Tag: Mp3s
Despite the new Soundtrack of Our Lives double-album "Communion" being entirely way too long, it does have a couple standouts and "Thrill me" is one of them; a classic rock'n'roll stomper with simple, memorable lyrics, easily modded for a live show highlight. Surprises are nonexistent, but I haven't expected as such from TSOOL for years, so I'm not disappointed. They've settled into a comfortable middle age, keeping their fans happy by delivering consistently decent music. Very careerist, very predictable. Safe without being tedious. So the new record is padded with filler? So what? I don't expect them to ever blow me away again like when I first heard them, nor should they bother. "Thrill me" isn't so thrilling as much as it is an appeasement. I'll take it.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Thrill me
Swedish postpunks Paper beging their 3-day run at the Cake Shop in NYC tonight so I tried my best to pin them down for a short Q&A. Calle Olsson answers on behalf of the group...
So what's up with the three-day stand? Whose idea was that? Are you gonna switch things up from night to night or what? Do you guys have any expectations for how it's gonna go?
We thought it was time for something new and wanted to go to New York. We got in touch with a promoter here who set up these gigs. Yeah, we'll change the sets night from night, maybe an easier set the first night, so that nerves can be calmed,
It's gonna go well and hopefully we'll meet a lot of nice New Yorkers.
Got any other plans while you're over here? Anything in particular that you are looking forward to doing or seeing?
We've seen Coney Island which was magic, we've also eaten lots of good food.
What else is going on in Paper's world? Got plans to release something new anytime soon?
We will release something soon I hope, but we'll know more after Friday night. Right now we are focused on doing the best shows ever.
When will that new Audionom record finally be released? I heard like 30 seconds of it this past summer and it sounded nuts. What's the hold up?
We don't know.
Likewise, what's going on with the long-awaited Bear Quartet record? A new BQ release used to be an annual occasion and now...?
We are planning a release this autumn. The reason for the holdup is that there was either time or money, important stuff for BQ...
Paddington DC seems to be awfully prolific these days - do you have any sort of guiding principal when it comes to releasing music? does that carry over into any of your other projects? Tell me about the new record.
Whatever I want. Whenever I want. The new album "No drums no fire no flags" is on some tracks more ambient like, the rest are danceable little gems...
Do any of you gents have anything else going on? I don't want to leave anyone out.
Right now we are 100% focused on Paper. We do some other things, but not right now.
And lastly, assuming you conquer NYC, what's the next step? Is there an ultimate goal?
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin. We wanna tour the West Coast in the US and then later on visit our fans throughout Europe.
Paper - Out of it into it
Yesterday's featured artist Livaventura was founded by a member of The Low Frequency in Stereo; too bad they tend towards the aforementioned school of good ideas/weak execution rather than pure excellence. Not that I'm one to find fault with good ideas though, many bands would be blessed to have any and the driving Kraut-skronk of "Texas fox" is plenty good enough to carry four minutes of music. It's a friendly familiar blues progression lined up, quantized and made alien though rigid repetition and an intriguing soulessness. That's a slight exaggeration of course, The Low Frequency in Stereo aren't really without soul or feeling, they just happen to play to the straight and narrow. Like Devo. Less mechanical, more awkward and lumbering. Like a gangly teen.
The Low Frequency in Stereo - Texas fox
Said before, but bears repeating: I don't care much for Sonic Youth. Great ideas, even brilliant at times, but all too often sidetracked by self-indulgent tendencies. Composition? Out the window. Take those ideas and apply them effectively, I'm all about it. Denmark's Livaventura is a casebook example. Tons of discordant guitars, male/female vocals, always walking the thin line between noise and rock. "Keep on driving" indeed, but I really do hope they get far. As stated before, this comes off of one of the best records of 2009; too bad the release got pushed back to August 28. Until then, enjoy the single and keep on waiting.
Livaventura - Keep on driving
Two thoughts for a Friday:
#1. Lack as a damn good band.
#2. Work sucks.
Lack - Simonix
In case you missed the news that Jesper Norda has a new EP for free download, here's a chance to make up for it. As with his previous EP, the sound is pure piano and voice, soaked in darkness and hung out to dry. Actually, the minor key gloom and doom is just a red herring, "We have the guts" is a love ballad, a devotional epic. In a way. So much of the lyrics pertain to the dull mundane realities of dead-end day-to-day life, but the delivery is what gives it power and the conclusion is pure beauty. Jesper's voice is deep and strong, but it also aches when it strives for the higher notes and I don't doubt for a second that every word is true. And the dynamics? Intense. There's no need to sing out the title, it's implied with the final breath.
Download the rest of the EP here.
Jesper Norda - We have the guts
Fields of Grain are a Swedish duo who bill themselves as "alternative electric soul music" which of course sounds positively horrendous, but the description fits and the music is actually pretty good. Normally I avoid any act that refers to themselves as "funky" (another word from their one-sheet) like the plague, but since I really do try and listen to at least a bit of every disc/record/mp3 that gets sent my way, I gave them a chance and found myself pleasantly surprised. Not only are they dark and moody in all the right ways, they are also nicely subdued and far, far closer to the ambient side of electronica than any sort of beat-you-over-the-head style I'd expect from the above descriptors. Think more Portishead, not Prince. While they are still not the sort of group I would ever seek out on my own, I am most certainly impressed.
Fields of Grain - Make
When I first got Detektivbyrån's latest record "Wermland" it immediately became my wife's favorite record (an honor now held by The Devil's Blood, but that's a different story). Which means that she would listen to it incessantly and though I'm ashamed to admit it, it drove me nuts. I don't know why, but I couldn't hang at all. Flash forward to the present and the situation is reversed. Not that I'm really all that surprised. Detektivbyrån is an amazing band, not to mention a worthy obsession. The problem was with me, not them! Even better, recent videos are keeping them in the spotlight. I don't think it's very far-fetched to call them one of Sweden's best bands.
Detektivbyrån - En annan typ av disco
Underwater Sleeping Society achieves the rare feat of sounding like a million other bands while retaining a unquestionable uniqueness. There are obvious Radiohead parallels, both in sound and the reference to the "Pyramid song", but there's much more going on. The feel of the melody is far more A-ha in the way it soars, yet there's also an certain undeniable Finnish-ness to it. I think it's the morbid fascination of the lyrics, the matter-of-fact way it goes about reporting the circumstances of one's own funeral. It's a ghost story, but also, who wouldn't want to see it for themselves? It's an intriguing concept, a potential life-changing experience. This song merely scratches the surface of possibilities.
Underwater Sleeping Society - Saw you at my funeral
Nina Persson continues to get better and better as she gets older. She continues to improve as a musician and a songwriter with every new release. Shallow though it might make me seem, I also think she's more beautiful with each passing year. I like that she's added a bit more twang to her sound too; it fits her persona well as it seems like only country artists are allowed to age with such grace. Her duet partner Nicolai Dunger has had a more uneven career path, but his most recent work has been stellar and his voice melds perfectly on this particular piece. It's a bit on the sleepy side, as is the rest of "Colonia", but the two of them together on this piece is just too good.
A Camp - Golden teeth and silver medals (ft. Nicolai Dunger)
RIP The Alpine. I thought these guys were destined for international success when I heard their debut "On feel trips", but the follow-up album was a total dud and then they got usurped by Alphabeat as Denmark's reigning pop champs. It's a shame, but that's the way it goes. Anyhow, I'll still break this out on sunny days for years to come.
The Alpine - Box office band
Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby decree that Ironville's forthcoming album "Welcome to Ironville" to be 2009's second exceptional release, the first being Livaventura's "...And they slept with their eyes open" (see here). Keep in mind that order here is unimportant as that Livaventura record won't be out until April and Ironville's debut has no official release date yet (spring?), but I've heard them both and am confident in my appraisal. Hopefully you already saw the video for "Roses" as created by band member Henrik Öhberg (aka Tvärvägen) -- if not, please remedy that straightaway. And download the song, of course! The lyrics are full of neediness, but the delivery keeps the desperation at bay by being quirky, not cloying. It's a discussion, not an ultimatum, at least not yet. And the string-heavy arrangement is a welcome respite from all the generic guitar-based crap I sift through on a daily basis. Actually, that's one of Ironville's finest qualities -- it's not just a matter of having an armada of instruments at your disposal (which they do), it's about using them judiciously. I can't say for sure that it's the band's own doing or the invisible hand of producer Markus Krunegård (Laakso), but I don't really care because the result sounds so fantastic. Keep an eye on these guys for sure.
Ironville - Roses
Contributor Nancy Baym forwarded this track to me with no information other than that she got it off a MIDEM sampler and thought it was quite good. My own first impression: maybe a bit more trallpunk than I'd normally go for, but catchy enough to hold my attention. Also, good enough that I went to their myspace page to hear more. Unfortunately, listening to a few more tracks made me want to revise my opinion. As Nancy herself wisely pointed out, there's a "dopey Green Day" thing going on with them and it gives me pause. Not to diss GD though - I'm an unapologetic fan for life - but Mimikry definitely seems to take on some of their lamer, latter-day qualities. However, then I came across this and once again I had to reconsider. Was I being too hasty in judgement? Perhaps I should give them another chance. So I took a few days before going back to relisten. And now my current impression? "Alderland" is an undeniably strong track: anthemic, powerful, well-paced, dramatic. It pulls all the right strings. The other tracks they have up aim to replicate that success, but fall short, though said shortcomings bother me less now. I doubt I'll ever truly love Mimikry through and through, but I can wholeheartedly state that "Alderland" is great I'm happy to recommend it.
Mimikry - Alderland
To further illustrate my point about only enjoying indiepop with significant oomph, here is a song from Finland's Cats On Fire off their new album "Our temperance movement". It rocks about as hard as Pelle Carlberg, but without his wit, there's not much to grab on to. The twelve-string guitar solo is quite nice as is the clarinet outro, but what of it? Nice guys finish last. Sweet, tender pop doesn't have to be so damn listless. Give me passion! Give me something to care about! Don't give me this.
Cats On Fire - Garden lights
"Tired of living / With people tired of living." The circle of life! Listen, as Silver taunts you with this sad irony.
Silver - The white logic