And: it begins! The valley of our dreams, the woods of the castle, the rhythm of our hearts. The festival of our home town.
• THE WAR ON DRUGS
• 6/7 Kentuckyseven’s
Photo: Jonas Löfvendahl
Adam Granduciel is a hero. Together with Kurt Vile he started The War On Drugs and he’s still here on stage swinging. It’s all very Dylanesque, the throw-out-songstyle, and still very much his own thing. In one word: space. They fill a room, and certainly the entire Slottsskogen with swift greatness. It’s music no one can really tag or understand, it’s plain War On Drugs. The drummer, the saxophone, The Grand Parade. Great gig!
• BECK
• 4/7 Kentuckyseven´s
Photo: Jonas Löfvendahl
Becks first gig in Sweden in 14 years. Well almost, anyway. He played Pustervik yesterday in a bad-PR-stunt that backlashed on the Way Out West-crew. Not Becks fault. Now he’s here and starts off with a messy Devils Haircut and then dives into Loser and then rolles the surf-pop-vibe all over the big crowd. Didn´t get me going, but Beck worked hard and played hard.
FKA TWIGS
5/7 Kentuckyseven’s
Photo: Jonas Löfvendahl
Tahliah Debrett Barnett is an English superwomen with the alternative soul-corner all messed up. The tent of Linné is jammed with rowdy people and when FKA TWIGS (signed to Young Turks) gets started the hurricane arrives. This is star material, no doubt. She dances heavily to the electronica, it’s part The XX and part Massive Attack. But the best part tonite is the audience, on red alert: an impressive following!
I’m Kingfisher – Avian
Released 2014-09-17 (Kite/Playground)
Kentuckyseven has many favorites. It kind of comes with the trade somehow. You fall in love with the albums and tracks that you write about and consume.
There is somehow some artists that clings to your heart a bit tighter. One of them is I’m Kingfisher. Mr Thomas Jonsson from Sweden. His new album, his fifth, Avian, was released last week. The last album Arctic is still one of the best albums released on a swedish label in my book.
Avian is something very special. The songs and sounds of this album just blew me off my feet, from first listen.
Thomas Jonsson’s voice is so in tune with the emotions in every note, it is uncanny almost. I can not remember ever having felt so privileged before, when listening to music. The feeling of darkness and light combined in lyrics and harmonies is so delicately balanced, it is sometimes hard to tell which is which.
This is really something huge. A singer songwriter of this caliber is very rare in this country of many great artists.
I’m Kingfisher has created something that every artist probably just dreams about, a follow up album that lives up and exceeds all expectations. A masterpiece. I am totally in awe. On my knees. This is a true Kentuckyseven-Seven! Thank you for making music mr Jonsson.
Kentuckyseven went and saw DeerTick in Copenhagen, a late Tuesday night, 28th of January. The band gigs Pustervik in Gothenburg this Friday – be sure not to miss it. They’re on top of their game, just the perfect, noisy, most wonderful rock orchestra around.
Introducing the band, all the way from Providence, Rhode Island:
• The frontman: JohnMcCauley. A Tuborg loving genius with the voice, presence & nerve. You never know what he´ll do next; skittish, flighty, volatile. A brilliant, wonderful bare-fist-fighting rocker.
• The guitarman: IanO’Neill. The Angus Young of Rhode Island. Stomping around the stage with a nervous breakdown in both legs. Does great Pete Seeger (RIP) covers and shines on stage.
• The bassplayer: ChrisRyan. Very preppy, very cool, very Draco Malfoylike. Lock up your daughters.
• The drummer: DennisRyan. Very happy, very bearded, very Hagridlike. Lock up your mothers.
• The keyboard/saxophone: RobertCrowell. Very mature, boogie-woogie. Lock up your dads.
We salute them all with a 21 Gun Salute and a shot of the preferred.
The band is just beautiful, mixing rock, folk, blues with their own songwriting and at the same time; very appreciative of their heritage, it´s all about the roots. They end the gig in Copenhagen with La Bamba in their own magical way and yes – the roof blew off poor little danish Vega.
They played 1,5 hours and every song was meant to be. John McCauley drinks his green beer bottles with no hands, frusting and spitting. I don´t know where this band is heading, but they got rock n’ roll in their veins. They got it all. The brilliance, the nerve AND a good time. They laugh, kiss and fool around on stage. Pretty fucking far from Woods.
Listen up Deer Tick’s latest record Negativity. And for Pete’s sake don´t miss the 2010-masterpiece Black Dirt Sessions, with the song Mange. And please, check out the brilliant show-opener The Rock below.
Where to begin? Lordy, lord. I´m rarely into postrock/shoegaze-stuff but this record blew me away to another dimension.
It´s an arresting moment of clarity. A dangerous retrospective sense of lost memories. Tears to my eyes. I feel sorry for the earth, I feel weaker and stronger than ever. Double vibes of eternity.
This is post-everything. Mono don´t use their rock n roll guitars the way you would imagine. It´s texture. It´s fantasy. It´s above the clouds and underground.
This is shoegaze without the arrogance. It´s – first and foremost – feelings. Big, strong, everlasting feelings. A soundtrack to a Haruki Murakami book.
My lungs struggles for air, my heart pounds hard. This could knock you down and out. Mono makes the strongest blend there is.
Mono is from Tokyo, Japan. This is their sixth album. They started out in 1999 and keep coming back for more. The four members Takaakira Goto (sologuitar), Yoda (rhytmguitar), Tamaki Kunishi (electric bass) and Yasunori Takada (drums) tours the US right now and heads for Europe later on.
‘For My Parents’, with a great and emotional front picture, was released on September 4th. An all instrumental, epic piece of bewildering art. They have a full-scale orchestra in the studio and it´s dedicated to their parents. They´ve made an effort well worthy a Kentucky Seven!
PS: You know the world is a fucked up place when Mono´s venue in Gothenburg, Sweden is Truckstop Alaska. But hey. I´ll be there. Forever and ever.
I´ve always been hooked on Calexico. Their dusty stuff mixed with a bottle of caramba. A lonely guitar in love with the mariachi, a folk-country band who never holds their corner. Desert noir.
Algiers, the sixth album from Joey Burns´ and John Convertino´s band, is recorded in New Orleans. The town made the album, a rebirth for these mavericks. I like the way Calexico makes an effort, stretches out and write pretty spectacular songs.
Calexico is a true Kentuckysevenband. Based in Tucson, AZ, the band mix their Southwest-sound with everything good in the world. It´s always for real and never easy.
During the past 14 years the band have self-released eight tour CDs. They will now hit the public eye, and on top of it all the band have picked out 16 songs on this ”greatest”-compilation. Makes me wanna stay indoors, next to the stereo, all winter long.
We got country, americana, indierock, and jazz – sometimes all in one song. It´s instrumental cowboysongs, the band saddle up and head onto the prarie. It´s a perfect introduction to Calexico, or a daring distraction to the studioalbums. Either way – this is drugs to my ears.
The sextet from Newcastle. With such an introduction, you kinda wonder what you are in for. Thinkin of Newcastle, brings, at least for me up pictures of dirty workers, hard life, and pretty rough music style.
Lanterns On The Lake sounds nothing like Newcastle. The dreamy sound of Hazel Wilde’s voice and the almost creepy closeness of the rest of the band. It is intimate, it is an exciting mix of dreampop-americana-shoegaze-greatness.
The album, the eleven songs stick together, though not conformed. This is an album that will evolve with every listen. I am still mesmerized by how large it is. The feeling of complete and utter understanding of sound. Sound that you carry with you for a long long time.
Once again a debut album makes me really really excited. Music at its very best.
5 out of 7 for Lanterns On The Lake. I am sure that they will be on a lot of EOY-lists when we sum up 2011. I am sure.
¤ This is nothing new under the sun. This is full proof, one hundred per cent, bootstompin, regular fit, no bullshit, highwayadoring music. Old-Stove-Rock-n-Roll.
Black Francis’ collaboration with Reid Paley was recorded in two days in Nashville, Tennessee. All first takes. The pals wrote the music in Paley´s apartment in Brooklyn over three afternoons when Francis was in New York. They cut out all nonsense.
It all comes together in the song ‘Seal’. Just a beautiful, swaggering tale with an irresistible backbone of guitars, a bonafied small song that grows up to a 10-storey-building. The way it sneaks up on you makes me wanna go sky-diving or head straight into the next bar. I could have ‘Seal’ on repeat all year around – still smiling.
Black Francis is best known as the frontman if The Pixies and solo-ing as Frank Black. Reid Paley is a NYC singer-songwriter who had different band constellations since the 80’s. Together they sound great. It´s not a masterpiece, but it´s a sweet companion. Fair enough.
Sweden has a way of breeding extraordinary musicmakers, that is a fact. And has been so for quite some time. Bella Union has made it clear that they are signing the absolute best there is today. This is no exception.
I Break Horses, Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck has taken this fine tradition and taken it to the next level. With their album Hearts they have created a buzz all over the musicbusiness, and no wonder.
The album is shoegazing-pop-dreamy-electronica in a way that it is meant to be. It’s like listening to an art exhibition in some ways. The songs just makes you want to frame them, and show them to all your friends.
I would like to say that this album consists of pure magic, and love for the music. It is apparent to the listener that these folks, they know what they have done.
I Break Horses – Hearts 6 out of 7. Just like that.
Trevor Moss and his lawfully wedded wife Hannah Lou bring us a folky piece of record that is pretty much up our devoted Kentuckyseven-alley.
These Londoners made a choice and left the city, moved to the southeast of England and into a 14th century pub where they live and recorded this sweet piece of music.
My personal fav is the awesome Charlie Parr-cover Cheap Wine. Trevor Moss does this in an uptempo-feetstompin-beautiful-version that makes me wanna embrace this world we wander.
QFL&F is an old-fashioned album. Something to ponder, something that will sink in. It is also a sweet summer-record to enjoy with family and friends. Life doesn´t have to be harder than this. We dig.
