Some music is good listening to while your’re travelling by some sort of transportation, it could be driving in your car, on the bus or on my favourite transportation (while listening to music): the train. I can’t find a more perfect way listening to music. You sit comfortable, you have good space and you can let your mind sink into the music as the landscape shifts in front of your sleepy eyes. Try listening to the opening track on Kent’s latest "Du & Jag Döden" and you’ll probably know what I mean.

The first time i listened to swedish You Are My Everything’s great track "Stalker" I got that train-feeling, just listen to the pumping bass!

You Are My Everything are Nicklas Nilsson (Guitars, bass and vocals) and Jörgen Dahlqvist (Guitars). These mp3s are from the EP "Stories ever told".

You Are My Everything – Stalker

You Are My Everything – Stories ever told

(from record company)

It’s Friday, and we’ll take it easy today, but I just couldn’t resist putting up these links for you…
Secretly Canadian has a new, free track from JENS LEKMAN‘s forthcoming album on their site, and it’s a great song!
In addition, I found a fantastic song by Seattle-band THE FLEET FOXES. Harmonies, harmonies, harmonies…. That’s what I like…
Insound.com had a new one from London-musician JAMIE T, “Salvador”. He uses so many different elements and influences in his music, so I really don’t know what I should call his style. Interesting?
Enjoy the songs, and have a perfect weekend, everybody!

Jens Lekman – The opposite of Hallelujah
(from his labelsite)

Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
(from Spin.com)

Jamie T – Salvador
(from Insound)

Sometimes I discover music that I find breathtakingly Beautiful. This is the case with the music of the Norwegian artist Vermeer, a.k.a. Solvor Vermeer. 

I am deeply touched by this fragile and delicate music, and the first time I heard "The Beaming light", I sat there listening with tears in my eyes. The two songs I’ve heard so far both have a very distinct sound, – the elements she use in her songs are few, with a piano and her soothing vocals as the main instruments. Treated samples of the vocals are layered on top, and small natural sounds from the recording room adds a unique atmosphere to the music.   

Solvor tells us that she usually makes her music at night, and she has to keep everything quiet not to disturb her neighbours. She does the composing and recording in one go, and does not change anything on a composition after she is finished playing. "When I think too much, my creativity vanishes", she says. The melodies and the lyrics are created side by side, at the same time, she tells us. I am surprised, because her music is not "easy", – it has several complex elements within the boundaries of minimalism and simplicity, and the elements sound so perfectly placed, like they were planned and structured. If I understand Vermeer correctly, nothing is planned, and everything happens in the moment. Clever! 

I love the small natural sounds, which probably wasn’t intended – but which adds so much atmosphere to the recording -, like the sound of the small movementsof a chair or the small clicks and noises you can hear in the background. At first, I thought "hmm, strange to have the piano in just one speaker", but after approx 3 seconds into the song, I thought "Wow, this is perfect!"
Solvor Vermeer has a lot in common with artists like Hanne Hukkelberg, Stina Nordenstam, Tori Amos or even some of the more quiet and less electronic works of Björk. I’m also reminded by another artists we’ve recently written about, – the Norwegian singer/composer Silje Nes.

Solvor has not yet released anything as Vermeer and she is still unsigned. I hope someone with a sense of great music gives her everything she needs to record a full album, and I hope Vermeer continues to record at night and does it with her own basic equipment…

Vermeer – The Beaming Light

Solvor Vermeer is also involved in an electronica project and in the folk-rock band Bob Haley.

Readers: Did you like this one as much as me? Please comment!

My regular post Twelve Thursday Tunes is back from vacation with a lot of goodies. For our new readers, don’t mix this up with the Theme songs about thursday, – these posts (=12TT) have absolutely NOTHING to do with Thursday other than that they usually are posted on a thursday. These are just twelve songs found somewhere on artists/labels/promo/magazine-sites that I want to share with you. Lots of great songs in this mix. Enjoy the music!

Canonball Jane – Take it to fantastic (from promo agency) – Cool and very enjoyable underground electro pop track from Cannonball Jane (a.k.a. elementary school teacher Sharon Hagopian). Crazy, bouncy rhythms, horns and trumpets, handclaps, 60s-like girly vocals and a Phil Spector-esque sound.  Her fans and helpers include Beastie Boys, The Go! Team and Le Tigre. The Go! Team’s music is not too far from this, and she’s also done support for them live.

Band of Horses – Is There a Ghost (from Myspace) – Fantastic new track from the band’s upcoming album “Cease to begin”, due for release on subpop October 9, 2007.

The Blakes – Don’t bother me (from spin.com) – Seattle based rock band described as “Soak the Kinks in cheap booze, reignite the Stooges’ strut and add some modern Strokes of ambition, and you have the Blakes.”. Does that sound good to you?

Ferraby Lionheart – Vermont Avenue (from spin.com) – I enjoyed his ep a lot, and absolutely LOVE his debut album “catch the brass ring”. Official release date is Spet.4 on Nettwerk records, but if you are an emusic subscriber, you can get it there now.

Rogue Wave – Lake Michigan (from spin.com) – a summery, free track from their upcoming album “Asleep at Heaven’s gate”, due for release on Sept.18. I’ve had both of their previous albums as personal favourites, so I’m looking forward to this new one.

The Brunettes – Small Town Crew (from subpop.com) – From this years new release on subpop, – fantastic band! Hyper-melodic, sweet girl/boy pop.

Kyte – Sunlight (from myspace) – Up and coming UK band from Leicestershire who plays dreamy indipop in the veins of Sigur Ros and The Album Leaf. Their new single “planet” will be out on Sonic Cathedral on Oct.1.

Winter Family – Auschwitz (from Paper thin walls) – Spoken word with piano. Just listen to it. From Winter family’s self-titled album, out on SubRosa now.

The New Pornographers – Myriad Harbour (from Paper thin walls) – great song from their great new album “challengers”, out now on Matador records.

Seabear -  I sing I swim (from toolshed) – a beautiful song from this fine Icelandic band’s debutalbum “The ghost that carried us away”, out now on Morr Music.

Matias Tellez  – brand new kicks (from nrk urört) – young and talented Norwegian musician. Read more, in Norwegian.

Devandra Banhart – Seahorse (from discollective.com) – an 8 minute long new Banhart track from his forthcoming album. Beautiful, and with interesting changes through the song.

More songs next Thursday!

From Göteborg, Sweden comes a band with the strange name IF THERE IS SOMETHING. Most of the songs I have heard so far are rough-edged electro-rock tracks with static, dark synth-basslines,drummachines and Cure-like vocals screaming in desperation. Sometimes, they combine both English and Swedish lyrics in the songs, which create an interesting effect. Nice for me who knows both languages, but for non-Swedish speaking listeners, I guess it can sound a bit exotic, or what? Some of their songs are really good, and they definitely have potential to be great.

Listen especially to the bass-driven "Calderon" and the ultimate synthpop-track "Nothing is broken".

If there is Something – Calderon

If there is something – Nothing is broken

If there is Something – The Joy Of