Tag: Mp3s
Folke Rabe is a Swedish composer, probably best known for his piece "What??", an early example of modern drone/minimalism that premiered in 1967. I am not nearly as familiar with his oeuvre as I should be, but after seeing his name in the lineup for May's "Swedish Outsiders" festival in London, I wanted to revisit the one piece of his I do have, "Argh!" (1965). "Argh!" is a work of sound collage, created back in the time of analog tape manipulation. Even without that consideration, this is an amazing piece of editing and layering, long pre-dating the similar, infamous sound experiments performed by Negativland that gained them notoriety. Voices come and go, melodies slip in and out, but it holds your attention all the while. In some ways, I think it works even better now with the added layer of nostalgia as the sound sources are obviously from a bygone era. Also, it's important to remember that there were no sampling laws back then, so anything was fair game. Can you imagine negotiating the clearances on something like this now? No question about it, it just wouldn't happen. So, however you want to listen to this, be it for technical or aesthetic or even historical appreciation, I think all approaches work. It's a remarkable composition.
Folke Rabe - Argh!
As far as grunge revival acts go, Happy Trash Culture wins serious points for throwing in Wipers riffage on "Frisky pet", but I have to say that I Am Bones wins the war. I Am Bones uses the style more as a jumping off point while Happy Trash Culture is content with pure homage. It's pure contrivance. Even vocalist Martin Befve's terrific throat-shredding roar can't quite save 'em. They do what they do and they do it well, but c'mon, why bother?
Happy Trash Culture - Frisky pet
When people talk about 70s rock revival, they're usually talking about hard rock or prog or some other style in line with people's memory of 70s excess. They certainly don't mean wimpy AM gold like Anders Persson och Carl Smith (for non-Swedish speakers, och = and). But that's exactly what this is: a relic of another time. Soft fingerpicked guitars, wistful vocals and the kind of lazy afternoon vibe you just don't hear anymore. I know the whole Swedish ballad/visor tradition is still alive and well, but I can't remember any modern examples that have sounded so sweet except for maybe Sofia Karlsson, but I consider her to be more of a folk artist than anything else. Am I missing something? Let me know! File this one under pleasant surprises.
Anders Persson och Carl Smith - Morgonsol i April
When Closer first disbanded, the core membership went on to form The Goatboys, a short-lived project that was intended to be a stripped-down version of their previous act. Faster, shorter, less complicated; back to basics, if you will. Unfortunately, nothing really ever came of them except a few rough demos, but now those same guys have moved on yet again to form Bright Oak. I'm unaware if the guys had any high-minded intentions with this act, but I can tell you that the name "historically stands as a notable meeting place for wise and powerful people to share information and solve problems." Judging from that, I'd say that yes, they do have big plans, I'm just not privy to them yet. As for the music, the most important part, it's somewhere between The Goatboys and Closer. The first three songs they've recorded are definitely the most "mainstream" material I've heard from them so far. Not as raw as The Goatboys, neither are they as proggressive as Closer. The arrangements are verse/chorus oriented and none extend beyond 4:30 in length. They slip in a few tricks here and there, but it's very subtle -- an odd melody here and there, maybe a short rhythmic interlude. It is definitely pop music. The choruses are big, uplifting and immediate. Everything is clear and concise. I miss Closer's tendency towards secrecy and conceptualism because a higher barrier of entry often makes for an overall more rewarding listening experience, but I also understand the frustration of playing music like that without having people "get it". Bright Oak, for better or worse, plays music that is very easy to get. I look forward to hearing more.
Bright Oak - On the list
Back home after a week in SF doing dayjob-related stuff and it's snowing?! In mid-April? C'mon now, that ain't right. Oh, and then there's the cold I caught my very first day in the office which I happened to bring home as well. So yeah, back, but not what I'd call well rested. Thankfully, contributor Arnulf Koehncke has come through with today's mp3 post in my stead:
I was completely amazed when I first listened to "Skorpan" from Vapnet's new album "Doda fallet". For the first time, the band dares to not contrast their lyrical darkness with uplifting melodies, jangly guitars and schlager-inspired key-changes. Not that I'd ever disapprove of that. Instead, it's just a slow ballad carried by a piano, a few guitars and plugged trumpet. It's sad, maybe slightly cynical, but definitely not ironic, which just adds to the strength of the song. And best of all (though I'm not a native speaker, so you'll never know), the chorus finally reveals that it's inspired by one of my favorite children's books, "The Brothers Lionheart" by Astrid Lindgren. So maybe it's ironic then after all...
Vapnet - Skorpan
I was just about to check out of my hotel room and head to the airport when the answers to this week's Göteborg feature showed up in my inbox. This week's guest: Matthias Andersson from Release the Bats, one of Sweden's preeminent underground labels.
How long have you lived in Gbg? What brought you there and what keeps you hanging around?
I moved here in summer 2003 so I have been living in GBG for close to 5 years now. I used to live in a small village in middle of the dark forests of the region Småland, later moved on to the nearest city and then spent one year in Jönköping. I guess I was longing for something more, something else, and eventually decided to go for GBG. In many ways there are only 3 options for young people in Sweden that want to escape the small town boredom: GBG, Stockholm and Malmö. Stockholm was never really an option for me for various reasons and Malmö always seemed a bit too small and boring. Since I already had friends and so on in GBG there wasn't really anywhere else to go at that point. 5 years later I have no intentions on leaving anytime soon, I love this city and for the moment I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I know you work with a lot of int'l acts, but you also seem to always have something going on w/the local scene. Do you see yourself as a regional label at all? How important do you think regional labels are in this day and age?
I actually really didn't release anything GBG-based until last year with the The Skull Defekts album ["Skkull"]. Ok, Tar... Feathers was kind of based in GBG for a while, but has to me always been more of a Stockholm-thing. I never really had the need to cover the music in this town before since other local labels like iDEAL and Kning Disk already did a very good job with that. But recently there has been sooo many amazing things happening here that it has been kind of impossible to not participate in one way or another! So yeah, RTB will definitely be exploring the current activities here a little bit more in the future than in the past with upcoming releases from Tsukimono, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, The Skull Defekts etc. Is it important with regional labels? Honestly I don't think labels are that important at all nowdays. Still I can see a purpose with regional labels, acting like some kind of centre of the scene with lots of things going on besides just releasing local acts (iDEAL being a way better example than RTB on that with club nights, festivals and so on).
Do you think there's a particular Gbg sound or attitude? Also, how do Gbg artists differ from those in other cities within Sweden?
GBG is known for having a very distinct sound when it comes to both Death Metal and Pop music for an example, but when it comes to the kind of music that RTB is releasing (whatever you want to call it, it's not like I even have a "typical" sound for the label...) I would say no. In that sense that I don't think anyone would be able to "hear" that a certain artist is from GBG when listening to it, just based on the actual sound. Attitude... I don't think this city differs from other Swedish towns really, but I know that outsiders tends to think that people in GBG are very open minded and easy to be around for some reason? If you should compare GBG to other Swedish towns when it comes to music and related activities, I think it's safe to say that no other town is even close to what's currently happening here! So many shows, new projects, new awesome releases and so on all the time! I also think musicians in GBG are usually a bit ahead of other places in Sweden, it seems like new impressions and ways to do things hits GBG first most of the time.
How's the health of the Gbg scene right now? Any particular artists that you're exciting about? What releases do you have planned? Also, anyone else you want to work with/wish you had signed?
Truly amazing things are happening here right now, I haven't been this excited about the local scene since I moved here, that's for sure. I don't know where to start... One of the best and most promising new acts is definitely the 3-piece Leafes. I put out a tape with them in December 2006 when they still lived in Jönköping and only had been a band for a few weeks. Then they put out a CD-R last year which is really, really good, moved to GBG and now they have just finished their debut album "Seedland" which will be put out on tape only! Kind of folky pretty song-based free jams for most of the time, usually arranged around acoustic instruments with a sparse use of electronics... In the vein of Sunburned Hand Of The Man and the likes, but with more melancholy. I really recommend everyone to check them out, and you will be hearing way more about them in the future for sure! Everything Dan of Sewer Election is doing is golden. Put out a Sewer Election/Altar Of Flies LP on RTB a few months ago. Another amazing project from Dan is White. Filthy lo-fi basement dwellings, disturbing shit. Modorra is great underground metal with my neighbour Jon on drums, haven't heard that much yet but it sure seems promising! Prostitute Finger is another new project, members from a few "famous" GBG acts. Rough feedback-mayhem, beautiful stuff. Relic was probably the most promising new band this town had seen in years but unfortunately it seems like they've just broke up? A damn shame if you ask me, the rehearsal tapes was some scary out there stuff and I could only imagine what this beast would have become in the future. Then there is the more well-known acts that is always doing brilliant stuff no matter what: Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, Tsukimono, Viktor Sjöberg, Gloomy Sunday, The Skull Defekts and so on. Plus the whole DJ/club-scene with Studio, Tiedye etc. Current favorite local labels: Harsh Head Rituals and Pillowscars. Upcoming GBG-related releases on RTB this year: Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Lost in reflections LP + 7" (split release with iDEAL, Fang Bomb and When Skies Are Grey, a minor masterpiece!), The Skull Defekts - The drone drug CD (natural follow up to last years "Skkull", minamalistic and nasty drone-filth with an industrial edge, grim sounding stuff!) and the vinyl version of Tsukimono's stunning "Time Canvas" (originally released as a limited CD-R on Kning Disk last year). All these 3 releases will hopefully be ready early summer. Kind of happy with the current RTB release schedule I must say, but it would definitely be fun to do something more with Leafes in the future. While I'm at it, the label Fang Bomb is putting out a Gothenburg 2008 compilation soon with the The Skull Defekts, Anders Dahl, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, Sewer Election, Viktor Sjöberg, Jasper TX etc...
Got a song to share to rep Gbg? Tell us about it.
It has to be "This room seems empty without you", the opening track from "Lost in reflections", the upcoming Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words album! A bit different from the rest of the album, and also a bit different from the previous DLSODW sound. Still one of the most underrated GBG-acts in my opinion, why last year's amazing "Fall, fall, falling" (Kalligrammofon) didn't get more attention is a mystery to me.
It's a mystery to me too, especially since I count it as one of my favorite albums of 2007. And now, listening to this, it looks like there's a strong chance of a repeat. Amazing stuff, to be sure...
Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - This room seems empty without you
Cecilia Nordlund has been a prominent Swedish artist for a long time, dating back to the mid-90s and her bands Souls to Monkeystrikes in 2005 and (hopefully) her upcoming solo album. There's also that one song she did with Marit Bergman that ending up as sort of a minor international indie hit, but in leiu of new material to share, I'd rather focus on Monkeystikes. The band only released one record, but it's a great one. Songs such as opener "Tahonga take away" build on the heavier alt-rock sound of her previous act (think: Pixies, Breeders, etc.), tempering it with a more sophisticated lyrical approach. It's a busy song and they manage to fit a lot in these two short minutes. Surprisingly dynamic too- listen for the small nuances that differentiate the verses, taking it beyond the typical verse-chorus/soft-loud approach. Obviously, that aspect is still present, but it's less obvious/clichéd. Every time I hear this I think, "why don't I listen to Monkeystrikes more often?" So far the best answer I can come up with is that I'm a fool.
Monkeystrikes - Tahonga take away
I tried to tip you off on Lögnhalsmottagningen back in late February on one of my MyFriends posts, but now that their debut 7" "Öron näsa EP" is out, it's time to pay them another visit. The improbable duo features Stewart Anderson from Boyracer laying down the tracks at home in Flagstaff, AZ and then shipping 'em off to Sweden (figuratively, I presume) for Martin Cannert from The Faintest Ideas/Javelins to lay down vocals. However, if you were expecting twee indiepop akin to those dude's other bands, this may disappoint as the true purpose of this project is to revisit the frantic sound of early 80s Swedish punk, both in song and fidelity. Martin sounds shrill and out of breath as he tries to keep up and the band doesn't fare much better - if I didn't know that this was one guy laying everything down via multitrack, I'd imagine the drummer setting the tempo and setting off with everyone else trying to hold on for dear life. And the recording? Harsh perfection, just like all the old, faceless 7"s I used to pick up before home studios could match pro audio quality. It's trebly and annoying, but that's exactly the point; give it a few listens, you might start to like it too. 7 songs in 8 minutes, so not quite a total rager, but close enough. Now let's just hope this isn't some one-off thing.
Lögnhalsmottagningen - Snacka gär ju
So, continuing off of yesrerday's post, let's talk about Thomas Denver Jonsson. I've been eagerly waiting to hear his latest record "The lake acts like an ocean" as his last album, 2005's "Barely touching it", was quite good. Thomas had also been telling me that a copy was on the way for a few months now, but due to various issues, he wasn't able to get me one until last week (also to coincide with the wider European release). Anyhow, the music here couldn't be more different than Ondo- Thomas plays country-rock in a slightly melancholy, shambolic way, not too far from Will Oldham, Songs:Ohia and the like. He's definitely got a bit of Oldham's warble; an odd mix of resignation and resolve, something that's especially apparent on tracks like "Like friends falling in love". Most of the material on the album features full-band instrumentation, but I'm drawn to this number because of its charming simplicity and sweet sentiment. It's the pure essence of TDJ. Not only that, it helps to express his oft-professed love for his friends. Whether it's singing ballads to them, working in collaborations (there's more than a few duets on the record, besides the aforementioned A Perfect Friend project w/Ondo) or interviewing them on the interweb, Thomas is a people person. He makes connection. I appreciate that.
Thomas Denver Jonsson - Like friends falling in love
In a feat of synchronicity, I received news albums from both Thomas Denver Jonsson and Ondo on the same day last week. The two are world's apart on the surface, but I know better as Ondo is the ambient/doom alias of C-J Larsgården from Pacta/Pacta Sunt Servanda and together with Jonsson, they perform as the duo A Perfect Friend. Considering how different their individual music is, it's amazing that they are able to find common ground, but certainly not unfathomable as I certainly enjoy both artists on their own. Ondo is easily the more difficult of the pair as his subterranean doom music lacks any sort of pop hooks. Instead, you get brooding darkness and evil; a beat-less, black cloud of ambiance. We've had some beautiful weather out here on the West Coast, especially here in SF where I'm situated this week, but Ondo sucks the light out of even the brightest day. To me, that's a high compliment. To conjure that level of heaviness with pure atmosphere is an intense achievement.
Ondo - Sleep
I'm on the road this week for my dayjob, so contributor Nancy Baym has been kind enough to take on today's mp3 post:
The Violent Years are an Oslo band who play a dark, melancholic, alt-country influenced Americana flavored rock in somewhat of the same tradition of Midnight Choir or, at times, Madrugada. They were one of the better bands I saw at by:Larm last February. This song is rich in atmosphere, and laden with haunting melodies that are never too oppressive or heavy. The guitar is nicely twangy, the singing straightforward and expressive, the rhythm section spacious and solid, and the feel simultaneously gritty and pretty. It makes me optimistic about their debut ep due to be released this spring.
The Violent Years - Embrace
When Djembefitta first wrote to me and outlined their treatise of hate with regards to "typical" Göteborg indierock, I knew I had to follow up with them and learn more. This week's entry in our ongoing Gbg-spotlight series does just that.
You guys have declared war on Gbg indiepop. What is it about that stereotypical sound that makes you so angry? What do you have to offer instead? What do you hope to accomplish?
Well, me (Ronny) and Sonny were talking the other day about older Swedish women going to Gambia in Africa to find their toy boys, and we figured out it's the exact same women who enroll into Djembe drum classes. It's probably lost on an American like yourself, but anyone from here would understand what we're talking about. Gross women who take advantage of young guys.
Now that we have a really lousy singer, like all big bands from Gothenburg, we are just waiting for the fucking money to roll right in! People are so stupid!
While your distaste for the sound of Håkan Hellström/BCQ/Broder Daniel/Jens Lekman/etc. is clear, are there any Gbg bands that you actually like? Is there another local scene there worth investigating, either now or in the past?
There's no scene worth investigating really. And when we are done there will be no other scene to talk about except for the new thrash/punk scene! You should investigate older swedish women going to Gambia though. They are really nasty! Is it even legal?
Actually the only scene worth checking out in retrospect is the bay area thrash scene from 1981-1986. We fucking love the big 4. Except for Anthrax with Joey Primadonna. Plus they were really from NY.
So who are you guys exactly? Have you lived in Gbg for a long time or did you move there from somewhere else? What keeps you there? What makes Gbg better or worse than other big cities in Sweden?
If we told you who we are we would have the fucking cops and kronofogden on our asses in a split second! Plus Siewert Öholm would accuse us of being satanists.
Gothenburg is really rainy and windy and it makes us pissed off. It's a good feeling!
Next question!
What other things do you hate that you haven't written songs about yet? Is there anything that makes you happy?
We hate a lot of stuff. Not all of our songs are about hate though. Some are about getting wasted. We are happy when we are wasted. Happy drunks. We might write a song about people who buy records by bands from this city with singers who sing out of tune. They are the ones who are REALLY stupid! And they're gonna love us! Now where's my beer?
Got a song to share with our readers? Want to tell us about it?
We have this song called "Lars Ulrich". He's such an easy target, but we had to do it anyway. It's about how he can be such a lousy drummer, and still be in polls for "best metal drummer". It's almost as funny as saying Håkan Hellström is the best singer in Sweden. I wish he still wore that funny fucking sailor outfit though. He used to be so cute. Håkan that is. A funny sailor dude singing out of tune about how he's drunk and lonely and the masses go: "We love this guy!" Ha, ha! Lars Ulrich is kinda the Håkan Hellström of Metal. A funny Danish guy who's drunk and plays drums like a fucking windmill.
One last thing, what can we expect from Djembefitta in the future? Any chance you'll play live? Or put out a proper record?
If we can stay out of jail and someone gives us a shit load of money we'll do it. We are only in it for the money!
Djembefitta - Lars Ulrich
I posted Cadillac's cover of "Arabian knights" by Siouxsie and the Banshees way, way back when the album "Magnetic city" first came out, but now with the band broken up and moving on to new projects (New Violators and The Moving Ooos, for example), I figure it's time to revisit 'em. Opening track "Locomotive" provides the best example of what the band was capable of- killer fuzz riffs, breakneck drumming and surprising melodies. I love the rhythm section breakdown on the verse; the toms are so ridiculously busy, but that's what gives the track its tremendous momentum, thus befitting the title. If you dig quirky hard rock like countrymates Motorpsycho or even Queens of the Stone Age, you'll dig this too.
Cadillac - Locomotive
Grande won the 2007 Spellemannprisen in the blues category, but I ignored him completely. I figured it was some old-man dansband type bullshit, so why bother right? You know- the kind of stuff that makes old men with their greased-back hair and classic American cars feel young and tough. Luckily, that's not really the case as Grande does more than attempt to capture a long-gone era that no longer exists. It's especially apparent on tracks like album opener "We did it all", a revved-up, tweaked-out recounting of all the illicit substances he's ingested. It's a potent cocktail of Buddy Holly rhythms mixed with ELO helium vocals and the psycho/silliness of fellow modern Scandinavian rock'n'roll revivalists PowerSolo. Not quite as ragged as, say, Doo Rag/Bob Log III or Black Lips, but they certainly compete with The Black Keys in terms of the rawk. Okay, so a few (okay, many) tracks on the album stray a bit closer to AOR territory like I feared, but I dig this one a lot and that's what matters.
Grande - We did it all
The Grand Opening's new album "Beyond the brightness" is darker, more oblique than anything they've done before. Or perhaps I should say anything he's done before as TGO is, for all intents and purposes, the work of one John Roger Olsson. It's a record of stark minimalism and deceptive simplicity. A bare-bones track such as "Dark dark dawn" manages to say a lot with so, so little. JRO has mentioned to me that he's been getting more and more into ambient/experimental composers such as Tim Hecker, Harold Budd and Brian Eno and it shows. It's those empty spaces between the notes that give the music weight and meaning, that make it effective/affecting. There's an urgency to his vocal delivery, but it's tempered by pauses and second-guessing. He implores "Please intrude" with almost a sense of resignation; it's the other lines that seem more imploring, especially as the notes climb upward. After a short coda with a subtle 2nd guitar, I'm exhausted. Less is always more, doncha know?
The Grand Opening - Dark dark dawn