W♥M

The Sounds

Weekend Metronome Records Read More The Sounds This is perhaps the sexiest album cover art I've seen in a long time. You get this feeling of a hot Summer's night at a bar or a club in New York... these two girls are with friends and just very casually whispering some secrets … Blondfire Blondfire, a band that seemed a little out of place in this dance/rock crowd. As you know, we were also lucky enough to catch them at the sparsely-attended Nether Bar in October. The band just released their Where The Kids Are… Ghost Beach We've previously seen Ghost Beach live when they played here in Minneapolis. At the time, the New York duo was touring in support of Modern Tongues Remixed, and it would seem that they've also recently released Miracle …

The Sounds are a Swedish rock band, who has often been compared to Blondie and The Cars. The band will be heading to America in support of their latest album Weekend, which came out November 2013 via Metronome Records.

Having sold out a handful of dates in the US and Canada in October, The Sounds will be back on a more expanded tour for North America. Lead singer Maja Ivarsson is really looking forward to the U.S. shows, "We are so grateful that you guys love having us here, because we love playing here. We've always had such a loyal fan base over here. It always feels really great to come back to America. Whether we even have an album out or not, we have such great fans who allow us to play big venues which is such a blessing for a band."

The tour will eventually end up with Blondfire and Ghost Beach, who will join The Sounds starting April 10th to April 21st. We have seen both bands live, so it should be a great mix of Sounds/Blondfire/Ghost Beach bill (too bad Minneapolis won't get the triple-threat).

The Sounds' Spring 2014 tour dates:

03/18 Vancouver Venue
03/19 Seattle Neumos
03/20 Portland Star Theater
03/21 San Francisco The Regency Ballroom
03/22 Los Angeles Club Nokia
03/25 San Diego House of Blues
03/26 Santa Ana The Observatory
03/28 Las Vegas House Of Blues
03/29 Salt Lake City In The Venue
03/30 Denver Gothic Theatre
04/01 Minneapolis Fine Line Music Cafe
04/02 Chicago Metro
04/03 Toronto Hoxton
04/04 Quebec City Imperial de Quebec
04/05 Montreal Corona Theatre
04/07 Brooklyn Music Hall of Williamsburg
04/08 Philadelphia Union Transfer
04/10 New York City Webster Hall
04/11 Providence Fete Ballroom
04/12 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
04/14 Atlanta Terminal West
04/15 Tampa State Theatre
04/16 Miami Grand Central
04/18 Dallas Granada Theater
04/19 Austin Emos
04/21 Houston Fitzgeralds

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ the-sounds.com

Scandinavian Pop II

Read More Ólafur Arnalds This week, Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds talks to Paste Magazine about his first ever work for a US film, "Another Happy Day". You can read the interview and album stream on .…

ÓLAFUR ARNALDS
olafurarnalds.com

Icelandic composter Ólafur Arnalds just announced five U.S. Summer tour dates. Guess what? Minneapolis is one of those dates, which means by obligation, we have to be there for Arnalds to show support! I don't know what my schedule will be like on July 17th, but I'll be sure not to miss this.

If you've never heard of Arnalds, you may have heard his music on BBC (Broadchurch) or Hollywood blockbusters (The Hunger Games and Looper).

Anyway, Arnalds will be here to promote his latest album, For Now I Am Winter, which features arrangements from Nico Muhly and vocals from Arnór Dan.

Seriously, if you live in California, New York, Minnesota, or Illinois, you need to see Arnalds on this rare 2013 appearance:

07/12 Hollywood Forever Masonic - CA
07/13 Glasshouse - Pamona, CA
07/16 Glasslands - Brooklyn, NY
07/17 Cedar Cultural Center - Minneapolis, MN
07/18 Jay Pritzker Pavilion - Chicago, IL

SUSANNA
susannamagical.com

Norwegian songstress Susanna (of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra) just released her new single, "Death Hanging". The track features vocals from Susanna, Susanne Sundfør, and Siri Nilsen, taken from their radio appearance at Øya Festival (which we said took play in August of 2012).

Susanna will be heading out on tour:

05/24 - Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller*
05/29 - Stockholm, SE @ Södra Teatern*
05/31 - Malmö, SE @ KB*
06/01 - Copenhagen, DE @ Den Grá Hal*
06/02 - Aarhus, DE @ Voxhall*
06/11 - Kino, NO @ Stemmerettsjubiléet 2013
07/06 - Kino, NO @ Jazzfestival

* w/ Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

INVSN
invsnmusic.com

Swedish alt-rock band INVSN ("Invasion"?) just signed with Razor and Tie. Expect to see their U.S. debut album (yes, their first English language album) sometime this Fall 2013 and possibly a North American tour around the same time. The album is being mixed right now by Nick Launay (Arcade Fire, PiL, Nick Cave, Kate Bush) and Jacob Hansen (Volbeat).

Check out the first track of the album called "Down in the Shows" at Rolling Stone.

INVSN are:

Dennis Lyxzen - Vocals & Guitar
Sara Almgren - Bass & Vocals
Anders Stenberg - Guitar & Keyboards
Andre Sandström - Drums & Percussion
Richard Österman - Guitar& Keyboards

RA
ramalmo.tumblr.com

There's already a band called Ra (see The Sun), this Swedish, also called RA, was formed last year by Simon Minó, Erik Blondell, Felix Mårtensson, Martin Nilsson and Anton Gustafsson.

The new band is described as sounding like a "dark 80s" (Jesus & Mary Chain, Spacemen 3) but with a touch of psychedelia.

Expect their debut 4-track EP Bloodline (available on 10" vinyl and digital) on June 12, 2013, around the same time as their public appearance with Bauhaus' Peter Murphy. Yes, we like him.

June 09, 2013 @ Babel, Malmö

KISSAWAY TRAIL
facebook.com/kissawaytrail

Denmark's Kissaway Trail just premiere the music video for "Nørrebro" on NYLON.

Regarding the music video, singer Thomas Fagurlund said, "Nørrebro has meant a great deal to me for the last three years of my life. I wanna show everyone all the places I've spent my time and all the people that made me who I am today."

Don't like the video? Hear the audio over at soundcloud.com:



The "Nørrebro" song will be included on Nørrebro (Life is a B-side), coming out next week (May 28) on Yep Roc Records. Expect a full length album Breach on August 20th.

SUNS OF SATAN
sunsofsatan.org

Father Figure Records announced that they've just signed Denmark's Suns of Satan. The duo consists of Norwegian/Danish composer, singer and percussionist Kristine Bjørg and her multi-instrumentalist husband Jeppe Knudsen.

Their upcoming album Sidespring was recorded in Denmark and, strangely enough, Arizona. Apparently the couple traveled to Tucson to get recording with the local musicians in the area.

Check out "Rebel":



Sidespring will be released under a Creative Commons by-nc-sa license by Father Figure Records on 12’’ vinyl and download on June 3rd 2013. For more information, see fatherfigurerecords.com

VIRTA
virtavirta.com

Virta is a Finnish instrumental trio, playing Scandinavian jazz and post-rock music. Their debut release of Tales from the Deep Waters came out late last year (November 2012) and they are currently playing some shows in support of the release:

06/15 Match & Fuse festival - Norway
07/18 Porijazz 2013 - Finland
07/25 Raahen Rantajatsit 2013 - Finland
07/28 Rockfestival Naamat - Finland
08/09 Lawatanssit - Finland

This week, the band announced their free split EP with Canadian-Ukranian duo Ummagma for the Italian music channel Son of Marketing. You can check out the music over at sonofmarketing.it.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com

Shout Out Louds at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (05/17/13)

Setlist Tour Dates May 20 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom May 21 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater May 22 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall May 23 Los Angeles, CA El Rey May 24 Los Angeles, CA El Rey May 25 George, WA Sasquatch Festival Read More Shout Out Louds Stockholm-based Shout Out Louds produced themselves for the first time (assisted by Johannes Berglund) on their fifth and latest release, 'Optica' (Merge Records), and begin touring this May (including a 5/17 date in Minneapolis) .…

Sweden's Shout Out Louds is back at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis last night, May 17, as part of their North American tour in support of Optica, out now on Merge Records.

HAERTS

Opening up for Shout Out Louds was Haerts, a band from New York (by the way of Germany, England, and U.S.). Singer Nini Fabi sometime sounded like Mazzy Star, but the band sounded more pop/dance than typical shoegazing music. You can draw your own conclusion by listening to their debut single "Wings" below:



The last time I saw Shout Out Louds at the Fine Line in 2007, I said the lead singer, Adam Olenius, sounded like Robert Smith (The Cure), and he still have that vocal style. I don't think you would notice, until you bring it up, and then, that's all you can hear.

Anyway, I was expecting the band to play more tracks from the new album, Optica, but they only played about half the album (including tracks like "Sugar", "Walking in Your Footsteps", "Chasing the Sinking Sun", "Illusions", "14th of July", "Blue Ice", etc.) The latter song, "Blue Ice", is currently available for free on amazon.

Surprisingly three songs from their debut album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff made it onto their setlist. The album was originally released in 2003 throughout Scandinavia, but finally made its way to America in 2005. I have in my notes that "The Comeback", "Please Please Please" and "Very Loud" had the best reaction from the audience.

Encore songs were: "Destroy", "Walls", and "Tonight I Have To Leave It", so throwing in a new song with one from their previous 2010 Work album ("Walls") and one from 2007's Our Ill Wills.

SHOUT OUT LOUDS

As for performance, I felt with the years of touring experience, that this is Shout Out Louds at their best. They kept tuning/guitar changing down to a minimum, they have their own set of lighting and massive backdrop, and all the band members all had their little moments on stage. Near the end of their set, Olenius jumped into the crowd and spent a few minutes standing on the drum kit, while the rest of the band members do their rock-thing. They certainly didn't do any of those things the last time I saw them, and I love the new changes.

If you've never seen Shout Out Louds before, you definitely owe it to yourself to check them out on this tour. They do it right: mixing in some fan favorite old songs, but mixing in some newer songs from Optica. They seem to understand that not everyone is going to rush out to get the latest album, so they didn't try and overwhelm us with new materials. Having said that, songs from Optica played live sounded great! Optica was released February 26, 2013, on Merge Records.

Shout Out Louds at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (05/17/13)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ shoutoutlouds.com

Labrador: Amanda Mair, Club 8, and Wan Light

AMANDA MAIR
facebook.com

We have been following Sweden's Amanda Mair early in her career. Well the big news is that she finally turned 18.

What that really means is that she can play gigs and not have to worry if it's legal or not.

Anyway, having won "2012's Big Breakthrough" by the Swedish Music Industry, Amanda Mair is taking her critically acclaimed self-titled debut album on tour in America for the very first time.

Minneapolis happens to be one of the very few dates on Mair's intinary:

June 24 - Jammin Java - Vienna, VA
June 25 - Milkboy - Philadelphia, PA
June 26 - Rockwood Music - New York, NY
June 27 - The Red Room @ Cafe 939 - Boston, MA
June 30 - Nether Bar - Minneapolis, MN

Come out to the Nether Bar (the tiny bar under Mill City Nights) for an intimate show with Amanda Mair. Find out why it is Idolator's "newest obsession" and Magnet thinking she's "next in line in Swedish pop invasion."

CLUB 8
www.club-8.org

Since the last time we mentioned Club 8 (in early April), we mentioned that they have an eighth studio album called Above the City, but no other details were given, outside of its pending release date of May 21st, 2013.

Well, I have good news for you - I have complete track listing and cover artwork courtesy of their record label Labrador Records below:

1. Kill Kill Kill
2. Stop Taking My Time
3. You Could Be Anybody
4. Run
5. Interlude
6. Hot Sun
7. A Small Piece Of Heaven
8. I'm Not Gonna Grow Old
9. Interlude #2
10. Into Air
11. Instrumental
12. Travel
13. Less Than Love
14. Straight As An Arrow

WAN LIGHT
wanlight.com

Not a whole of information sent in from these guys called Wan Light. All I know is that they've signed to Labrador Records.

The biography on Labrador's site indicate that they are a duo (K. Svensson and M. Karnock), and the name "Wan Light" was named after an old Orange Juice song.

With Let's Wake Up Somewhere Else featured a collaboration with producer Björn Öqvist. I am assuming Öqvist has his hands in helping out Svensson and Karnock for their new album called Space Canaries (released April 10, 2013 on Labrador).

Trivia: I've never heard of Wan Light, but apparently the duo has been around for ten years (since 2003). Their music is often compared to Mercury Rev and Pet Shop Boys.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Scandinavia

Read More Club 8 I know, I've joked before about S Club 8, aka S Club Juniors, a spinoff of the teen group S Club 7, as confusing as heck when it comes to the more serious, respectable, band called Club 8.…

Read more: Scandinavian Pop and Sweden.

SWEDEN
CLUB 8
club-8.org

I love anything from Labrador Records, the Swedish indie label that made waves by distributing their music on Sweden's The Pirate Bay.

Anyway, I won't spend too much time talking about Club 8, as we've previously written about the duo (Karolina Komstedt from the band Poprace and Johan Angergård from Acid House Kings). Their new single is called "Stop Taking My Time", which just came out March 26th, 2013. You can hear on labrador.se.



Note that the single is taken from Club 8's eighth album called Above the City. Labrador will be releasing the record on May 21st, 2013.

In other Club 8 news, in case you missed it, check out their Peta/animal rights video for "Kill Kill Kill" on youtube. The video was directed by Djurens Rätt / Peter Nilsson and Club 8.

DENMARK
HALASAN BAZAR
halasanbazar.com

Halasan Bazar is an experimental psych-pop band from Denmark. The group is lead by songwriter Fredrik Eckhoff, who is heavily influenced by the historic outpourings of New York’s Greenwich Village and San Francisco's sound.

Halasan Bazar's album, Space Junk was released last night (April 2nd, 2013), and you can preview their new single, "You & I" via soundcloud.com. The band is kicking off their tour this April:

April 17 @ Le Rouge, Lille, France
April 18 @ L'Espace B with Paws (UK), Paris France
April 19 @ Un Brin Folk, Angers France
April 20 @ Rains Out, Rennes France
April 23 @ AJZ, Giessen Germany
May 03/04 @ SPOT Festival, Aarhus Denmark
May 07 @ Pools, Göttingen Germany
May 09 @ Eule, Münster Germany
May 10 @ Aalhaus, Hamburg Germany
May 15 @ Stengade with Woods (US), Copenhagen Denmark
May 21 @ Trinitatis Church with Henry The Rabbit, Copenhagen Denmark

NORWAY
ANGELICA'S ELEGY
facebook.com

Norwegian indie band Angelica's Elegy just released their debut album called Gold Celeste last month (March 1st, 2013) via Riot Factory / Sad Songs for Happy People. If you were wondering what an elegy is, it's basically a funeral poem or song for the dead, like a lament.

You can sample some songs over at Soundcloud.



Anyway, the band is described as pop songs with experimental and melodic lo-fi filters, but "filled with angelic vocals". If you like what you heard, the record is available in a 12" gatefold vinyl with artwork by Benedikte Olsen.

BONUS: NORDIC COUNTRIES

ICELAND SIGUR RÓS sigur-ros.co.uk This Icelandic band, Sigur Rós, is currently on tour (they are playing Minneapolis tonight). Since we can't afford to see them, the next best thing is to check out their Record Store Day release for Vitamin String Quartet Performs Sigur Rós - available for purchase on Saturday, April 20th 2013, via your local Record Stores. Vitamin String Quartet aren't actually from Iceland, they're based out of Los Angeles. For more information on the band, check out vitaminstringquartet.com

FINLAND BLIND ARCHITECT facebook.com No information given about this band. All I know is that they're from Finland. Blind Architect's debut album, We Felt Mountains is coming out April 5th, 2013 (unless I'm misreading the dates) on Lionheart Records. Upcoming shows: 04/05 Korjaamo, Helsinki 04/12 Bar 15, Seinäjoki

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

We love Sweden!

Read More Sambassadeur Sambassadeur: So listen to "Final Say", the single off their album, Migration (2007). I have been digging this new song! ....

We really do love Sweden. They are very beautiful people and they make amazing music!

SAMBASSADEUR
sambassadeur.com

A few years ago, I thought Sambassadeur's song, "Final Say" was one of my favorite tracks of 2008. It was so sugary sweet pop, I loved it. I also mentioned that this Swedish band took their name from Serge Gainsbourg's song "Les Sambassadeurs."

Anyway, Labrador Records just announced a new song from them called "Memories," calling it "a contemporary Serge Gainsborg and is fully loaded with their trademarked melodies and grandiose arrangements."

You can download the track for free via Soundcloud:

The song is a double-A single (doubles with "Hours Away") coming out on 7" vinyl on November 20th.

Trivia: If you were wondering about the model on the cover artwork sleeve, it is singer Anna's graduation photo. Isn't that adorable?

MIIKE SNOW
miikesnow.co.uk

Swedish synth rockers Miike Snow have released their sophomore album Happy to You back on March 16th. Favorite tracks have to be "Wave" and "Black Tin Box", where fellow Swede Lykke Li collaborates on vocals. Miike Snow's breakthrough self-titled debut album came out in 2010 with hits like "Burial," "Animal," "Cult Logic." Basically every track on the album was a hit, making it a true dance mix. Their second album mixes more keys and layers rather then the steady bass build up on each track on the debut album.

Happy To You will be in my top 10 albums of 2012 and I'm sure will be nominated with plenty of awards. "Archipelago" and "Pretender" provide plenty of breakdancing pace beats providing a nice continuous tempo on the record. To me, as good as the albums, this band to me is one of the best live bands out there today. I was able to catch these guys at Lollapalooza back in August at Grant Park in Chicago. They had the signature flashing green light show, and the crowd in an all out dance party. So I'd say the fans are enjoying the new record in concert.

Check out their video for "Pretender" on youtube. Miike Snow is wrapping up their North American tour this October:

10/26 – Asheville, NC @ Moogfest
10/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium

SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA
swedishhousemafia.com

Swedish House Mafia is a Swedish electronic dance music trio of three producers/DJs, Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso. This week, Swedish House Mafia released their much-anticipated album, Until Now (October 22nd, via Polydor Records), their follow-up to their debut 2010's Until One .

Until Now is released in two formats: a regular 10-track album and a deluxe 23-track version. Fans should a little more to grab the deluxe for over twice as man remixes and dubs!

The latest Swedish House Mafia single "Don't You Worry Child" (featuring John Martin) topped the UK charts at #1, displacing and outselling Adele's "Skyfall" single. These guys are huge.

Tickets for the originally announced U.S. shows all sold out, so the band was forced to add additional show. From my understanding, the hype about this upcoming tour is because the band is going to take a break/hiatus. So see them now, otherwise you'll have to wait a few years when they come back around.

Additional information on onelasttour.com.

One Last Tour U.S. Dates:

02/13/13 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic 02/14/13 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic 02/15/13 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic 02/16/13 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic 02/17/13 San Francisco, CA Bill Graham Civic 02/20/13 Chicago, IL United Center

03/01/13 NYC, NY Madison Square Garden 03/02/13 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center 03/03/13 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center 03/04/13 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center 03/08/13 Los Angeles CA State Historic Park 03/09/13 Los Angeles, CA State Historic Park

BRIEFLY:

AEON aeon666.com Aeon is a Swedish death metal band, and they recently unveiled the opening track from their forthcoming album, Aeons Black, called "Still They Pray." You can hear the track by Metal Hammer Germany. Look for the album to coming out on Metal Blade Records on November 20th, just in time for a Black Christmas.

HUSKY RESCUE husky-rescue.com I've mentioned this a few times, and noted that they were Finnish. But recently, did you know that they have a brand new singer called Johanna Kalén from Sweden? She replaced former singer Reeta-Leena Vestman, who is currently studying musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Look for the new Husky Rescue in London (their first UK date in two years) on November 12th with Pepe Deluxe.

DELTA DREAMFLIGHT deltadreamflight.com Delta Dreamflight is a new band and they've just released their first EP called Vacations. You can listen to it on Spotify, or if you hate the service (like me), you can stream it on Soundcloud. Should we expect Delta Airlines and Disney to sue this band in the future?

PUNKS JUMP UP facebook.com Anglo-Swedish duo Punks Jump Up is releasing Feels Good this November 12th on Kitsuné. The EP is described as capturing "melodies of ABBA, the bass line of Giorgio Moroder & the dance floor drive of Soulwax" and uses Saint Saviour's vocals for the finishing touches.

brody + vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Let Me In

The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)

I will admit to having reservations about the American re-make of Let the Right One In, called Let Me In. I mean, if you ever saw the 2008 Swedish film (based on the 2004 best-selling book "Låt den rätte komma in" by John Ajvide Lindqvist), the last thing on your mind is "you know, that movie could use more action and explosions."

I bought the Bluray of Let Me In, mostly out of my curiosity about the re-make and because it came with a bonus Dark Horse comic and I was surprised to see that the American film was co-produced by Hammer films (they were best known for these voluptuous gothy 60s and 70s horror films). What's interesting about the new film, since I just watched the special features, was that, at any given point, did they even mention the 2008 film... as if they want to distant their film as a remake. They only cited the book as a guide, however having seen both, the way things are shot and buildings and such... I would say that the filmmaker must have seen (and have been influenced) by the Swedish film version. In particular, the final pool scene.

The main differences between Let Me In and Let the Right One In, is the changing of the names. They are changed to Owens and Abby, from Oskar and Eli, which makes a little sense since American audiences would never buy that someone would be called "Oskar" in the States... however, would you just want to change it to American-esque, Oscar and Ellie ?

LET ME IN (2010)

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)

The first act of Let Me In also made a lot more sense to me, as far as storytelling goes. How and why the father pours acid on his face felt more reasonable vs the originally Swedish screenplay (which was also written by Lindqvist). It also seems to take more chances as far as showing off digital effects (the vampire Abby, for instance) and interesting camera vision (the car rollover), in comparison to the Swedish version, which felt really "static" and drawn out (there are very few cuts and edits in the Swedish movie).

As for the music, I felt that the Swedish version seems to have a very 70s feel to it, maybe it's just the clothes and hair that people wore. In Let Me In, the time period is made a little clearer, especially during the record scene, Owens puts on "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" by Greg Kihn Band - who you may already know as the band that did the "Jeopardy" song. The same scene in the Swedish movie, the music was a song called "Kvar i min bil", provided by Per Gessle (the guy in Roxette).

You can get "The Breakup Song" from Kihnsolidation: The Best of Greg Kihn, Let Me In was released on Bluray on February 1^st.

vu () ♥ letmein-movie.com

Firefox AK

Firefox AK - Winter Rose Firefox AK Tour 03/16/08 Karlstad, Sweden 03/28/08 Stockholm Debaser , Sweden 04/05/08 Lund Mejeriet, Sweden 04/12/08 Gothenburg Sticky Fingers, Sweden 04/26/08 V-dala Nation, Uppsala, Sweden 05/29/08 Siesta Festival Hässleholm, Sweden Discography [Aug 2005] What's That Sound EP [Oct 2005] Who Can Act Single [Feb 2006] Madame, Madame! (single) [Mar 2006] Madame, Madame! [May 2006] Love to Run [Oct 2006] The Draft Single [Jan 2008] Winter Rose [Feb 2008] If I Were A Melody

The original Firefox is back with a new album, If I Were A Melody, to be released this month. I call her the original, because Andrea Kellerman was using that as her stage name before she was forced to add her initials to distinguish herself from the browser.

Firefox AK is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is signed to Razzia Records, the same company responsible for Hello Saferide^[W♥M] (you may have remembered seeing Kellerman singing with Annika Norlin^[W♥M] in the video for Long Lost Pen Pal.)

So, there's a few interesting thing about the lead single, "Winter Rose" from If I Were A Melody that I think you should know. It seems that Tgr Lou (or otherwise known as Tiger Lou) is actually Rasmus Kellerman, her husband. And if you like this Eurodisco-inspired song, you can download it for free on Razzia's website.

Anyway, I thought we should take a look at her debut album, Madame, Madame!. The first time I listened to this album, I didn't expect it to be so electropop. This is not a bad thing, I only mentioned this because I went in thinking this was going to be folky-acoustic type.

Although I can't speak for Kellerman, she leaves all interpretations of her lyrics up to the listener. I would like to suggest that these songs are really about AK's real-life experiences. For instance, the intro song is "City to City" which, seems to me, about travelling and meeting new people (possibly in a touring setting).

"Habibi" is like a pen pal letter, begging her (Habibi) to let her heart guides her, while "All Those People" is kind of commentary on "reality" television. Two points to AK for mentioning "Beauty and the Geek" in that song.

 

 

Firefox AK-Zodiac

Curiously, the song "Zodiac" is not listed on her discography page. I'm sure this is just a mistake, but I took it as a sign to spotlight the song.

The song has a constant beat, which represent AK's styling of music. The best part is the way she sings "shut up" repeated over and over.

If you pick up Madame, Madame!, it also comes with two music videos (320x240 pixels). Both videos features crude animation (apologies to the artists and directors, it is the only word I can really describe it) and is a nice bonus to the 10 audio tracks.

Look for If I Were A Melody on February 27th. Check out her back catalogs on Razzia.

 02/04/2008 00:11:26  vu my♥posts www.firefoxak.com myspace.com

Minty Jim wrote: Feb 6, 2008 12:56 PM

[this is good] Hi Voxers,

FYI, Firefox AK is available in the US on mintyfresh.

www.mintyfresh.com

Best,
mf

Prototypes - Je Ne Te Connais Pas

Hell = Other People [Alternative Version]

Husky Rescue - Shadow Run (Arveene & Misk Remix)

W♥M wrote: Feb 6, 2008 6:02 PM

I have promoted your comment to the main article.

I've always really love Minty Fresh, and here's a few articles on Minty Fresh's bands: Bettie Serveert,Husky Rescue, Ivy, Protoypes, Sarah Shannon, and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names.

 

Säkert!

Säkert - Sanningsdan Säkert Discography [Jan 2007] Vi kommer att dö samtidigt [Feb 2007] Säkert! [May 2007] Allt som är ditt Band Members ♥ Annika Norlin ♥ Henrik Oja ♥ Daniel Berglund ♥ Lovisa Nyström ♥ Mats Hammarström Links Hello Saferide - Long Lost Penpal http://weheartmus... Hello Saferide is from Stockholm, Sweden, and is really just Annika Norlin. The name was inspired...

 

Säkert! is the Swedish-language project of Annika Norlin from Hello Saferide, which I previously mentioned on W♥M.

Recently, the band have been nominated for numerous awards in Sweden: Best Female Artist of 2007 on Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet's reader's choice award Rockbjörnen, the Swedish's version of the Grammy's (The Grammis Award) for Newcomer of the Year, plus Album of the year and Female artist of the year, among others!

It's easy to see why people are raving about Säkert! (which means "Sure!"), their debut album has one of the poppiest/catchies song called "Sanningsdan" (meaning "Truthday"?). Looking at the liner notes (all in Swedish), I think the male vocals is called Martin Hanberg from the band Sibiria. This song is excellent, in any language.

The only downside is that the whole album is in Swedish, although the album is well worth checking out if you are a Swedishpop fan (such the whole writing staff on W♥M).

I would have to say that though I can't understand it, I do get the general idea of what the song is about. For instance, "Det Kommer Bara Leda Till Nåt Ont" sounds like a dialogue between Norlin and Markus Krunegård. (I think it's about being naked or something).

Currently, it would seem that Norlin is quite busy, she's apparently the co-host (with Mattias Lindeblad) of a Swedish music radio show called Musikjournalen Live Session. I looked up Lindeblad, to see who he is, and apparently he was a bassit for a metal band called Liers in Wait from Gothenburg, Sweden.

Anyroad, I leave you now with Annika in an elevator, courtesy of musicadebolso.com.br:

 

 

12/28/2007 19:10:37 vu my♥posts myspace sakert.blogspot.com

The Legends

The Legends - Darling

The Legends

 

The Legends "Call It Ours" from Up Against The Legends

The Legends is a side project of Johan Angergård, who just might be one of the busiest men in the music industry. A former member of Poprace, he co-founded Summersound Recordings which later merged with Labrador Records, where he currently holds a manager position. Aside from being the sole member of The Legends, he is also one-half of Club 8 [W♥M], and a member of Acid House Kings [W♥M].

Formed in 2003, The Legends have 3 LP releases so far: Up Against The Legends (2004), Public Radio (2005), and most recently, Facts and Figures (2007). Each album features a slightly different style of music, with the first album often described as "garage pop", and the latter two progressing towards "electro pop" or "synth pop" (comparisons with New Order are inevitable). The commonality in all of the releases is Johan's obvious talent for writing catchy pop songs, to go along with his musical and singing abilities.

Interestingly, the early details on the alleged members of The Legends was shrouded in mystery. It was thought that they were a 9-member band, but none of the members' names were ever mentioned. They even made appearances in the music videos from the first album. It was later revealed that The Legends was not a band at all, but was comprised solely of Johan Angergård, who wrote all the songs as well as played all the instruments and did all the singing. What a workhorse!

The song I'm including in this post is "Darling", from the most recent album, Facts and Figures. It's my favorite song off this album, although there are many to choose from. I also love the more down-tempo songs "Closer" and "Nothing on TV", both of which are quite mellow and dreamy. As a bonus I'm also including the video for "Call It Ours", a song off the first album, Up Against The Legends. Enjoy!

 

 December 18, 2007 8:25 PM  Randy my♥posts official myspace