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▓█▓▓█ Artist.....[ Kuryakin ▀████▄█▓
██▓▀ Album......[ Still Here ▀▓██
▄ █▓█ █ Label......[ Shelflife Records █ █▓█ ▄
█▒█▓█▄▀ Catalog #..[ LIFE1004 ▀▄█▓█▒█
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▓█▀ ▀▀█▓█▒ Source.....[ CDEP ▒█▓█▀▀ ▀█▓
▓█▄ ▀▄ ██▓ Genre......[ Indie ▓██ ▄▀ ▄█▓
▓▓█▓▀ ██ Language...[ English ██ ▀▓█▓▓
▀ ▄████ Rip Date...[ 2009-02-24 ████▄ ▀
▄ ▀ ▓█▓ Store Date.[ 2008-00-00 ▓█▓ ▀ ▄
█▀▀ ▄▓█▀ Rip Tool...[ EAC ▀█▓▄ ▀▀█
▓█▄████▀ Encoder....[ LAME 3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ▀████▄█▓
▀█▓▀ Quality....[ 179 kbps AVG VBR 44.1/Joint Stereo ▀▓█▀
▄ █▓█▄▓█▓ Url........[ http://www.shelflife.com ▓█▓▄█▓█ ▄
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█▓ 01 Take My Hand 2:38 ▓█
█▓ 02 Still Here 5:14 ▓█
█▓ 03 Snow 3:46 ▓█
█▓ 04 Rain 3:51 ▓█
█▓ 05 Peace Of Mind 5:08 ▓█
█▓ ----- ▓█
█▓ 20:37 ▓█
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▀█▓█▀ █ ██▀█ ██▀▀ ██ █▄ █ ██▀█ ▀██▀ ██▀▀ ██▀▀ █ ▀█▓█▀
▓█▓█ ▀ ▓█▄▀ ▓█▀ ▓█ ▓█▀█ ▓█ █ ▓█ ▓█▀ -▀▀▀█ ▀ █▓█▓
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▀▄ █▓█ ▄ ▄ █▓█ ▄▀
█▒██ ██▒█
█░█▒ During the early '80s, after punk had dispensed of ▒█░█
█░█▒ the notion that there were rules which pop had a ▒█░█
█░█▒ duty to obey, and nascent synthesizer technology ▒█░█
█░█▒ gave more people than ever before the opportunity ▒█░█
█░█▒ to produce music on their own, the indie ▒█░█
█░█▒ underground and the mainstream charts became ▒█░█
█░█▒ invaded by what was, until then, a relatively ▒█░█
█░█▒ scarce configuration: the fully sufficient duo. ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ Of course, there had been duos before. But never ▒█░█
█░█▒ had there been duos who created so much sound with ▒█░█
█░█▒ so little means. Think early Orchestral Manoeuvres ▒█░█
█░█▒ in the Dark (recently the subject of great ▒█░█
█░█▒ reappraisal), which made economy sound luxurious ▒█░█
█░█▒ and pop singles sound like high art; or Soft Cell, ▒█░█
█░█▒ whose records are some of the most subversive ▒█░█
█░█▒ dancefloor fillers of all-time; or Pet Shops Boys, ▒█░█
█░█▒ whose every sonic and aesthetic decision has been ▒█░█
█░█▒ guided by a stubbornly exacting vision. Out of the ▒█░█
█░█▒ spotlight, Eyeless in Gaza and Fantastic Something ▒█░█
█░█▒ made marvelous music that reached few pairs of ears ▒█░█
█░█▒ but seemingly left none of them unmoved. At their ▒█░█
█░█▒ best, duos are a uniquely formidable type of ▒█░█
█░█▒ creative chemistry. ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ In the music of Sweden's Kuryakin - made up of ▒█░█
█░█▒ Petter Gj÷res (vocals, guitar, computers) and Johan ▒█░█
█░█▒ Norberg (guitar, computers) - one hears that same ▒█░█
█░█▒ alchemical magic that occurs when two simpatico ▒█░█
█░█▒ minds go in pursuit of a singular result. Theirs is ▒█░█
█░█▒ music stripped of surplus, that achieves great ▒█░█
█░█▒ sophistication with few embellishments and a ▒█░█
█░█▒ razor-sharp focus. ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ "Myself, I've always liked ambitious pop music ▒█░█
█░█▒ that's rather unpredictable but, at the same time, ▒█░█
█░█▒ never loses the focus on melodies," says Johan, who ▒█░█
█░█▒ met Petter at Uppsala University in 2002 and ▒█░█
█░█▒ started making music with him a year later. "Prefab ▒█░█
█░█▒ Sprout and the songs of Jimmy Webb are great in ▒█░█
█░█▒ that kind of way. I think we both have a great love ▒█░█
█░█▒ for major-seventh harmonies, and strings as well. ▒█░█
█░█▒ We've thought in terms of orchestras, but I think ▒█░█
█░█▒ we're beginning to realize that the music becomes ▒█░█
█░█▒ more fun when we have to make the most of the ▒█░█
█░█▒ sounds with a computer, using samples and ▒█░█
█░█▒ electronic sounds instead." ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ Petter and Johan, perhaps unsurprisingly, are great ▒█░█
█░█▒ admirers of Scritti Politti, Junior Boys, and Saint ▒█░█
█░█▒ Etienne - all of them groups who have expanded the ▒█░█
█░█▒ stylistic palette of what is, ostensibly, ▒█░█
█░█▒ electronic pop. But the pair also love sixties ▒█░█
█░█▒ Sunshine Pop (The Free Design, Roger Nichols & the ▒█░█
█░█▒ Small Circle of Friends), bossa nova (Marcos Valle, ▒█░█
█░█▒ Antonio Carlos Jobim), and nu-soul singer Ne-Yo. ▒█░█
█░█▒ What unites all those artists is a commitment to ▒█░█
█░█▒ melody, to making more of less, and to composing ▒█░█
█░█▒ songs that set up permanent residence in the mind. ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ Still Here, Kuryakin's debut EP, is remarkably ▒█░█
█░█▒ assured and coherent, especially considering how it ▒█░█
█░█▒ was made: Petter lives in Stockholm, while Johan is ▒█░█
█░█▒ in Uppsala. They email ideas to each other, then ▒█░█
█░█▒ get together a few times each month to flesh them ▒█░█
█░█▒ out. "I have to work on songs in solitude," Johan ▒█░█
█░█▒ admits. "It's better to have some ideas and then ▒█░█
█░█▒ ask Petter what he thinks. Then he can add ▒█░█
█░█▒ something new to it, or the other way around. But ▒█░█
█░█▒ it would be much better if we lived in the same ▒█░█
█░█▒ city. ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ "Still Here contains lots of older songs we haven't ▒█░█
█░█▒ been able to release before now... We've joked that ▒█░█
█░█▒ we should call it our greatest hits album." ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ From the sweeping romanticism of "Take My Hand" to ▒█░█
█░█▒ the subtle Brazilian swing of "A Parade," there is ▒█░█
█░█▒ a stylistic breadth throughout Still Here's seven ▒█░█
█░█▒ songs that indeed makes it sound like a compilation ▒█░█
█░█▒ that arrived well into Kuryakin's career. That this ▒█░█
█░█▒ is only the beginning leaves us to imagine the ▒█░█
█░█▒ seemingly limitless places they might go to from ▒█░█
█░█▒ here. ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ Artwork by: Bj÷rn Jansson ò CD: 5 tracks, 7": 2 ▒█░█
█░█▒ tracks ▒█░█
█░█▒ ▒█░█
█░█▒ http://www.shelflife.com ▒█░█
█░█▒ http://www.lostminds.com/users/kuryakin ▒█░█
█░█▒ http://www.myspace.com/kuryakinmusic ▒█░█
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▄ ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ASCii By AyL!cRO 2oo5 ░▒▓█████████▓▒░ ▄
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