All-star Swedish label collective will release new albums from both Kriget and Woodlands this fall: http://www.ingrd.com/2012/first-news-for-fall/
Kriget, as mentioned before, is the instrumental act of Per Nordmark (Fireside, Britta Persson, etc.), Crille Roth (Monster, Hets) and Gustav Bendt (Moneybrother, Club Killers). Woodlands, on the other hand, features Sara Wilson (First Floor Power), Niklas Korssell (Tutankamon, The Plan) and Marcus Holmberg (Komeda).
The Howard Way, a long-running Americana act from Umeå, Sweden featuring Pelle Henricsson of the famed Tonteknik Studios on drums (he's probably recorded at least a dozen stone-cold classic Swedish records in your collection -- Fireside, Ray Wonder, Refused, Komeda, Starmarket, uh... pretty much every significant Norrland act and then some), will finally release their debut album "Never mind the country" on May 5 via Rootsy. Check out an e-card here: http://formton.se/thehowardway
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Komeda - Elvira Madigan
02. TALK 1
03. Joensuu 1685 - I'm on fire
04. Haust - Skate rock
05. Sambassadeur - Sandy dunes
06. Erik de Vahl - Got it all
07. TALK 2
08. The Confusions - Boys will be boys
09. The Knife - Heartbeats
10. Francis - I was never bored at all
11. Monzano - Cold waters
12. TALK 3
13. Ave - The load of human kind
14. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Cardiac arrest
15. Håkan Hellström - Tro och tvivel
16. Karin Ström - Hackney Downs
17. TALK 4
18. Mr. Death - Misery's womb
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.
I almost forgot, but here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Jesper Norda - Tommorrow you'll be forgiven but tonight you will have your teeth knocked out
02. TALK 1
03. On Volcano - Out of sight
04. Monday Monkey Riot - Go ape
05. Dmitry Fyodorov - Warcollapse!
06. TALK 2
07. Wired for Mono - Don't look down
08. Small - Come around (vs Hippo remix)
09. September Malevolence - ...accidents happen so fasr
10. TALK 3
11. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Facelessness erase every trace of humanity
12. Napoleon - Send me a woman
13. Rigas Den Andre - I am crane
14. TALK 4
15. Mist - Subjective pop song
16. Ebba Grön - Tyst för fan
17. Neveres - Pause
18. Pascal - Cadillac
19. TALK 5
20. Komeda - Blossom (got to get it out)
Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) is now on Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.
Besides my own "Reader's companion" CDs there really isn't a better soundtrack to this site than the new "Svensk indie" compilation just released from NONS. Compiled by journalist/promoter/indie guru Terry Ericsson with assistance from Per Helin and Emelie Bååth, this collection is a monstrous 42-tracks plus copious liner notes (på Svensk, naturally). If you don't already have a good majority of these songs in your collection, this is probably the easiest way to get yourself educated. My interview with Terry is still in the works, but I did catch up with both Emelie and Per to ask them about their favorite selections:
Emelie: My favourite song on the compilation is "Hey princess" by Popsicle. It's one of the songs in my life that always makes me glad and it's also a brilliant and perfect floor filler! I actually first heard it on a dance floor, I don't remember which pop club in Sthlm it was, but it could have been Flowered Up or Too Cool for School sometime around -98. I guess I was too young to discover the song when it first was released. To me, back then, Popsicle was all about "Not forever" and "American poet" but the song "Hey princess" simply had a great revival around that time, the dj:s were playing it on clubs and the younger crowd (with me included) discovered the song and I remember that I fell in love with the song at once.
Per: Suredo - "Average cell". That was one of the first Swedish indie tunes that really caught my attention. When I first heard it I remember thinking; what interesting new English band is this (this was at the time when British still was a positive thing musically wise).
But what about all the great songs that were left out? Their picks...
Emelie: I really tried to get Laakso and their song "Long Beach" on the compilation since Laakso is one of my favourite Swedish bands and "Long Beach" one of their greatest songs, but there simply was no room. Unfortunately.
Per: Wow, that¹s many... For me it would probably be any song by Komeda.
Since I figure that trying to decide upon the 'best' Komeda song would be next to impossible, I'm offering up Laakso's "Long Beach" as today's mp3. Why not? Also, if you're in Stockholm, don't forget to check out the release party at Debaser Medis tomorrow October 14. I have no idea who the secret band will be, but I'm sure it'll be good.
Laakso - Long Beach
Umeå's Klubb Modos is hosting their most amazing night ever on November 12 with an extra-special NONS-tribute night at Scharinska Villan. Not only will Isolation Years and The Perishers be performing live, but Puffin, the band of label founder Per Helin will reunite! And the NONS record crew will be on-hand to DJ as well. Should be an amazing time, I'm sure. For those that are unaware, NONS (North of No South) is one of Sweden's premiere indie labels, releasing records from bands like Komeda, Dr. Kosmos, Ray Wonder, Silverbullit, Komeda and more.
Komeda has a song featured in a new Nintendo commercial. Check it out here: http://www.nintendo.com/gameminiads?gameid=ae7e7d2b-4860-42b2-b9d8-d04ebd547681
The Happyment Komeda fansite has a bit of news about what the various members of the band have been up to lately: http://individual.utoronto.ca/cara/index.html
Remix talks to Komeda about their newest album and some of their recording gear: http://remixmag.com/ar/remix_komeda/index.htm
The new issue of Amplifier Magazine has a short feature/interview with Komeda. It's the one with The Decemberists on the cover.
PopMatters reviews Komeda: http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/k/komeda-kokomemedada.shtml
Whoah! Komeda will be featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" on May 25. Hopefully they'll mention their work with KVLR besides just promoting their own record, but that's probably just wishful thinking on my part. More on ATC: http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/