Swedesplease – The Swedish Music Blog

Here’s a little netlabel electronic goodness for you today. The band is called Melodija and the new record is called en svensk lejon. It’s available to be downloaded in full for free from Wang Electronics. (I know it just keeps getting weirder and weirder).

Umjeni River Birds
Picnic With Kathy

Interesting interview with Robyn name checking Pitchfork, Akon, Method Man, etc

Here’s a unique Battles-esque video from Trelleborg/Sassnitz that uses a isocronic music video generator to create the visual effects synced to the music in real time. The song is called “Hide And Seek”

“Landscaping” continues to build on the bands rythmic indie rock

Slow Motion Club “Landslide” on Swedish TV

Homeland “Summer Of `75″

El Perro Del Mar W/Lykke Li “Inner Island”

Another great homemade video to Hello Saferide’s “Get Sick Soon” (here’s the first)

More subversive electronica from Lissi Dancefloor Disaster

Little Marbles is another band that will be playing the rookie stage at Hultsfred. And rightfully so since the two members, Linn and Julia, seem just out of their teens. They’ve already released a single on National and I’m guessing they’re working on their debut record as we speak.

Before I browsed their friends and influence list on MySpace I thought I heard glimpses of Laleh and MIA, and then I saw Laleh front and center listed as their first friend. Cool. With a little more production, heavier beats and a little luck these two could go very far. Here’s their song “Melon” and below that a brief interview I did with Linn.

Melon

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You guys seem very young. What are your ages and how does that affect your sound/style?

I don’t think our age has anything to do with our music. But maybe …., We just do things without thinking and then suddenly we have a song, a sound and a style? Maybe i don’t know. It all comes naturally.

I’ve been invited to come over for Hultsfred Festivalen all the way from Chicago. What’s it like to be booked at this huge festival?

fun!

I hear bits of Laleh and MIA and even ethnic music in your songs. How did you come about your sound. Who are your biggest influences?

We listen to laleh, timbuktu, miss li, regina spector, bob dylan, kate nash ……

and of course this melodies has a effect on us when we write our own music.,but we didn’t come up with any sound, it’s just how we sound like, or maybe this sound has come to us,, you know?

I see on the NORRKÖPING wiki page that your city has been called “The Swedish Manchester”; is there a robust music scene in NORRKÖPING?

Yes, we think that there is many good bands in norrköping. Almost all of our friends has one or two band that they play in…

How has the internet, blogs, MySpace helped you get your music out to your fans?

I don’t think internet and myspace has been any bigger help, but on the other side myspace was were you found us, so, i guess myspace and blogs and stuff is a good thing.,

It’s pretty clear where the Swedish band Lissi Dancefloor Disaster comes down on the copyright, p2p, and mp3 file sharing debate/debacle. They’re all for it. They make it clear in their new single “Copyriot (Caring Is Sharing)”. The song throbs and bleates it’s message across three minutes of tribal beats and the chanted chorus of “sharing your music with your friends, sharing is caring”.

I wrote about the band here first. This song is from a forthcoming ep. You can see the band this summer at Hultsfred Festival.

Copyriot

P.S. I just enabled video commenting on Swedesplease. I’d love to see some of your cheerful faces so leave me a video comment if you have time (it’s remarkably easy!)

Stereo Test Kit have uploaded a nifty Muxtape here.

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I love the experimental instrumental music of Tape. The new record Luminaire is out now on Hapna. Here’s a song off it:

Moth Wings

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New video for the first single from Sophie Rimheden’s record Traveller – “Go Away”

I know this is a crazy thing to say but from the first few interactions I’ve had with the quasi label, half-booking agency and sometime promotion house YAA! it seems that this Gothenburg upstart – with all it’s positive mojo and web 2.0 know how – will single handedly change the Swedish indie music scene.

They just get it! What is “it” you ask? Well try this on for size – they have a Muxtape page, a Last.FM site, an imeem page, a VIRB page and of course the now nearly passe MySpace page.

They’re streaming.
They’re downloading.
They’re blogging.
They’re partnering.
They’re hitting up bloggers.

Where did these guys come from? Seriously.

One of their new artists is Bjorn Kleinhenz. I’ve written often about Bjorn and it’s about time he’s got some good folks behind him. Through the label Tomt and now the promo company YAA! they are releasing several singles that will one day make up the album Quietly Happy And Deep Inside.

Poets Dying (video)

“Poets Dying” video

Bonus

The Quest For Your Heart

(Deliver Us From this Isolation by Doug Boehm)

The paper of record (NY Times) did a profile of the Stockholm music scene in this weeks Travel Supplement. It’s very basic and chances are you won’t learn anything new and to top it off they even mamage to use the dreaded A@$A reference in the title of the piece (I’m not even Swedish and I’m sick of that. Read the article here (you may have to register but it’s free and painless).

Music Is Art does a nice little Swedish roundup.

Above the Fold does an interview and has two songs by Swedish hip hop pioneers Looptroop Rockers.

You Can Call Me Pelski has everything Yellus.

Get Weird Turn Pro has a new song from electronic duo Minilogue.

The Culture Of Me has the new single from Radio Dept.

Yesterday Tim Schmidt was wedged in between an indie pop band and a lounge crooner on my Swedish video roundup page. He was the one artist that didn’t seem to belong with his soft folk music and unusual delivery which is a mix of Dylan, Buckley and Cohen.

Here’s new songs from Tim that will probably end up on a debut record sometime this summer. Catch Tim Schmidt live in Stockholm on May 24 at Norrport.

Brighton Beach

Crows Cracks Them Skies

“These Days” video (Jackson Browne cover)

Here’s a couple Swedish music videos that have been kicking around the office this week (and by office I mean crappy desk shoved into the corner of my basement).

I Are Droid – “Time On Time” (iPod ready download)

Tim Schmidt – “These Days” (Jackson Browne cover)

Kristoffer Ragnstam – “Breakfast By The Mattress”

What About A Band – “On Your Side”

Lewis – “Tankar i en bil”

Biker Boy “April Song”

Joel Alme – “The Queens Corner”

When I first heard about this band with Cirkus in the band name and theater in their genes I thought it’d be perfect for Swedesplease. See, I must admit to being a big fan of certain Broadway musicals. Plays and their accompanying soundtracks, like Hair, Hedwig, and even Rocky Horror Picture Show informed my musical tastes at a very early age. And the experience of being at the Circus is one of my earliest memories and I continue to attend Ringling Bros every year with my two sons.

Pär Hagström & Cirkus Transmopol have created an album that is meant to be performed live in it’s entirety. So it was hard to pick out just one track to share from this theatrical concept album. But choose I did.

And “Mysterious Grace” lives up to the challenge. It’s a slinky, Nick Cave-ish accordion and jazz guitar number that wouldn’t feel out of place in one of Wim Wender’s dark opuses.

Mysterious Grace

December Rose is out now and can be ordered directly through the Swedish label Strawberry Records here.

“The Night The World Came Down” video

“Stupid Clown” live video

(Art by Aristeo Juare)

The trampy little blog The Music Slut has a new song from Peter Von Poehl.

It’s a Trap has the new dance track from Sophie Rimheden.

Zeon’s Music Blog has a collaboration between Kleerup and Lykke Li.

Crash and Burn Girl has Marit Bergman covering Vampire Weekend (also check out her downloadable Swedish “best of” mix here)

Ram Di Dam may be an onomonopeia for the bands rat-a-tat style. One commenter on MySpace compared the group to The Strokes meets Talking Heads. I like the propulsive drumming and the vocals that are just on the edge of breaking up. Here’s a new song “Chances”:

Chances