Soviac
Hello bunny
I Made This

With the strange ability to approach the often saccharine sweet world of electro-pop with an art-punk mentality, blurring the lines between simple pleasures and melodies that need time to unravel, Soviac's "Hello bunny" is a bizarre, though quite welcome effort. There are definitely some rather annoying moments, but this is to be expected with bands such as this who tread a strange path through The Knife's and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' terrain, and these flaws can be forgiven as the 'complicated dance music' approach pays off more and more as the record progresses - "Friction" being one of the first true signs of Soviac's talents. Sadly, even in its most enjoyable moments, I can't ever see myself falling truly in love with this record or allowing it heavy rotation in my stereo, but I will certainly enjoy it on the occasions "Hello bunny" does find its way back into my present.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

The playlist for my radio show this week:

01. Pistol Disco - Walking with Jesus
02. TALK 1
03. Heroes & Zeros - Into the light
04. Vijaya - Your gun will never set you free
05. Convoj - My timekeeping heart
06. TALK 2
07. Darkthrone - Too old, too cold
08. A Perfect Friend - Rush hour
09. Death By Kite - Hiroshima
10. TALK 3
11. Fun - I've got a truck
12. Moonbabies - Walking on my feet
13. The Perishers - When I fall
14. TALK 4
15. Regulations - Police siren
16. Viola - Ordinary teenage sensation
17. Björn Kleinhenz - Starlit queen
18. TALK 5
19. Gravy - Glory to our brilliant name
20. Hero Dishonest - Stalin vs Hank Hardy
21. Sophie Zelmani - To know you
22. Ulver - Capitel III: Graablick blev hun vaer
23. TALK 6
24. Håkan Hellström - Ramlar
25. Abhinanda - Highway tonight
26. Single Unit - Passion, pirates & parasites
27. TALK 7
28. Kompjotr Eplektrika - Skulldrummantra
29. The Tiny - Just like you
30. Death Breath - Death breath
31. TALK 8
32. Entombed - Serpent speech
33. The Cardigans - Marvel hill
34. Soviac - I got the ribbah
35. TALK 9
36. The Bear Quartet - Put me back together
37. You Is Stupid - I am history
38. Paris - 60 minutes
39. The Process - Mot Sverige i tiden
40. TALK 10
41. Weeping Willows - I give you the morning

Soviac has revamped their website in anticipation of their new album "Hello bunny", due out April 18 via I Made This/V2: http://www.soviac.com/
Go there to stream it in its entirety.

The new Soviac single "I got the ribbah" is now on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/soviac
The new album "Hello bunny" comes out April 18 via I Made This.

Soviac's new single "I got the ribbah" will be out on April 2 and will include remixes from Assid and Buset. A new album will follow on April 18.

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
02. (NY) Dirty Pretty Things - "Bang Bang You're Dead"
03. (17) SLS - "Get Back"
04. (03) USCB Allstars - "Let's Keep It on Baby"
05. (02) Supersci w/Chords - "On the Grind"
06. (16) Lil' Kim - "Whoa"
07. (09) Laakso - "Never Satisfied"
08. (NY) Plan B - "No Good"
09. (NY) Martha Wainwright - "Factory"
10. (20) Sean Paul - "Temperature"
11. (07) Jamie Foxx w/Ludacris - "Unpredictable"
12. (12) Ghostface Killah med Ne-Yo "Back Like That"
13. (05) Franz Ferdinand - "The Fallen"
14. (NY) Up Hygh w/Little Brother - "Keep On"
15. (09) Lo-Fi-Fnk - "Wake Up"
16. (14) Mystery Jets - "The Boy Who Ran Away"
17. (NY) The Fine Arts Showcase - "The Shoplifter's Union"
18. (18) Håkan Hellström - "Jag hatar att jag älskar dig och jag älskar dig så mycket att jag hatar mig"
19. (NY) Las Palmas - "Du har mail"
20. (ÅT) Matiyashu - "King Without Crown"

Leaving the chart: Ane Brun w/Teitur - "Rubber & Soul", Snook - "Snook, svett & tårar", Soviac - "Ogashaga", Vapnet - "Thoméegränd", Morrissey - "You Have Killed Me", The Streets - "When You Wasn't Famous", Damian Marley w/Bobby Brown - "Beautiful".

Check out Soviac's video for their latest single "Ogashaga": http://www.soviac.com/video_ogashaga.html

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) Morrissey - "You have killed me"
02. (04) The Radio Dept. - "The Worst Taste In Music"
03. (03) Laakso - "Never Satisfied"
04. (07) Ane Brun w/Teitur - "Rubber & Soul"
05. (05) Arctic Monkeys - "When the Sun Goes Down"
06. (NY) USCB Allstars - "Let's Keep it on Baby"
07. (12) Soviac - "Ogashaga"
08. (06) Dub Sweden - "We're so Loud"
09. (02) Franz Ferdinand - "The Fallen"
10. (11) Hard Fi - "Cash Machine"
11. (NY) Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
12. (NY) Zero 7 w/José Gonzales - "Futures"
13. (17) Jamie Foxx w/Ludacris - "Unpredictable"
14. (18) Placebo - "Song to Say Goodbye"
15. (15) Ghostface Killah w/Ne-Yo - "Back Like That"
16. (16) Håkan Hellström - "Jag hatar att jag älskar dig och jag älskar dig så mycket att jag hatar mig"
17. (13) AFC - "5 för 5"
18. (NY) People Under The Stairs - "Tuxedo Rap"
19. (ÅT) The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - "Infinite Zero"
20. (NY) Familjen - "Första/sista"

Leaving the chart: Jaheim - "The Chosen One", Damian Marley w/Bobby Brown - "Beautiful", The Streets  "When You Wasn't Famous", Firefox AK - "Madame Madame!", Sleepy Brown - "Me, My Baby and My Cadillac" and Robyn - "Crash and Burn Girl"

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (04) Morrissey - "You Have Killed Me"
02. (11) Franz Ferdinand - "The Fallen"
03. (NY) Laakso - "Never Satisfied"
04. (02) The Radio Dept. - "The Worst Taste in Music"
05. (01) Arctic Monkeys - "When the Sun Goes Down"
06. (06) Dub Sweden - "We're so Loud"
07. (14) Ane Brun w/Teitur - "Rubber & Soul"
08. (20) Jaheim - "The Chosen One"
09. (NY) Damian Marley w/Bobby Brown - "Beautiful"
10. (10) The Streets "When You Wasn't Famous"
11. (07) Hard Fi - "Cash Machine"
12. (04) Soviac - "Ogashaga"
13. (13) AFC - "5 för 5"
14. (05) Firefox AK - "Madame Madame!"
15. (NY) Ghostface Killah w/Ne-Yo - "Back like that"
16. (09) Håkan Hellström - "Jag hatar att jag älskar dig och jag älskar dig så mycket att jag hatar mig"
17. (NY) Jamie Foxx med Ludacris - "Unpredictable"
18. (17) Placebo - "Song to say goodbye"
19. (NY) Sleepy Brown - "Me, My Baby and My Cadillac"
20. (ÅT) Robyn - "Crash and Burn Girl"

Leaving the chart: Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Thåström, Depeche Mode, I'm From Barcelona, Danko Jones and System of a Down.

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (02) Arctic Monkeys - "When the Sun Goes Down"
02. (NY) The Radio Dept. - "The Worst Taste in Music"
03. (04) Morrissey - "You Have Killed Me"
04. (NY) Soviac - "Ogashaga"
05. (18) Firefox AK - "Madame Madame!"
06. (01) Dub Sweden - "We're so Loud"
07. (13) Hard Fi - "Cash Machine"
08. (NY) Soundtrack Of Our Lives - "Infinite Zero"
09. (11) Håkan Hellström - "Jag hatar att jag älskar dig och jag älskar dig så mycket att jag hatar mig"
10. (NY) The Streets "When You Wasn't Famous"
11. (NY) Franz Ferdinand - "The Fallen"
12. (NY) Thåström - "Om Black Jim"
13. (NY) AFC - "5 för 5"
14. (NY) Ane Brun med Teitur - "Rubber & Soul"
15. (15) Depeche Mode - "Suffer Well"
16. (ÅT) I'm From Barcelona - "We're From Barcelona"
17. (NY) Placebo - "Song to Say Goodbye"
18. (06) Danko Jones - "Baby Hates Me"
19. (19) System of a Down - "Lonely Day"
20. (12) Jaheim - "The Chosen One"

Leaving the chart: Youngblood Brass Band, The Concretes, Foo Fighters, Maxïmo Park, Sandy Mouche, Architectures In Helsinki, Timo Räisänen, Ed Greene, Robyn and Martha Wainwright.

New videos from both Soviac and Jenny Wilson now up for streaming at the Musikbyrån site: http://svt.se/musikbyran
That live show from Robyn is now available for on-demand viewing as well.

Podcast: Build it up, break it down, mess it up

Swedish post-punks The Je Ne Sais Quoi played an extra-special show at Debaser in Stockholm on June 18 with all sorts of special guests appearing on every song, including scene luminaries such as Ed Greene, Andreas Söderström, Knife and Ape, John (Bad Monkey), ASSID, Kate Riff (Soviac) and their sixth member Gabriel. Why am I telling you about this? Well, because they recorded the entire show on video and are offering it as a free download via bittorrent. You can find the link on the band's website: http://www.cilla.com/tjnsq

Chalksounds has revealed that their expecting to release the debut full-length from The End Will Be Kicks in October. I've heard some rough mixes and if it's anything close to as good as the MCD that's already out, you know it's gonna be a monster. Can't wait! There's gonna be a bonus 7" coming out with it as well. After that, Stockholm-based instrumental act Ellis the Vacuumchild will drop their debut album. December perhaps? Soviac is working on new demos, so they should have something in the pipeline. And lastly, look for an EP from Park Hotel sometime early next year. I haven't heard them myself, but Chalksounds CEO Magnus says they sound like New Order meets MBV. Could be really good.

Streaming playlist: Summertime