Tag: Mp3s
Today's post belongs to Simon Tagestam:
It's a trap! is mostly concentrated on music from the last few months, so to give you a little break from all this I'd like to present to you a song that was initially released 42 years ago. Lill Lindfors is a Swedish entertainer who's done a wide range of things, but her biggest achievement is surely her album "Du är den ende" from 1967. It's a bit of a varied mix that contains some annoying samba/bossanova/jazz numbers, but the true gold is the sad and slow songs that have got some of the most hardcore, cold and "punk" lyrics I've ever heard. The chorus to "Jag tycker inte om dig" goes "I don't like you, I'm not fond of you, but I've got a lot of sympathy," and it also contains the brilliant line "If you don't trust me when I whisper to you 'my love', you're right, because you're not that to me" (all sung in Swedish of course). It's great stuff, and one of few songs that I can listen to with my parents without either of us going insane (please feel free to do a Freudian interpretation).
Lill Lindfors - Jag tycker inte om dig
As far as Joy Division imitators go, at least Pen Expers tries to get the production right. The vocals however, are a different story. Ian Curtis' voice is full of morose and gloom whereas Alexander Arvman of Pen Expers is all warble and whine. It's Joy Division by way of Interpol, but far more affected. I don't think I'd be so hard of these guys if their sound wasn't so played out, but c'mon - we're moving on to 4th generation copies of copies here. If it wasn't for the raw, spacious production I doubt I'd even rate this at all. I have to say though, it's worth commending them for their guitar arrangements as they do a good job of knowing when not to play. That's a talent that's far too underrated. Otherwise, forget about it. Listen to the originals instead.
Pen Expers - The screen in my head
I really had high hopes about the new Thirdimension album "Before the end begins", so maybe that's why I feel so disappointed in myself for not enjoying it more. I like the band. I like the songs. I even really like the concept: a live album recorded in a church, taking full advantage of the venue's excellent acoustics. Frequent IAT contributor Nancy Baym wrote the liner notes, too. I should be all about this, right? I feel like a total ass for saying it, but the truth is that we're not connecting at all. I keep listening for a moment to grab me, but it's not happening. Yeah, the "Don't fear the reaper/Dream all day" mashup is inspired, but it's also kind of a novelty. All I can think about when I'm listening to this is how much it sounds like an acoustic song from The Who that's gone on too long. Keep in mind of course, that's not really all that damning - The Who are one of the greatest rock bands of all time y'know. It's not bad, it's just not nearly as good as I had hoped.
Thirdimension - Mondaymachine
Bertine Zetlitz was introduced to me as the "Norwegian Robyn", which isn't really true at all. Yes, they are both successful female pop artists, but Robyn is all about sass and Bertine is cool to the point of being cold. Even though I'm usually all about attitude, there can be something very alluring about this standoffish approach. Desire for the unobtainable? On the other hand, it also runs the danger of falling flat when the emotional distance is kept too wide. Unfortunately, Bertine's latest album "My Italian Greyhound" falls prey to the latter more often than not - it's only the select 2-3 tracks that work as they should. The lead single "500" is the winner by far. The production is very Dr. Dre SoCal funk and the vocals are kept very subdued. You immediately get the sense that Bertine is being less than truthful and, later in the song, she makes it very clear what's really going on. At first I didn't really think the song was all that special - it's all a bit too unassuming if you're not paying close attention - but repeated listens have proven otherwise.
Bertine Zetlitz - 500
Instead of working with his usual cast of Hidden Truckers, Kristofer Åström recorded his new album "RainawayTown" will a bunch of old country and blues guys. I haven't heard the whole record yet, but if I was to judge it solely based on the first single, I would have to say that it was a good move. The rootsy sound works well and is a fresh change for Kris at this point in his career. I like good, honest country music so I like this a lot. It's not the kind of song that whallops you over the head with a huge hook, but it brings a warm smile to my face every time I hear it. Can't wait to hear more!
Kristofer Åström - Just a little insane
I asked for more people to contribute to our weekly Bear Quartet posts and Viktor Ålander was the only guy to step forward. I asked him to share a bit about himself to go along with post and... nothing. All you get are his words and his song:
I got into BQ's music fairly late, and the first album I bought was "Ny våg". Hardly the easiest introduction to the band - though a catchy pop album compared to say... "Saturday night". The album as a whole is hit and miss, but the good easily outweighs the bad.
The song which really has stuck with me ever since is "Super confidence".
It's a strangely constructed song, with only two short verses stuck between long ominous passages of guitars and synthesizers. The second, Swedish verse always sends shivers down my spine. It might not be the most instantly gratifying Bear Quartet moment ever, but the song has amazing staying power and is still one of my favourites.
The Bear Quartet - Super confidence
When it came time to select bands for my first "Reader's companion" compilation, Fun was one of the few at the top of my list. They sound like Rapeman, so it's quite fitting that they're currently in Chicago at this very moment recording a new album with Steve Albini. Some of you might also note the brief "Kerosene" quote on the song I've posted today. Listen, there's a lot of bands that try to play this pigfuck style, but Fun is one of best. See them on tour:
03/10 - Ronny's, Chicago, IL w/Quatre Tete, Unique Chique, Gloria Story
03/11 - Lemp Arts, St. Louis, MO w/Muscle Brain, Dashchund
03/12 - Replay Lounge, Kansas City, MO w/This Is My Condition
03/13 - Sound Pony Lounge, Tulsa, OK
03/14 - 1919 Hemphill, Ft. Worth, TX w/The Cheat, Koji Kondo
03/15 - No Idea Records & Political Party presents SXSFest, Austin, TX
03/16 - 3299 Ivanhoe St., Baton Rouge, LA w/Brainworms
03/17 - Cave 9, Birmingham, AL w/Brainworms
03/18 - ISP (Stickfigure sunday matinee), Atlanta, GA w/Brickmason, Battlecat, Eether
03/19 - Lunchbox Records, Charlotte, NC
03/20 - Two Art Chicks, Greensboro, NC
03/21 - Solid Dudes House, Richmond, VA w/The Catalyst, Mouthbreather
03/22 - tba
03/23 - Sin-é, NYC, NY w/Marissa Nadler, Shy Child, Tim Fite, Pela
03/24 - Veggieplex Theatre, Philadelphia, PA
03/25 - tba
03/26 - tba
03/27 - Gooskis, Pittsburgh, PA
03/28 - Tower 2012, Cleveland, OH
Download more tracks here: https://www.noisecorewalze.com/?disco
Fun - Sportscoat
Time again for your weekly dose of Norwegian pop. Nathalie Nordnes is a young singer/songwriter out of Bergen and her second album "Join me in the park" was my first introduction to her. The music reminds me a lot of early Cardigans in that it's very light-hearted pop and almost loungey at times. The lyrics are banal, almost nauseatingly so, but the music so undemanding and easy to like, it still works if you're in the right mood. It's perfect summer music, it's not meant to be challenging or deep. It's also worth noting that, unlike the Cardigans, Nathalie surrounds herself with a crackerjack band of session musicians. Nothing indierock about it.
Nathalie Nordnes - Cars and boys
Ane Brun's first two albums failed to impress me - they're okay, but underwhelming considering the accolades afforded them. I'm not what it is, but they fail to resonate with me. However, the "Duets" album drastically changed my opinion and I found myself appreciating Ane in a whole new light. The more subdued production and the balance of other voices were just what I needed to hear I guess. So when Ane released a new live album recently, I was kind of excited to hear it. I'm not too big on live records unless they really change things up from the studio recording and since "Live in Scandinavia" is all-acoustic plus string quartet, it qualifies. Remember me saying the other day how The (International) Noise Conspiracy's "Live in Oslo" is my favorite record of theirs? The inclusion of the Jaga Jazzist horns on a few tracks is a big part of that. So yeah, Ane Brun live with strings - does it work? The answer is yes, very well indeed.
Buy "Live in Scandinavia": [click here]
Ane Brun - Balloon ranger (live)
Unless I told you (as I'm doing now) that The Spacious Mind was directly related to Säkert! (see yesterday's post), there's little chance you would make the connection on your own. Without reading the liner notes, that is. Henrik Oja, the man who produced and engineered the Säkert! album, is also one of the main creative forces behind Umeå-based psych-rockers The Spacious Mind. The band has been quietly releasing album after album since 1993 and I think that "Gentle path highway" is something like their 7th official CD release overall (they've also released plenty of CDRs and other errata, as you can see here). I enjoyed their last disc "Rotvälta" quite a bit, but it's six-part, hour-long jam was not the sort of thing I could just pop in the stereo on a whim. Not that the new one is all that different - it's still full of extended psych/folk improv sessions that harken back to Swedish pioneers such as Harvester, Parsson Sound and Trad, Gras och Stenar. The difference is that I immediately got into this new record and its shorter, more readily digestible pieces, especially the first track "Rider of the woodlands" which I've posted today. It's a long dirge based on a single looping and echoing guitar figure that slowly morphs and is built upon over the course of it's 17 minute length. That might seem like an awful long time, but the repeativeness sucks you in. Unfortunately, I suspect that most casual Säkert! fans won't be able to get into this and that's a shame. Open your miiiinds people!
The Spacious Mind - Rider of the woodlands
It was never a matter of if I was going to post something from Säkert!, the Swedish-language project of Annika Norlin aka Hello Saferide, only a matter of when. Naturally, I am predisposed to enjoy the record - how could I not? I'm obviously a big enough fan of Hello Saferide that I decided it was worth a couple thousand dollars to press her debut album on vinyl and promote it in the US. Factor in that Annika is backed on the record by some of Umeå's best musicians and I'm sold before I've heard a note. It's no secret that I hold Norrland's capital city near and dear to my heart - my label's first release was from KVLR, another band from that same city. So what do you get when you have Henrik Oja from The Spacious Mind plus Mats Hammarström and Daniel Berglund from Isolation Years all making music together? Hopefully you've heard the brilliant debut single "Vi kommer att dö samtidigt" already; if not please recitify that right away. Um, can you say pop hit of the year? It's good enough that it's already inspired an English cover version from The Animal Five. I'm a bit torn on which track is the runner-up - it was either "Allt som är ditt" or today's mp3 post "Sanningsdan". The former is a fantastic song, but it's also a bit more downbeat (it reminds me a lot of something from Johndoe's "Dødvinkel", one of my favorite albums from 2006), so I've gone with the latter. It's a duet with Martin Hanberg of Vapnet and it practically stands up and demands a video treatment. It also demands repeat plays with the way it stops, restarts and fades out. So infectious! I wish I could tell you what it's about, but I can't so I won't. Just enjoy the song.
Buy the self-titled album: [click here]
Säkert! - Sanningsdan (ft. Martin Hanberg)
Frequent contributor Matt Giordano has this week's BQ post:
It's always tough to choose your favourite Bear Quartet, because the variety is so much and the band's back catalogue is filled with so many EPs and LPs it's a bit overwhelming. For mine, I've chosen "I'm still her" from 2003's "Angry brigade". There's just something about the music in this song — it's absolutely gorgeous. Of course, Mattias Alkberg's hauntingly frail vocal take just further exemplifies the struggle of life and of self-realisation, and that's reflected in the somewhat [albeit purposely] confused song title. This track is cold, aching, and just stunning.
I'm still looking for more people to contribute their own thoughts on the mighty Bear Quartet. Best song, worst song, whatever you want - I want to know all about it. Get in touch!
The Bear Quartet - I'm still her
Back in the early 90s I went through a period of being all about industrial music. Part of that was a result of being heavily steeped in BBS culture, though I never did go as far as to sew old circuit boards into my army jacket or anything like that. The dumb shaved-under haircut - yes, I will admit to that. While some of that music has aged well (Skinny Puppy being a prime example, up to "Last rights" at least), most of it has not (please let me never hear "Pretty hate machine" ever again). I bring this up because, even though I quickly became immersed in punk for the rest of my teenage years, I still kept a sympathetic ear open to the sounds of industrial. Discovering Cold Meat Industry later that decade was like a godsend - not only did it satisfy my desire for more Scandinavian music, but it also made me nostalgic for my roots. That many CMI artists were also on the fringes of black-metal was a bonus.
1998's two-disc sampler "The absolute supper" is the perfect introduction to the sound of CMI. The first disc offered the more "melodic" (I use that term very lightly) side of the label and the second was almost all brutal noise. The standout track: Sanctum's curiously titled "{-}" also known as "The library song". I believe the pictograph is meant to represent the ladder referenced in the first line. This is about as pop-oriented as CMI will ever get and I suppose it's not too far off from Portishead, though the rest of Sanctum's material is far more cold and dark. Approach lightly!
Sanctum - {-}
A new month means a new album of the month selection for the record club, so if you'll look to the right you'll see that March's selection is "Museum of future sound", the new skweee comp on the way from Flogsta Danshall. This disc is so fresh, it won't be ready for shipping until mid-month, but you can preview a few tracks at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/flogstadanshall
Want to learn more about the new sensation known as skweee? Start with wikipedia and venture onward!
Also note that the price of subscription has gone up another dollar to $12/mo, still a total steal considering all the extras you get for being a member. I'm gonna try to hold it at this price for awhile, but we'll see how it goes. I gotta cover costs, y'know?
The other exciting news for the day is that I've started taking preorders on the new Logh 7" I'm putting out. It's been sent to press, so I expect to have the finished product within 3-4 weeks at the most. In the meantime, I've posted the b-side for download 'cuz I know that a lot of people are excited to hear it. Logh + Britta Persson covering the theme to "Twin Peaks". How awesome is that?
Logh - Into the night (live w/Britta Persson)
My god, "Smother + Evil = Hurt" is such an achingly beautiful song. It's the kind of song that grabs you right away, the very first time you hear it. And that longing, desperate vocal! It's a heartbreaker. But that's not the Kissaway Trail song I'm going to post for you today. By all means, go seek it out elsewhere, but I want to showcase the band's softer, more delicate side. They do the epic bombast thing very well, however it's songs like "It's close up faraway" that prove they have more to offer. That frail falsetto is gorgeous and the wordless refrain a perfect counterpoint. There are many obvious parallels to the Arcade Fire beyond them sharing the same cover artist and making good use of mandolin and banjo, the artist I'm reminded most of on this song is A-ha. It's that ineffable Nordic melancholy quality, I guess. The rest of the record leans more heavily towards the louder side of things, but the fact that they can pull off a piece like this shows them to be a force worth reckoning with. I would not be at all surprised if these guys blew up after SXSW.
The Kissaway Trail - It's close up faraway