Nordic music

Biker Boy with “Calendar”-album and free Peter Sarstedt-cover

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music, Other, Songs | Comments Off

Biker Boy

The Swedish artist Biker Boy had a special and interesting project last year, with the release of a new single every month, named after the month it was released in. All of these singles are now compiled in the album “Calendar”, which is released on iTunes and Spotify. The album is also released in a remixed verion (“Calendar RMX”).Very nice!

Another nice thing, is the NEW single from Biker Boy, which is a cover version of Peter Sarstedt‘s classic hit “Where do you go to (my lovely)?”. It’s very summery and has a nice electronic beat that actually fits the song very well. The single is released for free on the Hybris-label. I will give you the single here, and you can head over to Hybrism.com and get a free remix by Mr.Bananas.

Biker Boy – Where do you go to (my lovely)?

Spotify link for the “Calendar”-album.

Spotify link for the “Calendar RMX”-album.

Here’s the video for the Peter Sarstedt-cover:

The Dreamers are back with a new, free single!

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | Comments Off

The Anglo/Swedish duo The Dreamers has released a new and free two track single on the fine Friendly Noise label. I last wrote about the band when they released their beautiful debut album ”Day for night” in 2007, and this is their first release since then. Kevin Wright and Sarah Nyberg Pergament, who are the two members in The Dreamers, have meanwhile been busy with their own projects, – Sarah has released her debut as Action Biker with the album “Hesperian Puisto” and Kevin has an album out now as Mr. Wright on Series Two Records.

The two songs, “Någon annan” and “My stupid heart” are a bit quiet, poetic and dreamy, simple in the structure, and with Sarah’s melancholic voice as the main element. “Någon annan” is in fact the bands first song in Swedish.

You can get the whole package including cover art and a press-release here: http://www.friendlynoise.se/the-dreamers/

…or here:

The Dreamers – Någon annan

The Dreamers – My Stupid Heart

… and here is a video too. The video are by Geoff Howell, who previously has done moving images for Testbild! and Action Biker.

New songs and album from Lacrosse

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music, Songs | Comments Off

Sweden’s Lacrosse will soon release their second album, and I am really looking forward to this. Their debut was brilliant, and it’s still being played a lot on my stereo.
The album is called ‚Bandages For The Heart’ and will be out on Tapete Records this spring. Here is a song from the album, “I see a brightness” :

Lacrosse – I see a Brightness (from Tapete Records)

…and here’s another song from the album, as a video, “We are kids”:

Lacrosse – We are kids from Lacrosse on Vimeo.

Enjoy!!

My Little Pony feat. Bedroom Eyes + an announcement

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | Comments Off

Sorry for the lack of posts here recently. I just need a little blog-free time, and hopefully I will be back soon with regular posts.
Good news is that TOMORROW, I will publish volume C and D of the spring compilation “Birdsongs, Beesongs”, and I PROMISE that I will. I’m uploading now, so everything is finished.

Here is a little nice video from two of my favourite artists, playing together:

My Little Pony featuring Bedroom Eyes – A song for you on your 40th birthday.

New song from Robert Svensson

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music, Songs | Comments Off

In many ways twitter has been “my blog” for a while, where I in a few words have said what I am excited about. I will continue to use twitter as a part of the blog, with instant messages about good things that I don’t feel for writing a big piece about in Eardrums, so check out www.twitter.com/eardrums .

Now, actually on twitter, I found out that Robert Svensson has a new song out for free download, and it is a good one. I really enjoyed his solo-debut from last year “Young Punks are on the never never”, and his new song “I was Summer, You were” continues where he left us. Svensson always captures me with his energetic and intense vocal style, – he is always deeply “inside the song” and sings with his heart.

Here it is:

Robert Svensson – I was summer, you were (from his label nomethod.se)

New free single from The Mary Onettes

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music, Songs | 5 Comments

tmo03

The press release say:

“The Mary Onettes release their first single in two years’ time on April 29. Written in isolation and partly recorded in a church "Dare" still ends up their most uplifting song to date – imagine a Swedish equivalent of The National on a diet of speed, Planet Earth DVDs and Go-Betweens singles and you’ll have a vague idea of how wonderful this is!”

I have no chance to listen to it right now, so I can’t tell you how it sounds, but maybe you can tell me: Is this any good?

Here is the song:

MP3: The Mary Onettes – Dare

Thieves Like Us – “Play Music” – electronic pop from Shelflife

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Nordic music, Recommended Releases | 2 Comments

Whenever I hear the name Thieves Like Us, I think about New Order (this song, if you have Spotify), but from now on, all of this will probably change. Thieves Like Us is also the name of a band, – a trio -, where two thirds are from Sweden and one third is American. They met in Germany, but consider Paris, France their home.

Their debut album, “Play Music”, will be released on March 10th on Shelflife Records, which kind of surprises me. This is quite different than most other artists on the label, who’s roster consists of pop-bands like Burning Hearts, Language of Flowers, The Ruling Class, A Smile and a Ribbon, Days and other artists with strong POP melodies as their trademark. Shelflife has released several records flirting with electronic pop earlier, like Kawaii, Champagne Riot and partly Kuryakin, but these have always had a sweetness and “niceness” to them, – pretty and with mostly happy melodies. Thieves Like Us definitely have the good melodies, but they show a darker side, – sometimes more experimental side of the label.
-You see it on the cover, you hear it in their lyrics, you hear it in their sound.

I find it really refreshing.

“Play Music” is a really good album, – varied, consistent and full of surprises, never boring. This is one that lasts.

There is more than the band’s name that reminds me of the 80s in TLU’s songs. On the song “Drugs in my body”, the vocals in the chorus remind me of Wire, the twangy guitars on the same song remind me of Tuxedomoon. There are a lot of very early synth-pop/new wave references in the way some songs are sung, the analogue synths, the “riffs”… I hear Kraftwerk, I hear Gary Numan, I even hear old, old XTC. On “Miss You” we hear some delightful New Order/Pet Shop Boys-like rap-singing. Love it!

Check out these two songs, and buy the album from the Shelflife shop. At the moment, this is only avalable on vinyl LP, but CD will be available soon.

Thieves like us – Drugs in my body

Thieves like us – Your heart feels

Teeny Grownups – Epic Rock

Posted on March 1, 2009 by Knut in Bandprofile, Nordic music, Recommended Releases, Reviews | 1 Comment

Teeny Grownups from Stavanger, Norway is ready with their second album, and for some reason I was not surprised when I saw the title, “Epic Rock”. I am sure the band had a laugh when they decided the title, but in many ways I would seriously call this epic rock, – or maybe epic pop?

Their new album is full of fine, playful pop songs with just the right amount of cute-ugliness. Think c86, the pastels, bmx bandits, television personalities, the wedding present, but also newer bands like Art Brut are easy to compare them with.

This is such a loveable band, – everything about them, – the jangly pop-songs, the attitude, the nice people, the lyrics about everything from libraries, ferries, campfires and substitute teachers to girls kissing backstage. Per Ebbe Helberg is a wonderful storyteller, and he manages to tell full stories over just a few textlines. The rest happens in the listeners head. The repeating line “I’m so sorry I forgot your wedding day, I’m so sorry I forgot the day you went to church, of course I should know, I should have known, I should have remembered your wedding day” in the song “Wedding day” is so simple and naive, but at the same time, it includes so much more than just the simple text-lines. It might just be me and my strange head, but I instantly start to wonder about things like “what’s the story behind this” and “what happened after” and “what’s the relationship between the persons mentioned in the song”. A whole new story starts to emerge, and the simple song suddenly gets a whole new dimension. It is something with Helberg’s lyrics that gives me a feeling that the whole story isn’t told yet. All the songs are focussed on everyday life, sometimes naive, sometimes strange, but always very enjoyable.

The first time I heard this band was quite some time ago when I heard their lovely, superjangly song “Belle and Sebastian”, and since then I have kept my eyes and ears on the Stavanger group.

I just have to mention an example of the band’s wonderful, subtle, nerdy humour: On their myspace, you will find a live-photo in their pictures section. On the photo, the band is on a quite big stage, they really seem to be intensely rocking, and the audience has their hands in the air. A typical rock festival photo. The only problem is that there are only 5 people watching the concert in front of the stage. Not exactly crowded. The band has tagged the photo, like you usually see on the new social media sites. Usually peope tag the important persons/things in the picture, – like “this is me”, “this is my brother”, “cool guitar” and things like that, but try to go to their myspace, mouse over the live-photo and see who Teeny Grownups has tagged with names… At least I found it quite charming!

Here’s a song from “Epic Rock”, – “Merry Ferry” + a song from the band’s first album, the before mentioned “belle and sebastian”.

Teeny Grownups – Merry Ferry

Teeny Grownups – Belle and Sebastian

New single by The Embassy released today, – in a limited edition of 3 (!) copies…

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | 1 Comment

YouTendToForget

Sweden’s The Embassy has a new single out today, but your chances of getting your hands on a copy is very, very small. Their new single “You tend to forget” is released on a 12” vinyl single record, and there exists only 6 copies, – 3 for sale and 3 owned by the artists. Your only chance of getting one of these, is by participating in an Ebay auction, and you can follow or participate here: www.srvc.se . The cover is made with pigmented ink print on paper, and the artist behind the artwork is Carl Hammoud (see the image above).

So, why do they do it this way? Ola Borgström from Embassy’s label Service says this in a statement (my translation…):

Total inflation reigns within today’s pop music since it is copied and distributed unlimited through computer duplication. In the light of this fact, Service will now release The Embassy’s new single "You Tend To Forget" on a 12" vinyl in three copies, with artwork by Carl Hammoud.

The bids started on 0,50$, and at the time of writing, there are 23 bids and the highest is on 91$…

A creative way of making money, a good way to make an opinion or just a childish promo stunt? What do you think?

New free EP from Jesper Norda

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Knut in Nordic music | Comments Off

The Swedish piano-playing singer/songwriter Jesper Norda is a believer of giving his music away for free, and now he has done it again. Norda always delivers quality compositions, – he keeps it simple, but manages to get the most out of a few notes on his piano. Wonderful melodies, often melancholic and with some bittersweet lyric. His new EP is called “We have the guts EP” and it includes 5 really good songs, – probably the best ones I have heard from him so far. The songs compiled on this ep is very consistent in form, and it makes the ep as a whole a pleasure to listen to. Jesper Norda has a unique, expressive voice, and together with the piano, it creates a very special atmosphere. If you haven’t experienced it before, go to his website and download the whole thing for free, – and do it now!

Jesper Norda – Ami’s song

Jesper Norda is also a part of the project If There Is Something, and they have also a free release out now. You can download that one from this address:

http://www.23seconds.org/028.htm