Biker BoyThe title track of this EP is a pretty little darling of a song that is steeped in New Order and other bands of that type from the 80s. If you like The Embassy you should definitely seek this song out, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It's a shame that the other (three) songs on this EP are so dull, if they would have been only nearly as good as "Heart" it could have been a right old party.
- Simon Tagestam
Nominees for the Swedish radio 2006 P3 Gold awards:
Best female artist:
Laleh
Jenny Wilson
Hello Saferide
Frida Hyvönen
Robyn
Best male artist:
Moneybrother
Håkan Hellström
Timbuktu
Alf
Darin
Best band:
Kent
Cardigans
The Ark
The Embassy
Bodies Without Organs
Best newcomer:
Laleh
Jenny Wilson
Darin
Le Sport
Frida Hyvönen
Best song:
Robyn - Be mine
Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
Laleh - Live tomorrow
Moneybrother - They're building walls around us
September - Satellites
Guldmicken (best live):
Hellacopters
Laleh
Robyn
Timbuktu
Lars Winnerbäck
Best rock/metal:
Burst - Origo
Grand Magus - Wolf’s Return
Hellacopters - Rock & Roll Is Dead
Opeth - Ghost Reveries
Rentokiller - Cadaveri Eccelente
Best hip-hop/soul:
Hearin’ Aid - The Boom Lucy
Looptroop - Fort Europa
Peshi - The Work of Art The Art of Work
Stacs Of Stamina - Tivoli
Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
Best pop:
The Embassy - Tacking
Frida Hyvönen - Until Death Comes
Paddington DC - The Sun is Down And The Sky is Grey
The Tough Alliance - The New School
Jenny Wilson - Love And Youth
Go here to vote for your favorites: http://www.sr.se/p3/p3guld/
Winners will be announced January 21.
Also posted today: a group review of The Embassy's latest hyped release. I think I'd actually prefer it if they straight-up sucked because at least then they would be worth getting worked up about, but don't just listen to me - read what everyone else has to say.
This week's top artists for the It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group:
01. Belle and Sebastian
02. Franz Ferdinand
03. José González
04. Architecture in Helsinki
05. The Postal Service
06. Håkan Hellström
07. Broken Social Scene
08. Kent
09. Coldplay
10. Death Cab for Cutie
Top tracks:
01. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
02. Thastrom - Fanfanfan
03. The Postal Service - Sleeping In
04. The Embassy - Information
05. The Embassy - It Pays To Belong
06. Christian Kjellvander - Drunken Hands
07. The Embassy - Stage Persona
08. Wolf Parade - Grounds for Divorce
09. The Embassy - Lurking (With A Distance)
10. The Embassy - Time's Tight
Want to see your favorites listed here? Join us! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
The latest Swedish student radio top 20 chart:
01. (01) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
02. (03) The White Stripes - "The Denial Twist"
03. (04) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
04. (02) Franz Ferdinand - "Walk Away"
05. (13) Gorillaz - "Dirty Harry"
06. (NY) The Fine Arts Showcase - "Chemical Girl"
07. (06) Róisín Murphy - "Sow Into You"
08. (05) El Perro Del Mar - "God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)"
09. (NY) The Sorayas - "Hours to Days"
10. (08) ObnoXiuz - "Lägg benen på ryggen och dra"
11. (NY) Unarmed Enemies - "Missing Out"
12. (14) Goldfrapp - "Number 1"
13. (NY) Dannii Minogue & The Soul Seekerz - "Perfection"
14. (10) Baby Shambles - "Albion"
15. (11) The Embassy - "It Pays to Belong"
16. (NY) Queens of the Stone Age - "Burn the Witch"
17. (07) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Is This Love?"
18. (NY) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - "Weight of the World"
19. (17) Saïan Supa Crew - "La Patte"
20. (20) Röyksopp - "What Else Is There?"
Leaving the chart: Architecture in Helsinki, Christian Kjellvander, Ella Rouge, Lethal Bizzie, Stereophonics and Test Icicles.
This week's top 20 Swedish student album chart:
01. (01) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
02. (03) Franz Ferdinand - "Walk Away"
03. (NY) The White Stripes - "The Denial Twist"
04. (09) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
05. (NY) El Perro Del Mar - "God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)"
06. (07) Róisín Murphy - "Sow Into You"
07. (20) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Is This Love?"
08. (08) ObnoXiuz - "Lägg benen på ryggen och dra"
09. (NY) Lethal Bizzie - "Fire"
10. (NY) Baby Shambles - "Albion"
11. (05) The Embassy - "It Pays to Belong"
12. (05) Test Icicles - "Circle Square Triangle"
13. (17) Gorillaz - "Dirty Harry"
14. (11) Goldfrapp - "Number 1"
15. (NY) Ella Rouge - "Jekyll N Hyde"
16. (04) Christian Kjellvander - "Drunken Hands"
17. (06) Saïan Supa Crew - "La Patte"
18. (ÅT) Architecture in Helsinki - "Do the Whirlwind"
19. (NY) Stereophonics - "Devil"
20. (13) Röyksopp - "What Else Is There?"
Leaving the chart: Karl Larsson, Kristian Anttila, Le Sport, Rihanna, Sophie Zelmani, Tiger Lou and The Sunshine.
This week's Swedish student radio chart:
01. (02) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
02. (02) Tiger Lou - "The Loyal"
03. (03) Franz Ferdinand - "Walk Away"
04. (04) Christian Kjellvander - "Drunken Hands"
05. (11) The Embassy - "It Pays to Belong"
06. (06) Saïan Supa Crew - "La Patte"
07. (NY) Róisín Murphy - "Sow Into You"
08. (NY) ObnoXiuz - "Lägg benen på ryggen och dra"
09. (07) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
10. (10) The Sunshine - "Simon Le Bon"
11. (NY) Goldfrapp - "Number 1"
12. (05) Test Icicles - "Circle Square Triangle"
13. (12) Röyksopp - "What Else Is There?"
14. (NY) Rihanna - "If It's Lovin That U Want"
15. (15) Le Sport - "Business Girls"
16. (16) Karl Larsson - "Devil Strings"
17. (NY) Gorillaz - "Dirty Harry"
18. (17) Sophie Zelmani - "I Can't Change"
19. (09) Kristian Anttila - "Paul Weller"
20. (18) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Is This Love?"
Leaving the chart: Architecture in Helsinki, Bloc Party, Loveninjas, The Pipettes and Pharell.
This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:
01. (02) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
02. (03) Tiger Lou - "The Loyal"
03. (NY) Franz Ferdinand - "Walk Away"
04. (04) Christian Kjellvander - "Drunken Hands"
05. (01) Test Icicles - "Circle Square Triangle"
06. (07) Saïan Supa Crew - "La Patte"
07. (09) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
08. (10) The Pipettes - "Dirty Mind"
09. (15) Kristian Antilla - "Paul Weller"
10. (16) The Sunshine - "Simon Le Bon"
11. (06) The Embassy - "It Pays to Belong"
12. (13) Röyksopp - "What Else is There?"
13. (14) Pharell - "Angel"
14. (20) Loveninjas - "Keep Your Love"
15. (NY) Le Sport - "Business Girls"
16. (NY) Karl Larsson - "Devil Strings"
17. (NY) Sophie Zelmani - "I Can't Change"
18. (18) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah "Is This Love?"
19. (ÅT) Bloc Party - "Two More Years"
20. (ÅT) Architecture in Helsinki - "Do the Whirlwind"
Leaving the chart: Katie Goes to Tokyo, Queens of the Stone Age, Randy, Sophie Rimheden, The Strokes and Willowtree.
This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:
01. (03) Test Icicles - "Circle Square Triangle"
02. (08) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
03. (04) Tiger Lou - "The Loyal"
04. (05) Christian Kjellvander - "Drunken Hands"
05. (17) The Strokes - "Juicebox"
06. (NY) The Embassy - "It Pays to Belong"
07. (06) Saïan Supa Crew - "La Patte"
08. (04) Queens of the Stone Age - "Burn the Witch"
09. (07) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
10. (NY) The Pipettes - "Dirty Mind"
11. (11) Katie Goes to Tokyo - "Moving From This Town"
12. (09) Willowtree - "Attention Ms"
13. (15) Röyksopp - "What Else is There?"
14. (NY) Pharrell - "Angel"
15. (01) Kristian Anttila - "Paul Weller"
16. (NY) The Sunshine - "Simon Le Bon"
17. (12) Sophie Rimheden - "Can You Save Me?"
18. (NY) Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah - "Is This Love?"
19. (18) Randy - "Razorblade"
20. (20) Loveninjas - "Keep Your Love"
Leaving the chart: Architecture in Helsinki, Bloc Party, Princess Superstar, Thåström and Tiga.
Upcoming releases from Service Records:
11/09 - Harlem - Game/Watch EP
11/16 - Erik de Vahl - Friendly Fire CD
11/16 - The Embassy - Tacking CD
Sweden already got The Embassy, The Knife, Three Is A Crowd, The Tough Alliance etc, and now they got Eurosport to add to the list of bands that make great electronic pop music. This CD has three tracks on it, and two of them ("Tell no one about tonight", "Shaking a lot") are near perfection. This is music for lazy Sunday afternoons, this is music for drinking lots of alcohol to, this is music to fuck to. Does that sound contradictory? It's not.
- Simon Tagestam
Fluxblog has posted mp3s from quite a few Scandinavian acts over the past few days including The Embassy, Kings of Convenience and Band Jolie: http://newflux.blogspot.com/
Is Service totally determined to only sign acts with the worst vocals ever? I just don't get it. The music isn't so bad - it's your standard Göteborg-style pop with keyboards. "Flipside of a memory" reminds me a bit of Tears for Fears on the instrumental passages. But man oh man, the singing on the first song "Instructions" is so out of tune and awful, I almost thought it was a joke. Nobody really thinks that sounds good, do they?
- Avi Roig
