Chicagojazzen - Brachiosaurus II

Band: Chicagojazzen

Album: Brachiosaurus II

Year: 2011

Country: Sweden

He's done it again folks. The mastermind behind Chigaojazzen has released 17 new tracks of indie-insanity, noise-neurosis, pop-pandemonium, folk-ferocity and electro-ecstasy. You can pretty much say that this is a record that has it all. There is even a "dansbands-låt" (the English word would be country-song I guess) and manages to pull it off somehow. Every song has that special "homerecording" feeling to them. Not in a crappy-high-school-garage-band way, but in a cozy way. You can feel that this is a man that loves to have fun with all sorts of music and is very passionate about what he is doing.

The songs are pretty much what you would expect them to be if you have heard the latest album, Misantropi För Nybörjare. The first thing that strikes me is that there are a lot more vocal parts on this album, which is a good thing in my mind. Even if they mostly consist of some humming and moaning they ad an extra layer of frosting on the already sweet cake. The songtitles are once again brilliant and entertaining by themselves. For example we have Sverige Ut Ur Västerbotten! (Sweden out of Västerbotten), När Bastun Brann Ner och Bryggan Sjönk (When the sauna burned down and the bridge sank) and Jag Bröt Av Mina Briller För Att Slippa Se Dig Igen (I broke my glasses to not having to see you again). These songs are available on cassette at Native Parts Records and if you live in Sweden you can also buy it from one of the releaseshows that will be held at various parts of Sweden.

Song(s) you should listen to: To be honest I haven't had the time to listen to this that much due to my busy job schedule but I really like the first song Talar I Tungor. It's a fast and ferocious song that sounds like a mix between a theme-song from some Miami Vice-series and insane circus music. A fire starter to say the least. I'm really looking forward to listen to this on cassette.

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Chicagojazzen - Misantropi För Nybörjare (2010)

Band: Chicagojazzen
Album: Misantropi För Nybörjare
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
My better half told me to listen to this, and as soon as the first track started I thought "WTF, he knows that I hate Doktor Kosmos, why does he make me listen to this?". I was too lazy to turn the music off, so the record was still playing, but I stopped listening. And all of a sudden it switched to track three - Höga Byggnader Reste Sig Ur Ruinerna, which caught my attention, and I fell in love.
You can say that this album is like a box of chocolates. If you just hold on through the up-beat electro pop song in the beginning, which is really too sweet and yucky, you will find some delicate pieces during the album. And this album really got pieces for everyone. Chicagojazzen is a one man band, and I just think this dude locked him self in into a studio a couple of days and decided to record some music, but with no genre restrictions what so ever. You will hear all kinds of instruments, used in all kinds of different ways. The songs most often has some melancholic jazzy artsy post-rock feeling to them. Except for one - Bränn Ner Jörn, which is quite noise-ish. The only thing these tracks have in common is that they're all a little Lo-Fi.
And as a bonus if you know Swedish, the tracks have awesome names such as "Ewokerna känner ingen skam" (The Ewoks knows no shame), "När Per nästan dog" (When Per almost died), and "De målade mitt tandkött violett" (They painted my gums violet).

Song(s) you should listen to: Höga Byggnader Reste Sig Ur Ruinerna is maybe not something special, if you don't get a smile on your face as soon as you hear avant-garde circus tunes from hell. De Målade Mitt Tandkött Violett is a melancholic but beautiful song that has that kind of roadtrip-feeling to it. You know, when you're half awake/half asleep and just dead looking out through the window. This song could be in a movie. In fact, all of these songs could be in a movie soundtrack.

MYSPACE / DOWNLOAD

Prison Chapel - Total War (2010)

Band: Prison Chapel

Album: Total War

Year: 2010

Country: ?

I found out about this band through Suburban Mayhem Records where a friend of me and MORTENEE just released a debut-tape with his band Hexis (which also is a band you should check out). Absolutely no information about this band was to be found, only that they where going to release a tape limited to 35 copies and a download link to the tape. Curious as I was, I had to check out what this was about. What i got was approximeatly 4 minutes of ear-abusing torturemusic. Gnarly lo-fi punk, black, noise with extremly raw and evil vocals, if you treasure music with good production this is probably your worst nightmare. Get this now before they reach over 100 listeners on Lastfm.

Song(s) you should listen to: Since this album flies by in less than 4 minutes it's not even worth breaking it down tune by tune. If you can't manage to go through this album you're a wimp, and probably more sane than I am.

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