Johan Heltne, one of my favorite artists of year's past, reports that he has started work on his next album. The working title: "Låt de döda begrava sina döda"/"Let the dead bury their own dead". As for the music, he says the first bits that have been recorded can be described as "kristet funkiga" while the overriding concept is "party music for adult singles."
Swedish artist Johan Heltne has made his most recent album, the very excellent "Sara,", available as a free download: http://johanheltne.se/download/
VERY highly recommended! This is one of my absolute favorites from last year.
A beautiful video full of whimsy and cheer, slightly at odds with the song itself. Filmed at one of the six weddings Johan Heltne was invited to last summer. Direct link here, download the mp3 here.
Episode #2 of my new podcast Harsh R is now online: http://www.harshr.com/
Features new music from Fun, Rising, Johan Heltne and others, plus a whole bunch of other things I've been listening to. Feedback is appreciated!
I find myself at a loss for words when faced with Johan Heltne's new album "Sara,", much like I did with his previous record "Vetenskapliga bevis för att Jesus lever". Beyond the issues pertaining to the obvious language barrier, Johan's music remains peculiar and enigmatic, albeit with a sharper, rawer edge this time out. Lead track "Krieg ist krieg und schnaps ist schnaps" (as first posted here) was a red herring with its easy-listening sax solo and gentle atmosphere, which is not to say that similar tropes aren't repeated/revisited, but the overall feel of the album is anything but "easy". Johan's soft, half-whispered vocals betray his intentions. "Sara, was written during a strange year," he says, "One of my best friends contracted cancer and was dead six months later. Another friend made a serious attempt to take his own life. Another friend was raped at an afterparty. At the same time, several conflicts raged around me, where I was more or less involved. They were concerned with gender roles, dissent and unability to understand others, something that resulted in polite non-relationships. During this time I also had unusually many and powerful epileptic seizures at night. I remember it as though I never was able to get a good night's sleep. The lyrics of Sara, are characterized by this." Nowhere are these feelings more apparent than on "Katarinas pappa ska dö", a Bergman deathbed scene set to song (see lyrics here). Images of blinding whiteness gives way to a harsh sustained chord, the inevitable pressing weight of darkness and the pain of reality and death, a feeling reflected in the music's brutal starkness. No, this is far from easy.
Johan Heltne - Katarinas pappa ska dö
Johan Heltne has officially confirmed that his new album "Sara," will be officially released on October 20.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Johan Heltne - Krieg ist krieg und schnaps ist schnaps
02. TALK 1
03. Tiger Tape - She is fiction
04. Terrible Feelings - Blank heads
05. Pistol Disco - Organ and drum
06. TALK 2
07. Ludwig Bell - Kärlek slutar alltid med bråk
08. Bonghit - Maratondröm
09. Murmansk - Silver heel
10. TALK 3
11. Robyn - Criminal intent
12. Pettersson & Fredriksson - Langas
13. Lapko - A new bohemia
14. TALK 4
15. The Megaphonic Thrift - Candy sin
16. Park Hotell - Trouble kid
17. Champagne Riot - Heart stab
18. TALK 5
19. Britta Persson - Meet a bear
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU (except this week -- there's no repeat tonight). That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Johan Heltne is streaming a couple new tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/johanheltne
Kinda weird and easy-listening sounding -- it'll be interesting to see how the material fits into the context of the new record.
The new Johan Heltne LP, one of my most anticipated releases of 2010, is now said to be on track for October: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=114166952&blogId=537916856
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Johan Heltne - Din alkoholism är ingen alkoholism
02. TALK 1
03. Per Egland - Merkurius brinner (Martin Senter remix)
04. Gösta Berlings Saga - Bergslagen
05. TALK 2
06. Moses - Warning
07. Repoman - Flock of jackdaws
08. Darkthrone - I am the graves of the 80s
09. TALK 3
10. Pallers - The kiss
11. Ikons - Slow light (Pistol Disco remix)
12. TALK 4
13. Herätys - Pelkkää pahoinvointia
14. Love Is All - Bigger bolder
15. Susanne Sundfør - The brothel
16. TALK 5
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.
Johan Heltne is finished with his new album "Sara". No word yet on how/when it will be released, but I'm looking forward to it.
Kning Disk grows as a label and so do its artists. Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention, but prior to "The valleys" I had never considered Rickard Jäverling to be a folk artist. After all, my first introduction to his work was through his split 7" with Oskar Schönning & Co. on Jezebel Recordings, a recording that I guess could be considered postrock, though I suppose the barebones label of "instrumental" would be sufficient. Beyond that, I see his name in the credits on many records I love (David Åhlén and Johan Heltne, to name two artists he has worked with), but who knows how that reflects on the man's own work? And now, on his new record? His music still drifts with gradual crescendos, but now there are vocals and, yes, even a few small nods to pop convention. On some of the tracks at least; the folk tag is less troubadour than historian. Anyhow, he's still at his best in pure composer mode and this particular track I've got for you today is an absolutely gorgeous collaboration with fellow musical traveller Andreas Söderström (ASS). The mood is crucial, it's what ties him to the other artists I mentioned above and what sets them apart from their peers. Pastoral like labelmate Erik Enocksson can be, but hazy as if filtered through the memory of a dream. It's in the way the notes quiver and, even before the waves and seagulls come in, I see an ocean.
Rickard Jäverling - The wedding ring
