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]