New super-limited single from The Embassy

Service is releasing the new single "You tend to forget" from The Embassy in a limited edition of 3: http://www.srvc.se/
Buy it on eBay.

Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:

01. Hello Saferide
02. Glasvegas
03. Laakso
04. The Radio Dept.
05. Those Dancing Days
06. Familjen
07. Håkan Hellström
08. The Embassy
09. Kent
10. Tiger Lou

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/

MP3: The Kid - Bloodmoon

Saturdays in 2008 are devoted to the music of Göteborg. This week's guest: Patrik Bengtsson from The Kid. The band's new album "Transient blood" is out now on Hybris.

First off, the standard question: how long have you lived in Gbg, what brought you there and what keeps you around?

Johan is born here and the other three of us are from Småland and moved here to exchange the rich soil and the pine trees for education and nightlife. Then we found friends and love and decided to stay. Frida moved here in 1996 and me and Maja came in 2000.

I hear a strong lineage in The Kid's music that connects it to the Gbg post-punk scene of yore, bands such as Cortex (obviously), but it's more than that. Do you think that's an extension of living in the same city or is it more predetermined? Was that the sort of thing you grew up on or did you discover it later?

Freddie Wadling is an icon, all the things he has been involved in is great such as Blue for Two, Liket Lever, Lädernunnan, Rukorna and Fläskkvartetten, the original punkscene of Gbg was great with bands like Göteborg Sound and Slobobans Undergång. We were listening to punk and post-punk long before we moved to Gbg. The Swedish post-punk scene was great, with bands like Commando M Pigg, Brända Barn and Reeperbahn. As a new Gothenburger you become proud of Gbg when you understand what this town has giving the world in forms of music and bands, but our taste in music was already formed when we all moved here.

Do you think it's important to keep that musical heritage alive?

When it comes to pop music, no.

Putting aside nostalgia for the moment, how would you say The Kid looks toward the future? Are there any current movements/scenes/happenings in Gbg (or elsewhere) worth paying attention to, whether you are personally involved or not?

We will continue struggling with the band trying to combine the sound of the early 80-ies with the sound of the new new wave/the new new romantic. Make some shows and some new songs. No big plans, just nice to have the possibility to do this and get paid for it. We've been around for a couple of years now and we are quite bored playing for stiff students. It's time for the new Gbg-scene with people in their 20ies to do the studentclub-mayhem. I think the new Gbg pop-scene is some form of an antiscene. They frown at the old Service glory days. They spit on electronic stuff like laptops and iPods, they play instruments and wear hats and love Håkan Hellström instead of The Embassy and Claes Ohlson-stroboscope. And they've got authentic good self-esteem; that's good but it's the total opposite of the classic Gbg scene.

Don't think that I'm a silly old fart, I love changes. And some of these kid are guests at my monthly 77-punk club and they know the lyrics to all the old Gbg punk songs. So the future is saved. They know their heritage.

I understand that a number of you are involved in other art projects besides The Kid- what else are you currently working on?

We are constantly working with other art(y)/music projects.

You will find a couple of them on our myspace–site under top friends. Otherwise, we are still working as Artists and Architects, and when we run out of money we take care of old people, trees and flowers. You can also visit www.mermermer.com and click on Frida Sjöstam and www.patrikbengtsson.com for some aesthetic-experience.

Would you say that Gbg is an artist-friendly city?

I'm sure that Gbg is the best music-friendly town in Sweden. All the interesting bands from the last 10 years are from Gbg. And the mood between the bands is nice and friendly.

Lastly, have you got a song from the new album that you'd like to share?

I think "Let's go kid" or "Bloodmoon" are two nice songs, you could use one of them.

My personal preference is demonstrated below...

The Kid - Bloodmoon

Coming later this month on the new Service label coop, a new single from The Embassy: http://www.theembassy.info/

Swedish label Service (Jens Lekman, The Embassy) has announced the signing of Ikons (remember?). Check out the new single "Guns" right here: http://srvice.com/catalog/item.php?catno=SRVC001
Service has also relaunched themselves as a cooperative and is offering up public membership in exchange for use of their new subscription service: http://srvice.com/catalog/item.php?catno=JOIN_SERVICE

Friday Bridge
Intricacy
But Is It Art?

"Manners and Mannerisms" is the subtitle of Friday Bridge's myspace page and indeed, a lot of conceptualism and personal aesthetics define her debut album "Intricacy". Singing in French and English, Ylva Lindberg's soprano hovers over 80's synth strings and drums while harpsichords and flutes dance minuets in the background. The Swedish press finds that "incredibly elegant" (P3Pop), but to me, the record lacks overall substance. A few standout tracks prove Ylva's talent for writing very catchy pop songs (current single "Love and nostalgia", or the older "It girl" for example) while others really showcase the potential of doing baroque arrangements of modern pop. Still, it's not that she's not clever (she rhymes give away with Jean Genet) or that I don't enjoy music that focuses foremost on similar 80's-esque aesthetics (such as The Embassy or Nicolas Makelberge). I just feel that, minus the standard-issue synth pop songs, this album would have been a great collection of cleverly-arranged catchy and timeless pop.
- Arnulf Köhncke

The Embassy on tour in France:

09/26 - Autre Canal (tbc), Nancy
09/27 - La Freche d'or, Paris
09/28 - Le Baron, Paris
09/29 - Le Son'art, Bordeaux

MP3: The Tough Alliance - Something special

As provocateurs, The Tough Alliance has few peers. At least in the complacent Swedish indie/pop world - they've got a long way to go before they reach KLF or Men's Recovery Project levels of subversiveness, but I applaud them for trying. Musically, it barely even matters. Their reputation and notoriety is based far more on shtick than on anything they've committed to tape. On the other hand, "A new chance" shows a tremendous amount of growth and opening track "Something special" is the first time I've ever heard TTA open their mouths without making me cringe (hence my ready appreciation of the instrumental and new-agey "Escaping our ambitions" from last year). They move beyond their usual snotty Göteborg indie-gone-electro sound by spicing it up with bits of Middle Eastern samples and much-improved drum machine programming. And finally, vocals that actually approach tunefulness.
As a whole, the record is tailormade for summer listening. The sonic palette screams "island"-preset, if such a thing exists. Cheesy synths, steel drums, and so on - think "Kokomo". There's even a semi-decent reggae track ("Looking for gold") which may call to mind UB40, for better or worse. I'm surprised to find myself enjoying it as much as I do, though that might not really be all that much. I will say this however: The Embassy has some serious catching up to do.

The Tough Alliance - Something special

French label Asphalt Duchess has licensed The Embassy's "Tacking" record for release on June 4.

Interview: Christer Lundberg (Universal Poplab)

The Embassy have a tricky new myspace profile: http://www.myspace.com/embassythe
Beat the system and make 'em your friend here: http://collect.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=invite.addfriend_verify&friendID=128224684

MP3: The Sweptaways - Let my shoes lead me forward

Let's talk about Sweden's other 20+ member indie choir The Sweptaways. The group's standard repertoire is a capella group versions of pop hits and their debut album "Ooh ahh" is chock-full. It features indie-hits by fellow Swedes Vapnet, El Perro Del Mar, The Embassy and Jenny Wilson (today's featured track) as well as songs from the likes of Kiss, Black Sabbath, Pet Shop Boys and Kate Bush ("Wuthering heights", the first single). Sometimes the formula works, sometimes not. Their take on Sabbath's classic ballad "Changes" is disappointing and a few other song selections were never that good to begin with and are not improved by The Sweptaways vocal treatment. There are many highlights, but I can't help feeling that they are better appreciated as a live act with their fanciful costumes and choreography. A studio recording is a poor substitute. Still, they manage to narrowly avoid status, so that's got to mean something. Oh, and their version of "Silver bells" together with Magnus Carlson and the Gray Brigade (listen here) is fantastic.

The Sweptaways - Let my shoes lead me forward

A big batch of new reviews posted today, including coverage of new albums from Marit Bergman, The Embassy and more: [click here]

The Embassy
A compact disc including the Embassy
Service

This sounds like bad karaoke over lost Pet Shop Boys b-sides. The songs aren't that great and the vocals are positively atrocious. While their shtick might be mildly entertaining at times, their music is not. Maybe someday we can all look back at The Embassy and have a good laugh, but for now I ain't having it.
- Avi Roig

The new video for The Embassy's single "Lurking (with a distance)" is online: http://www.srvice.com/lurking.htm