I Am The Crime
A Fine Mess
Profiling
The Actors
Feb 16th
US trio The Actors compare their sound to “Daft Punk and DJ Shadow, Talking Heads and MGMT – hell, even Scott Walker and Blur”, but I’m not so sure if I agree. A mixture between Talking Heads and MGMT is a fair comparison, but they are too soft for the likes of Daft Punk and I’m not sure where Blur comes into the picture other than perhaps in some of the guitar riffs. Personally they make me think more of a re-vamped version of The Cars.
Originally started as a one-man project by singer/bassist/keyboardist Phil Maves, The Actors soon expanded into a trio when drummer Justin Ward (who later left the band and was replaced by Robbie Hammet) and guitarist/keyboardist/singer Dan Leech joined in. Their debut EP Anticipate Heat – which was co-produced by Mark Pistel (Consolidated, Hercules & Love Affair) – was released in late 2009 and could very well thanks to the tracks “Heat In The Street” and “The Skydiver” help the band pave their way in 2010.
The Sweet Serenades
Oct 8th
These two lumberjack-looking Swedes are Mathias Näslund and Martin Nordvall, together perhaps more known as The Sweet Serenades. They’ve already received glowing reviews in Swedish press and their previous single “Mona Lee” was apparently very popular on the web last year. (I seemed to have missed it though, hmpf!)
Their new single is the pumped-up power pop tune “On My Way”, taken from the album Balcony Cigarettes which is already out in Sweden, Germany and Benelux. You can hear the whole album on their MySpace (where you also can find plenty of purchase links) as well as on Spotify. And it sounds good! I’m definitely keeping an eye on these guys.
~ “On My Way” ~
Ólafur Arnalds
Sep 28th
I’m not quite sure what it is with Iceland that inspires such original and often devastatingly beautiful music. Björk, Sigur Pós, Emilia Torrini… they all have that chilly, yet rich sound that makes you picture the grey weather, open landscapes, intricate sounding language and medieval literature that it is associate with.
Now another Icelandic name has emerged, that of neo-classical musician Ólafur Arnalds. So far over 400,000 people have watched the fan-made video for “Ljósið” (which is fantastic, by the way), and more than 100,000 have downloaded his EP Found Songs, which is now getting an official release on Erased Tapes.
Ólafur’s intentions with his music are quite clear: “The classical scene is kind of closed to people who haven’t been studying music all their lives. I would like to bring my classical influence to the people who don’t usually listen to this kind of music…open people’s minds.”
So don’t let the “neo-classical” tag scare you off; Ólafur’s is simply too haunting to be missed.
Found Songs will be out November 10.
Ólafur Arnalds – Ljósið (Official Music Video) from Erased Tapes on Vimeo.
~ “Ljósið” ~
Real Ones
Sep 17th
Real Ones are a couple of Norwegian gents (there’s a bad pun in there that most likely only will make sense if you know Swedish/Norwegian) who have been playing music together since their teens. Crafting a warm and rich sound of folk, alternative country and psychelica, Real Ones’ history long history with one another has obviously payed off. Their music may be ricocheting several genres at a time but still manages to sound completely intact. “Every Dog Has His Day” for example is a bouncing and beautiful song at the same time, with cheerful banjos and striking violins blending nicely with the usual guitar, bass and drums.
Real Ones currently have an US debut EP out called All For The Neighborhood, as well as an upcoming instrumental album that will be out September 28.
The Background Front
Sep 10th
Well here’s something I wasn’t expecting: Joshua James of folk group Letters has an “electro-acoustic genre-hopping” project together with Gumar of Gumar and His Magical Midi Band called The Background Front. They just made an album featuring a flurry of guest as well as music genres: there’s trip hop, electronica, folk, soul, ambient… As a whole the album is a bit too scattered for my taste but it has several highlights that are worth checking out on their own. To purchase, head over here.
~ “Yr Spell” (ft. Cindy Wonderful), “Fallen” (ft. Endless Sunder) ~
Audionom
Sep 4th
When writing about Happiness last year I mentioned the up-rise of krautrock – the experimental rock genre that started in Germany during the early 1970s – here in Sweden, especially in Stockholm. Audionom are another of these krautrock inspired bands to come out our state capital, although I should point out they also have some rather heavy punk influences woven into their sound.
Formed in 1999, Audionom lasted about three and a half years the first time around, with several band members coming and going before splitting up. Reformed since 2004, the band currently made up of Andreas Bergman (guitar), Martin Malm (films), Mårten Holmberg (guitar), Johan Hinders (synth & vocals), Paul Sigerhall (drums), Henrik Hannebo (synth), and Pelle Backman (bass).
While they’ve played at a couple of festivals, the guys have mostly done club gigs around Stockholm, as well as a few shows in the US during 2007. As for their discography, Audionom have so far released a self-titled EP (200/2001); a split LP together with Sickoakes (2002), the retrospective album Retrospektiv (2005, re-released in the US 2007); and their new full-length Superior, which seems to finally give this band the praise and attention they deserve.
~ “Run Into Sun” ~
Little Dragon
Sep 1st
Little Dragon’s soulful electronic pop only caught my attention recently, but when it did, it grabbed it. Currently on their second album, Little Dragon debuted in 2007 with a self-titled record and had their double-A single “Twice/Test” dubbed as “Single of the Week” by Rough Trade.
Made up of Gothenburg-natives Yukimi Nagano (vocals), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards), Little Dragon list everything from Depeche Mode to Prince, LCD Soundsystem to James Holden, dancehall to R&B, jazz and soul as inspirations, a combination which is quite evident on their new album Machine Dreams.
Their songs are calm as well as danceable: the smooth intro track “A New” is followed by the more upbeat “Looking Glass” and “My Step”, which lead to the gorgeously languid single “Feather”, creating a bit of a pattern that is pretty much consistent throughout the album.
Besides the already aforementioned, best tracks are: “Runabout”, “Swimming”, “Blinking Pigs”, and “Fortune”.
Machine Dreams is out now.
~ “Feather” ~
An Axe
Aug 25th
Describing themselves as “a melancholy blend of Nick Cave melodrama, Shadows twang and Roy Orbison croon”, An Axe no doubt have a dark flair to their music. Fittingly, their debut EP Some, When Alone, Cease To Exist (which, as you can above, has some seriously gorgeous artwork) was recorded in a church crypt no less in the midst of winter.
The EP is the first of a trilogy; the second already recorded and slated for release in December, and the third written and currently in production. A full album is also in the process of creation.
Formed in Autumn 2008, this four-piece came together with a ‘less is more approach’ to song writing: they wanted to scrape off layers and effects and make the music stand on its own thanks to the melodies and writing. This resulted in a whole album’s worth of songs, which were then narrowed down to the four tracks appearing on the first EP.
As you might have guessed by now, Some, When Alone, Cease To Exist is rather dark and gloomy, but in a beautiful way, like The Black Heart Procession or the already mentioned Nick Cave.
Although they haven’t been around for long, An Axe have already shared the stage with bands such as White Denim, Hjaltalin, Tall Firs, Trachetnburg Family Slideshow Players, The Twilight Sad, De Rosa, Rose Kemp, and are planning on doing their own UK tour early next year. They currently have a lot of shows coming up, so make sure you check their MySpace for dates.
~ “Island” ~
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Aug 13th
19-year old Jessica Lea Mayfield may just be on the brink of young adulthood but already has many years of performing behind her. Since the age of 8 she played in a bluegrass band together with her family called One Way Rider. At 11 she began learning the guitar and sequentially wrote her first songs. Four years later she recorded the EP White Lies in her brother’s bedroom which, despite only being printed in a 100 copies, managed to find its way to Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Auerbach took Jessica under his wings and produced her first full length album With Blasphemy So Heartfelt (2008) which generated quite a lot of buzz amongst critics and music bloggers.
Obviously I wasn’t one of these bloggers as I just discovered Jessica’s music but better late then never, right? Jessica’s beautiful, but often also rather dark and sad songs truly are heartfelt, just as the album title suggests. The bluegrass roots from her family’s band are still present but softened, resulting in a stripped down folk-rock sound. What probably strikes me the most though is her rich, soulful voice. She sounds far older than her young age.
Jessica is set to perform at Sweden’s Way Out West festival tomorrow, so you lucky people who are going make sure you catch her.
~ “For Today”, “Call Me” ~
Polynya
Jul 22nd
I might as well start off by admitting that I had no idea what Polynya meant at first, so in case there’s anyone else as uneducated as me out there:
“A polynya (common US spelling) or polynia (common UK spelling) (pronounced /pəˈlɪnjə/) is an area of an area of open water surrounded by sea ice. It is now used as geographical term for areas of sea in Arctic or Antarctic regions which remain unfrozen for much of the year. It is a loanword from Russian: полынья, which means a natural ice hole, and was adopted in the 19th century by polar explorers to describe navigable portions of the sea.”
What I did know from the start though was that Polynya is also the name of a band, a great band even. They hail from Carrboro/Chapel Hill/Durham, NC and are the following four sea creatures: Andrea, Luke, Pat, and Thom. Their sweet, keyboard-layered indie-pop has so far resulted in two albums: the self-titled debut, and the brand new Crop Rotation. It’s a pleasant little record with cute melodies, boy-girl vocals and a chilly electronic veil. Personally I also get a little twee and sometimes even shoegaze feeling when listening to it, which is always more than welcome around these parts.
~ “Orlando” ~