The Silent Ballet reviews BJ Nilsen
The Silent Ballet reviews BJ Nilsen's "The invisible city": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3090/Default.aspx
Tag: Reviews
Tysta Mari
Sverige casino
T.M.R.
A lot has happened to Tysta Mari since their previous release. "Sverige casino" features a more confident and creative band now that they've once and for all stepped out of the shadow of old Swedish ghost Ebba Grön and are walking confidently down their own path. They experiment more on this album and go back and forth over the borders, but somehow they are still able to stay within the frame of mainstream punk and they do so with ease. In the end, isn't that what Swedish punk is all about anyway? To embed insults and obscenities into catchy tunes that won't leave its victim alone for weeks? Their last effort "Tjugo minuter över tre" had almost everything I wanted in a record: the politics, the right amount of shouting and the mainstreamed punk mindset. With "Sverige casino" Tysta Mari takes another step towards perfection. Almost there now.
- Morten Frisch
PopMatters reviews FM Belfast
PopMatters reviews the American release of the FM Belfast album "How to make friends": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/117902-fm-belfast-how-to-make-friends/
The Silent Ballet reviews "Blackjazz"
The Silent Ballet weighs in on Shining's highly regarded new album "Blackjazz": https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3087/Default.aspx
Joel Alme reviewed at The Line of Best Fit
The Line of Best Fit reviews Joel Alme's new record "Waiting for the bells": https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/02/joel-alme-waiting-for-the-bells/
Still Single: Liechtenstein, The Faintest Ideas, more
Still Single covers the Liechtenstein/The Faintest Ideas split on : https://still-single.tumblr.com/post/369870062/liechtenstein-the-faintest-ideas-searching-for-the
Also mentioned, Tom Karlsson's "Pojknacke" LP and Molnbär av John's 7" on .
Abandon
The dead end
Black Star Foundation/Discouraged Records
Abandon have always had an air of grace about them that belies their sludgy roots and perhaps that's down to the integral part that Mehdi Vafaei's pump organ plays in laying the foundation on which the band's music is constructed. Whether it's pushed to the forefront of the music, as in "There is no escape" or "The dead en", or looming with menace behind guitar-driven tracks such as "Lost we are" or "It's all gone", it's difficult to imagine Abandon having an impact as sinister as they do without. That's not to say they would lack appeal without it. The Göteborg doom crew have always done a sterling job in constructing some of the most crushing and heavy gut-churners out there and they know their craft like seasoned professionals. On "The dead end" they once again prove that they can write songs capable of tearing the very souls from those who embark on a listening experience and they achieve that not only by utilizing the sheer power behind their collective instrumentation, but by knowing when to drop an all-out aural depth charge and when to recede back into the darkness to create an eerie, transcendental mood that's almost hypnotic. Vocalist Johan Carlzon sadly passed away before this album met its awaiting public, but some sort of comfort can be taken in knowing that this was, without doubt, the finest performance the man has given in a complete body of work that comprises nothing but exceptional output. The fact that he had, unlike many vocalists, the intelligence to use his talent sparingly, only when the music really required his presence, served to heighten the impact he had on Abandon's music and showcased not only a creative genius but also a certain modesty. A unique and essential memorial.
- John Norby
PopMatters reviews "Blackjazz"
PopMatters praises the new Shining album "Blackjazz": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/119585-shining-blackjazz/
Pitchfork reviews Anna Ternheim
Better late than never, Pitchfork reviews the US release of Anna Ternheim's "Leaving on a Mayday": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13889-leaving-on-a-mayday/
Lindstrøm & Christabelle
Real life is no cool
Smalltown Supersound
The 80s sitcom that runs in Lindstrøm's head must be a good one. His punchy pianos and retrofitted synthesizers don't just wink and nod to some tinny ancestor, they're as at home in the era as the TV families that materialized behind the electro-cheese of their theme songs. If that's true, then "Real life is no cool", Lindstrøm's album with seductive Norwegian-Mauritian songstress Christabelle might as well be "Family Matters". Lindstrøm is the whitewashed theme, and Christabelle a young Laura Winslow, the pristinely beautiful center of attention. But while "Family Matters'" stiff and unsexy theme may be the most ill-matched theme of all time, Lindstrøm has no problem relating to Christabelle -- his retrograde stylings are an oddly synchronous fit for her breathy delivery. Nowhere is this faultless latticework more noticeable than on "Keep it up" and "High and low", two songs that tower above the album. On these, Christabelle's ineffable sexiness reigns supreme. Lindstrøm's vocal production here is a sort of anti-social enabler: the subtle cracks and pops of Christabelle's half-whispered consonants actually succeed at creating an air of intimacy. That's a massive compliment given that it's a dance album. So "High and low" and "Keep it up" are the consummate singles: they've got enough holdover from the spacey futurism of 2008's "Where I go you go too" to please the diehards, and enough short-form nostalgia to seduce the iTunes generation. But elsewhere on the album, Lindstrøm's backwards gaze becomes pure pastiche. "Baby can't stop" is an MJ retread without the slightest hint of distinction, and "Lovesick"'s Survivor bassline is just that -- a Survivor bassline. Ultimately, though, this album comes as good news to those of us who found Lindstrøm's earlier work too inscrutable or too lengthy for consumption. "Real life is no cool" distills Lindstrøm to sitcom-sized morsels of dance music deeply invigorated by the smoky sensuality of Christabelle's vocals.
- Nathan Keegan
Sambassadeur track review at Pitchfork
Sambassadeur's "Stranded" gets a mediocre track review at Pitchfork: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11747-stranded/
The Silent Ballet reviews "Magic chairs"
The Silent Ballet reviews Efterklang's new album "Magic chairs", their first for big label : https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3073/Default.aspx
Dusted reviews "Blackjazz"
Dusted reviews the new Shining record "Blackjazz": https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5502
Galaxy Safari
Star of the masquerade
Granat Records
The type of music that Sweden's Galaxy Safari play can often fall into the abyss of boredom that only a handful of bands have successfully managed to escape. Big players like Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Unida and, to a lesser extent, Liberty 37 and Galactic Cowboys are all referenced here in one way or another and show that Galaxy Safari are adept at mimicking their outer influences and stamping their own initials on the outcome. However, an essential aspect that's quite often lost on a great number of bands attempting to follow this path is the concept of tempo variation and this is also a problem on "Star of the masquerade". The vast majority of songs on here follow the mid-upbeat tempo characteristic of this genre and it unfortunately detracts from an otherwise pleasing album. It's not so much that the album isn't enjoyable, rather it loses its potential impact by failing to address the need for variation in this area. Sure, tracks like opener "Save me" and "Far too long" kick the speed up a tad, but that's not exactly what it's about. It's about more divergence within the songs and without it we have an album that is disappointingly generic in feel and quickly tiring. It also, however, shows a band with the potential to pull a great recording out of the bag if they knuckle down and take some time to be creative instead of going for the quick fix.
- John Norby
The Sound Projector Invasion Table
The Sound Projector rounds up a batch of recent releases from the always-excellent label, including stuff from Tsukimono, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words and more: https://www.thesoundprojector.com/2010/01/30/invasion-table-vacant-stare/