Teddybears - Rocket calculator

Discobelle is counting down to the release of the new Teddybears album "Devil's music" with a bunch of mash-ups and remixes: http://www.discobelle.net/2010/03/10/teddybears-rocket-calculator/

New Teddybears album in spring

There's a new Teddybears album called "Devils music" coming in late March/April and it will reportedly feature a collaboration with Atlanta-based rapper Cee Lo and The B52s on the same track, among other treats I'm sure.

Hyper Plastic
EP
Novoton

Opening with the wryly constructed "Ron Asheton's loafers", Hyper Plastic, the electronic solo project of former This Perfect Day guitarist Rickard Johansson, establishes what we can expect from the EP - clever arrangements of simple melodies, a mess of blips and bloops entwined with Johansson's guitar work, driving electronic drums, and coolly detached vocals. One can't but hear elements of "Punk rocker"-era Teddybears throughout the EP, even in its most inspired moments for at the core of Hyper Plastic is a need to channel angular punk energy down the darkest of pop-saturated avenues. As "Love & hate" demonstrates, Johansson has a fantastic understanding of atmosphere and mood (favoring the brooding kind), and utilizes this awareness to elevate his compositions just clear of being dismissed as merely simplistic distortion-tinged pop songs. That said, the cynical charm of Hyper Plastic starts to lose some of its appeal after a few listens -- though, in all honesty, this fate awaits the vast majority of four-track EPs. I'm curious to see what Johansson could do with more time.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Big Byrd (Caesars, Fireside) to release 7" on Startracks

Big Byrd, the Stockholm-based supergroup featuring Jocke Åhlund (Teddybears, Caesars), Nino Keller (Caesars), Frans Johansson (Fireside) and Carl Zim Lundell, have a new 7" single coming out on Startracks on April 2 featuring the track "Anna Belle". Preview at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bigbirdtheband

Swingfly - Touch and go (video)

Check out Swingfly's new video for the single "Touch and go": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG3uq1XOT6k&fmt=18
If you enjoy the tracks he did with Teddybears, you'll be sure to dig this as it's more of the same.

Check out this trailer for Pacemaker, a new pocket-size DJ system featuring visuals from Kristofer Ström aka Ljudbilden & Piloten and music from Teddybears: http://www.vimeo.com/690607/l:embed_690607

Listen to the Teddybears remix of "Stayin' alive" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/teddybears

MP3: Paola - Stockcity girl

Whatever happened to Paola? I guess I'm not that surprised her divorce from super-producer/Teddybears member Klas Åhlund effectively ended her career, but you never know, right? I suppose that Teddybears rerecording her vocals on "Yours to keep" with Neneh Cherry and Annie was the final nail in her coffin. Listening back to her 2002 album "Stockcity girl", it's fairly obvious that its success owes much to Åhlund's involvement, but it's not as if she was some no-talent nobody. Paola is quality pop and if you like the record that Åhlund did with Robyn, there's no reason why you shouldn't love this too. Hard to believe it's been five years since this was released - it still sounds pretty damn fresh today.

Paola - Stockcity girl

Teddybears' entire album "Soft machine" is available for streaming via myspace: http://www.myspace.com/teddybears

Teddybears have a new video for the song "Punkrocker" featuring Iggy Pop: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid429035574

PopMatters reviews the US release of Teddybears: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/6943/teddybears-soft-machine/

Robyn covering Teddybears? Sure, why not: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/track_reviews/39422/Robyn_Cobrastyle#39422

Pitchfork reviews Teddybears: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/38865/Teddybears_Soft_Machine

Teddybears finally have a new website: http://www.teddybearsrock.com/

MP3: Teddybears - Hey boy

No doubt you've probably heard the Teddybears single "Cobrastyle" by now. It's exactly the kind of ubiquitous pop hit that ends up on infinite repeat and follows you everywhere you go. Kinda like the Caesars' "Jerk it out" was a few years back, and oh man did they ever play that one to death. It's fitting that both songs are from the same mind, Mr. Jocke Åhlund. Another parallel: both bands' US debuts are not actual albums, but collections of various tracks. Not quite what I'd call 'greatest hits', but along those same lines. It's no surprise then that both suffer the same problem that often plagues such collections - the tracklist has no flow. However, let's be fair: Teddybears' US debut "Soft machine" is probably not intended to be the sort of record you sit down to listen to from beginning to end. It's tailormade for DJ sets and mixtapes. All of the tracks are great individually, but they don't form a cohesive package when thrown together. It's party music. It won't change your life, but it'll get the dancefloor moving. Ain't nothing wrong that as long as you know what you're getting into. Instead of posting something from "Soft machine" I'm going back to 2004's "Fresh". I can see why "Hey boy" was left off the US release - it's just a bit too similar to "Cobrastyle" with its wordless refrains and bouncy beat. That doesn't make it bad, just redundant. Nevermind that both tracks appear on "Fresh". If the rest of the album followed the same formula, I'd be bummed, but when there's two tracks that are both this hot, you'd be hard-pressed to find fault.

Teddybears - Hey boy (ft. Swingfly)