With Halloween only a day away it's time to look forward to winter. Only today I found myself unconsciously whistling "Troika" by Prokofiev which for me is just about the most Christmas-y piece of music ever written.
However there is one thing that is making me look past Christmas and into 2008. One of my favourite Swedish songs from the last few years has been "Bellystings & Sunshowers" by The Second Band.
I normally fall in love with a song in about the first 5 seconds and so opening lines for me can make or break a song.
The opening lines to this track are so simple yet are incredibly emotive:
There goes my crush with a crush on a boy with a crush on a girl with a crush on a boy with a crush on a girl with a crush on a boy with a crush on himself
I dunno, when I type it out like that it doesn't do it justice. Listen to the song at the end of this post. Trust me... it's stunning.
Anyway since then they've consistantly put out amazing records and I just read that they've got a new album coming out in January. Keep your ears to the ground and your eyes to the stars... I can't wait!
Anyway, here is "Bellystings & Sunshowers" to keep you going until January:
The first time I ever heard the title track from Sambassadeur's 2005 EP "Between The Lines" I was instantly struck.
The EP gradually gets darker over the 4 tracks and moves into Jesus & Mary Chain territory which is not really my thing. The opening track however encapsulates everything I love about Swedish music.
Anyway, they have a new album out called "Migration" on Labrador and you can (currently) download the first single "Subtle Changes" for free here !
For me it's a little over-produced and Anna Persson's vocals are get a bit lost in the Phil Spector-esque orchestration. Still lots of people seem to love it so give it a go - they are a fantastic band!
Here is the beautiful "Between The Lines" for those that haven't heard it:
It took me some time before I started to like Hello Saferide. Initally I thought she was crap, but then I heard "The Quiz" and I started to pay attention. At first I mostly liked her slower songs and found it a bit too MOR when she "rocked out". Though, lately (especially after the brilliant Säkert! album) I think she's really developed and started producing some very, very good songs.
Listen to this, which might be a song from her forthcoming album, that for some reason was recorded in a lift. It's simple but fantastic stuff. Pretty charming video too, with all that lift action going on. I hate lifts, especially if they haven't got one of those hatches in the roof that I can swiftly escape from if something goes wrong. Hello Saferide doesn't seem to mind lifts - good on her!!!
