Music Reissues Weekly: Sex Pistols - Looking For a Kiss in Kristinehamn

SEX PISTOLS - LOOKING FOR A KISS IN KRISTINEHAMN When Dionysian irrationality and divine insanity came to small-town Sweden

When Dionysian irrationality and divine insanity came to small-town Sweden

After Sex Pistols have played “New York,” the fourth song in their set, someone from the audience shouts “Anarchy in the U.K.” "We've already played it, you fucking idiot" responds Sid Vicious. They have. It was the first song they did at Kristinehamn’s Club Zebra.

The request begs the question of whether the person calling out knew what “Anarchy in the U.K.” sounded like. They may have known of “Anarchy in the U.K.” but not actually heard it. Considering where the particular show was, the information gap is possible.

Album: Blues Pills - Birthday

Swedish-American quartet reinvent retro-rock to their own catchy formula

Swedish-American four-piece Blues Pills are new to this writer but have been around since 2011. Their fourth album makes me wonder why.

Album: Isabell Gustafsson-Ny - Rosenhagtorn

★★★★★ ISABELL GUSTAFSSON-NY - ROSENHAGTORN Deeply personal sounds

Deeply personal sounds from the increasingly rare real world

In a discussion recently a friend compared generative AI to self-driving cars back in 2017: the makers were convinced, perhaps rightly, that they had solved 99.9% of the problem, and therefore would have a viable product within the year. The problem for self-driving cars back then, and generative AI now, is that the last 0.1% is something special. Intractable.

Miss Julie, Park Theatre review - Strindberg's kitchen drama still packs a punch

 MISS JULIE, PARK THEATRE A traditional staging fuelled by electric leads

Much adapted play gets a traditional staging fuelled by electric leads

You have to tiptoe around the edge of the set just to take your seat in the Park’s studio space for Lidless Theatre’s Miss Julie. There’s a plain wooden table, a few utensils on it, wooden chairs and a small cabinet – not much, but, we’re smack inside this 19th century country house kitchen, uncomfortably close to discomfiting passions. It may be the longest day outside, but we're in a dark, claustrophobic space in more senses than one.

The Hives, Brighton Dome review - Swedish power-pop dynamo are as entertaining as ever

★★★★ THE HIVES, BRIGHTON DOME Swedish power-pop dynamo as entertaining as ever

Rock'n'roll tempered with a showbiz twist makes for an ebullient night out

The joy of The Hives on record is encapsulated by their 2012 micro-song “Come On”. Despite being one-minute long and consisting solely of the title phrase, it fizzes with righteous, effervescent buzzsaw euphoria. They open their encore with it, showcasing with ease that, whatever the pleasures of their studio output, live in concert is where The Hives truly explode.

Album: Agnetha Fältskog - A+

★★ AGNETHA FALTSKOG - A+ ABBA star's decade-old album reimagined to little useful effect

ABBA star's decade-old album reimagined to little useful effect

When ABBA split in 1982, Agnetha Fältskog went on to a solo career that was mostly overshadowed by the titanic popularity of her former band. By the 21st century ABBA’s status in pop, especially with the Mamma Mia phenomenon, had become iconic.

Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life, Tate Modern review - the hidden depths of abstract art revealed

★★★★★ HILMA AF KLIMT & PIET MONDRIAN: FORMS OF LIFE, TATE MODERN The hidden depths of abstract art revealed 

A world famous modernist and a little known painter, two Titans of abstract art juxtaposed

In this juxtaposition of Piet Mondrian, a world famous modernist, and Hilma af Klint, a little known Swedish painter, guess who knocks your socks off ! This fascinating show is a delight and a revelation, because it declares the spiritualist underpinnings of modernism which many, until now, have sought to hide.

Goat, The Mill, Birmingham review - Scandinavian pagans see the weekend out in style

Goatman and his crew finally bring their ritual back out into the open

It might be nigh on six months since Scandinavian shamen (and women) Goat released their latest opus, Oh Death, but it has taken until now for them to finally bring their energetic live show back to the UK. On Sunday’s evidence, it is a wait that now feels like a small price to pay though, as Brummies young and old blew their minds and danced their socks off to intoxicating sounds that provoked a seriously ecstatic response.

Lydia Sandgren: Collected Works review - the mysteries that surround us all

A work of realist Gothenburg that holds the truth at bay, ably translated by Agnes Broomé

Lydia Sandgren’s debut novel, Collected Works, a bestseller in her native Sweden, has now been translated by Agnes Broomé into English, in all its 733-page glory. An epic family saga, it has flavours of the realism of her countryman, Karl Ove Knaussgard, more than a hint of emotional American big hitters like Jeffrey Eugenides or Jonathan Franzen, and something of the twists and turns of a chronicle like War and Peace.

Album: Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

Karin Dreijer finds love

According to the press release for Karin Dreijer’s third album as Fever Ray, its completion was preceded by many hours of therapy with the result new things are known. Amongst them that Dreijer “can be struck by despair but also by the big feeling of love and awe”. Dreijer declares “I know what love is and I want to show you”. Radical Romantics is the result of these realisations.