Marit Bergman will do a one-off gig in NYC at the Livingroom on October 14.
Tobias Hellkvist
Sides
self-released
Tobias Hellkvist is a year younger than me, and he's been making music consistently since his teens. One of those strange anomalies that occur along the varied timelines of musical progression, Hellkvist picks up on a few well-established ideas -- those of folk guitar landscapes and postrock architecture -- and transforms both accepted forms into something greater than the pair combined, an almost 2 + 2 = 5. There is not quite the technical proficiency of Espen Jørgensen, but that is not Hellkvist's aim. "Sides" is an album of layering, of introduction and reintroduction, of something being shaped and remodeled and augmented. One of the best examples of this, and one of my favorite tracks on "Sides", is the fluent and gorgeous "Vintervarm". Hellkvist has quite a nice voice too, as evidenced on "Summer away". All in all, "Sides" is one of those albums that's as hard to pin down as it is easy to fall for. I have no doubt that it will be a strong contender when it comes to choosing The Best of 2008.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
MP3: Thomas Denver Jonsson - The light of love
It's Wednesday so that means it's time again for more Björn Kleinhenz cover tunes as we count down to the release of his new album "Quietly happy and deep inside". Seeing as how one of this week's featured artists is Thomas Denver Jonsson, an artist I'm frequently in contact with, I figured I'd track him down for a short Q&A session:
How did you get involved with the cover project? Have you known Björn for awhile or what?
Me and Björn must've known each other since 2001 when we started to appear on the same compilations and was reviewed in the same magazines. We also had a band, The Topeka Twins and we released a record 2003 [how soon I forget! -ed.]. We quitted the duo though since we looked too much like a Swedish version of Simon & Garfunkel. The situation was unbearable. Both wanted to be Art.
Did you get to pick the song or was it assigned to you? How did you approach doing your own version?
Björn handpicked "The light of love" for me, he said 'cause it was a country song. I wanted to take away the country pop element and do something more introspective with it. I was very cautious to not listen to the original version while starting to work with the song and recording it.
So how do you think it turned out? Were successful in what you set out to accomplish?
Yeah, I'm quite happy about it and it was fun dubbing the vocals. I had a nice evening doing it.
Have you heard any of the other contributions to the project? Any favorites?
I've only heard what has been revealed and I think all have been fantastic this far. Love Susanna's [Susanna Brandin aka Winter Took His Life -ed.] choir arrangement of "At night we die". It's a great tribute to one of Sweden's best pop artists.
Download more Björn Kleinhenz covers here: http://www.tomtrecordings.se/thelight
Also, be sure to check out Thomas while he's on tour - dates at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thomasdenverjonsson
As for me, I'm heading to SF for the next few days so expect updates to be slow. Mom, if you're reading this, I'll call you when I figure out my schedule - don't worry!
Thomas Denver Jonsson - The light of love
Check out the new We Are Soldiers We Have Guns video for "The great depression": http://vimeo.com/1771874
Stockholm Beat Connection has posted the winners of the Looptroop Rockers remix competition: http://stockholmbeatconnection.blogspot.com/2008/09/remix-contest-winners.html
Finnish girlpunks Pintandwefall have a great new track up at myspace called "Jail": http://www.myspace.com/pawf
Out now on Southern Lord: "Dømkirke", the live collaboration of Sunn0))) with Lasse Marhaug and Attila Csihar from Mayhem recorded live at Bergen Cathedral in Norway. Go here for more: http://www.southernlord.com/index2.php
I ♥ Icelandic Music on the new "Made in Iceland" CD from Iceland Music Export made to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Iceland Airwaves Festival in mid-October: http://icelandicmusic.blogspot.com/2008/09/check-out-icelandic-music.html
Swedish crust label Halvfabrikat will be putting out a new self-titled full-length LP from Anatomi-71 in the near future along with two new split 7"s featuring Passiv Dödshjälp/Livstid and M:40/Sand Creek Massacre. Dates and details to come.
Check out the video for Parken's excellent single "Jag har varit vilsen, Lisa": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgS2KWY7Wk
The new Olle Ljungström tribute comp "Andra sjunger Olle Ljungström" is streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/olleljungstrom
As mentioned before, artists featured include Joakim Berg (Kent), Thomas Di Leva, Andreas Mattsson, Tomas Andersson Wij, Ane Brun and more.
Keep an eye on Eardrums Music for their new massive fall compilation collection will be posted later today for free download: http://eardrumsmusic.com/
A-ha are back in the studio working on a new album for release this coming spring: http://www.a-ha.com/NEWS/AHA_fullNews.aspx?PostID=1433
In case you missed it earlier, copies of the new Hello Saferide album "More modern short stories..." are now in stock: [click here]
MIC Norway on China's NOTCH Festival which will be presenting a mix of art and music from all over Scandinavia: http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2008092311370843857633