Here are the winners of the 2010 Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative Grammy:
Punk/Hardcore: Troublemakers - Made in Sweden ()
Dance: Samuel L Session - The man with the case ()
Jazz: The Opposite - Intertwined ()
Dansband: Blender - Välkommen in ()
Rhythm: Jaqee - Kokoo Girl ()
Composer: Lisa Nordström and Lisen Rylander Löve (Midaircondo)
Lyrics: Ken Ring
Rock: Makeouts - In A Strange Land ()
Pop: El Perro Del Mar - Love Is Not Pop ()
Hårdrock/Metal: Abandon - The Dead End ()
Synth: Arvid - Andetag ()
Singer/songwriter: Kristofer Åström And The Rainaways - Sinkadus ()
Folk/ballad: Tore Berger - I huset långt på landet ()
Hip-hop: Mohammed Ali - Processen ()
Best poplabel:
Best live: Fever Ray ()
Best unsigned: Fulmakten
The nominees for the 2010 Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative Grammy, have been announced:
Punk/Hardcore: En Svensk Tiger - Versace style () Troublemakers - Made in Sweden () Tysta Mari - Sveriges Casino () The Clichés - Monkey see, monkey do ()
Dance: Minilogue - Samlad årsproduktion Samuel L Session - The man with the case () The Field - Yesterday and Today () Tomas Andersson - Stiff Disco ()
Jazz: Bengt Berger - Beches Brew () Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - The Half Naked Truth 1998-2008 () The Opposite - Intertwined () Plunge With Bobo Stenson - Origo ()
Rhythm: Calle Real - Me Lo Gané () Jaqee - Kokoo Girl () Music is the weapon - Music is the weapon () Syster Sol - Dömd att bli bedömd ()
Rock: Florence Valentin - Spring Ricco () Makeouts - In A Strange Land () Murder by guitar - Murder by guitar () Skriet - Skriet ()
Pop: Anna Järvinen - Man var bland molnen () El Perro Del Mar - Love Is Not Pop () JJ - JJ n° 2 () Jonathan Johansson - En hand i himlen ()
Hårdrock/Metal: Abandon - The Dead End () Candlemass - Death Magic Doom () Katatonia - Night Is The New Day () Tribulation - The Horror ()
Singer/songwriter: Ane Brun - Live at Stockholm Concert Hall () David Åhlen - We Sprout In Thy Soil () Jonna Lee - This Is Jonna Lee () Kristofer Åström And The Rainaways - Sinkadus ()
Folk/ballad: Taken By Trees - East of Eden () Miriam Aida - Letras au Brasil () Tore Berger - I huset långt på landet () Esbjörn Hazelius - Blunda och du ska få se ()
Hip-hop: Mohammed Ali - Processen () Organismen - Om Gud vill och vädret tillåter () Promoe - Kråksången () Stor - Nya skolans ledare ()
Best live: Frida Hyvönen () Jenny Wilson () Fever Ray () Florence Valentin ()
Best unsigned: Den Svenska Björnstammen Extended Heads Fulmakten Nora
Arvid is way too hi-fi to ride the wave of hype surrounding similar synthpop revival acts such as Cold Cave or whatever (and not nearly prolific enough either), but musically speaking, they're in similar territory. I'm sure some underground purists will scoff at that notion, but come on now -- let's be honest folks. They're all mining the same sounds Depeche Mode perfected ages ago, though yes, I concede that Arvid is firmly on the poppier side of things. Regardless, it's not quite as driving/pounding/industrial as I normally like this style to be, but whatever. It's succeeds at doing what it intends. I suppose that if you ever wondered what a melodramatic act like Kent would sound like minus guitars, Arvid might fill in the blanks.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Entombed - Kick out the jams
03. Ironville - The wild
04. Florence Valentin - 8 & 5
05. TALK 2
06. Sweatmaster - Calling Satan, let me in
07. Viola - Shimmery summery (sha-la-la love)
08. Marit Bergman - Thoughts grow darker in the night
09. Nutid - Bodensia
10. TALK 3
11. The Bear Quartet - Millions
12. Enter the Hunt - Fighters
13. The Sods - Irene the doorbell
14. Lacrosse - It's always Sunday around here
15. TALK 4
16. Mattias Alkberg - Jag är en antenn
17. Pintandwefall - Angus
18. Anna Maria Espinosa - Glowing with you
19. Arvid - Kan inte hålla dig kvar
20. Kristofer Åström - Come out
21. TALK 5
22. Björn Kleinhenz - Krokås
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Wonderland Records released Swedish Americana act Quarterhorse's new album "The weight of the world" this week and has the whole thing available for streaming here: http://www.quarterhorse.se/FLAM/press.html
In other Wonderland news, they'll be releasing debut albums from the bands Arvid and Swedish for Beginners in late May, the 20th and 27th to be exact (respectively). Download sample mp3s from both here: http://www.wonderlandrecords.com/ex
Brotherhood of Broken Hearts have posted some new songs for download: http://bobh.se/ The band is currently relocating to Malmö sans Arvid, their vocalist and will be looking for a replacement.