Taking a cue from Swedesplease to focus your attention on Mother of the Forest and his new EP "Ryka i ro", which was recently posted for free download here. As Craig rightfully points out, this is for fans of creative music that takes risks and is far, far more exciting than the typically mediocre guitar rock that gets sent my way. It also helps that it fits in nicely with a lot of the other similarly minded goth/industrial clatter I've been listening to as of late. As for a more direct comparison, Sällskapet comes to mind, though Mother of the Forest is much weirder, taking far more influence from The Bear Quartet's noisier efforts. As if it wasn't obvious by having Matti provide guest vocals. Anyhow, Mother of the Forest is great and the EP is free, so you really can't go wrong. Listen and help spread the word!
Swedish bedroom electro/goth act Mother of the Forest has a new EP posted for free download: http://motheroftheforest.blogspot.com/2010/09/ep03ryka-i-ro.html
Fellow Luleå residents Magnus Ekelund (Elmo) and Mattias Alkberg (The Bear Quartet/Neverna) both guest. Very recommended!
01. Säkert! - Facit
02. Ola - Ola
03. Robyn - Body talk pt.2
04. Robyn - Body talk pt.1
05. Oskar Linnros - Vilja bli
06. Kent - En plats i solen
07. Anne-Lie Rydé - Dans på rosor
08. Pernilla Andersson - Ö
09. Darin - Lovekiller
10. Mikael Wiehe - Ta det tillbaka!
11. Drifters - Stanna hos mig
12. Irya's Playground - Irya's Playground
13. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
14. The Bear Quartet - Monty Python
15. Lisa Nilsson - 20 - En jubileumssamling
16. Stefan Sundström - 5 dagar i Augusti
17. Lasse Stefanz - Texas
18. Britta Persson - Current affair medium rare
19. Takida - The darker instinct
20. Eric Saade - Masquerade
Now that I've had a week to immerse myself in this record, I can say that it is a masterpiece -- there's really no other way to describe it. I expected it to be great, but I didn't expect it to be this great. I'm not going to hide, I've always been very vocal on my admiration for The Bear Quartet, but I've always felt that as an objective music listener, one can frequently be disappointed by their favorites. Whilst "89" was our reintroduction to the band (as well as their reintroduction to themselves, which they've recently mentioned), "Monty Python" comes off as not only a self-reevaluation, but also as a reevaluation of the current state of music -- "We're not gonna make it" serves not only as a comment on the industry, but as the current social and economic pitfalls which are robbing humanity in all aspects. "You you you you you you", "Fist or hand" and "Lovers goodbye" are some of the most tenderly affecting songs the band has ever written. The album's swansong, "Silent film" sums up not only the record, but the perhaps comes as close as ever to explaining the band -- they not only dictate the audience, but are one and the same -- as are we all. - Matt Giordano
01. Säkert!
02. The Bear Quartet
03. Håkan Hellström
04. Robyn
05. Junip
06. The Concretes
07. The Radio Dept.
08. Familjen
09. Jonathan Johansson
10. Britta Persson
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. The Radio Dept. - The new improved hypocrisy
02. TALK 2
03. Slidin' Slim - Right wing blues
04. Faråker - Den sista fajten (via är på väg)
05. We Live in Trenches - Male damage
06. Kite - If there's an if in us
07. TALK 3
08. First Love, Last Rites - Slow wind
09. Tomas Halberstad - Add to all noise
10. Last Days of April - America
11. TALK 4
12. C.Aarmé - Golden retriever
13. Far from Tellus - Norwegian fairytale mix
14. Bäddat för Trubbel - Kungen heter Jandek
15. Vidderna - Villfarelser
16. TALK 4
17. Rasmus Kellerman - The 24th
18. Mindy Misty - Inertia
19. Regulations - In the shadow of the mall
20. TALK 5
21. The Bear Quartet - Silent film
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.
Introducing The Bells, a new Luleå-affiliated project featuring Jonas Teglund (Park Hotell, Neverna), Peter Nuottaniemi (The Bear Quartet) and Johan Forslind. They have a full-length album on the way entitled "Threads" which was produced by renown musical genius/recluse Björn Olsson and will be released via the band's own in October. Unsurprisingly, it sounds a lot like a mix of Park Hotell and Bear Quartet (circa "Personality crisis"/"My war), which of course is perfectly fine by me (and should be for you too). Four tracks are up for streaming preview at the band's website, my favorite being the ominous/gloomy "Outside". Much like the Tsukimono track I posted earlier today, the song's spaciousness is a perfect companion to the sound of rain; furthermore, it hearkens back to some of BQ's most powerful work such as "Walking out". Resigned and reflective, revealed by severe simplicity, and yes, starkly beautiful; a song that says a lot with very few words/notes.
Here's what I know: The Lovable Tulips are two ladies from Stockholm who recorded some tunes with Mr. Jari Haapalainen of The Bear Quartet. They made a video for one of those tunes and you can see it above. I dig it! Hear more at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theloveabletulips
Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eAbYElz4pY
01. Loney Dear
02. Kent
03. Familjen
04. Robyn
05. Håkan Hellström
06. The Bear Quartet
07. Britta Persson
08. Jonathan Johansson
09. Junip
10. The Radio Dept.
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Night Minutes - Sweetheart of the funeral
02. TALK 1
03. Korova Station - Come on come on
04. Okkultokrati - Stench of life
05. Johan G Winther - Chasing kingdoms
06. Kimono - Vienna
07. TALK 2
08. SONMOI - The man with no flesh
09. Phonophani - Neverdal
10. Kausal - The conquistador
11. TALK 3
12. Vowels - oiaå
13. The Bear Quartet - We're not gonna make it
14. Säkert! - Rotary
15. Slöa Knivar - Stay dirty
16. TALK 4
17. Slöa Knivar - Hjärtat
18. Menfolk - Skeletons
19. Asha Ali - Hurricane
20. Tiger Tape - She is fiction
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.
The Bear Quartet guitarist Jari Haapalainen, singer/songwriter Nicolai Dunger and drummer extraordinaire Morgan Ågren (Mats/Morgan Band, Fredrik Thorendal, etc.) have joined forces in a new fusion project called Vowles and they will be making their live debut on September 9 at Fasching in Stockholm. Entry includes a copy of the group's single "o i a å" and I have no idea what it sounds like, but I intend to find out.
The Bear Quartet