Hyacinth House, the virtually unknown Swedish roots act who released one of my favorite albums back in 2005, has finally posted some new songs from their forthcoming record: http://www.myspace.com/wwwhyacinthhousese
Entitled "Black crows country" and due in May, it will be the first of two albums on the way this year from main singer/songwriter Marcus "Mack" Johansson. The second is called "Cornbread and big tomahawks" and it should be out around summertime assuming everything goes according to schedule. Looking forward to it!

MP3: Hyacinth House - Ghost town

December is here so that means it's time to look back and reflect on the year past as we prepare for the holidays and 2007. I normally try to reach back a few years for my Friday mp3 posts, but today I'm only taking a small step back to last year for a song from the criminally underrated Hyacinth House. The Swedish roots/country act's self-titled debut easily made my 2005 top 10 and continued to stay in steady rotation throughout '06. Every time I listen to them I can't help but wonder why these guys aren't more popular? I cannot thing of a single other up-and-coming act in this genre that even comes close to touching their level of quality. The album's artwork may be a bit lackluster (they are 100% DIY fwiw), but the music is top notch. Great songs, perfectly balanced recording, the whole package. If you dig twang, you need to hear this. The band reportedly has something new in the works, too. Can't wait to hear it.

Hyacinth House - Ghost town

Check out live footage of Swedish roots act Hyacinth House playing in the Netherlands: http://3voor12.vpro.nl/3voor12/groups/index.jsp?groups=28246645
There's a damn good reason I had them in my top 10 list for 2005 and it's a shame to see that they are still totally underrated and underappreciated.

Hyacinth House, one of my favorite underrated acts (and one of my top picks for 2005), have revamped their website: http://www.hyacinthhouse.se/

Top 10s for 2005: It's a trap!

Podcast: Best of 2005

Hyacinth House
s/t
True Music Production

I was programmed very early in my life not to like country music. Yet in recent years I have taken a liking in old-school country like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and others but I never quite liked any of those alt-country bands too much; Wilco, Neko Case: Not my thing. Hyacinth House manage to get me interested by using the same kind of heartbreak as the old-schoolers, adding a lot of indie-rock and a touch of bluegrass. The result is a very interesting album, if a bit too long, that never strays away from its path, but still takes considerable liberties when it comes to arrangements. Very nice.
- Simon Thibaudeau

Congrats to Karl Elisha - you've won a copy of the new self-titled CD from Hyacinth House. Thanks to everyone that entered - all you people who missed the boat should still download a song and check 'em out. It's good stuff.

Once again I'm posting a track from Hyacinth House. I was mightily impressed by the three-song sampler the band sent me awhile back, but now I've got the full album and can confirm that it's a stunner. I had it solid repeat for a week after I got it before I realized I needed to lay off before I got burnt out. The music is classic Americana with a touch of darkness ala 16 Horsepower/Will Oldham and I think I also hear a touch of 70s rock in the mix. There's a number of parts that remind of (gasp!) Led Zeppelin, but not the heavy-rock parts - no no no, I'm talking about the acoustic/bluesy stuff. But there's another reason why I'm posting about Hyacinth House again today. It seems I got sent two copies of the new CD, so I've got one to give away. You want it? Email contest at itsatrap dot com with the subject line "Hyacinth House". Enter now because I'll be announcing the winner tomorrow morning (that's Tuesday AM Pacific Time, in case you were wondering).

MP3: Hyacinth House - New day arising

Once again I'm posting a track from Hyacinth House. I was mightily impressed by the three-song sampler the band sent me awhile back, but now I've got the full album and can confirm that it's a stunner. I had it solid repeat for a week after I got it before I realized I needed to lay off before I got burnt out. The music is classic Americana with a touch of darkness ala 16 Horsepower/Will Oldham and I think I also hear a touch of 70s rock in the mix. There's a number of parts that remind of (gasp!) Led Zeppelin, but not the heavy-rock parts - no no no, I'm talking about the acoustic/bluesy stuff. But there's another reason why I'm posting about Hyacinth House again today. It seems I got sent two copies of the new CD, so I've got one to give away. You want it? Email contest at itsatrap dot com with the subject line "Hyacinth House". Enter now because I'll be announcing the winner tomorrow morning (that's Tuesday AM Pacific Time, in case you were wondering).

Hyacinth House - New day arising

Swedish country act Hyacinth House has confirmed that their debut album will be released on September 14.

Today's new mp3 comes from Hyacinth House, a dark country-flavored act from Sweden. This track comes from what I believe will be the band's debut self-titled full-length that's due out in September on the band's own True Music Production label. The band's got true DIY spirit - they're even recording it themselves, though you'd probably never guess otherwise 'cuz the material sounds absolutely stellar. Listen to those subtlely layered strings and that amazing picking on the banjo and you'll hear what I mean. For such a big band (they list six full-time members), they sure do an outstanding job on making sure all the arrangements are balanced and dynamic, too. They say they're a new band, but they don't sound like one to my ears. There's no ambivalence here, no hesitation - they know what they want to do and they're gonna make it happen regardless of what anyone else says. Gotta respect that, especially when it turns out so well. Definitely looking forward to hearing the complete album when it's done.