Fever Ray coming to a European city near you
March 31, 2009 Posted by admin at 9:46 am
10 Apr Motel Mozaique, Rotterdam
11 Apr The Royal Festival Hall, London
20 Jun Sonar By Night, Barcelona
03 Jul Roskilde Festival, Roskilde
04 Jul Arvika Festival, Arvika
12 Aug Öyafestivalen, Oslo, Oslo
14 Aug Way Out West, Göteborg
16 Aug Flow, Helsinki
Fever Ray Tour 2009 from Fever Ray on Vimeo.
Fever Ray on Pitchfork
March 31, 2009 Posted by admin at 9:38 am
Influential independent online magazine Pitchfork has reviewed Fever Ray‘s self-titled debut album, giving the record 8.1 out of 10!
Below is an excerpt from the review, which says of the album – “committed listens will reveal this to be as nuanced and as rich of a production as anything either Dreijer has done.”
Pitchfork Best New Music, March 20, 2009
“The highlights are many. Opener “If I Had a Heart” is a shivering, timely meditation on greed, immorality, and lust for power that dovetails nicely with AIG and Madoff (“This will never end cause I want more/ More, give me more, give me more”); “I’m Not Done” is a pressurized squall that culminates with Karin dueting with a helium-voiced version of herself; while seven-minute closer “Coconut” rumbles on a pattern of synths and staccato drums before a ceremonious wall of voices arrive at the midpoint to march it to a close. Except, “close” implies it was written: the more time you spend with Fever Ray, the more you become convinced that these songs aren’t written so much as they’re temporarily let out. They’re too starved, too eerie, and too transfigured to have been anything but.”
On the road again
March 27, 2009 Posted by admin at 4:25 pm
Lost Valentinos are launching Serio from their debut album Cities of Gold with an Australian tour throughout April!
The Serio Tour
April 9th at the Fly By Night Perth (no advance tickets)
April 11th Live at the Zoo, Adealide (tickets from Moshtix)
April 17th Elsewehere, Gold Coast (tickets from Oztix)
April 18th The Globe, Brisbane (tickets from Oztix)
April 22nd Beach Road Hotel, Bondi (no advance tickets)
April 24th Northc ote Social, Melbourne (tickets from the venue)
May 1st The Annandale, Sydney (tickets from the venue)
Lost Valentinos are also currently travelling from Melbourne to Sydney on the Bacardi Express! You can read about all the action thanks to Groupie Magazine, who are daily blogging from the train… CHOO CHOO!!!
Lost Valentinos ‘Serio’ video, directed by Dave Ma
March 13, 2009 Posted by admin at 5:19 pm
This week, Myspace international premiered the video for Serio by Lost Valentinos.
Here’s what Pedestrian Magazine had to say about the clip:
Embracing the South American heritage of the brothers Santamaria (bassist Pat and guitarist Andrew) the band don tribal headdresses and Incan-style paraphernalia or what I like to call “suitable attire for getting Pagan in the woods”. Director Dave Ma, the man behind multiple Foals film clips and the brother of guitarist Jono succinctly captures the visual aesthetic the band have so carefully crafted thus far – it’s all blackened trees, skulls, journeymen, sand dunes and gold dust – and fuck it looks good.
I first called Serio “the sunshine inflected slow burner to the best hands-in-the-air beach party you’ve ever been to” and upon watching the film clip I could say much the same thing. It’s both refreshing and rare that a band is so confidently singular in their sound, visual identity and ethos whether that be animal monikers, other-worldly cover art, or fantastical back stories. Drums not dead, and neither is the magic.
MSTRKRFT ‘Fist Of God’
March 13, 2009 Posted by admin at 4:50 pm
“We tried to make ‘festival weapons’ so when we play them it’s like throwing a million hatchets in to the audience”
- Jesse F. Keeler, MSTRKRFT
Mysterious Toronto duo MSTRKRFT (pronounced ‘Master craft’) is the project of puck rocker Jesse F. Keeler and studio wizard Al-P, two luminaries of the Canadian music scene who in 2004 turned their talents towards dance floors after years of rocking punk mosh-pits.
The pair have been collaborating on and off since 1998, but it wasn’t until 2004 that the two spent a lot of time in the studio together, after Jesse enlisted AL-P to record his new band, Death From Above 1979. When DFA 1979 disbanded in 2006, Jesse and Al-P had already decided to pour all their creative energy into their MSRTKRFT project and released debut collaborative album The Looks in 2006 (in Australia on Modular Records). An instant runaway success in clubs and on radio, MSTRKRFT’s mixing of rock and dance with equal abandon and precision placed them at the forefront of electronic production and proved what no one thought was possible – that two punk kids could take on the dance music world and come out on top.
For their sophomore album Fist Of God, MSTRKRFT have signed with etcetc through exclusive license with Dim Mak Records. With guest appearances from r’b'n superstar John Legend, Missy Elliot protegee Lil Mo, and notorious hip hop heads E-40 and Ghostface Killah, and combining the progressive electronica of Daft Punk and Justice with the pop sensibilities of Pnau, MSTRKRFT have delivered one of the best cross-over dance records of 2009.
Bounce featuring N.O.R.E., the lead single from Fist Of God, is out now with remixes from A-Trak, The Bloody Beetroots and Felix Cartal.
Fist Of God is out April 10 on iTunes, and April 24 physically through etcetc, via Universal Music Australia.
Jenny Wilson ‘Hardships!’
March 13, 2009 Posted by admin at 3:48 pm
After the significant acclaim for her debut album Love And Youth (released on etcetc back in 2006) Jenny Wilson has returned with her sophomore effort Hardships!
On Hardships! the idiosyncratic poignant pop of Love And Youth remains, but the production is more mature and considered and clearly demonstrates Jenny’s musical development. After the birth of her second child in late 2006, Jenny decided to build a studio and launch a label for her next album and thus is wholly responsible for the sounds on Hardships! Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Trumpet and Banjo are merged with classic piano pop, r’n'b beats and joyous vocal melodies to build a complex, engaging and wonderfully entertaining release worth the reward of repeated listens.
Hardships! will released April 17 on ectetc through Universal Music Australia.