Watch a video of Nicolai Dunger playing a tribute tune for Irish artist Tommy Daron: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=56222713
Haven't heard Nicolai do a song like this in awhile - his back catalogue is full of 'em.
A CampIf A Camp's female vocalist sounds familiar, it's because you've almost certainly heard her before. Nina Persson is also lead singer of The Cardigans, one of Sweden's biggest musical exports, and A Camp is her side project. Their first album gained wide critical acclaim in 2001, but, due to the continued commercial success of The Cardigans, only now have they had time to follow it up.
Having read that A Camp showed a darker side to Nina, I expected something much more serious, and perhaps even boring, than I actually found on "Colonia". In fact, it has more hooks than some of The Cardigans' recent albums. If I had been told it was their new release, I wouldn't have guessed otherwise.
The highlight for me is certainly "Golden teeth and silver medals", a charming duet with Nicolai Dunger with wonderfully poetic lyrics. Rousing lead single "Stronger than Jesus" is another favourite, along with tribal romp "Here are many wild animals". Contemplative ballads sit side by side with quirky pop songs on this album, which has already earned Nina the front cover of British broadsheet The Independent's Sunday supplement.
It seems an unfortunate irony that this side-project, intended to be a break from the limelight for Nina, is pushing her right back into it. Yet for fans of her work with The Cardigans, it's a lovely treat to find that the wait for their new album was not such a long one after all.
- Jessica Popper
Nina Persson continues to get better and better as she gets older. She continues to improve as a musician and a songwriter with every new release. Shallow though it might make me seem, I also think she's more beautiful with each passing year. I like that she's added a bit more twang to her sound too; it fits her persona well as it seems like only country artists are allowed to age with such grace. Her duet partner Nicolai Dunger has had a more uneven career path, but his most recent work has been stellar and his voice melds perfectly on this particular piece. It's a bit on the sleepy side, as is the rest of "Colonia", but the two of them together on this piece is just too good.
A Camp - Golden teeth and silver medals (ft. Nicolai Dunger)
Swedish singer/songwriter Lesli has a new album called "Sleepwalkers lament" out this week and you can now preview a few tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/leslisongs
Reminds me a bit of old Nicolai Dunger or other similar 70s-style troubadours. Very warm and natural.
Who doesn't love a kazoo refrain? You've got to be one cold, heartless bastard to resist. Anna Maria Espinosa has been kicking around the Stockholm scene for a long time now, performing with bands such as Morder Jords Massiva, Club Killers and tons more, as well as popping up as a guest vocalist on numerous releases from a vast variety of artists. And this fall she's breaking free with her very own solo release (due out October 8, I believe) and here now is her debut single "Everyday", a great little upbeat pop number that has me super excited for what's to come. It's produced by the always-reliable Jari Haapalainen and written with Theodor Jensen (The Plan), but it's her voice that carries the day, along with that lovely, buzzing refrain I referred to back in sentence #1. Pure joyful exuberance, pure summer bliss! I'm glad Anna Maria is finally stepping out to do her own thing, it's time she had a chance for the spotlight. Not that she's going at alone though, she does have a lot of help: besides Jari and Theodor, she's also recruited Ellekari Larsson (The Tiny), Mattias Hellberg, Andreas Mattson, The Concretes, Nicolai Dunger and others to help out. I guess it was time to call in some favors, eh? Like I said, 'bout time.
Anna Maria Espinosa - Everyday
Volvo will be using the (excellent) old Nicolai Dunger track "Something in the way" off his third album "This cloud is learning" (1999) for an ad-spot to air on US TV this summer, starting in June.
The long-awaited Licking Fingers Swedish music comp "Thank You For The Music" will finally be out on May 28 and the label will celebrate with a party that evening at Pet Sounds Bar in Stockholm. Here's the tracklist, as best I can tell:
01. Anna Järvinen - Svensktalande Bättre Folk
02. Jens Lekman - The Opposite Of Hallelujah
03. Lykke Li - Everbody But Me
04. Those Dancing Days - Dischoe
05. Friska Viljor - Old Man
06. Shout Out Louds - South America
07. The Concretes - The Sentence
08. First Floor Power - The Jacket
09. Pacific! - Runaway To Elswhere
10. Kleerup/Lisa Milberg - Music For Girl
11. The Radio Dept. - Freddy And The Trojan Horse
12. Studio - No Company
13. Peter Morén - Social Competence
14. Loney, Dear - Your Time Will Come
15. Wildbirds And Peacedrums - Liar Lion
16. El Perro Del Mar - Glory To The World
17. The Tiny - Too Heavy A Burden
18. Frida Hyvönen - See How I Come Into Town
19. Speedmarket Avenue - Sirens
20. Idiot Kid - Wide Awake
21. Nicolai Dunger - God's Waitingroom
I keep meaning to tell you how good the new Nicolai Dunger album "Nicollide and the Carmic Retribution" is, but it keeps getting pushed aside. It's a difficult album to distill to a single track, not to mention that I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it (in a good way). So for now you'll just need to take my word for it and investigate on your own as today I'm posting the title track from what remains to be my favorite Nicolai Dunger album, "Soul rush". It's a perfect piece of music, so full of love and hope. The melody of the wordless refrains aches with wistfulness. Half his life wasted? Most definitely not. As far as I'm concerned, this is a timeless piece of work.
Nicolai Dunger - Soul rush
Bonnier Amigo Music has signed Anna Maria Espinosa (Moder Jords Massiva, Club Killers) and will be sending her into the studio with producer Jari Haapalainen (The Bear Quartet, Laakso, etc.) to record her debut album. As for the actual songs she'll be doing, she's lined up an illustrious cast including Ellekari Larsson (The Tiny), The Concretes, The Plan, Mattias Hellberg, Andreas Mattsson, Moder Jords Massiva, Nicolai Dunger and of course, the aforementioned Jari Haapalainen. Expect a fall release.
I take the time to listen to everything that gets sent my way. It's simultaneously the best and worst part of running this website because, while most everything I get is at least listenable, it's definitely not all good. So even though I try my best to remain eternally optimistic, I approach each new promo with a bit of trepidation. The ones I fear the most? That would be the singer/songwriters, no question about it. Whenever I see an artist name instead of a moniker, I get a sense of dread because the potential for awfulness is so, so high, especially when you consider how many of those types work so hard to convey their deepest, most heartfelt sincerity in everything they do. It makes their failure ultimately so much more depressing. Luckily, today's mp3 comes from an artist who defies expectations and is actually pretty darn good. Ulf Ljusberg is a Swedish artist with a gentle, fingerpicking style somewhere between the low-key melancholy of José González and the progressive folk of Nicolai Dunger. Sometimes he's a bit too AOR for my tastes, but there's no denying his talent and I find this particular track "Whatever was" to be one of the standouts on his new EP "Unleash". It's not just melodically pleasing, it's also got an interesting rhythmic thing that sets it apart, thanks to percussionist Tobias Thun. It's not the sort of thing that'll make your jaw drop, but it did make me sit up and take notice because it's different. There's an understated beauty to it and I appreciate that. It makes it all worthwhile.
Ulf Ljusberg - Whatever was
PopMatters on the latest from Nicolai Dunger alter-alias A Taste of Ra and his album "Morning of my life": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/a-taste-of-ra-morning-of-my-life/
Nicolai Dunger's new album "Nicollide & the Carmic Retribution" will be out on January 23. Preview samples: http://www.myspace.com/nicolaidunger
Various ArtistsI know it probably seems odd to review a free comp with limited availability (it was primarily distributed to subscribers of UK mag The Wire with copies of the December issue), but when you consider how well this collection captures the most exciting aspects of Sweden's current music scene, it should hopefully make sense. Simply put, Häpna, Ideal Recordings and Kning Disk are the top three Swedish labels currently releasing a consistent stream of interesting, forward-thinking music. Even with the few artists I'm not so fond of such as Nicolai Dunger's A Taste of Ra, I would never fault their craftsmanship or imagination. It might not appeal directly to my own personal tastes, but it has my utmost respect and that is of crucial importance. There's always something to admire, even when you are not inclined to investigate further.
As for the styles of music explored in this collection, it's incredibly rich and diverse. There's everything from pop melodicism (Anna Järvinen, Eric Malmberg, Balroynigress) to dark, terrifying drones (Sewer Election, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, The Skull Defekts), fractured experimentalism (Hans Appelqvist, Tape, Folke Rabe) and classical composition (Erik Enocksson, Jerry Johansson and Library Tapes). All in all, a perfect portrait of where to look for the future of Swedish music. Ignore it and get left behind.
- Avi Roig
I've got to make this quick due to family/holiday obligations, but I didn't want to let the day get away from me without posting something. Every time I do an interview for my radio show, I always ask my guest to pick a song or two to play. It's an easy conversation point and it's fun. One of my favorite things about doing my show is pushing my tastes on a new audience, so I fully expect everyone else to get the same sort of thrill when handed such an opportunity. This week's show features Pontus Levahn from Torpedo/Tiger Lou as my guest and one of his song picks is "Walk with me instead" from Stockholm-based artist Simon Ryman. Simon's name is vaguely familiar to me, but I don't think I had ever given him any serious attention before and that's got to change now because this track is fantastic. Like Pontus says on Simon's myspace page (and further expounds on in our interview), the songs are rooted in traditional singer/songwriter styles, but they also stretch beyond into new territory. It's a little bit like (older) Nicolai Dunger, maybe with a bit of BRMC. It's definitely got that same fuzzy, droning blues thing going on. Familiar, yet new. Check it out and if you're a Sirius subscriber, be sure to listen in to this week's show on Saturday (12 noon ET, replay at midnight).
Simon Ryman - Walk with me instead
