I’m thinking I have to take a trip to Sweden soon. As you know, I’m a HUGE fan of The Knife, who are not only from there, but tour in very few cities - one of which, of course, is Stockholm. My other and more recent reason for wanting to go to Sweden is that I have fallen in love with yet ANOTHER Swedish band. I heard The Sounds months ago, but didn’t pay that much attention for some reason. BUT a good friend of mine burned me their album “Dying to Say This To You” a few days ago and I’ve been listening to it non stop. “Tony The Beat” and “Hurt You” are both incredible. If you’re going through a rough time in your relationship, listen to “Hurt You”…Ha. I sound like one of those self-help audio tapes. I better watch that. But seriously, listen to that album. It makes me want to cry and dance my face off at the same time. What a great emotional combo.
I also really want to talk about Phil Elverum (previously spelled Elvrum). If you don’t know this guy, you are seriously missing out. He’s from Olympia, Washington and owns his own label, K Records, which is also home to Karl Blau and The Blow, two bands that are definitely worth your time as well. Phil is a musical genius, synthesizing his sounds, and creating an emotional state in people that is highly unprecedented. His first band was called The Microphones. “The Glow Part II” album was a perfect mix of soft and hard, and as Pitchfork Media said, “expresses beauty through ambiguity” which is a really hard thing to do. Elverum’s instrumentals are breathtakingly visual, and his other songs, especially the title track of that album are beyond my capacity for understanding of beauty. Elverum soon changed the name of his sound to a new band, Mount Eerie. While Mount Eerie has been criticized for being too melodic and a bit too pop-esque, I find it an exciting transition from Elverum’s earlier work. I can say confidently that the song, “Wooly Mammoth’s Absence” has captured my own thoughts and self description more accurately and strikingly than any song I’ve heard before. Elverum describes his own darkness with an articulacy, depth, and level of self-analysis that has brought me to tears on more than five occasions. Get some Microphones albums, then head to Mount Eerie. Elverum knows to have faith in the listener. Nothing is obvious with him, and nothing is put out there the first time you hear it. So listen when you have time. Definitely let me know what you think by emailing me at vjkim@mtvu.com.
