It has become time to sum up another year that has gone by. Financially depressing and politically messy (yet possibly hopeful) it was a year of future concern. Wall-E was not the only one to raise the issue of pollution. The songs which were released captured the worry and melancholia of the year well. The Swedish people took Takida and tearful "Curley Sue" to their hearts and in my top ten songs of 2008 there are only two up tempo songs - even there one is about surrender and the other about deceit.
But before I give you that list, have a look at what I thought were the albums of the year. Despite heavy releases such as Metallica, Guns n Roses, Slipknot and AC/DC none of these made the list, other big names did however. Is the list too Swedish? Possibly.
1. Cult of Luna – Eternal Kingdom
2. In Flames – A Sense of Purpose
3. The Haunted – Versus
4. Backyard Babies – Backyard Babies
5. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Conor Oberst
6. The Hellacopters – Head Off
7. Gojira – The Way of All Flesh
8. Rise Against – Appeal to Reason
9. Ida Maria – Fortress Round My Heart
10. Kleerup - Kleerup
(11. Torche - Meanderthal)
Top 10 songs
1. Darling darling – The Hellacopters
2. Until we bleed – Kleerup ft. Lykke Li
3. Abandon – Backyard Babies
4. Snuff – Slipknot
5. If I surrender – The Color Fred
6. Deceit – Union Square
7. Peace Is Free – Black Stone Cherry
8. Ghost Trail – Cult Of Luna
9. Control. Alter. Delete – The Mirimar Disaster
10. Keep Me Warm – Ida Maria
(11. Rivers Run – The Haunted)
A year has gone by and many new musical discoveries have been made.
Ida Maria and Serenade For June were two of my first discoveries this spring.
Kate Nash made my summer golden (one year late, I KNOW) and Stars introduced fall with their beautiful "Personal". This Will Destroy You and Marionette, two very different sounding bands both took my breath away at concerts in Berlin.
And due to my recent move to Germany Turbostaat, Kettcar, Kommando Sonne-Nmilch and Deichkind have entered my life and made great impressions.
Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band and The Color Fred have been among the brighter EMOtional favourites during the year whereas Cavalera Conspiracy and Gojira stood out with heavy riffs.
Some who despite the major hype that surrounded them made an overwhelming impression were Kleerup, Lykke Li and The Faint.
And those who didn’t were Glasvegas and MGMT. Boring stuff.
The gig of the year was no doubt The Hellacopters at Debaser Medis. Amen.
28/12/2008
18/12/2008
Swedish punk fanzine Skitliv! tells the truth.
Skitliv!, a fanzine which during its three year existence interviewed bands such as Wolfbrigade, Skitsystem, Disfear and Massgrav has released it's 10th and last issue. In the extra thick release it is revealed that the whole thing was a joke from day 1.
"Challe" and "Fisen", the two guys behind the zine who always came across as a couple of sexistic and immature drug addicts are actually:
Joakim Andersson of Human Waste, Opposition and Döden loggar in and Joakim Staaf-Sylsjö, aka Sylen, from Dödsdömd, Human Waste and Totalt Jävla Mörker.
The two musicians wanted to loosen up the Swedish punk scene which they believe takes itself a bit to serious. They also wanted to see how far a joke could be taken and if you actually could joke about anything.
Having interviewed the guys a year ago I got to know the truth behind the zine already then but was never told who the brains behind it actually were. No doubt was I surprised when I last week found out who I had been emailing with. On top of that Sylen, after having seen my wish list here on Nordic Flames, said he wanted to send me Totalt Jävla Mörker's CD for Christmas. What a sweetheart!
Now that the truth is out the duo has been getting a lot of different response. Many think that the band Warvictims which was born out of the zine now has died too but this is not the case. Warvictims and the record label D-Takt och Råpunk Rec are in fact planning releases for the future.
When asked if it was all worth it, Sylen answers:
- It was so fucking worth it! Even though it meant insane amounts of work which was not always motivating the fun bits made up for it. It has been a great relief to be able to leave this behind and move on. Also not having to lie to friends any more feels very good. I'm not mourning.
So Skitliv! may not be mourned for long but it may well have succeeded with its goal to stir up a storm or two in punk Sweden. If nothing else then big thank you to Skitliv! for a good laugh.
Read more about the set up, the reactions that followed and Jocke and Sylen's own comments(and why not check out my essay which is up there while you're at it?) on http://dbeatrawpunk.blogspot.com
For Swedish readers check out www.criticalmass.se for a longer Swedish article
23/11/2008
Rocking response
My MySpace inbox excites makes me greatly.
Without revealing too much I can only advise you to keep checking in on Nordic Flames for an exclusive interview with an insanely hot and frequently MTV-featured new band very soon!
Another nice surprise was the email from Marionette-Aron, thanking for the review and saying how good it felt that someone appreciated what they were trying to do:
"This is why you rock hard even though there are only six people watching, because if, when you leave, one person liked it, that makes it worth it."
Now that's what it's all about!
Lucky inhabitants of the UK and Norway, you can go and watch these Swedes tear the walls down in Oslo on the 29th of November, in Newcastle on the 17th of January and in Birmingham on the 19th. On the 20th and the 21st Bristol and London won't know what hit them.
Without revealing too much I can only advise you to keep checking in on Nordic Flames for an exclusive interview with an insanely hot and frequently MTV-featured new band very soon!
Another nice surprise was the email from Marionette-Aron, thanking for the review and saying how good it felt that someone appreciated what they were trying to do:
"This is why you rock hard even though there are only six people watching, because if, when you leave, one person liked it, that makes it worth it."
Now that's what it's all about!
Lucky inhabitants of the UK and Norway, you can go and watch these Swedes tear the walls down in Oslo on the 29th of November, in Newcastle on the 17th of January and in Birmingham on the 19th. On the 20th and the 21st Bristol and London won't know what hit them.
22/11/2008
The end of an era
The Hellacopters at Debaser Medis
Sunday 26//10/2008 The Tour Before The Fall
As I 3 years and 16 days ago for the fourth time saw the brilliant The Hellacopters at Cirkus here in Stockholm I never though this day would come. But the day to bury rock n roll is here.
Debaser Medis is filled to it's maximum with those who were quick enough to get hold of tickets, many wearing t-shirts illustrating the long and grandiose career of the band. Not only I have flown in from Berlin the morning after the In Flames show at Columbiahalle especially to witness this gig, people have come from all over Europe to bid their farewells, and how they do it.
Already three songs in Nicke Andersson declares that this is not the last ever show but the best. Tonight The Hellacopters don’t have to play according to the usual set list setup; every person in this room knows every word to every song as the band digs deep in their chest of tunes. All the hits are of course played too and in Toys and Flavours audience response reaches new levels and Medis becomes one big Hellacopter organism where Nicke’s voice is no longer recognisable. The situation is somewhat bizarre, here we are witnessing possibly the best band in history playing probably their best gig ever and it will never be again. It is obvious that Nicke, Strängen, Boba, Robban and Kenny too feel the now-or-never-tension. The two guitarists engage in some serious guitarsex, the drums get a worse beating than ever before and Kenny on bass cannot stop smiling. Even the gear seems to know the end has come, amps and guitars have to be changed midway through and at the gig the day before some kind of electric ghost killed Kennys amp and gave Nicke a schock, forcing them to finish early.
Thankfully today no ghosts are present; only Death is hovering above us all as Carry Me Home is played live for the last time. The only song missing is my own personal favourite I wanna touch. Instead we get an anticipated guest appearance of co-founder Dregen who joins in for a roof-lifting (Gotta get some action) Now!.
Finally, for one last time the famous one tune piano intro to By The Grace of God is played and for one last time we get to see this historic band in united action. Strängen, who has been looking close to tears all the way through and has asked the audience to give his old servant guitar an applause, finishes the gig with destroying it. The Hellacopters are dead, and so is rock n roll.
Leaving the stage and the by now fanatic audidence with faces screaming please-don’t-let-it-be-true to a pre-recorded doomsday riff The Hellacopters sign the end of an era. I am not the only one stepping out into the cold raw October night with no voice, sore hands, tears in my eyes and a hole in my heart. I still can’t believe this day has come, and gone, but I am happy and proud to say that I was there to witness it.
Sunday 26//10/2008 The Tour Before The Fall
As I 3 years and 16 days ago for the fourth time saw the brilliant The Hellacopters at Cirkus here in Stockholm I never though this day would come. But the day to bury rock n roll is here.
Debaser Medis is filled to it's maximum with those who were quick enough to get hold of tickets, many wearing t-shirts illustrating the long and grandiose career of the band. Not only I have flown in from Berlin the morning after the In Flames show at Columbiahalle especially to witness this gig, people have come from all over Europe to bid their farewells, and how they do it.
Already three songs in Nicke Andersson declares that this is not the last ever show but the best. Tonight The Hellacopters don’t have to play according to the usual set list setup; every person in this room knows every word to every song as the band digs deep in their chest of tunes. All the hits are of course played too and in Toys and Flavours audience response reaches new levels and Medis becomes one big Hellacopter organism where Nicke’s voice is no longer recognisable. The situation is somewhat bizarre, here we are witnessing possibly the best band in history playing probably their best gig ever and it will never be again. It is obvious that Nicke, Strängen, Boba, Robban and Kenny too feel the now-or-never-tension. The two guitarists engage in some serious guitarsex, the drums get a worse beating than ever before and Kenny on bass cannot stop smiling. Even the gear seems to know the end has come, amps and guitars have to be changed midway through and at the gig the day before some kind of electric ghost killed Kennys amp and gave Nicke a schock, forcing them to finish early.
Thankfully today no ghosts are present; only Death is hovering above us all as Carry Me Home is played live for the last time. The only song missing is my own personal favourite I wanna touch. Instead we get an anticipated guest appearance of co-founder Dregen who joins in for a roof-lifting (Gotta get some action) Now!.
Finally, for one last time the famous one tune piano intro to By The Grace of God is played and for one last time we get to see this historic band in united action. Strängen, who has been looking close to tears all the way through and has asked the audience to give his old servant guitar an applause, finishes the gig with destroying it. The Hellacopters are dead, and so is rock n roll.
Leaving the stage and the by now fanatic audidence with faces screaming please-don’t-let-it-be-true to a pre-recorded doomsday riff The Hellacopters sign the end of an era. I am not the only one stepping out into the cold raw October night with no voice, sore hands, tears in my eyes and a hole in my heart. I still can’t believe this day has come, and gone, but I am happy and proud to say that I was there to witness it.
In Flames at Columbiahalle, Berlin 25/10/2008
Support: Sonic Syndicate, Gojira
My ticket says doors are 7pm but when we get to the venue at 6.55 the sign says 6pm and first support act Sonic Syndicate are already playing. Damn the Germans and their punctuality.
Swedish Sonic Syndicate who have struggled a bit in audience response on previous tour with Amon Amarth look like they are in heaven here in Berlin – the crowd loves them.
Yes, their riffs are repetitive, and I keep thinking I’m sure I’ve heard this somewhere else before but you can’t say that they don’t give it all and a bit more on stage.
Next support band, Gojira, have a hard time matching the explosion of energy that Sonic Syndicate was in terms of stage presence and I think that the (younger) parts of the audience find the French rockers a bit dull in comparison but who cares when they play such captivating music. Riffs like machine guns matched with white lightening light, dark long hair and lyrics about environmental issues performed by a raspy voice that just screams evil; that’s Gojira for you. A combination that sends me off to Cloud Number Nine and as they finish off with The heaviest matter of the universe they could have been headlining for all I care. Or at least I think so until I remember who is.
Eventually it is time for long anticipated In Flames.
I can’t help but feel a bit nervous, as if though I am about to go on a date with someone really, really hot, like say…Anders Fridén. Or Björn. Or Daniel. To be fair, normally most of the sweaty, beardy and long haired men stood around me would make me drool any day but tonight my heart beats only for In Flames.
And they start off their date pretty damn good. Having set the mood with Sigur Ros (Thanks for making even more people, not only Axl Rose, think they are Swedish…) they start off behind a white curtain drop, revealing only their silhouettes whilst performing beautiful The Chosen Pessimist. As the curtain drops for the chorus mayhem breaks loose.
In Flames continue the set with my personal favourite Move Through Me which is merged into crowd pleaser The Mirrors Truth. All in all they play most if not all tracks off latest album A Sense of Purpose along with older hits like Only For The Weak and Cloud Connected. However no Touch of Red. But with a repertoire like In Flames’ it is impossible to please everyone, something which Anders points out with a sarcastic grin on his face: “We have a long and successful career behind us and for those of you who don’t get your favourite song played tonight: Sorry”
The crowd is happy anyways and orgasmic levels are reached when the intro to The quite place starts and no one, no one, is standing still.
A comic element to the show is their celebration of Guns’n’Roses new album release, claiming that they simply have to play and old song of theirs, In Flames style, just to mark the occasion. Which works surprisingly well.
The band is a happy bunch this evening and you can’t blame them, it is after all the last gig of the tour before they hit good old Sweden and they get to see their families. But just as much as it gladdens me to see Björn smile throughout, it makes me cringe when father of one Anders delivers his good old speech about the booze and strippers-filled life of a rock star. Then again I guess it’s all part of the show.
A show which The Kings of Metal finish off in style, playing “a love song from us to you”, Take This Life, before bowing and thanking another ecstatic audience.
My ticket says doors are 7pm but when we get to the venue at 6.55 the sign says 6pm and first support act Sonic Syndicate are already playing. Damn the Germans and their punctuality.
Swedish Sonic Syndicate who have struggled a bit in audience response on previous tour with Amon Amarth look like they are in heaven here in Berlin – the crowd loves them.
Yes, their riffs are repetitive, and I keep thinking I’m sure I’ve heard this somewhere else before but you can’t say that they don’t give it all and a bit more on stage.
Next support band, Gojira, have a hard time matching the explosion of energy that Sonic Syndicate was in terms of stage presence and I think that the (younger) parts of the audience find the French rockers a bit dull in comparison but who cares when they play such captivating music. Riffs like machine guns matched with white lightening light, dark long hair and lyrics about environmental issues performed by a raspy voice that just screams evil; that’s Gojira for you. A combination that sends me off to Cloud Number Nine and as they finish off with The heaviest matter of the universe they could have been headlining for all I care. Or at least I think so until I remember who is.
Eventually it is time for long anticipated In Flames.
I can’t help but feel a bit nervous, as if though I am about to go on a date with someone really, really hot, like say…Anders Fridén. Or Björn. Or Daniel. To be fair, normally most of the sweaty, beardy and long haired men stood around me would make me drool any day but tonight my heart beats only for In Flames.
And they start off their date pretty damn good. Having set the mood with Sigur Ros (Thanks for making even more people, not only Axl Rose, think they are Swedish…) they start off behind a white curtain drop, revealing only their silhouettes whilst performing beautiful The Chosen Pessimist. As the curtain drops for the chorus mayhem breaks loose.
In Flames continue the set with my personal favourite Move Through Me which is merged into crowd pleaser The Mirrors Truth. All in all they play most if not all tracks off latest album A Sense of Purpose along with older hits like Only For The Weak and Cloud Connected. However no Touch of Red. But with a repertoire like In Flames’ it is impossible to please everyone, something which Anders points out with a sarcastic grin on his face: “We have a long and successful career behind us and for those of you who don’t get your favourite song played tonight: Sorry”
The crowd is happy anyways and orgasmic levels are reached when the intro to The quite place starts and no one, no one, is standing still.
A comic element to the show is their celebration of Guns’n’Roses new album release, claiming that they simply have to play and old song of theirs, In Flames style, just to mark the occasion. Which works surprisingly well.
The band is a happy bunch this evening and you can’t blame them, it is after all the last gig of the tour before they hit good old Sweden and they get to see their families. But just as much as it gladdens me to see Björn smile throughout, it makes me cringe when father of one Anders delivers his good old speech about the booze and strippers-filled life of a rock star. Then again I guess it’s all part of the show.
A show which The Kings of Metal finish off in style, playing “a love song from us to you”, Take This Life, before bowing and thanking another ecstatic audience.
Nordic Flames <3 This Will Destroy You
When wonderful Texasbased postrockers This Will Destroy had finished their set at Lido in Berlin on the 17th of October the crowd would not stop cheering. The guys humbly thanked the crowd and cursed the venue keepers when they were not allowed to continue.
Afterwards we bumped into oh so sweet front man Donovan and had a quick chat. Coming across as very shy and polite he didn't say much more than that he really enjoyed the tour before asking me and my friend what we did and where we were from. What a dreamo!
And this is what it looked like when my friend Lotta had her picture taken with the braced musician:
Afterwards we bumped into oh so sweet front man Donovan and had a quick chat. Coming across as very shy and polite he didn't say much more than that he really enjoyed the tour before asking me and my friend what we did and where we were from. What a dreamo!
And this is what it looked like when my friend Lotta had her picture taken with the braced musician:
Live Nation Sweden at Roter Salon, Popkomm Berlin 9/10/2008
Zeigeist, Juvelen, Apollo Drive and Marionette
Barrier breaking Marionette headline an evening in Berlin dedicated to Swedish electro bands, end up playing in front of five people and yet manage to greatly impress yours truly.
When Live Nation Sweden arranged this evening I suspect their idea was to show off up and coming Swedish music export in the electro-orientated Hauptstadt. Only something went wrong. The whole evening felt a bit like a business party full of Swedish thirty-forty-somethings scratching each others backs, telling themselves how great they are. The true Germans were few, far apart and not looking too impressed.
Here’s what the evening sounded like:
Theatrical disco duo Zeitgeist gives us swinging electro, cool vocals and impressive choreography. It is refreshing and fun to see a so well thought trough show. Although I suspect that the crashed lamp due to a badly aimed party popper was not part of it.
Juvelen, a trio with some kind of Swedish The Strokes-look going in, deliver falsetto song on top of lounge music –something which lasts for about 30 seconds. Not 30, excuse the language, fucking minutes. I fell asleep and the people who were swaying along to the way over-hyped monotonous sound looked like they were faking it just to look cool. Juck.
Apollo Drive play a short set of Bon Jovi-smelling rock n’ roll. The singer has a great voice and something tells me this band will do well at European dance parties aimed at an older crowd with low standards and eighties nostalgia.
After this to me rather disappointing showcase of Northern music, most business people and what few others there were seem to have left the building. By the time Marionette go on stage there are 20 paying people left in the place. And by the time they leave there are 6.
I just don’t know how someone was thinking when they put the programme together but I do know that these guys deserved a much larger crowd.
Well, I guess the people who were left after Juvelen & co were expecting something as lame as what they had seen up until then. But that’s not what they got.
The fact that there was hardly anyone there did not stop the sextet from Gothenburg from delivering a set suited for stadiums.
It is a great shame that not more people got to enjoy this gig and I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the guys. (Just getting ready for the show, with all the make up and hairspray that would have required, must have taken a lot of effort.) But it is clear that these guys enjoy what they do and that stardom has not gotten the best of them, even more so when singer Axel tells us “you may not believe us but we are actually having a really good time up here”.
And somehow, for Marionette to play in an old theatre in the ruins of a disco party felt just right. With the vain disco glitter stomped to the ground under our feet they delivered songs about fire, hell and revenge and to me and my four German fan friends it made more sense than ever.
Barrier breaking Marionette headline an evening in Berlin dedicated to Swedish electro bands, end up playing in front of five people and yet manage to greatly impress yours truly.
When Live Nation Sweden arranged this evening I suspect their idea was to show off up and coming Swedish music export in the electro-orientated Hauptstadt. Only something went wrong. The whole evening felt a bit like a business party full of Swedish thirty-forty-somethings scratching each others backs, telling themselves how great they are. The true Germans were few, far apart and not looking too impressed.
Here’s what the evening sounded like:
Theatrical disco duo Zeitgeist gives us swinging electro, cool vocals and impressive choreography. It is refreshing and fun to see a so well thought trough show. Although I suspect that the crashed lamp due to a badly aimed party popper was not part of it.
Juvelen, a trio with some kind of Swedish The Strokes-look going in, deliver falsetto song on top of lounge music –something which lasts for about 30 seconds. Not 30, excuse the language, fucking minutes. I fell asleep and the people who were swaying along to the way over-hyped monotonous sound looked like they were faking it just to look cool. Juck.
Apollo Drive play a short set of Bon Jovi-smelling rock n’ roll. The singer has a great voice and something tells me this band will do well at European dance parties aimed at an older crowd with low standards and eighties nostalgia.
After this to me rather disappointing showcase of Northern music, most business people and what few others there were seem to have left the building. By the time Marionette go on stage there are 20 paying people left in the place. And by the time they leave there are 6.
I just don’t know how someone was thinking when they put the programme together but I do know that these guys deserved a much larger crowd.
Well, I guess the people who were left after Juvelen & co were expecting something as lame as what they had seen up until then. But that’s not what they got.
The fact that there was hardly anyone there did not stop the sextet from Gothenburg from delivering a set suited for stadiums.
It is a great shame that not more people got to enjoy this gig and I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for the guys. (Just getting ready for the show, with all the make up and hairspray that would have required, must have taken a lot of effort.) But it is clear that these guys enjoy what they do and that stardom has not gotten the best of them, even more so when singer Axel tells us “you may not believe us but we are actually having a really good time up here”.
And somehow, for Marionette to play in an old theatre in the ruins of a disco party felt just right. With the vain disco glitter stomped to the ground under our feet they delivered songs about fire, hell and revenge and to me and my four German fan friends it made more sense than ever.
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