Here's this week's radio show playlist:

01. Desert Planet - Riot sector 68
02. TALK 1
03. Grande - We did it all
04. Sara Berg - Crawl back from under
05. Dialog Cet - Buckfighter
06. TALK 2
07. Doktor Kosmos - Doktor Kosmos släpper en skiva
08. Halph - Weight
09. Bright Oak - The undertow
10. TALK 3
11. Juvelen - They don't love you
12. Frivolvol - Take it from the beginning
13. Little Jimmy Reeves - Sidetracked
14. TALK 4
15. Keith Canisius - Omorose
16. The Kid - Mayhem troopers
17. Lognhalsmottagningen - Bodybuilder
18. Markus Krunegård - Rocken spelar ingen roll längre
19. TALK 5
20. Firefox AK - Techno tears
21. Biker Boy - April song (Mr Bananas remix)
22. Thomas Denver Jonsson - Saved by the bell
23. TALK 6
24. Nina Kinert - Pets & friends
25. Familjen - Hög luft
26. Brainbombs - Down in the gutter
27. TALK 7
28. Anders Persson och Carl Smith - Morgonsol i April
29. Abduktio - Uutisia rintamalta
30. Nordvargr - Rektal B
31. Karin Holmberg + hab - Who we are
32. TALK 8
33. Lapko - Killer whales
34. Madrugada - Lift me
35. Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck - What I came here for
36. TALK 9
37. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
38. Dreamboy - What have I done
39. The Tough Alliance - Lucky
40. TALK 10
41. Logh - Saturday nightmares

Sara Berg
When I was a young child I used to feel pleasure from playing with others
Gaymonkey

Where once the market was well and truly saturated with young men, heavy hearts, and acoustic ballads, the scene today has its fair share of Björk inspired vocalists, each with an electronic orchestra backing their efforts - Imogen Heap, Bat for Lashes, and The Knife (to an extent, though Karin Dreijer Andersson's collaboration with Röyksopp on their single "What else is there?" may be a better example), amongst others. Sara Berg has now interjected herself into these ranks with "When I was a young child I used to feel pleasure from playing with others", an album that carefully carries itself along a number of precipitous lines - attempting explorations of darkness and pop flash, featuring pliable organic elements alongside rough digital instrumentation, drawing as much from the fluid approach of Björk's records as from The Knife's sinister focus, with Berg's voice unfolding her range and varying tones throughout this lofty attempt. The whole is definitely not as well put together as many of its parts, "Crawl back from under" and "This can't be desire" being two of the finest examples, but Berg is a talent worth keeping one's eye on. She may not have hammered the point home on this effort, but there's every reason to believe that she will, and soon.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

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

Swedish electro artist Sara Berg in the UK:

11/04 - Sounds of Sweden @ Sloans, Glasgow
11/07 - In-store @ Rough Trade East, Dray Walk, Old Truman Brewery
11/08 - Madame JoJos @ The Glitz, London

Also note that her label Gaymonkey Records is giving away free CD samplers - the first 50 people that email freestuff@gaymonkeyrecords.com get a copy.

MP3: Sara Berg - Crawl back from under

I saw the Lisa Gerrard doc "Sanctuary" yesterday which got me thinking about the human voice as an instrument, about how affecting it can be even if you don't understand the words being sung or, as in Gerrard's case (as with Sigur Rós and others), no actual words are being used at all. Emotion comes through the performance and melody, not the lyrics. And that made me think back to the "Ny musik för landssorg" comp (as discussed here) - the gravity of the subject matter led each artist to use wordless vocals, if they used words at all. Really, what can one say to ease the suffering of national tragedy? Words fail us. However, there is one exception and that is Sara Berg and her track "Not alone". The sentiment is simple enough that it works, but it's still a risky move. The potential for pompous pretention is infinite.

In addition to its appearance on "Ny musik för landssorg", "Not alone" also appears on Sara Berg's album "When I was a young child I used to feel pleasure from playing with others". Generally speaking, the formula remains the same - Sara excels at taking deep sentiments and simplifying them, setting them against her tightly wound beats. What could easily turn into the kind of overwrought, all-too-serious display that turns people off from most theatrical goth-rock, is instead handled with care and the right amount of subtlety. Some tracks, such as today's mp3 "Crawl back from under", work better than others, but that's mostly due to the music, not the vocals. Sara is unusually vocal-centric for an electronic artist and I think it's both an asset and a liability; an asset because it differentiates her from the rabble, a liability because her tracks can often be lacking. At her worst, it's never that bad, but she never quite soars either. I have to say that I appreciate her on a conceptional level more than anything else.

Sara Berg - Crawl back from under

In somewhat Ebb-related news, Gaymonkey labelmate Sara Berg will soon release her new single "Crawl back from under" on March 12. B-side remixers include Sophie Rimheden, Endel & Leida, Appareil and Goodstuf. Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/saraberg

Ebb's new single "I'm all made of music" will be out November 6 via Gaymonkey Records and the video is already up on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ebbloona
B-sides will include remixes from Jori Hulkkonen (FIN), Andreas Tilliander (SWE) and Melnyk (UK). Speaking of Melnyk, he will be supporting Ebb at his UK debut on October 20 at Great Eastern Hotel in Liverpool along with Knivflickan and an appearance from Sara Berg. It's a guestlist-only show, but Jeff from Gaymonkey tells me he's got a few spots available if any IAT readers are interested. Email him at jeff@gaymonkeyrecords.com for details.

Here's the list of acts confirmed for this year's Rookie Festival show in Hultsfred on October 31-November 1: Black Bonzo (Skellefteå), Caitlyn (Göteborg), Celestin (Enskede), Crash Diet (Stockholm), Devi (Stockholm), DJ Niklas (Stockholm), Idiot Savants (Hässleholm), Kung Henry (Uppsala), Malysz (Vänersborg), Matti Norling (Stockholm), Nikolaj (Kungälv), Novak (Visby), Pennybridge Kingz (Örebro), Psyjuntan. Biz (Hultsfred), Robert Valsinger (Linköping), Sandy Mouche (Malmö), Sara Berg (Stockholm), Seth My Path (Göteborg), Silent Scythe (Karlstad), Steady Session (Stockholm), Stereo Generator (Visby), The Happiest Girl In The World (Helsingfors/Stockholm), The Jabs (Stockholm), The Movements (Göteborg), The Search (Uppsala) and Tobias Fröberg (Stockholm).