The Line Of Best Fit has an improptu Jens Lekman around-the-campfire-show from 2003.
Some Velvet Blog turned up a You Tube video of Dawn Landes covering Peter, Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks”.
Swedesplease (oh that’s me!) had a new song from Montt Mardie’s upcoming double album
Earvolution on Soundtrack of Our Lives
For The Eardrums has new Shelflife signee Days and their single “Simple Thing”
From all outside appearences Bedroom was a great Swedish label and then one day it wasn’t any longer. The webpage stopped being updated, there were ominous messages on it and whispered stories of bands not being paid and fiscal irresponsibility. It’s a shame that bands that had a home were suddenly left floundering. One such band that seems to have had a hard time righting himself is All Of My Brothers Girlfriends.
But suddenly there’s a batch of (seemingly) new bedroom pop songs on his homepage, nearly enough to make an album. Any takers? Here’s tw0:
(For some reason my streaming program is playing these songs too fast, making AOMBG sound more like The Chipmunks. Don’t click on that little blue arrow, instead open the file in a new window to hear it at the right speed.)
There’s a new Swedish netlabel on the scene in Frukt Records and they have the debut recording from Fredrik Stahl titled Start Making Sense. Of course for your dime, as with any netlabel, you get the full album plus album artwork. In this case there are 5 songs described by the label as “emotional pop spiced with electronica.”
I like the lethargic pop of “Free Will Standing” which is a tale of a man stuck in neutral; unemployed, alone, selling albums on Ebay and generally totally and completely stuck. What’s cool is how the tempo of the song suits the lyrics, even with the slight lyrical and musical downturn at the end of the song. Download the digital ep here. You can buy the cd release here.
Here’s a couple of quick things I wanted to share. The Lovekevins have released the first single from their debut album, The Lovekevins vs The Snow, out now on Songs I wish I had written. “Tamagotchi Freestyle” is pristine, happy dance pop.
I’m going to write about Ed Greene until someone sits up and takes notice! Is that alright with you? His amazing video for “When The Sky Is About To Fall” has recently been added to You Tube.
It seems that Differnet has just had their song “Edison” made into a video, it’s a work of art by the folks at Harvest Light.
I’d like to write something brilliant about the music of The Bridal Shop, I think they may just deserve it but I’m low on time. And instead of leaving you with some crappy music with a lot of in depth analysis, I thought I’d do just the opposite.
What The Bridal Shop do well is combine the melancholic, ethereal pop of the British band Felt with the swirling guitars and morose vocals of the Smiths and since it’s all produced in a bedroom you can also add casio beats and synth to the mix. For more info about this ep or to contact the band email them here – thebridalshop@gmail.com.
Massive feature on the exporting of Swedish music by the Canadian publication Exclaim! They don’t mention us by name but I’m sure they stumbled upon this little corner of the web when they researched their piece. Shout outs to Hello Saferide, I’m From Barcelona, Loney, Dear, The Knife, Labrador Records, PB&J, and on and on.
Montt Mardie went from some kind of bedroom pop dreamer with a crappy .tk web address two years ago to suddenly being at the forefront of the burgeoning Swedish pop movement. His new record, the 2 cd set Clocks (Hybris) is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year. Disc one contains 10 new songs while disc two is full of duets with the likes of Hello Saferide, Jens Lekman, Andreas Mattsson and many more.
I’ve lost the ability to discern whether or not an artist is an acquired taste or not. With Montt Mardie I expect that he is somewhat of an acquired taste, but he’s an acquired taste like the Jackson 5 were or like a band like The Smiths were or even Robyn Hitchcock’s spacier stuff was. Either way, for me, the heavy funk baseline, funky organ and groovy background singers of “Hacienda” and Montt’s characteristically pinched, high-pitched vocals are a perfect blend of pop, disco and Motown funk. To acquire a taste of this charming musician simply listen to the new song “Hacienda”, watch the video of “High School” and the mp3 of “1969″. Buy it here now.
Buy it here.
Bonus mp3 of “1969″
Montt Mardie’s video for High School
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Thomas Denver Johnson is heading out on tour with a beautiful new song safely tucked away in his back pocket. “One Of My Blessings” once again captures the melancholy energy of Uncle Tupelo (and all it’s spinoffs) with the plaintive wail of Neil Young.
Everyone’s getting in on the act this week including Music For Robots, the talented Raven Sings the Blues and even the Music Slut. Here’s the occasionally weekly Swedish music blog roundup:
Music For Robots has techno from The Field
Raven Has The Blues has an historical perspective on Swedish psychadelic music
Music Slut finally gets with the program and gives some ink to I’m From Barcelona
It’s A Trap has a new song from the debut full-length from Familjen
Stereogum has the new single and remixes from Robyn
Swedesplease (oops that’s me!) had an amazing post on the new Skweee compilation from Flogsta Danshall
