The Virtues - Bleak ways

Oh hey, a new single from Swedish powerpop act The Virtues! Check them out tonight in Stockholm at Lasse i Parken with Paris and Peter Morén.

Paris - Say it (video)

"Say it" is the brand new single from Swedish new-wavers Paris and it sounds great.

New Paris EP in late May

Swedish synthpop act Paris will be releasing the new 5-song EP "From Paris to Pluto" on May 30.

Sirius playlist week #10

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. KVLR - All there is to hiding out
02. TALK 1
03. The Rollstons - Defender of the frown
04. Turboweekend - Sweet Jezebel
05. Midaircondo - Serenade
06. TALK 2
07. Promoe - The logic of dreams
08. The Kissaway Trail - La la song
09. Karjalan Sissit - Kuolema tuiloo
10. Montt Mardié - Paraply
11. TALK 3
12. Mikko Singh - Laodi majra
13. Jonathan Johansson - All vill ha hela världen
14. My Darling You! - Dressed4success
15. Paris - Another Saturday night
16. TALK 4
17. Heroin and Your Veins - Intoxication
18. Quagmire - We know we don't know
19. Totalitär - Mer skit att välja
20. The Setting Son - Spring of hate
21. 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.

Swedish Showcase, together with help from the Swedish Institute, is sending a group of Swedish acts to Belarus in order to "inspire and develop the Belarusian music scene, its artists and organizers." The acts participating: I Love You Baby!, Alice in Videoland, Paris and Pluxus. Dates and details: http://www.swedishshowcase.com/belarus/

Sofia Talvik's duet partner this week is Emma Nylén, both a solo artist (Emmon) and member of the band Paris: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=41815584

MP3: On Volcano - Ride the wolf

I've been getting my Finnish shoegaze confused! Murmansk, who I covered on Tuesday, have never been a postrock band. That would be On Volcano, today's featured artists. Gah, so many bios to read I can't keep 'em straight. Anyhow, both are great bands with an awful lot of similarities besides their country of origin as they both employ female vocalists, though I'd say that On Volcano is by far the poppier of the two. Whereas Murmansk piles on heavy layers of sound and tends to bury the vocals into the mix, On Volcano places them front and center. "Ride the wolf", the opening track of their debut EP "My sleep was filled with dreams", even has a bit of early U2 to it, with those martial drum beats and prominent bassline. You also get a bit of new-wave pop, not too far off from what the Swedish band Paris is known for. However, it's on the half-time breakdown on the 2nd half of the song that they really let loose, offering up a barrage of lush guitar textures. So yeah, similar but different but equally awesome.

On Volcano - Ride the wolf

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Niccokick - The poet
02. TALK 1
03. Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
04. David Sandström - Apropå det här med att finnas till
05. Mew - Why are you looking grave?
06. TALK 2
07. C.Aarmé - Rhythm
08. Dieter Schöön - Lot's of free Shoes but nowhere to run
09. Meshuggah - Pravus
10. TALK 3
11. Elin Ruth Sigvardsson - Antidote
12. The Bear Quartet - Volksblues
13. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Wedding
14. Lack - Naked girls
15. TALK 4
16. Don't Be A Stranger - Lonely together
17. Namur - Marching
18. NEI - Trip to Luleå
19. TALK 5
20. Printer - All right
21. Moto Boy - Beat heart
22. Christel Alsos - Come back to me
23. TALK 6
24. Promoe - Headache
25. Mustasch - Dogwash
26. Montt Mardié - Too many songs unwritten
27. Pascal - Smärtstillande
28. TALK 7
29. Pan Sonic - Virta 1
30. Pekker - Ass electro
31. Regulations - Police siren
32. TALK 8
33. Deud - Lördag
34. Linus Larsson & John Roger Olsson - Beyond the south tunnel
35. Barra Head - Undermine
36. TALK 9
37. Aerial - Kallisti
38. Paris - Office killer
39. Lukestar - The shade you hide
40. TALK 10
41. Jazkamer - Metal music machine

Time Out NY editor Elisabeth Vincentelli talks about some of her favorite 2007 releases including Emmon, Paris and Private: http://determineddilettante.blogspot.com/2008/01/ones-that-got-away.html

Restocks coming in later this week, available to order now: Those Dancing Days, "Upp till kamp!" and Paris. Also look for brand new stuff such as E.S.T./Esbjorn Svensson Trio's latest record "Live in Hamburg", the all-star tribute to Cornelis Vreeswijk's masterwork "Poem, ballader och lite blues", the Brödera Lindgren "Vuxen barnmusik!" (Children's music for adults), the "Alvin Eldpojken" album (actual children's music) and a new 2CD classic Swedish prog collection from MNW. I'll be making them available as soon as they arrive, so check back!

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Kristofer Åström - Just a little insane
02. TALK 1
03. Darkthrone - Canadian metal
04. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
05. Niccokick - Love & neon lights
06. TALK 2
07. Death By Kite - Bhf. Asta
08. The Alpine - Iceland
09. Pluxus - Bootstrap
10. TALK 3
11. Graveyard - Thin line
12. Hospital - Something in the water
13. Attrap - Just a word away
14. TALK 4
15. Jonna Lee - I wrote this song
16. Paper - My life is going under
17. Broder Daniel - You bury me
18. TALK 5
19. Radio LXMBRG - Score on the floor
20. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
21. Rather Sound Than Safe - The beat
22. Det Gamla Landet - Det heliga landet
23. TALK 6
24. Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
25. No Hope for the Kids - Rainy day
26. Sir Eric Beyond and the Avant-Garde - If this is the way
27. Barra Head - Overseas
28. TALK 7
29. Superfamily - Warszawa
30. Oskar Schönning - S
31. Brick - Automen
32. TALK 8
33. Miss Li - Leave my man alone
34. Kasper Bjørke - Liquid propagnosia
35. Loveninjas - I wanna be like Johnny C
36. Anti Cimex - Only in dreams
37. TALK 9
38. Pan Sonic - Virta 1

Rasmus Kellerman from Tiger Lou was my guest on this week's radio show and this is what we played:

01. TALK 1
02. Tiger Lou - The loyal
03. Sara Berg - Call me from below
04. Thomas Dybdahl - Maury the Pawn
05. Torpedo - Hospital
06. TALK 2
07. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Heroica
08. Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
09. Isolation Years - Nurse hands
10. Jennie Abrahamson - Songs we sing
11. TALK 3
12. Firefox AK + Tellevika - Eric
13. Winter Took His Life - Lucky star
14. Knugen Faller - Jag vill inte vara med
15. Favorita - Seven comforts
16. TALK 4
17. Mikael Jonasson - Can you dig this?
18. Lindeberg & Can - Forbidden romance
19. John Dahlbäck - Gas
20. TALK 5
21. Ozgur Can - Changed
22. Aril Brikha - Winter
23. TALK 6
24. Rupesh Cartel - Hide like this
25. Madrugada - Hard to come back
26. Mob - Wait for me
27. TALK 7
28. Tiger Lou - Functions

The playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Boys of Scandinavia - Beautiful as a person
02. TALK 1
03. Don't Be A Stranger - Perfect problem
04. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
05. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
06. TALK 2
07. Deathbed - When hope leaves a body
08. Closer - Sensing the wake
09. TALK 3
10. The Tarantula Waltz - Two arrows
11. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
12. Anna Järvinen - Götgatan
13. TALK 4
14. Eric Malmberg - Slutet på en epok
15. Mustasch - Bring me everyone
16. September - Until I die
17. TALK 5
18. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
19. Frode Haltli - The latter
20. Lykke Li - Little bit
21. TALK 6
22. Downstairs - Peephole city
23. The Cardigans - Don't blame your daughter (Diamonds)
24. Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
25. TST - We are the kids
26. TALK 7
27. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
28. Mikko Singh - Palmun juurella
29. Audionom - Dc2
30. TALK 8
31. Ulver - Solitude
32. The Psyke Project - I get paralyzed
33. Silverbullit - Winter coat
34. TALK 9
35. Bodies Without Organs (BWO) - Let it rain
36. Icos - On my own
37. Torpedo - Hang me high
38. TALK 10
39. Graveyard - Satan's finest

FYI, in case you missed my announcement: next week will be a spooky Halloween-themed program.

MP3: Paris - When I laid my eyes on you

It's surprisingly easy for a band like Paris to slip under the radar. There's no quirks, no gimmicks; just a solid band playing pop music on conventional rock instruments. But y'know what? Sometimes that's enough. In a world where everything has to be bigger, brasher, more more more, a band like Paris can be awfully refreshing. "When I laid my eyes on you" is the first single from the band's new record "The landlord is kind enough to let us have our little sessions", so named because they recorded most of said album in bassist Mattias Svensson's living room. It's a nice little mid-tempo number with a fuzzy synth doing a counterpoint melody with the vocal line. The chorus takes the same idea and opens it up a bit wider with louder guitars and crashing drums. I love the way they split each line at "find/fine" with a ricocheting guitar chord and a single bar of half-time. There's quite a bit of syncopation going on, though it's softened by conspicuous reverb and delay. Remember, this is essentially disco-pop (hear that doubled-up hi-hat!), so it goes with the territory. Plenty of postpunk acts attempt to exploit similar tactics, but sometimes I want something a bit cheerier and that's exactly where Paris comes in.

Watch the video: [click here]
Buy it: [click here]

Paris - When I laid my eyes on you

New arrivals in the mailorder, in-stock and ready to order!

Mattias Bärjed - Upp till kamp (2CD)
Tarantula Waltz - s/t (CD)
Paris - The landlord is kind enough to let us have our little sessions (CD)
The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Rhythm (CD)
September - Dancing shoes (CD)

Check it out!