Efterklang track review at Pitchfork
Efterklang's new single "Modern drift" gets a track review at Pitchfork: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11745-modern-drift/
Tag: Reviews
The Silent Ballet reviews Daníel Bjarnason
The Silent Ballet gives high marks to Icelandic composer Daníel Bjarnason: https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3065/Default.aspx
PopMatters likes Oh No Ono
PopMatters gives positive marks to the US release of Oh No Ono's "Eggs": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/119572-oh-no-ono-eggs/
The Movements
The world, the flesh and the devil
Alleycat Records
"How long is too long" is the name of the first track of The Movements latest album and, in many ways, that one song summarizes the rest of the album. I'm not saying that it all sounds the same, quite the opposite, but all the tracks leaves me with the same feeling, the feeling of being incomplete. Or rather, having elements not completely belonging. Taking that first track as an example; the first minute blows me away every single time, but after that the mismatched vocals kill the buzz. There is something in each song, putting the lid on and it never really reaches its climax.
- Morten Frisch
Tortyr
Ingen kommer undan
D-takt & Råpunk
There's not really that much to say about Sweden's Tortyr other than if you like your crust bassy and dirty as hell then you'll love them. Musically, they're a mix of punk and crust with a tiny hint of death metal that goes a long way to surpassing the likes of genre luminaries Skitsystem in the heaviness stakes. As with a lot of this type of music, however, it tends to get a bit samey after a few tracks. Thankfully, Tortyr do offer a little in the way of variation, although not nearly enough. "De blindas lakej" kicks off like an oldschool Swedish death metal effort, and doesn't sound a million miles away from something you'd expect from an early-90s Entombed. For me, at least, it's the track of the album and showcases an aspect of this band that they should really explore. Vocally, there's some work to be done here. It's just too shouty-screamy and, although that's the style generally used for this type of music, it's clear that these guys would benefit greatly from the odd death-growl passage here and there. It's more of this type of variation -- both musically and vocally -- that could elevate Tortyr to greater recognition and see them output a truly monstrous album. Here's hoping for next time...
- John Norby
PopMatters reviews Hypocrisy
PopMatters reviews the latest Hypocrisy album "A taste of extreme divinity": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/118764-hypocrisy-a-taste-of-extreme-divinity/
Personally, I think that Peter Tägtgren's production is always terribly flat and plastic and has ruined way too many would-be decent albums, so I have very little interest in checking this out. Adrien Begrand says underrated, I say over.
The Silent Ballet reviews Tobias Hellkvist, Musette
New Scandinavian reviews at The Silent Ballet today include Musette - "Datum and Tobias Hellkvist's latest record "Evolutions".
Pitchfork reviews "One-armed bandit"
Pitchfork reviews the new Jaga Jazzist album "One-armed bandit": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13822-one-armed-bandit/
Alog split reviewed at The Silent Ballet
The Silent Ballet reviews the Alog/Astral Social Club split 12" on : https://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/3044/Default.aspx
Ja Ja Ja
Live @ The Lexington, London, UK 01/21/10
Scandinavian club nights (with or without bands playing) have been a regular feature in London for quite some time now and the new kid on the block is Ja Ja Ja, who started a monthly club night at The Lexington last November. The Lexington is one of London's most exciting venues at the moment, some of the most up-and-coming bands play there, and the bar area downstairs is fantastic. Anyway, since there were three bands playing there was no time to hang out downstairs, but one had to stay upstairs (which is more grimey than downstairs, but still kind of nice in a quirky way). First out were Iceland's Leaves who left me rather bored, reminding me of a dull Radiohead. Next up were Norwegians Simon Says No! who were not as boring as Leaves but even less to my taste. They've been compared to shoegaze mammoths such as Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, but being no great fan of either of those two bands, I am probably not their target audience. It was not a good start to the evening, but thankfully Icelandic band Sudden Weather Change somehow lived up to their name and put on a brilliant show, sounding like a band from the mid 80s, and thus ending my night on a high. Ja Ja Ja is a great night out though and I'll without a doubt return to it. I'm sure some fantastic bands will end up playing, it's definitely worth keep an eye out for who they've got on the bill.
- Stefan Nilsson
PopMatters, Dusted review Lindstrøm and Christabelle
PopMatters weighs in on the Lindstrøm & Christabelle collaboration "Real life is no cool": https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/119177-lindstrm-and-christabelle-real-life-is-no-cool/
Dusted covers the record as well, in probably the best of the reviews I've seen so far: https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5473
Dusted reviews Ólöf Arnalds
Dusted reviews the new Ólöf Arnalds album "Við og við": https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5470
New Found Land
We all die
Fixe Records
It's not the modest aesthetic of "We all die" that bothers me -- in fact, at times it's starkly beautiful -- it's more the anonymous approach that New Found Land employs to achieve it. First, Anna Roxenholt's vocals -- the obvious centerpiece of the album -- are hampered by an Aryan lilt that too closely matches her female superiors. Normally, that would be a compliment, but despite her best imitations, her wintry tones cannot carry the hackneyed minimalia of Karl Krook's guitar. Absent here are the petulant flourishes that buttress Lykke Li's sparser arrangements, or the intimate effervescence of Hello Saferide's empty-room canvas. Second, though "We all die" is focused in its attempt to create a certain atmosphere, I remain unconvinced by their tired glockenspiel-and-acoustics palette, a palette that's beginning to plague the whole of Nordic lo-fi. In fact, "We all die"'s the best moments are the subtle departures from these lo-fi doldrums, like the rollicking "Come to me" and the upbeat end of "All the nights". Ultimately, I could decry the unremarkable filler of Krook's backup vocals, or irrationally complain that a young songstress with the sultry voice of winter has yet to approximate the hallowed of Sweden's indie scene. But after repeated listens, I've found a certain solace in "We all die", an unmistakable beauty that seems to well up from its very core, spilling out onto the austere repetition of "I would, I would, I would" on "In colour", and tempering the melismatic "My love, my love" on "Come to me". Despite the shortcomings, it's these fleeting moments of sublime beauty that assure me: New Found Land has the perfection of their bedroom aesthetic in their sights. I'll ignore the impurities and wait for the follow-up.
- Nathan Keegan
Pitchfork review Lindstrøm, jj
Pitchfork reviews the Lindstrøm & Christabelle collaboration "Real life is no cool": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13848-real-life-is-no-cool/
Also at Pitchfork, a surprisingly downbeat track review for jj: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11720-let-go/
Pitchfork pans new Serena-Maneesh single
Pitchfork is not big on the new Serena-Maneesh track "Ayisha abyss": https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11716-ayisha-abyss/