen (Jaga Jazzist). Expect a late 2008/early 2009 release.

The Opium Cartel - Flicker girl (ft. Rachel Haden)

Here is the m/group/itsatrap" target="_blank">It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 albums of the week:

01. mGmT – Oracular Spectacular
02. Sigur Rós – með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
03. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
04. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
05. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs
06. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
07. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
08. Håkan Hellström – För Sent För Edelweiss
09. Radiohead – In Rainbows
10. Interpol – Our Love to Admire

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: m/help/" target="_blank">https://www.last.fm/help/

Annie
Live @ Mucha Marcha/Proud Gallery, London, 07/04/08

How times change. Almost three years ago to the day I saw Annie supporting Saint Etienne at the sparsely populated Koko venue. She was swamped by the size of the stage and was aided only by a DJ with decks and effects.

Fast forward three years and it seems Annie is being given a second bite of the pop cherry. She's back and this time she means it. The decadent surroundings of The Proud Gallery provide the fashionista crowd and Annie a feel akin to what I imagine a high school prom would be like. This time around she is complemented with a full band set up, which gives the songs a lot more room to breathe. Forthcoming single, "I know your girlfriend hates me", is transformed into an extended dancefloor filler, with Annie joined by a troupe of female dancers. They don't look too dissimilar to the girls featured Robert Palmer's iconic "Addicted to love" video. At the song's climax lollipops are handed out to the crowd, adding to her sugary sweet appeal. Annie is totally self-assured, a prom queen conducting her band and the crowd with her slightly pervy red gloves. The new songs are a bit of a mixed bag. "my love is better", with its choppy guitars, errs very slightly towards bland territory but "Songs remind me of you" could well be a monster hit in waiting. Starting out as a disco stomper and building up into an enormous four-by-four breakdown, it ticks all the boxes of a club banger. It's not rocket science. Just don't tell that to the heaving masses of gurning, grinning fools partying like it's 1999.

Tonight Annie passed the hipster test, but now she needs to prove she can cross over to the mainstream. Getting Xenomania on board (the production team behind Girls Aloud) signifies her intentions. However, whether she can throw down the gauntlet and challenge Robyn as the queen of Scandi pop is another matter entirely.
- Nick Levine

Upcoming tourdates for Icelandic artist Ólafur Arnalds:

07/08 - Cafe 939, Boston, mA
07/09 - Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
07/10 - The Deal With Pine Trees Festival, Westminster, mD
07/11 - Carroll Community College, Westminster, mD
07/12 - The Shelf, Columbus, OH
07/13 - The House Café (GER)Kalb, IL
07/14 - Secret Show (RSVP only), Chicago, IL
07/15 - Drake Hotel, Toronto, Ontario
07/16 - La Sala Rossa, montréal, Quebec
07/18 - Joe’s Pub, New York, NY
07/19 - Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh, PA
07/20 - DC9, Washington, Washington DC
07/21 - Pirate Cove, North myrtle Beach, SC
07/22 - Night Light, Chapel Hill, NC
07/23 - 1st Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
07/27 - Secret Garden Party, East Anglian Countryside (UK)
07/30 - Holy Trinity Church, Leeds (UK)
08/02 - A Day at the Races Festival, manchester (UK)
08/03 - Klangbad Festival, Scheer (GER)
08/09 - Haldern Pop Festival, Rees-Haldern (GER)
08/10 - E-Werk, Erlangen (GER)
08/11 - Palladium, Köln (GER) w/Sigur Rós
08/12 - Schlachthof, Weisbaden (GER) w/Sigur Rós
08/13 - Tempodrom, Berlin (GER) w/Sigur Rós
08/20 - Stodola Klub, Warsaw, PL w/Sigur Rós
08/24 - Kulturbunker mülheim, Köln (GER)
08/25 - Feerieen Festival (Warandepark), Brussels (BEL)

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Espen Lind - Army of one
02. Kurt Nilsen - Rise To The Occasion
03. Åge Aleksandersen - Katalysator
04. Vassendgutane - Xo
05. Too Far Gone - Livåt
06. morten Harket - Letter From Egypt
07. malin - Pang
08. Knutsen & Ludvigsen - Dum og deilig -beste
09. maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong
10. Ida maria - Fortress Round my Heart
11. Songns - Det koster å vara kar
12. madrugada - madrugada
13. Ane Brun - Changing Of The Seasons
14. Kaizers Orchestra - maskineri
15. Åsmund Åmli Band - Panorama
16. Harald Heide Steen jr. - musikalske minner
17. Hellbillies - Spissrotgang
18. Sie Gubba - Sånn e livet
19. Real Ones - All For The Neighbourhood
20. Paal Flaata - Old Angel midnight

Check out the new video for "Hop-up-pop" from The Norwegian Fords: m/watch?v=6ntX11fIYPI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ntX11fIYPI

Pistol Disco's upcoming album "Evergreen" will be released later this year via Celebrity Lifestyle Records and will be available either on 12" vinyl or as a free digital download. Look for new remixes from them for artists such as Ikons and maria in the near future as well.

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Lasse Stefanz - Rallarsväng
02. The Real Group - Håll musiken igång! The Real Group sjunger Povel
03. Sten & Stanley - Det känns när det svänger
04. Takida - Bury the lies
05. Amanda Jenssen - Killing my darlings
06. Hammerfall - Rebels with a cause
07. Evert Taube - mästerverk!
08. Kleerup - Kleerup
09. E.m.D. - A state of mind
10. The Refreshments - Jukebox - Refreshing classics
11. miss Li - Best of 061122-071122
12. Sanna Nielsen - Stronger
13. Nordman - Djävul eller gud
14. Eric Gadd - Stockholm står kvar men jag ligger
15. Håkan Hellström - För sent för Edelweiss
16. Rongedal - Rongedal
17. Roxette - A collection of Roxette hits! Their 20 greatest
18. Christer Sjögren - Jubileum 40 år med Christer Sjögren
19. Trazan & Banarne - Swingtajm! Trazan & Banarnes 30-årsskiva!
20. maia Hirasawa - Though, I'm just me (new edition)

July 4th is Independence Day here in the US, so I'm taking most of the day off. The weekly newsletter will go out as usual, but full news updates won't be back until monday. Thanks!

Sigur Rós
Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
EMI

With first single "Gobbledygook" as the presupposed manifesto for the anti-"Heima" -- recorded in NYC, London, and Havana instead of the usual Reykjavík -- it's a bit disappointing to see Jonsi & Co can't avoid their own pitfalls, falling prey at various times to a retread of the idiosyncrasies that made "Agaetis byrjun" and "( )" great. The melodies remain memorable, and "Goðan daginn" with its middle-register acoustic guitar atop a feathered cadence, is a pristine example of "Heima" creative holdover. But their particular brand of four-to-the-floor pulses tiredly through the first half of the album, and the on-paper majesty of "Ára batur"'s full orchestra and boys choir turns out to be little more than bloated "Takk" fare. Their marketability, sadly, climbs ever upward as they half-manage to fit their Aleph of tinkling instruments into these smaller and smaller packages.

I guess after their 2006 tour of Iceland that championed their cultural and musical past, "með suð..." seemed the perfect vehicle for a massive paradigm shift. my hopes buoyed by that gloriously playful first single, I saw this album marrying the time signature mystique of "Amnesiac" and the ornery appeal of "Sung Tongs" through their distinctive Icelandic style. Instead, all I got was an admittedly beautiful "Takk" remake, marked with the somber organs, plaintive strings, and playful glockenspiels of old.
- Nathan Keegan

MP3: KTMK - Kalinka

If you mistake this track for The Jesus Lizard, I don't blame you. That main riff is awfully similar to "Lady shoes". The thing is though, KTmK (short for Kansanturvamusiikkikomissio, try saying that one five times fast) predates 'em by five full years, having recorded "Kalinka" in 1985 for the "666" album. "Goat", on the other hand, was recorded in 1990 and it's no secret that at least engineer Steve Albini was a big fan of weird Finnish hardcore. The more I dig into the stuff, the more obvious the influence is, regardless of whether it's out in the open or not. So are Chicago and Finland kindred spirits? maybe? I've never been to either, but I gotta say that I certainly love the music.

KTMK - Kalinka

The new Universal Poplab single "Summer struck" is now available for free download: m/" target="_blank">https://www.universalpoplab.com/

Swedish new-wave/postpunk act The Bell is back in the studio working on material for their 2nd album. Otherwise, look out for a new remix 12" EP featuring cuts by mixhell, Arne Blackman, Diskjokke, Whitnoise, Joe & Will and more to surface later on this summer.