I can count on one hand the number of Swedish R&B bands I’ve written about. I’m sure there are plenty out there, but how many are doing their own material and not simply aping the Motown bands of the 60′s?
Oh Oh! is one. The band is small by R&B standards but still includes between 6-8 musicians. Helena Lundström is the lead singer and it’s her voice along with the strident arrangements that propels these songs forward.
Bakers At Dawn occasionally forwards me their new songs. I try never to let the opportunity to write about their music pass by (here, here, here). I like that Bakers at Dawn are continually adding to and refining their sound. Unlike other bands that I write who polish their pop until it shimmers and sparkles, Bakers at Dawn have a rough hewed experimental pop sound that may be more satisfying in the long run. It’d be much too simplistic to just write this off to regional influences, but their certainly does seem to be a Malmö sound developing and its not your typical Swedish pop thang.
Here’s their new song “Same”.
P.S. I’m twittering like a real twat here.
Chris Auster is a tough swede to get a handle because he presents himself more as a prototypical American singer songwriter (Ron Sexsmith, Brett Dennen, etc) than a suave Scandinavian (Jens Lekman, Jonathon Johansson). Perhaps that’s because he’s spent time in the states as well as having influences that range from Townes Van Zandt to The Fleshtones to Bettye Lavette.
“Riverboat Gambler” is from his new debut recording Again and Again. Chris provided some context for the song below in his email to me:
It’s about an old drunken homeless guy down at pike place market in Seattle. I used to play in streets there, and this guy always came up to me and talked about all kinds of life philosophies, the world today, and economic problems, and how I should be doin’ something more useful with my life than playing music on the streets. it was a funny experience.
hence I came up with the refrain:You better find a way boy, for success and better pay boy.
You better find a way boy, for that’s the world today. That’s the world today!
The Forest & The Trees is a new project from Joel and Linnea Eden. For a duo they create a nice orchestral folk sound. The song “Mother” has a rich, earthy sound that’s complimented nicely by Linnea’s ethereal vocals. The band’s MySpace bio is simple…
“Hi, we are The Forest & The Trees. We play music. “
but their music is anything but with influences that range from Sufjan Stevens to Stina Nordenstam to The Cocteau Twins (and David Bowie!). The band’s next show is April 26 at Lava, Kulturhuet in Stockholm. Here’s “Mother”:
At least a couple people (not in the band) enjoyed my Stereo Arcade post last week. I promised (threatened) to share one more song from the band so here it is.
On “Monday Morning” we get a nice mix of angular guitars, anthem-like vocals, and that wonderful swede-accented English.
Stereo Arcade have the look and the sound to succeed. This 5 piece from Sweden creates catchy pop with moments of alt-rocky guitar goodness.
Hey. I just wrote up The Late Call last week here. At the time there was talk of a video. Well, it’s here. And it’s gorgeous (the video and the song). The song “Cards on the Table” picks up where “Linnea” left off. Again we’re dealing with heartbreak and a long distance relationship. The song is based around a simple slowly plucked acoustic guitar, but is supplemented with strings and xylophone. Mats Udd is the young Stockholm based director. Stick around for the whole song and be rewarded with a wonderful closing image.
I hope there are some marching bands at SXSW. Here in Chicago we have a couple of great bands including Mucca Pazza and Black Bear Ensemble. These guys have the name but not the corresponding sound. Instead Marching Band make a type of lush quiet pop. Makes for a nice listen but not sure if it translates live.
You can see for yourself when they play St. David’s Church on Saturday. More info here.
P.S. For some reason I don’t seem to mention Swedish music enough. It’s not that I don’t write a ton about Swedish music, it’s just that I don’t actually write the words “Swedish music” enough. I did a Google search and Swedeplease doesn’t turn up on any of the first three pages of results. So to improve my Google ranking for the phrase “Swedish music” I intend to write about even more Swedish music in the months to come. There, that should do it!
P.P.S. I won’t be updating this site til Monday but you can follow me on Twitter here during SXSW.
The original intention of SXSW was for unsigned bands to find a label, a major if all went well. With the number of crappy bands playing SXSW for the past few years that original intent has shifted over time. For many of the bands making the trip to Austin this year being signed is a pipe dream.
With that said it seems to me (a very amateurish music fan who has never dabbled in A&R) that Steso Songs has a chance of breaking big. Steso Songs is Karolina Stenström from Malmö. She only has an ep under her belt but is young, attractive (don’t downplay the importance of that), and talented. If the right people see her perform her music live I do believe she has a shot at something more.
Check her out here.
Through various singles, ep’s and one off internet downloads the Swedish band Pinto has really cornered the market on lofi power pop. I’ve consistently written about the bands music in part becasue they remind me so much of the music I grew up loving from the U.S. (the Smithereens, The Bears, Sloan, The Posies).
Now the band (really just one guy) is prepared to release their 2nd lp called Short Songs About Longing Are Better Than Long Songs About Shortcomings. “Restless Heart” is the first sample from it and the song is simple, catchy and cute (based on the Christmas classic “The Little Drummer Boy”).
Big distorted guitars (a la The Fall), 80′s influenced shoegazzy vocals, and a hummable tune you say? I’m there. In this case it’s the first single off the forthcoming record by The Paper Merchants titled A Friend Of Mine. “I Don’t Care” is released on the new Swedish label Den Mänskliga Motsvarigheten.
Chiptunes made with a Gameboy from a guy living on an island off of the southern coast of Sweden. How can I not write about that?! Average Composer is the name of the project from Björn Ekström. His new EP is called You’re Better Than Potato. And is available in its entirety at Archive.org here or you can purchase one of the limited edition cd’s here.
Everyone’s heard of Hellsongs, yes? They’re the Swedish band that covers heavy metal songs with acoustic versions. Well now they have competition in a genre that I really thought they had all to themselves. The band Barbara Flor does acoustic covers of mostly electronic music. They have a free .zip of their new record, Ballader Om Laila Bagge, here. On it are covers of Familjen and Tough Alliance among others. So here’s a cover of Nina Hagen’s “99 Luftballons”, funny the song went from German to English and now to Swedish, can’t say that for many other songs.
{Update} I guess I fouled up the fact on this one. The somng was by Nena not Nina Hagen. Although Nena is from Hagen so I was pretty close. I guess this is still in German and not Swedish as well. sorry, still like it though at least that part is correct.
I like that you can clearly hear that Swedish Shoes have recorded this in their bedroom. It’s bedroom pop crooned with just a dash of Morrissey and a little Antony and maybe a dash of Depeche mode (minus the electronics).
More new songs at the band’s MySpace.
I wrote about the electro funk of Stockholm’s MFMB in November here. At the time I was writing about their new ep The Fine Detail. Well, now they have ep # 2 out. Heat Like This builds on the sounds of the first ep. They tend to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the mix so listen for keys, bongos, electronic beats, guitar (sounds like The Cure), background vocals, and odd samples.
The band plans to release this ep on vinyl and mp3 this spring in conjunction with a tour. Here’s the title track.
I like that I don’t have any ads on Swedesplease or Songs:Illinois. It frees me up to post whatever I want. I never have to fear about losing readers or not attracting enough. In fact for the past several years I’ve run this site more on the belief that driving people away with the most obscure Swedish music may be the best service I can provide.
I say this not because the music of Musette is offensive (it’s not) but because unlike a lot “blog rock” it doesn’t try to reel you in in the first 5 seconds with a catchy beat or hook. Musette and his brethren are making thoughtful, minimalist, experimental music. The debut release by Musette is Datum and comes out Feb. 24 on the new label Tona Serenad. The songs on Datum all arise out of specific events and experiences from days gone by. Below is “May 24″.
I haven’t written about a single Swedish act with any sizeable U.S. following for weeks if not months. You can do a search of Swedesplease and find no mention of Loney Dear, SKWBN, Lykke Li or anything on Labrador for that matter. I think that’s pretty astounding (and it’s taking a toll on my readership). But I got into this to write about lesser known Swedish acts and will continue on that path `til I quit.
Leffe P is one such band creating music that is catchy and fun loving. The band’s bio goes something like this (via Google Translate):
For some peace of the soul a washing machine
For some infidelity is a dishwasher with the cord in
For some people are happy not happy at all special
For some people happiness is a glass cone with chocolate
For some, everything is nothing and nothing is everything
It spins around in the world, is starting to feel cold.My childhood waiting, no one knows what it is waiting for.
As you can probably tell by now I like my Swedish indie rock to have a horns, accordion, Glockenspiel, piano, odd percussion and singable harmonies. You’ll find all these in the songs of Jeffe P. Especially the song below and the video for “Alla vill ha öl men ingen vill dö”. “Njutanger” is from the band’s new EP Pensionatsbacken. Enjoy. And don’t evah say I was a sellout.
——–
“Alla vill ha öl men ingen vill dö”
“Alla vill ha öl men ingen vill dö” by Leffe P from Nisse Axman on Vimeo.
…complete with donkey-headed, bikini-clad zombies.
I’m going to follow up on my previous post about the group Symfoniorkestern (the only one ever for the band) with yet another post about this Symphonic Orchestra. How’s that for obscure Swedish orchestral indie pop?
Here’s the band’s eclectic list of influences courtesy of their Myspace page:
beethoven & debussy & chopin & bach & pachelbel & the brilliant green & kaji hideki & shiina ringo & pizzicato five & cornelius & kent & sergio mendes & broder daniel & lars winnerbäck & takeshi kobayashi & vapnet & sibiria & hospitalet & fiona apple & judy and mary & frank sinatra & the beatles & david bowie & tv-resistori & malice mizer & schytts & joe hisaishi & nobou uematsu.
And here’s the new song followed by the video. Enjoy.
And the cool handmade animated video for “Reprise”
Here’s a sneak preview of Niels Nielsen’s upcoming single “It’s all In My Head”. Niels does a lofi one man band kinda thing that reminds me a little of Pet Politics.
———
The Stockholm based indie pop duo (with 5 members) of Hari and Aino have a single coming out on Cloudberry in February. Here’s the lovely b-side called “Maple”.
