MP3: Marit Bergman - I take my wings off you

It's a small, small world that we live in. About a week ago my wife went to a meeting of the local weavers guild where a woman was talking about her upcoming trip to the Swedish speaking region of Finland so of course my wife mentioned something about this site and my interest in such things and so forth. So then this other lady relates a tale from one of her ealier trips to Sweden years ago where she stayed with some friends who had a surly punk-rocker daughter who later became a pop star. And who would that daughter be? Why, Marit Bergman of course. I can only imagine that this must've been during the Candysuck days, but I don't know for sure as it's all second-hand. As for my own Marit Bergman story: we met very briefly at SXSW in Austin when I was on tour with KVLR. I was totally out of my head from driving all night and probably made no sense, but whatever - it was years ago. I'm over it. So Marit, should you ever read this, I hope you're enjoying your stay in NYC. Hopefully we'll get some new music from you in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, here's a live track from Popstad 2003.

Marit Bergman - I take my wings off you (live)

Sophie Rimheden's new self-titled album will be out on November 9 via her own Sophie Rimheden Productions. Various guests are slated to appear on the disc such as Kajsa Grytt, Marit Bergman, Johan Sigerud and Annika Holmberg who you can hear on the first single "Can you save me": http://www.rimhedenmedia.com/%7Esophie/rimheden_holmberg_can_you_save_me.mp3

Marit Bergman is playing a CMJ showcase at CBGBs on Saturday.

Download the single "Never the last time" from Sweden's The Soft Eyes: http://www.thesofteyes.com/
The band features Johan Sigerud from My Orchard, Daniel Värjö from The Concretes and Linda Hörnqvist from Marit Bergman's band.

New mp3 today from Monkeystrikes, the band fronted by Cecilia Nordlund. A lot of you probably first heard Cecilia from her duet with Marit Bergman on "Adios amigos", but some of you might also remember her from her mid-90s indierock act Souls. Monkeystrikes' debut album "You hate my beautiful love" has been out for a little while already, but I've only just started to really get into it. It's interesting to hear just how much Cecilia has grown over the years, both as a vocalist/performer and as a songwriter. The new material manages to strike a perfect balance between the bombast of her earlier material and a new-found pop sensibility, all rounded out by her strong personality. It's especially apparent on songs like the one I've posted today - what starts as a pretty little love tune takes a turn for the morbid for verse two and then returns to the chorus hook to build and repeat until it wraps up at just over 3 minutes. The whole album is just stock full of gems like this and I can't recommend it enough. Check it out.

Download the debut self-titled EP from Storbrännan, a new band featuring Umeå scene veterans Patrik Bergman (ex-Starmarket), Linda Hörnqvist (Marit Bergman) and her brother Johan (K-pist): http://www.familymusic.se/

Consequences
Please wait EP
self-released

Most of the members of the Swedish band Consequences are best known for backing others. Guitarist Daniel Jansson has worked with Anna Ternheim, while Mattias Areskog (bass), Niklas Korssel (drums) and Åsa Jacobsson (organ, piano) have logged time in Marit Bergman's backing band. Uniting with singer Jonas Heijkenskjöld just over a year ago, the quintet has just self-released its debut EP, "Please wait". Power pop with swirling organ and cheery backing vocals, the music of Consequences is undeniably catchy. Some of it, though, sounds too familiar. "Come on", interestingly enough, sounds quite a bit like "Come on, come on" by the Von Bondies, while the title track includes the lyrics "every breath you take/every move you make." Thankfully, the band saves the best for last. Heijkenskjöld's tired vocal delivery guides the impressive "Wasted under the stars" with a nod or two to Aussie band The Church. Jacobsson's organ drives the melody on the bittersweet "Don't hold back" - when Heijkenskjöld delivers the line "I can't wait for you forever" several times, he sounds like he means it. Consequences blend really well together. Hopefully they'll build on this and zero in on improving their songwriting.
- Matthew W. Smith

Marit Bergman will releasing a live DVD entitled "Marit Bergman Live at Rival" on June 8. The disc will consist of said show from her recent acoustic tour along with all the videos she's ever done.

Aftonbladet reports that Marit Bergman and Carola are working together on a cover of the Abba classic "Waterloo": http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/noje/story/0,2789,620281,00.html (in Swedish)
It's set to air on SVT on April 8 as part of the Melodifestival.

Monkeystrikes debut full-length album "You Hate My Beautiful Love" has been confirmed for release on April 27 via Dust Music. The recording was handled by Nathan Larson at Tambourine Studios and features guest appearances from Marit Bergman, Nina Persson and David Sandström.

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Moneybrother - To die alone
02. Christer Sjögren - Love Me Tender
03. Hammerfall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
04. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
05. Darin - The anthem
06. Håkan Hellström - Ett kölikbarns bekännelser
07. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
08. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
09. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
10. Caesars - Paper Tigers
11. Arash - Arash Arash
12. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
13. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
14. Stefan Nilsson - Så som i himmelen (filmmusik)
15. Ted Gärdestad - Sol vind & vatten - Det bästa
16. Barbados - Best of Barbados 1994-2004
17. Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama
18. Pain - Dancing with the Dead
19. The Ark - State of the Ark
20. The Real Group - In the Middle of Life

Go here to download some demo tracks from Consequences, a Swedish band consisting primarily of members from Marit Bergman's backing band: http://www.consequences.se/musik.php

Most of the winners from this year's Swedish Grammy awards:

Best album: The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
Best artist: The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
Best pop female: Marit Bergman - Baby Dry Your Eye
Best pop male: Christian Walz - Paint By Numbers
Best pop group: Gyllene Tider - Finn 5 fel!
Best rock album solo: Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
Best rock group: The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
Best newcomer: Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
Best hard-rock: In Flames - Soundtrack To Your Escape
Best club/dance: Andreas Tilliander - World Industries
Best hiphop/soul: Embee - Tellings From Solitaria
Best jazz: Goran Kajfes - Headspin
Best folk musik: Ale Möller Band - Bodjal
Best producer: Pelle Gunnerfeldt & The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
Best songwriter: Marit Bergman - Baby Dry Your Eye
Best lyrics: Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
Open category: Blacknuss - Gold

Full list here: http://www.sr.se/p3/musikjournalen/arkiv.asp?DagensDatum=2005-02-08&Artikel=554799

Marit Bergman to release a triple album? Speculation runs rampant: http://www.mtve.com/article.php?ArticleId=5359

Swedish house artists Spånka nkpg will release their third album "The City of the Golden King" on April 6. The record features guest appearances from Moneybrother and Marit Bergman and the first single drops on February 9. The second single (feat. Marit) is already scheduled for a release one month later on March 9.

And speaking of the P3 Gold awards, here's the winners:

Best hip-hop/soul: Ison & Fille - "Ison & Fille"
Best pop: Hans Appelqvist - "Bremort"
Best dance: Eric Prydz - "Samlad produktion 2004"
Best rock: In Flames - "Soundtrack To Your Escape"
Best live (Guldmicken): Marit Bergman - "Baby dry your eye"
Best newcomer: Anna Ternheim "Somebody Outside"
Best group: The Hives - "Tyrannosaurus Hives"
Best song: "Mister Cool" - Snook
Best female artist: Marit Bergman - "Baby dry your eye"
Best male artist: Lars Winnerbäck - "Vatten under broarna"