Fever Ray - “Seven” There is a terror at the core of Karin Dreijer Andersson’s music as Fever Ray that is so potent and visceral that I find it difficult to listen to album with any sort of regularity. This is notable, because there was no shortage of darkness and paranoia in the Knife’s Silent Shout record, and that did not keep me from spending much of 2006 playing “We Share Our Mothers’ Health” and “Forest Families” on repeat. The difference between the Knife and Fever Ray is a matter of degree and intensity — whereas the Silent Shout songs allow for space and catharsis, the selections on Fever Ray feel extremely contained and inert, putting the listener in the uncomfortable headspace of a person who seems to be suffering from simultaneous claustrophobia and agoraphobia. Fever Ray is an album of nonspecific dread and domestic restlessness, and even “Seven,” its most pop-oriented song, offers no relief from its relentless unease. Though it starts off as a recollection of connection and friendship, it’s essentially a song about profound loneliness. The lyrics in the chorus allude to a mysterious “box to open up with light and sound,” which seem to hint at her career in art and music, but in context, it comes across more like a horrible curse than a blessing or salvation.

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1990′s – Kicks
MP3: 1990s – “The Box”

Beep Beep – Enchanted Islands

Condo Fucks – Fuckbook
MP3: Condo Fucks – “Whatcha Gonna Do About It”

Dan Deacon – Bromst

The Decemberists – Hazards of Love

Pete Doherty – Grace/Wastelands

Dukes of the Stratosphear – 25 O’Clock
MP3: Dukes of the Stratosphear – “My Love Explodes”

Dukes of the Stratosphear – Psionic Psunspot
MP3: Dukes of the Stratosphear – “Brainiac’s Daughter”

Fever Ray – s/t

Fridge – Early Output 1996-1998

Fucked Up – Year of the Rat

Jeremy Jay – Slow Dance

Lotus Plaza – The Floodlight Collective
MP3: Lotus Plaza – “Whiteout”

Obits – I Blame You
MP3: Obits – “Pine On”

O+S – s/t

Radiohead – The Bends (reissue)

Radiohead – OK Computer (reissue)

Radiohead – Pablo Honey (reissue)

Rafter – 10 Songs
MP3: Rafter – “Bicycle”

Red Red Meat – Bunny Gets Paid (reissue)
MP3: Red Red Meat – “Gauze”

Röyksopp – Junior

Swan Lake – Enemy Mine
MP3: Swan Lake – “Spanish Gold, 2044″

Vinyl

Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire De Melody Nelson (reissue)

Husker Du – Candy Apple Grey (reissue)

Ponytail – Ice Cream Spiritual

M Ward – The End of Amnesia

Xiu Xiu at the Great American Music Hall
Warm Graphics, 2006

Just in case you were wondering. Still 2 more days to go.

So, SXSW. As always, it was great to see out-of-town friends, and to start every day with one or two (or three) breakfast tacos. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was in the midst of some giant indie rock LARP, throngs of outlandishly-clad ladies and dudes wielding shiny objects, referring to each other by class (blogger, promoter, guy in a baaaaahnd, etc) and fictional title (“ZOMG I THINK I JUST SAW BROOKLYNVEGAN”). For better or worse, festivals like CMJ and SXSW are feeling more and more like a bunch of people acting out the Internet.
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