Friday, August 18

THE KNIFE



Talk about preaching to the choir.... Few bands have been more "blogged upon" than the Knife in the past year or so. Of course, their new album, Silent Shout [Mute Records], wasn't officially released in the U.S. till late July '06, but songs from that record, as well as countless remixes, have been buzzing the blogosphere for just about forever now.

I don't really know where this Swedish duo came from (well... Stockholm, apparently). But they've been together seven years now, and it wasn't till sometime in '05 that I first heard of them. (They're brother and sister, actually, so I guess they've been "together" for more than seven years - which sort of automatically makes them more interesting than, say, Roxette. But perhaps still LESS interesting than, say, ABBA.) (Marital dynamics, and all that.)

The first time through Silent Shout, I was especially impressed by just four of its songs - "Marble House," "Forest Families," and the two offered - for a limited time - below. With repeated listens, however, one comes to realize that this is an of-a-piece album; the mood it evokes is as important as the tunes themselves. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I heard something this cool, spooky, and spectral. It's night-driving music. In winter. While contemplating suicide. Or lost love. Or some such.

Go to the Knife's MySpace page [here] to check out some U.S. live performances they have planned for November.

From the LP Silent Shout, 2006 >>>
[MP3] "Silent Shout"
[MP3] "Neverland"

From the LP Deep Cuts, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "Listen Now"

From the soundtrack to Hannah Med H, 2003 >>>
[MP3] "The Bridge"

BONUS TRACK >>>

[MP3] Stina Nordenstam/"Parliament Square" [The Knife Remix]

4 comments:

aqb said...

yes, I am part of the choir, too. "let me tell you something you already know" "no, really"

Silent Shout was gifted to me earlier this year. Prior to that, I had never heard The Knife. A couple of songs stuck in my head, but I didn't give it full album time, and only caught a piece here and there on shuffle. Then, a couple of months ago, I'm in a rut and either want to break out or wallow a bit deeper first. Choosing the latter, I resort my library by artist instead of date last added, and look for something interesting. For the first time I see Silent Shout as an album and say to myself, Why Not?
My God, what a consuming album. Yes, the voice effects are a bit klisch (is that a word or did i make it up?), but it still works - as an album.
I have this cd in my car now, and I can get lost in it the way I could get lost in a [insert your favorite 'lose myself from the world' album].
(what? did you think I'd start a flame war by naming names?)

serafinafly said...

great post...i totally concur...a couple of months ago, i lost a whole saturday on repeated listens...transporting, moody and layered - what a great cd! one of my faves this year!!

Anonymous said...

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I do not know what to give for Christmas of the to friends, advise something ....

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed a lot! » » »