Speaking of Frej Larsson, he features on a new track released by Swedish rapper Timbuktu taken from his forthcoming album "En high 5 & 1 falafel". I've always found Timbuktu charming, and he's done a lot for Swedish hiphop, but I've never been that much of a fan of his music despite buying a lot of it and keeping an interest in his career. This track is alright, and it's a bit different from the previous things he's done which is quite refreshing. It also features Supreme from Looptroop Rockers. I like the beat, it's got that annoying / intriguing vibe that all that Slagsmålsklubben, Maskinen and Far och Son jazz also have.
I guess most kids like Rube Goldberg machines (ie chain reaction "machines"), and so did I when I was a kid, but I kind of like them more nowadays. I'm not building any myself (maybe one day!) but they sure are fascinating! Right? Right? Right? No? Ok, you might not share this interest with me but you should still check out the new video from Far och Son that starts out with a normal RG machine, but then it changes into something more ... artistic and amazing (and rock n roll!). The song itself is a bit annoying, but nevertheless catchy (I can't get the chorus out of my head!). Far och Son features Frej Larsson (from Slagsmålsklubben). Larsson is also part of music collective Maskinen who sound a bit like Far och Son. Check them out below, they had a song called "Alla som inte dansar" out last year and "Segertåget" (which I prefer) out earlier this year. This type of music is very big in Sweden now, with the kids, a bit like Sweden's answer to new rave (Slagsmålsklubben are their Klaxons then I guess). MP3: Far och Son - Panik
About a month ago I wrote about Adrian Lux's amazing song "Strawberry". I've been listening to that song like crazy since then, but there's a remix out featuring my current favourite Swedish rapper Alexis Weak that's even better! This is such a good song, you must listen to it. Weak raps in Swedish, which is a bit of shame but it's nevertheless fantastic. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the original will be a worldwide hit. Have a fine weekend!
While I'm not necessarily a huge fan of The Hellacopters you can't deny them there place a one of Sweden's biggest rock bands in the last 15 years (even going as far as to having songs on Guitar Hero III and their own pinball machine!). Along with The Hives they really set a bench-mark for other Swedish rock n roll bands and it will be interesting to see who will come after them as, from this Sunday, the band will be no more.
They will however be playing their last two gigs ever via their myspace page on Saturday (25/10) and Sunday (26/10) at 9pm CET.
In the meantime here is one of their most famous songs "(Gotta Get Some Action) Now!" (which Pelle Almqvist declared as 'the greatest Swedish song ever written'):
By Stop Us Not On At 7:07 am
Lykke Li - Breaking it up (alternative live video)
Sweden's king of twee - Pelle Carlberg - is coming to the UK.
I know a bunch of people who find Pelle Carlberg incredibly annoying, and I can sort of understand why they feel this way. For example, the spoken word segment of the song "1983" from his latest album (listen / download below) is just really cringeworthy. There are usually about 3-4 very good songs on each of his albums. He's incredibly twee but also a bit smug at the same time, which appeals to me. I guess that's what great twee music is all about - cute music with "subversive" lyrics (like Belle & Sebastian or in an extreme instance - Cars can be blue). Anyway, he's coming to the UK in the beginning of next month and if you're into melodic twee with clever lyrics I think you should check him out. He puts on a good show so if it's cold and raining, like it is now, his music might be able to pick you up. I'm not sure at the moment if I'll be able to make it down to his Brixton show, but I'll certainly try.
1 Nov 2008 - Westgarth Social Club, Middlesbrough 2 Nov 2008 - Head of Steam, Newcastle 3 Nov 2008 - Deaf Institute, Manchester 4 Nov 2008 - UWIC Howard Gardens, Cardiff 5 Nov 2008 - Bristol Cooler, Bristol 6 Nov 2008 - Brixton Windmill, London
I don't know what to say about Billie The Vision And The Dancers. They're the nicest guys in the world and the music they produce is completely heartfelt but they really seemed to run out of fresh ideas after their first two albums. If you've not caught them live yet then you could do worse than catch them at Proud in Camden on Friday supporting The Pipettes. If you're not a fan of twee pop music however then seeing BTVATD followed by The Pipettes must be some kind of living hell!!
Other dates on this tour are:
24/10 - The Royal, Derby 25/10 - The Cooler, Bristol 26/10 - Academy, Oxford 27/10 - The Marquee, Hertford 28/10 - The Tower, Winchester 29/10 - The Soul Tree, Cambridge 30/10 - The Charlotte, Leicester 31/10 - Inside Out, Darlington
Don't miss Sounds Like Violence's London show this week!
The fantastic Sounds Like Violence are playing two London shows this week - Water Rats on Tuesday and The Lexington (never heard of it!) on Wednesday. I might go to both! They're such a great band. Hopefully there will be more people there than last time they played over here. Not sure why they haven't got big yet, their songs are ace and so is their live show. See below for what Kerrang thought about their last gig.
I just pre-ordered Frida Hyvönen's new album "Silence is wild". Hyvönen's first album "Until death comes" was great, but a bit hit and miss. Last year she released some songs from a dance performance called Pudel. This mini album got me very excited about her next proper full length, and now I've got a feeling that it will be one of the best albums of 2008 that she's about to release (29 October in Scandinavia and 4 November in the US). You can pre-order it here. I think it might be even better than Lykke Li's album! If only 29 October was here sooner! There's a song from the album called "Dirty dancing" that's just gobsmackingly good. Unfortunately that song hasn't been released as a free Mp3. Below you can check out "Enemy Within", which is another great song from the album. She's also coming to play her next year. Tickets go on sale on Monday (buy them here).
"Robert who", you might ask. Robert Svensson from Mixtapes & Cellmates! "Mixtapes & what", I hear you inquire. Well, I've never been a big fan of that band so just forget about it. There's this guy called Robert Svensson and he's done a solo album that features such Swedish indie heavy hitters such as Markus Krunegård (Laakso) and Adam Olenius (Shout Out Louds) on guest vocals. You can listen to the album on Svensson's Myspace. It sounds ok, maybe not life changing but pretty decent. He actually played Monto Water Rats last night, but I couldn't go to that show. Tonight's he's playing at Metro. I've got something I have to do this evening but I will try and make it down to check him out, I reckon it can be pretty sweet live.
I'm too old for guilty pleasures. I remember feeling bad about liking Millencolin when I entered high school. A few years after I graduated from high school I decided not to ignore music I like (ie a lot of poppy punk, or recently - Meatloaf) and start ignoring music that I listen to solely because it's hip or because of good reviews (eg post-rock). I also realised I don't like jazz, blues, funk or classical music very much(no instrumental music please). I don't mind on missing out, there's so much else music out there that I like. My parents used to tell me I'd start listening to classical music when I get older. You know what mum and dad? I don't think I ever will, and that's fine with me! It was a big moment in my life, I must say. Maybe not as big as when I came to realise I don't like dry food, but still pretty life changing. Since this (music, not food) revolution there have been songs that I've felt a little bit silly for liking, but I don't want to miss out on good music (life's too short for that!) so I've just gone with the flow. For example, I really love The Killers' "When you were young" but in the beginning it was a bit confusing since I never liked The Killers before and I considered them just another crap band such as The Bravery. Last week when I heard Kite's "Ways to dance" I had to remind myself that a good song is a good song. There's something a little silly and naff about "Ways to dance" that makes me wonder why I like it. But I do like it, I really do. It's a killer! I played it for someone at work and she asked me if this was Sweden's 2009 Eurovision entry. Well, I hope it will be, but despite her weak effort to be cheeky, she reinforced my feeling of something not being quite right about the song. It is a very cheesy song, but I don't mind cheese though, not in music or food (as long as I can have some butter underneath it). That's enough for my Friday rant, have a good weekend, but before you do - please listen to Kite's song below. I'm off to Shoreditch to see a bunch of wilfully obscure indie band at the Concrete and Glass festival (Lykke Li's playing, but I've had enough of her for some time).
... the best I've seen her but it included the obligatory sexy zombie dancing and a totally lame crowd that made poor tired-looking Lykke Li work very hard for her money (there should be a ban on Vampire Weekend covers, by the way).
