I stick with the Led Zeppelin-vibes in this second post for the day. At least when it comes to the starting track "The Club" on Kusk' s new EP "The Ride Is All", which was released earlier this year. They say themselves that they have been inspired by The Black Keys and The White Stripes, which feels even more obvious as the second song "Be, Do" comes up and when they after that takes it a little more easy in the suggestive "Mr. Swanky". Great stuff all four songs, with a nice ambience, where each song has it's own character. [...]
The quartet Marrakech , hailing from Umeå, have taken their band name from a song by Crosby, Stills & Nash, "Marrakech Express". And even if CSN is not exactly what comes to my mind, when I listen to Marrakech's first single, I land somewhere in that era. What I hear is psyckadelic rock and blues rock, flavoured with the fact that they sing in Swedish. In the song "Mitt Liv" ("My Life") I'm reminded at first of Cream but soon I feel quite a few Led Zeppelin vibes. That feeling remains to some extent when I listen to the second [...]
Fallen Trees , hailing from Malmö, was formed in 2010 by the two friends Emmanuel Arvanitis and David Karlsson. With two early EP:s behind them they released their debut album now in January, the thematic "Dysto Fuzz". Many of the songs feel like they're built on sixties pop, with some twists of Beatles' harmonies, but they also dives into blues rock, folk rock and ska rhythms. I think that they have created quite a personal sound, where they blend the sound of the acoustic guitars, the banjo and the mandolin with the electric, so that they land somewhere in between [...]
Jonas Linngård, who is one half of the electro pop duo Kids , has also started a solo project. He calls it Kontroll , and last month he uploaded a first taste of what it's about. "A State of Emotional Imbalance" is the name of the song, a fun, eventful instrumental electronica you can listen to here below. Kontroll's site - on Facebook - on Soundcloud
Here's a quite pleasant indie pop-sounding song from the band First Love, Last Rites . It's the third single from the new album "Wasted Hearts", which was released in December. First Love, Last Rites on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp
Everett Parker released his album "Irrevocably Human" last week, a year and a half after the debut EP "Run For the Uppercut". And I can just state that it's an impressive album, which you should check out if you're into classic, storytelling Americana with guitar in hand. It's always difficult to describe what exactly makes a record like this stand out among many others in the genre. The lyrics are of course important, but the entire set is glowing, from the voice, from the string hammering, from the rough, earthy atmosphere, which has been created with small means. If the [...]
A. S. Swanski is now working with a new music project he calls "Deckare". Each month he releases one or two songs inspired by Swedish crime novels, where he so far has put music to books like "Isprinsessan" ("The Ice Princess") by Camilla Läckberg and Millennium by Stieg Larsson. It's not too far from his latest album "Electro Noir", which I wrote about then, where one of the songs even was a reference to a crime novel he had written himself. I think his own description of the music fits rather well here: "between cinematic krautrock and disturbing synth pop". [...]
The Stockholm sextet Humfree Bug Art released their debut EP "Chairlene" last year, and now they are relaunching one of the songs from the EP as a single, "With Night and Lights". And why not? it's a great song with an interesting sound: a grand indie pop with folk vibes, and I can hear that they really are six members. They show this in a beautiful way also in the living room-recorded "Flowers", which you can watch here below. Humfree Bug Arts' site - on Facebook - on Spotify - on Wimp
Mire Kay is warming up before the album release (April 4th) with another song, this time also with an accompanying video directed by Mats Udd . After this song, "Reverse" and the last one "Beat" I've got big expectations for the album, to say the least. Mire Kay's site - on Facebook - on Spotify - on Wimp
The Shy Lips , hailing from Göteborg, released their second EP "Nowadays" earlier this year. It's fun to listen to this music, as it's unpredictable, happy and with a mix of styles that gives me a sense of recognition, but when I try to catch what it is, it escapes me. There's an intimate garage-punkish sound, with a laidback, natural attitude, like if they would have entered a stage in Manchester in the eighties as a warm-up for The Happy Mondays. They send out tentacles to the sixties, with The Kinks as the most obvious reference, there's a dose of [...]
The band Pompejius , hailing from Karlstad released their first music video "Cracks" now in the beginning of this year. The song is taken from the excellent debut EP "Come to My Rescue" from last year. A quite enjoyable song that breathes indie and American folk, coloured by warm horns and dreamy guitar figures. Pompejius' site - on Facebook - on Spotify - on Wimp - on Soundcloud Cracks
The duo Dödens Dal released their debut album "Gå ensam förbi horisonten" some weeks ago; an album they have described as a mourning process. It's beautiful and melancholic, like a moment of resigned lament in front of the inevitable, to find peace, to find a way back. The second single from the album "Bakom Stjärnor, Bakom Tiden" ("Behind stars, behind time"), with it's wailing, lonely foghorn in the middle of the darkness, gives a taste of the record. Dödens dal on Spotify - on Wimp Bakom Stjärnor, Bakom Tiden
Here's the Swedish-American duo Jonka with their latest single "Breathe". Synth pop, a little laidback and lo-fi, like I recognize them from before . The song is taken from the EP "Pinks", which was released in the beginning of the year. Jonka's site - on Facebook - on Spotify - on Soundcloud
Sharp turns here in the blog. Now it's about hard rock with Egonaut , hailing from Borås, who recently released their album "Mount Egonaut". For friends of Mustasch, Metallica and Hardcore Superstar as they describe it themselves. I haven't listened to the entire album yet, but it feels promising. Here's the opening track "Crawl", which they've also made a video to. Egonaut's site - on Facebook - on Spotify - on Wimp
We got to know Andreas Österberg and his Det mekaniska undret ("The mechanical wonder") a couple of years ago, when he composed music for and filmed tram line 11 in Göteborg. Now he's started a new project which will eventually lead to the album "Industriromantik". It's about old industries in Göteborg, large brick brick buildings, silent today, but where we can divine a long history behind these mighty walls. Like with the majestic Sockerbruket (sugar plant) in the image above, which is the object of the first song in the project. Det mekaniska undret's site - on [...]
Ebbot Lundberg (from The Soundtrack of Our Lives) is going to release a solo album later this year, and this month he's relased an EP with three songs as a first taste of what's to come. And it tastes great. Listen for yourself in the delicious "Drowning In a Wishing Well" here below. He performed two of the songs in Plans fundraising gala on the 8th of March, and as a consequence of this all revenues from the EP during a month goes in full to Plan's efforts for underpriviliged girls around the world. The EP is available on [...]
Million Faces is the name of a new house duo, who today released the song "Dreams Are Waiting" (That African Song)", a happy and catchy pop tune you can listen to here below. I don't know much more about these mask-wearing gentlemen right now, more than that they are working with John Ballard, the same man who discovered Ace of Base during the nineties. Million Faces on Soundcloud
The band With a Light Heart recorded their debut EP "Lost at Sea" in the fishing village Bua located on the Swedish west coast. They worked on a loft somewhere in the village and also in a church, and although I've never been to Bua, I can feel the atmosphere of the sessions there by the sea as I listen. The church comes into the picture in the first track "Sailin' Away", which has almost a hymn-like character. Then they glide over into two excellent Americana-vibing songs, heartfelt and close, and they finish the EP with the more grand-sounding "Homewards". [...]
The Sweet Serenades has released a song and a video taken from the last album "Help Me!", which was released in the Autumn. "Run (Run Run") is the name of the song and the video is a collage of fan photos, Iphone-filmed road movie clips and, clever enough, photos from disposable cameras they have passed around the audience during the latest tours. The Sweet Serenades' site - on Facebook - on Spotify
Besides working with music Knut Svanholm works as a mate on a sailing ship, and that's also where many of his songs are created; somewhere out on the Mediterranean, on the Atlantic ocean or in the Caribbean sea. Last year he released the solo album "Ergasiophobia" and also the record "The Angry Kid" with his band LOBST, which I wrote about here on the blog. Fleet of Clay is another of his projects which I have also written about as I paid some attention to the excellent album "The Essential Fleet of Clay". This year he's released the [...]
Meadow Music
![The Sweet Serenades - Run (Run Run) [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/uZOBVGi5xIA_130.jpg)
How to Dress Well
The Weeknd - Kiss Land
Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action - Album Trailer
Action Bronson - "Strictly 4 My Jeeps" (Official Video)
She & Him- I Could've Been Your Girl
Kanye West - New Slaves
[Listen] Daft Punk - "Horizon" (Japanese Bonus Track)
MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
Giorgio Moroder – Live at Deep
Introducing: Swords
