I received quite a bit of great new music in my inbox over the long weekend, so much so that I'm having a bit of trouble getting through it all. Thankfully, this new EP from Umeå tweepop act The Belljars is short, sweet, easy to digest and very very easy to recommend. Great use of violin too, much like Ironville, another great Swedish pop act that doesn't get nearly enough attention.
(Ironville, Tvärvägen) and , a new subsidiary of , are teaming up to release the debut 7" from Malmö-based indie act Yast. Not sure what the release date is, but the a-side tune is called "Believes" and can be previewed above.
, the label run by the fine folks in Ironville, have signed Tvärvägen and will be releasing their new album "Staring directly into the sun" in early 2012 on both digital and vinyl.
Check out Nord & Syd, a new band from prolific Swedish indiepop artist Martin Abrahamsson (Vapnet, Siberia, Kommun) alongside David Nygård (Laakso), Julia Hanberg (Penny Century), Kalle Danielsson (Holy Madre) and Joel Linderberg (Ironville): http://www.nord-och-syd.blogspot.com/
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, special year-end top 10 edition:
01. TALK 1
02. Tyrant - The rebirth (reclaim the flame)
03. C.Aarmé - Dustin
04. Pintandwefall - Bird of the birds
05. Ironville - Sweet perfume
06. Dear Euphoria - Tell me
07. TALK 2
08. [ingenting] - Halleluja!
09. Agent Side Grinder - Die to live
10. Pistol Disco - Beat of the tune
11. TALK 3
12. The Bear Quartet - Carry your weight (Strange Maps remix)
13. The Fine Arts Showcase - Looking for your love
14. Wardruna - Dagr
15. TALK 4
16. Björn Kleinhenz - Fårö
17. Samuraj Cities - Spoonful of talk
18. David Åhlén - Stir our hearts
19. TALK 5
20. Elmo - Darkness falls
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.
Live music with Ironville at PSL: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2009/11/20/musik-med-ironville/
Swedish indie act Ironville will finally officially release their excellent Markus Krunegård-produced debut album "Welcome to Ironville" on November 30 via the band's own label Hare Tracks in cooperation with Playground Music. I've had it for months now on CDr and it's great.
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.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Small - Sunshine lover
03. Samtidigt Som - Constant in motion
04. Ironville - Roses
05. Montt Mardié - Dancing shoes
06. TALK 2
07. Samuraj Cities - Spoonful of talk
08. Fronda - Discomusik
09. Billie the Vision & the Dancers - You'd better watch out, 'cause I like you
10. Robert Svensson - I was summer, you were
11. TALK 3
12. Florence Valentin - Spring ricco
13. Lacrosse - We are kids
14. Superfamily - Let's go dancing
15. TALK 4
16. Turboweekend - Trouble is
17. Dyno - Don't speak love
18. Cilihili and DaBook - Orinoco flow
19. TALK 5
20. High Hats - The end
21. Two White Horses - Good times are gone forever
22. Margaret Berger - Robot song
23. TALK 6
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.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. The Late Call - Put your lights on
02. TALK 1
03. Fever Ray - When I grow up (Håkan Lidbo remix)
04. Maskinen - Alla som inte dansar
05. Isolation Years - Albino child
06. TALK 2
07. Pixie Carnation - When did the lights go out
08. Unleashed - Dead forever
09. Lack - Soot, smoke & ash
10. TALK 3
11. Small - Comic girl
12. Peter Bjorn and John - It don't move me
13. Masquer - I think I'll lose my mind
14. Ironville - Roses
15. TALK 4
16. Parasite - Nightwinds
17. Aerial - Kallisti
18. The Crystal Caravan - Tombstone eyes
19. TALK 5
20. Hello Saferide - Arjeplog
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.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Next Life - The decisive
02. TALK 1
03. Florence Valentin - Spring Ricco
04. Scraps of Tape - Bring the heavy
05. Slaraffenland - I'm a machine
06. TALK 2
07. PowerSolo - Pirates of the oblivion
08. Efterklang - Mirador
09. 18th Dye - Soft the hard way
10. Snake & Jet's Amazing Bullit Band - Ten cities beyond
11. TALK 3
12. High Hats - The end
13. Samuraj Cities - Spoonful of talk
14. Jesper Norda - Gentle and slow with a new sharp edge
15. Division of Laura Lee - Violence is timeless
16. TALK 4
17. Kristofer Åström - Twentyseven
18. Turboweekend - Something or nothing
19. Dyno - Deliverance
20. Abcess Exil - Stormens öga
21. TALK 5
22. Ironville - The wild
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU, except for this week when it aired on Monday with a repeat on Tuesday (tonight). That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Emmon - Secrets & lies
02. TALK 1
03. Marions - Another hour
04. Mimikry - Alderland
05. Culkin - Glow
06. TALK 2
07. Ironville - Roses
08. Silver - The white logic
09. Powersolo - Pirates of the oblivion
10. The Scrags - TV messed up mind
11. TALK 3
12. Kusowsky - Dansa
13. Paper - To her
14. Marit Bergman - Bang bang
15. Trummor & Orgel - Main theme
16. Affordable Hybrid - If you've got a problem with me
17. TALK 4
18. The Fine Arts Showcase - London, my town
19. Hebosagil - The last one
20. Dyno - Don't speak love
21. Knugen Faller - Lugna favoriter
22. TALK 5
23. Jesper Norda - We have the guts
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.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby decree that Ironville's forthcoming album "Welcome to Ironville" to be 2009's second exceptional release, the first being Livaventura's "...And they slept with their eyes open" (see here). Keep in mind that order here is unimportant as that Livaventura record won't be out until April and Ironville's debut has no official release date yet (spring?), but I've heard them both and am confident in my appraisal. Hopefully you already saw the video for "Roses" as created by band member Henrik Öhberg (aka Tvärvägen) -- if not, please remedy that straightaway. And download the song, of course! The lyrics are full of neediness, but the delivery keeps the desperation at bay by being quirky, not cloying. It's a discussion, not an ultimatum, at least not yet. And the string-heavy arrangement is a welcome respite from all the generic guitar-based crap I sift through on a daily basis. Actually, that's one of Ironville's finest qualities -- it's not just a matter of having an armada of instruments at your disposal (which they do), it's about using them judiciously. I can't say for sure that it's the band's own doing or the invisible hand of producer Markus Krunegård (Laakso), but I don't really care because the result sounds so fantastic. Keep an eye on these guys for sure.
Ironville - Roses
Check out the excellent video for "Roses" from Swedish indie act Ironville and animated by bandmember Henrik Öhberg: http://vimeo.com/2919821
If everything goes according to plan, the band's Markus Krunegård-produced album will finally be released this spring.
Swedish artist Tvärvägen has a new single called "September" posted for free download today: http://www.myspace.com/tvarvagen
Tvärvägen is the band of Henrik Öhberg who also plays with both alt-country act Ironville and hip-hop duo Amok. Look for his album "Sånger från Tvärvägen" this fall via Knoppar.