Tag: Mp3s
Love to hate it, hate to love it - either way, I think we can all agree that "Hej Monika" is one of the most insipid, obnoxious songs ever written. It's a brilliant piece of inspired garbage, a song that's infectious like the plague. The music is trivial, the vocal laughably bad, the refrain endless. Hear it once and it will haunt you. Does it rank a zero or a perfect 10? I go for the latter, if only because it makes me feel absolutely devilish to inflict it on others. Beware!
Nic & the Family - Hej Monika
David Åhlén kicks off his US tour tonight in NYC so I've got the a-side from his new single "Wasted breaths" for you to hear. Big ups to his label Compunctio for being gracious enough to share.
When I heard that David was abandoning his Namur moniker and heading in a more acoustic direction, I was braced for disappointment. Would his music still succeed minus the lush shoegazer artifice? Thankfully, yes, it does. David is a strong, passionate vocalist and fittingly, he lets his voice carry the material. Two chords is all he needs. Go see him live, I'll be at the Seattle show for sure:
05/24 - Pianos, NYC
05/25 - Pianos, NYC
05/28 - The Starline, Fresno, CA
05/29 - The Independent, San Fransisco, CA w/Loney, Dear
05/30 - Dolores Park Church, San Fransisco, CA
05/31 - Barkin' Dog Grill
David Åhlén - Wasted breaths
Making the decision to record with Steve Albini means making a massive vote of confidence in your band's abilities because if you suck, it will be painfully obvious. On the other hand, Steve's documentarian recording technique makes good live bands sound amazing - check out the Jesus Lizard back-catalog or even Nirvana's "In utero" for hard proof. Fun is reportedly the first Finnish band to ever record with Steve at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago and it was obviously a wise decision. Musically, Fun has long worshipped at the altar of Albini and other classic Touch & Go bands playing in the pigfuck style, so the partnership makes perfect sense. Caustic, white-noise guitars, freight-train bass, hard-hitting drums and totally damaged vocals - yep, that's the blueprint. "I've got a truck" simmers and seethes over the course of its five minutes, slowly coalescing into a steamroller of a track. Once the guitar drop-tunes and joins with the chugging, it's a monster. Slow, deliberate and crushing. This is the sound I grew up with. This is my rock'n'roll.
Fun - I've got a truck
The music of Norwegian act Heroes & Zeros comes across as a mish-mash of popular modern rock styles. A dash of Interpol's maudlin navel-gazing, a touch of Muse's histrionics, maybe even a bit of The Killers' pop bombast. The specter of U2's influence looms large as well. It's not terribly original (and neither are many of the acts I cited), yet somehow it works. Quite well, too. Heroes & Zeros do epic, brooding dark rock right. They're pop enough to secure a major label deal (at home in Norway anyway), but retain enough of an edge to make them stand out. I love this particular song that I've posted today for it's patient pacing and subdued chorus. It's one of the album's slower, more sombre moments and full of all sorts of subtle moments that make the hairs on my neck stand up. The swell of the keyboards, the surprising vocal harmonies, the little pause before the word "bruised" - an absurd attention to detail. I'm impressed.
Heroes & Zeros - The foolproof
The newest Hero Dishonest record "When the shit hits the man" has been out for awhile now and I keep meaning to talk about it, but it keeps getting pushed back. Enough! 21 songs, 25 minutes. No frills, no bullshit hardcore. Loud, fast and pissed-off. They've now paired down to a single vocalist and the recording is crisp, clean and clear. The much-improved sound quality is a welcome change - it's great to hear just how ridiculously tight the band is. That was something that really impressed me when I saw them live awhile back, but always felt was lacking in their previous releases. Well, it's a problem no more! The band sounds so much more powerful minus the dirt of a lackluster recording.
Hero Dishonest - Saw it
It's been awhile since I've had an "Old friends" moment. It certainly helps that I've relocated myself far away from the Bay Area where I spent my oh-so formative teen years. Despite being the state capitol of Washington, Olympia is very much a small town so the chances of me running into old mates are minimal at best. Especially the ones who drifted in the direction I didn't want to go. I heard the inevitable bad news about one of those old friends this week, secondhand. It's a relief in a way; a conclusion that I think a lot of people were resigned to. Not that it makes it easier, better or anything else for that matter. I'm sorry that I let you become so scary to me. I wish I could've been a better friend.
The Bear Quartet - Old friends
Moonbabies frontman Ola Frick was one of my first interviews for this site way back when, so it's quite fitting that he's also the inaugural interview subject on my radio show tonight. I already posted a track from the new record "Moonbabies at the ballroom", but you can never have enough Moonbabies so here's something from their (recently reissued) first album "June and novas". The sound is slightly less polished than their more recent material, as one would rightly expect. However, the songs and the arrangements are absolutely fantastic. That's why Moonbabies are one of my favorite bands, not just because they are kind, intelligent people willing to open up and chat with someone like me (though that certainly helps). Tune in tonight if you can and check it out!
Moonbabies - I'm insane but so are you
Montt Mardié, aka David Pagmar, has got high aspirations. Normally, I'm not one to go for his style of kitschy soul-pop, but I respect the man for trying and I actually think he's finally managed to acheive the sound he's been reaching for with the new double album "Clocks/Pretender". That's kind of been my thing about a lot of the bands on Hybris - I might not be totally into what they're doing, but I still have deep respect for the lot of 'em. Hybris stands for more than music and that's why they are one of Sweden's best indie labels.
The latest addition to Montt Mardié's "Drama" series "Birthday boy" is especially pleasing, partially because it's already familiar, but also because it ups the ante on the original formula with strings and a full horn section. This is the kind of record that David's been hoping to make from the beginning. Or maybe he'll achieve that with the upcoming live record he just did the other day? Regardless, it's great to see an artist be allowed to indulge themselves so freely. I might not love every song, but it's growing on me.
Montt Mardié - Birthday boy (drama)
Two days of retail pandering is enough - it's time to change it up. Here's a guestpost from new contributor Hanzan:
A metronome, an echoing lonely piano and over that, Nina Ramsby's voice. It's strange that the best song on the Sällskapet album doesn't even feature Thåström's unique voice. But Nina brings out an utter desolation, capturing a cramp that turns everything to ice. On the album, "Järnstaden" is the song that doesn't hide itself in noises, indirectly giving it the feel of being the centerpiece. The anchor. On its own, it's just achingly beautiful loneliness.
Sällskapet - Järnstaden
Swedish artist Tobias Hellkvist first made a name for himself with his sublime acoustic cover of Efterklang's "Step aside" (listen at myspace). The electronics of the original are beautifully transcribed to organic instruments. In many ways, it's not too disimilar to José González's famous version The Knife's "Heartbeats". Neither cover supplants the original electronic version; they stand alone as individual works, like two sides of a coin. On Tobias' new album "Transports" however, the focus is shifted from sublime acoustic pop to drone as the work is entirely instrumental and lacking in conventional guitarwork or song structures. The track "Moment at Ven" (listen at the aforementioned myspace link) is most straightforward of the pieces in that it's built around a recognizable guitar figure, albeit enhanced with digital effects and backed by field recordings. It's a beautiful, languid piece of music, but I've decided to share one of the longer, more abstract tracks instead.
"When everything fell apart" buils layers upon layers of shimmering waves of sound, gradually getting louder and more intense as the piece continues. To me, it's the sound of lying in the sun without care of obligation: pure bliss. Voices and guitar fragments come and go, but the gentle wave of the cental chordal theme continues unabated throughout. It's the kind of ambient dronepop that I can listen to on endless repeat (and sometimes do). You want feel-good summer jams? Look no further.
Tobias Hellkvist - When everything fell apart
I've gotten a few amazing new releases in the mailorder these last few days (with more on the way), so I wanted to spend a couple days highlighting them. First we have the self-titled debut full-length from Mixtapes & Cellmates, one of Sweden's most promising new indiepop acts. No listless twee, no pathetic nostalgia; none of the issues that plague the scene are apparent. Like fellow Nomethod act (and recent One Little Indian signees) Aerial, the guitars are brilliantly interwoven and engaging. The music is nowhere near as aggressive, but the feeling I get is the same. The production is adventurous too - many of the tracks are backed by glitchy techno beats and little clicks + cuts. The smeary glissandos of digital distortion on today's track "I left" go so far as to replace any natural guitar sounds, a tact that works far better than I would imagine. Though the timbre of the sounds is unnatural, it's done in a way that still allows the emotional content of the music to resonate. Extremely well done.
Mixtapes & Cellmates - I left
Matt Giordano is taking care of this week's BQ post:
It's Saturday and you know what that means! This time around I decided to choose The Bear Quartet song that I've been listening to the most lately: "An epidemic touch." It's a fairly recent one, from 2005's "I have an itch EP" and somehow I find this track to be more of the bridge into their foray of electronic music, yet this holds much more of the organic elements of the albums' released previously into the mix. It's a bit of a rocker too, with Mattias Alkberg's barely audible vocals and Calle Olsson's stellar keyboard lines, this may truly be one of their most overlooked tracks.
The Bear Quartet - An epidemic touch
This week, Jonas Appelqvist is taking us back to 1982:
Last night it dawned upon me that I in fact own one song with T.S.T. (a band that's been a subject of discussion in the message board for quite some time now). They're represented on the compilation "Vägra raggarna benzin – punk från provinserna 78-82 vol. II" with "Väktarnas värld" along with Asta Kask, TT Reuter and Unter Den Linden. The reason for the discussion is that someone wanted to know who originally wrote the song "Oh, I'm so alone" which Fireside recorded back in 1997. And yup, you guessed it; it was the songwriters in this band, Nandur Hegedüs and Jarmo Mäkkeli. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to track down that song but, boy, do I have goodies for you! Let me present a song taken from their self-titled debut released in 1982, "No government". Being ahead of their time, this is what I imagine that Mr. Brett and Greg Graffin from Bad Religion and Bob Mould from Hüsker Dü would use as preference to their own songwriting at the time.
This punk band from Västerås released two albums, a few EPs and contributed to a bunch of compilations over the years. I can warmly recommend the "Varning för punk"-comp, in which most of the Swedish punk elite are represented, a triple CD that sums up the eighties punk scene in Sweden in a great way.
FYI, being born and raised in a town that was a big punk scene during that period with great bands such as Nyx Negativ and, mentioned above, Unter Den Linden, I almost feel obliged to do mp3-posts on those bands as well. Hell, you can't miss out on that!
But for now, enjoy your T.S.T.!
T.S.T. - No government
Watain's new record "Sworn to the dark" sounds like the comeback that many people hoped Dissection would accomplish. Swedish black metal hasn't sounded this good in... forever. Not only is the music 100% killer, so is the recording. The drums could still be a bit more dynamic and natural, but you can actually hear the bass! As I kind of alluded to in my Dark Tranquility post last Friday, I don't keep up with metal nearly as much as I used to and recording quality factors highly in our falling out. BM doesn't need to sound like a swarm of bees wrapped in a blanket. Haven't we moved past the point of where being "grim" and "necro" is all-important? What came off as otherworldly and inhuman 15-20 years ago doesn't work anymore and really, verges on Manowar-levels of self-parody. As for Watain, they may put off a bit of that vibe, but at least they've got the music to back it up.
Watain - Storm of the Antichrist
I'm a bit overburdened right now, so Nancy Baym will take care of today's mp3:
The Fine Arts Showcase's 2006 second record, "Radiola", was a rare gem of sonic perfection, traversing genres and sounds in a poignant and catchy 35 minute journey. And what better to follow that up with than... a cover album of songs by The Rough Bunnies, a friend's obscure lofi band? Hey, why not? Especially if it all sounds as good as this first single, "Dance with yr shadow". Always an evocative (yet never maudlin) singer, Gustaf Kjellvander's got the sound of heartbreak, confusion, and longing down so perfectly that he makes a romantic like me want to take him home and fix what ails him in 17 seconds flat. Surely a new speed record. It's a sad song about the angst of being blown off by someone you thought you had a thing with wrapped in plaintive verses and a retro new-wave hook that can cause serious infectious reaction. If only the second half were as compelling as the first.
Note: The album is now set for a May 25 release. Probably. Read more.
The Fine Arts Showcase - Dance with yr shadow