Fine Arts Showcase Make a Dolophine Smile

February 16, 2009 at 2:33 am | In Music, Sweden, mp3 | 1 Comment
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The Fine Arts Showcase

Gustaf Kjellvander and his Fine Arts Showcase return in March with album number four and it’s a return to singing his own songs.  Previous album Fine Arts Showcase Sings Rough Bunnies was an entire record dedicated to the primitive genius of Swedish garage band the Rough Bunnies, it was great, but didn’t feel like a proper Fine Arts Showcase album.  Not so this time, Gustaf is back with 10 new songs and a proper FAS album.  It’s been deemed a breakup record by Gustaf himself, who apparently broke up with his girlfriend while writing the songs for the album.  At one point the working title of the record was Capitalism Hates the Fine Arts Showcase because they were having trouble raising the cashola to record it, but they reconsiderd and are calling it Dolophine Smile.    One of the songs from it , Friday On My Knees  is currently available on a 12 inch from Adrian Recordings and another one has been made available as a free download.  The album according to the Adrianne website is out on 25 March, but It’s a Trap says it’s out next week on 18 February.  While you’re guessing which one is correct, here’s London My Town.

mp3: Fine Arts Showcase – London My Town (from Dolophine Smile)

The Return of the Single of the Week and the Legends

September 26, 2008 at 9:26 pm | In Labrador, Music, Single of the Week, Sweden, mp3 | 1 Comment
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Buying a Legends album is a proposition that require some degree of a leap of faith. Reason being, is that you can pretty much guarantee that it will sound nothing like the previous record. Their first album Up Against the Legends was a slice of C-86. Second album Public Radio was all minimalist, deep, and dark with melodic bass like early New Order, Cure and Felt. Then album number three, Facts and Figurines went all light and synthy euro disco. So if you’ve followed the legends at all, you can pretty much guarantee that the album number four is not going to sound like the last one.

So what can you expect from the Legends for their next album?  According to sources, main legend Johan Angergård is in desperate need of noise and  is holed up in the studio surrounded by effects pedals and broken amps creating new kinds of distortion for the next Legends record. As a primer, they have a new single called Seconds Away which is being offered up on 5 November from Labrador records. It’s a welcome return to familiar territory of the first record. Pop songs honey drenched in squealing feedback like the Jesus and Mary Chain made de rigeur on Psychocandy specifically,  Never Understand and Living Inside Me. Ear piercing feedback will fill your head throughout most of the song, but there’s a point mid way in it where the distortion falls away and gives way to a melodic bass line like the ones Adorable use to do.  With Seconds Away, The Legends have dialed it in to near perfection.

mp3: The Legends – Seconds Away (from the upcoming Single on Labrador)

No Synthesizers, No Drum Machines

August 25, 2008 at 8:50 am | In Music, Single of the Week, Sweden, mp3 | Leave a Comment
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When we last heard from Luleå, Sweden’s Park Hotell they had just released their Guest Who Stayed Forever ep. On that outing they were using synthesizers and sequencers. That was over a year ago, and it seems in the interim the band have gone totally organic, emphatically stating that their new album contains no artificial ingredients as in synthesizers and drum machines. They’re about to release their first album on Ultra Radio Records. It’s produced by Jari Haapalain who, when he’s not playing guitar for the Bear Quartet, produces albums by the likes of the Concretes (S/T first album) and Ed Harcourt (Strangers) and Camera Obscura (Let’s Get Out of this Country). Haapalain not only is twiddling knobs for Park Hotell, but he’s also plays drums on the record in lieu of a drum machine.

Whenever I hear Park Hotell I can’t help but be reminded of the under appreciated Close Lobsters, and Dead Ringers, the first song they’ve released from the new record is no exception. The song starts off with singular pounding drums that quickly builds into a ringing anthem. The soaring vocals and sharply jangling guitars are nicely topped off with backing vocals from Taxi Taxi! twins Johanna and Miriam. You think that the dizzying chorus is going to be the best part of the song, but just before the end the manic jangle of guitars turns into a Big Country type e-bowed guitar solo that will have you reaching for the repeat button, like I have done so many times with this song. Bring on the album!

mp3: Park Hotell – Dead Ringers

Sad Day for Puppets, Happy Day for Me

February 22, 2008 at 1:46 pm | In Music, New Music, Shoegaze, Sweden | 1 Comment
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Sad Puppets

How do you find new music on the cacophonous internet? Do you sit back a wait for it to come to you from a few select sources, do you have a complex RSS reader to feed you, or are you just well connected and know the right people? Maybe it’s a little of all those and some others. Me, I just wonder aimlessly around reading a lot, listening to a lot, wasting a lot of time essentially. Yesterday I was doing what I do, reading other blogs, It’s a Trap specifically and came across new Swedish band Sad Day for Puppets. It was the shoegaze tag that initially caught my eye, I’m a sucker for that tag. After listening to them, I wouldn’t really say they’re shoegaze, but more of a Mazzy Star, Mojave 3 or Concretes kind of vibe with their slightly country sound and the precious vocals of Anna and Annika Eklund.

There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of information about the band, but when you’re new I guess you don’t have much of a history. Judging from the picture I’d guess that Anna and Annika are identical twins, or they’re just sisters with the same haircut. I can tell you that their debut EP is called Just Like a Ghost and is slated for release in April on Swedish label HaHa Fonogram home of Radio LXMBRG (not to be confused with Welsh group Radio Luxembourg). For now you can head on over to their MySpace page and check out four fine songs with very strong pop sensibilities and start counting down the days to their April release.

myspace: Sad Day for Puppets

Happy 100th Labrador

January 21, 2007 at 9:41 pm | In Labrador, Music, Sweden | 3 Comments

Labrador LogoLabrador records seems to be the label for Swedish music. Granted they only release records with a certain type of sound, the eighties, synth pop, twee, and shoegaze all come to mind. Those are, at least, the jumping off points for a lot of the bands on the label. Over the years Labrador has consistently found Swedish bands that fit that sound and style. I find it amazing that there are so many bands like this in such a small country. Writing catchy pop songs must be a required class to graduate high school there.

It turns out that Labrador has been putting out records for nearly 10 years now. In fact they’re at release number 100. For this special occasion they’ve put together a four CD box set called a complete history of popular music containing one song from each of the 100 releases. Not only do you get 100 songs, but you get a hefty booklet with interviews, a history of Labrador and track by track liner notes. Not bad for 22 Euros ($28) direct from the label, or you can head on over to Darla (Darla is the exclusive US distributor of stuff Labrador.) and pre-order it for 30 clams. The track list is heavy on Club 8, Acid House Kings, Radio Dept. and the Legends since these bands have been around the longest and have multiple releases on the label. You also get to hear a track from the first two records Labrador put out, Sleeping Single and a Single Bite. Both were 7″ singles containing 4 tracks from 4 bands. I kinda wish they would have put all eight of these songs on the box set, since they’re no longer available and were never available on CD. I’ve posted the Neil Armstrong song from a Single Bite here before. For this special occassion here are the three other tracks from that 7″.
A Single Bite
First Floor Power: Car Travel Far
Soul Ryders: U-turn
Neil Armstrong: Fastest Girl
Hell on Wheels: The Soda

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