Bröderna Lindgren
Vuxen barnmusik!
Bonnier Amigo
"Vuxen barnmusik!" is an all-star collaboration album of sorts, featuring a slew of Sweden's most popular singers contributing at least one song, many with two. Sonically, the album is mostly a mixture of the textures of mid-70s classic rock and mid-90s alt-country, and, for the most part, it matches that vocally as well. To my ears, Caroline Wennergren contributes the strongest melodies of the album on her tracks "Eld i baken" and "Flyg iväg". In the second tier, one finds the familiarly loved Asha Ali, Mattias Alkberg and Kristofer Åström all taking what could be a slow record and pushing it up quite enjoyably. However, the strongest song on the album is its closer, the gorgeous "Finns det någon där" with Nina Ramsby and Martin Hederos performing a soft piano ballad with a light electric guitar playing in the background. The rest of the tracks though, did not do much for me, especially the faux-reggae "Välkommen til djungeln" which I've found to be completely unbearable. In the end, "Vuxen barnmusik!" is a decent album with a light-hearted feel, but can occasionally stray to the boring.
- Matt Giordano
The new Vapnet single "Plötsligt händer det inte" will be released on February 18 and will include the b-side "Aldrig där". A new album will follow in April.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives are currently back at Svenska Grammofon in Göteborg working on their next record.
Shout Out Louds will go back to the UK in April:
04/05 - The Cockpit, Leeds
04/06 - Carling Academy 2, Newcastle
04/07 - Speakeasy, Belfast
04/09 - King Tuts, Glasgow
04/10 - Bush Hall, London
04/11 - Ruby, Manchester
Am I correct to understand that Dotshop, Sweden's leading distro/mailorder for adventurous music, has been trying to rally labels against illegal downloading? Even though a great majority of the labels they carry probably disagree with them? Is this true?
Memento Materia has signed electro/goth duo Sadman and will be releasing their debut album "Cold in the state of me" this coming April. Preview tracks at their website: http://www.sadman.se/
Check out the video for the new Bobby single "Tomorrow never leaves": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jV92GKkfl0
Look for the CDS to be released on February 29 with two exclusive b-sides and a remix track. Otherwise, the band's new Andreas Dahlbäck-produced album "Thursday in this universe" will be out soon thereafter.
Norwegian artists Ugress will appear at the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts 2008 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on February 28. They are hoping to secure a spot at SXSW as well, but nothing is confirmed yet.
Headspin will release the new Ass album "My get up and go just got up and went" in March. Cover art and tracklist is here: http://www.headspinrecordings.com/releasedetails.php?ID=32
Biker Boy's new single for February is up on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bikerboymusic
As mentioned before, Biker Boy will be releasing a new single every month of the year for all of 2008.
Nomethod will be putting out a 7" from Markus Krunegård of Laakso featuring the single "Jag är en vampyr" b/w "Samma nätter väntar alla". 500 copies, April release, sure to disappear fast. Also look for the debut solo single from Mixtapes & Cellmates frontman Robert Svensson in late February. That one's called "1987" and features guest vocals from Adam Olenius of the Shout Out Louds. The b-side to that will be a remix from labelmate Matts Katt.
Here are the winners of this year's Steppeulven, aka the Danish critic awards:
Best music: Peder
Best producer: SuperTroels
Best band: Efterklang
Best vocalist: Ane Trolle
Best lyrics: Natasja
Best hope/newcomer: Choir Of Young Believers
Best song: Natasja - Giv Mig Danmark Tilbage
Best composer: Efterklang
Best live act: Trentemøller
Best album: Efterklang - Parades
Pioneer prize: Sebastian
Norwegian electro/pop act Diskotek is back with a new single and a bunch of demo tracks for free download: http://www.diskotek.org/