Tag: Mp3s
August already? Gah, the months just keep flying by. But, as always, a new month means a new album spotlight and my latest pick is Peter Bjorn and John's wonderful third album "Writer's block". The single "Young folks" has been making the rounds for a few months now (I do believe I was probably one of the first to post about it), but as a longtime fan of the trio, let me encourage you to dig deeper into their work. PB&J's latest might not be their greatest ("Falling out" still holds that title in my book), but it's still a far more satisfying album than what most bands are capable of. To help you understand further, here's contributor Nancy Baym:
Everyone is celebrating the single "Young folks" from Peter Bjorn and John's new record "Writer's block", but every bit as appealing is "Let's call it off" in which our protagonist struggles to avert a relationship he knows better than to start over a very catchy groove with a loose, rubbery underbelly. It's got what's best about the album in its intruiging rhythms and great atmosphere and, unlike some of the other songs on the record, it keeps its punch the whole way through.
Peter Bjorn and John - Let's call it off
Denmark's Late Night Venture is the continuation of the band once known as Flying Virgins. I don't remember having heard anything from them as their previous incarnation, but the band's debut album under the new name is pretty darn nice. It's a mix of darker, Interpol-esque rock balanced nicely with melodic emopop ala Last Days of April. Frontman Søren Hartvig's squeaky vocals might be an acquired taste, but the hook on the chorus of the song I've posted today should jump out and grabs you regardless. I often put all my new music on shuffle while I work, just waiting for songs to catch my attention and this is definitely one that stood out. Nicely done.
Late Night Venture - Modesto
I've been talking about (and listening to) a lot of goth/darkwave recently, so I'm gonna keep on going with it. Diabolique formed in the mid-90s out of the ashes of Liers in Wait, one of the many New Wave of Swedish Death Metal bands that helped establish Göteborg as an international metal mecca. And if you go back even further, you'll find that frontman/guitarist Kristian Wåhlin (aka Necrolord) was also a founding member of the band Grotesque with vocalist Tomas Lindberg, pre-At the Gates. Kristian is also renown for his many cover paintings that graced oh-so-many of the 90's best metal releases (see a list at Kristian's official website). Anyhow, Diabolique released their first album "Wedding the grotesque" in 1997, and while it's a fairly decent example of doom metal with goth-leanings, it wasn't until their next release, 1999's "The black flower" that they really hit their stride. Heavy, shoegazer guitars mixed with deep vocals and a steady, pounding rhythm section. What I enjoy most about it is that heaviness - even though the music is most definitely not metal at this point, they still have a thick and beefy guitar tone that evokes the same sort of feeling. The bass is especially huge and driving. While I rank "The black flower" as one of my favorite Swedish CDs, the song I've posted today actually comes from the "Butterflies" EP that followed a year later. The music is a bit cleaner and lighter, but it's the vocals that really progressed the most. Kristian extends his range and instead of his usual baritone drone, he actually sings. I understand that many folks were turned off by that, but I think it works. Most of the time. The band's final album "The green goddess" (which I don't think was ever officially released, though somehow I did manage to find a copy in the used bin many years ago) goes even further by doing away with the deep vocals altogether and adding more electronic beats and synths. I absolutely hated it when I first heard it and I still can't say it's really worth tracking down. Regardless, eventually dissolved (probably at least partially due to label issues) and Kristian, along with drummer Hans Nilsson, eventually reunited with Lindberg in the band The Great Deceiver. But that's a post for another Friday...
Diabolique - Rain
Got a new mp3 today from Umeå-based punk-rockers The Vicious from their latest 7" "Obsessive". If dig classic snotty singalong punk like Randy or Regulations (with whom they share a member) then you'll definitely love this too. A lot of times this sorta retro-sounding sound comes off as forced, but somehow the Scandinavian punks usually seem to pull it off. No detached irony, no snide winks; just 100% quality rock'n'roll. The other point of interest concerning The Vicious is that this is the new band of Sara Almgren from The (International) Noise Conspiracy. Sorry to those of you hoping that she'd return to her moshcore roots (she was in band Doughnuts way back when), but it looks like it ain't gonna happen. Yet. C'mon, isn't it about time someone started a Chokehold tribute band or something?
The Vicious - It's all a lie
So yeah, JR Ewing is breaking up. No big surprise really, especially considering the shelflife of so many other hardcore bands. Frankly, I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. It's still a pity though 'cause their final album "Maelstrom" is the best thing they've ever done. I suppose it's good they decided to go out on a high-point, I just wish their recordings always matched up to their reputation as a fierce live band. Hearing their older work you can barely tell, at least to my ears. Stronger, more mature songwriting and a much bigger major-label recording budget usually doesn't equal success for hardcore bands trying to rise above the DIY level, but these dudes worked it out. It's also amazing how strangely prescient the whole thing feels - there's a definite theme of conclusions running throughout the record. From "Change is nothing (everything is)" (the song I've posted today) to "For we are the dead" and "Here I vanish", it now seems obvious that the end was nigh. Well, until the inevitable reunion I guess.
JR Ewing - Change is nothing (everything is)
It's been hot here. Ridiculously hot. We're talking five straight days with peaks at 104°F/40°C. It's enough to make me wish that I still worked in an office so I could indulge in some air conditioning. Shit ain't right, lemme tell ya. I tried listening to frigid black-metal to make me feel cooler, but to be honest, the only thing that made me feel better was summery pop. Angry, grim music simply exasperated by misery and happy music did the exact opposite. One act that's greatly contributed to my improved positive attitude is The Second Band. Their latest EP "Your dark side is on the phone" is seven songs of piano-driven bliss. The opening track "Wild in the wind" which I've posted today is sure to draw a smile on even the most crotchety character. Case in point: it worked on me.
The Second Band - Wild in the wind
Got another big batch of stuff from Hybris over the weekend, including almost all of the label's various CDR single releases which I am now offering up as paid mp3 downloads. The latest of those singles is "Portion control" by The Kid, my pick for today's mp3 post. Hybris is easily one of Sweden's most exciting labels right now and I'd have to say that The Kid is my favorite artist on the label. I've been on somewhat of a retro goth/industrial kick recently, so their sound fits perfectly with everything else I've been listening to lately. It's only natural that after the post-punk revival we get a goth renaissance. That's the way it works, right? Oh, and don't forget that besides the mp3 I've posted for download, there's also the video for the track, viewable here: https://www.hybrisfiles.com/video/thekid-portioncontrol.mp4
The Kid - Portion control
Having mentioned The Hives in passing yesterday, I figure it's as good a time as any to to make them my Friday flashback post. I've only seen them once and it was on their first US tour supporting The (International) Noise Conspiracy. The band had already started to gather a decent amount of hype in the UK at that point, but were still mostly unknown in the States. A few radio stations had started to playlist them, but that's it. The crowd, outside of myself and a maybe a few other folks, were totally ignorant about the band. They were there for t(I)NC and never knew what hit 'em. All I know is that t(I)NC must've been majorly bummed that tour because I'm sure they got shown up each and every single night. No amount of mic twirling from Dennis could've saved things for them. The Hives ruled the night and, after that tour, everyone in the world knew it. So here's a live track from that era, recording live by Swedish Radio at the Brixton Academy in 2002.
The Hives - Main offender (live)
Even though we haven't heard anything new from The Hives in awhile, it's not as if Scandinavian garage-rock suddenly went away. The scene has been going strong for a long time and was one of the first things I discovered once I started to venture beyond the realms of metal in the mid-90s (via The Hellacopters, of course). The Stores are a Danish threesome continuing the fine tradition. I love the mix of that cavernous surf-rock guitar tone over a driving rhythm section. The main hook riff is introduced and almost immediately abandoned while the bass and drums work hard to make sure to hold everything together. The band is so tight and on-fire, it gives the guitarist room to do pretty much whatever he wants. It doesn't matter if he's just wailing on chords or working out new ways to tear apart the main theme, it all sounds great. Funny to think that these guys are labelmates with Attrap, but it's true. As you should know, good music is good music, regardless of genre.
The Stores - The TV reminds me of what to be
I like the dichotomy of switching between heavy gloom and doom and happy, sunny pop. So it's only natural that I follow yesterday's post on the mighty Switchblade with something just a bit more appropriate for the season. A track from Out Of Clouds' "Into your lovely summer" EP is an obvious choice. The band actually does have their melancholy moments (as is the case with most Swedish pop), but the opening track "Like a lily" is nothing but sweetness. Good tunes for good times.
Out of Clouds - Like a lily
Switchblade's latest (and greatest) self-titled album is out now in the US via Cyclop Media. Two songs, one clocking in around 30 minutes and one topping off around minute 17. I considered posting a track, but man - that's a lot of bandwidth. And besides, the whole thing is available for streaming here. Posting samples would be redundant. What I have for you instead is the original version of track 2, the song featuring Mattias Friberg of Logh on vocals and additional guitar. Originally released on the tour-only 7"/CDR back in 2004, the song marks an important point in the band's development. It's less focused on plodding mid-tempo Isis-esque riffage, more on space and texture. The guitars are still plenty heavy, but they're brighter, cleaner and much more sparse. You can hear every note of each ringing chord - nothing is lost in overly sludgy tone. Think of how Shellac's guitar sound is still threatening without necessarily being totally overdriven and distorted. The song builds slowly and remains focused on Mattias' half-spoken vocals before breaking out into an awesome lurching riff at around 4:40. Obviously, it takes awhile to get there, but the journey is worth it as the moodiness of the song's first half is just as important as the bombastic conclusion. If you like Khanate, but sometimes wish they were a bit less esoteric, this is for you.
Switchblade - 7:05
Despite the ridiculous, pretentious title, Ef's debut full-length "Give me beauty... or give me death!" is actually quite good. I didn't really have high expectations since I found their earlier demo material to be lacking, but I have to admit that they really pulled it together. The playing is much more solid and the arrangements are tight and really flow nicely, exactly the way good post-rock should. Perhaps they listened to my criticism that "less is more" because the busy math-rock riffs I disliked in the past are gone. Regardless of where the inspiration came from, it's a marked improvement. This particular track I've posted also shows that these guys are more than capable of incorporating string arrangements as well. Genre aficionados will probably complain that the songwriting isn't all that original (it's not), but it's solid enough that I don't care. It sounds good and that's enough for me. Originality it totally overrated anyway.
Ef - Ett
Finland's Amorphis was a very important and formative band for me when I first started to get interested in Scandinavian music. I first heard a song from the "Thousand lakes" album on a Relapse comp and was immediately blown away by the combination of brutal death metal and classic folk melodies. Integrating humppa polka with metal sounds like a perfectly awful idea on paper, but I assure you it works (witness the advent of Finntroll for an even better example, but that's a post for another Friday). Even better, the dark imagery of Finnish epic poem "The Kanteletar" from which the band derives their lyrics fit perfectly in metal. The band's next album "Elegy" in 1996 was a huge turning point for the band as they had just added 'clean' vocalist Pasi Koskinen and started to soften their sound. Of course, many in the death metal community were less that impressed, but I found the balance of old and new to be just right. Subsequent albums found the band going even softer and my attention has drifted elsewhere, but "Elegy" will always remain a highlight of my collection (though I hear their most recent is a return to form, I have yet to listen myself). Todays mp3 however, does not come directly from said album, but instead from the "My kantele" EP which came out soon afterwards. It's on the mellower side, so don't be scared off by my earlier mentions of brutal metal - it's not even close. The Hawkwind and Kingston Wall covers that also appear on the disc should give you a much better idea of where this is at genre-wise.
Amorphis - The brother-slayer
Ellen Beach is the kind of band that totally frustrates me. The band is capable of writing some brilliant songs, but they need more discipline and self-awareness. Their self-released album "Yaw / Yawn" (or double-EP, if you will) features quite a few inspired gems, but it also padded with enough filler to almost kill my enthusiasm. Thankfully for them, it's just "almost," not "completely." Take the song I've posted today for example: the lead melody has hooks for days and is absolutely dripping with the kind of heartfelt, yearning qualities I love to hear in my melancholic pop. The way the guitar takes over the lead vocal line on the final chorus is a perfect conclusion to the song, but then they add a few final measures of a coda afterwards. It doesn't ruin the song, but it does leave a bad taste in my mouth. If they culled a few of the weaker songs and tightened up the arrangements, "Yaw / Yawn" would be a winner f'sure. The band's potential is ridiculously high, so let's hope they can live up to it. One last additional note: Ellen Beach is especially recommended for anyone into The Fine Arts Showcase. The bands share a similar, complimentary sound.
Ellen Beach - Roaring fields
I'm feeling extra tired and overworked today, so today's mp3 post is the same as the track that goes with the new Bobby Baby profile piece I just posted. Check out the song, read my lil' interview and enjoy!
Bobby Baby - Love to dance