Swedish alt-country act The Lancaster Orchestra is apparently on hold for a bit, along with the release of their new album "The death of an orchestra". They say they'll be back on track in 2010, but we shall see.
Swedish alt.country act The Lancaster Orchestra will travel to Nashville to perform at the Americana Music Association showcase on October 31.
The nominees for the 2007 Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative to the Grammy:
Hip-hop/R&B/Soul:
Up Hygh! - Venus - The Album (Raw Fusion/Border)
Ison & Fille - Stolthet (Hemmalaget/V2/BAM)
Supersci - Pinetrees On The Pavement (Flyphonic/Lights Out/Border)
Lazee - It Is What It Is (Skrilla Music)
Promoe - The White Mans Burden (Burning Heart/BAM)
Electronica/Post-rock/Synth:
Covenant - Skyshaper (Subspace Communications/Playground Music)
Ebb - Loona (Gaymonkey Records/Border)
FAP - Malekasino Dondolo (Stupid Dream Records/Musicspot)
System - Sample And Hold (Progress Productions/Border)
The Idealist - I Am The Fire (AA/Nosordo/dotshop.se)
Pop/Rock:
The Radio Dept. - Pet grief (Labrador/Border)
Nicolas Makelberge - Dying in Africa (*Rico/Border)
Fibes, Oh Fibes! - Emotional (Pluxemburg/Playground Music)
The Concretes - In Colour (Licking Fingers/Playground Music)
Ebba Forsberg - Ebba Forsberg (EBOTH Production/BAM)
Jazz:
My Engström Renman - Abdominous (Footprint Records/CDA)
Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Son of a Drummer (Moserobie/BAM)
Oddjob – Luma (Amigo/BAM)
Oskar Schönning - Happy Jazz, Please (Amigo/BAM)
Lennart Åberg with Peter Erskine - Free Spirit (Amigo/BAM)
Singer/Songwriter:
Andreas Mattsson - The Lawlessness Of The Ruling Classes (Hybris/Playground Music)
Britta Persson - Top Quality Bones And A Little Terrorist (Amigo/BAM)
The Lancaster Orchestra - Never Cried Once When I Could Have (Rootsy.nu/Border)
Loney, Dear - Sologne (Dear John Recordings/Dotshop.se)
Nina Ramsby & Martin Hederos - Jazzen (Amigo/BAM)
Dance/House/Techno:
The Knife - Silent Shout (Rabid Records/Border)
Unai - A Love Moderne (Force Tracks/Intergroove)
Dibaba - samlad produktion 2006 (Plong!/Kompakt mfl)
Pluxus - Solid State (Pluxemburg/Playground Music)
The Studio - West Coast (Information/Border)
Hard-rock/Punk:
In Flames - Come Clarity (Nuclear Blast/Sound Pollution)
Fingerspitzengefühl - Happy Doomsday (Kooljunk Communications/CDA)
Asta Kask - En För Alla Ingen För Nån (Burning Heart/BAM)
Wolverine - Still (Candlelight Records/Sound Pollution)
Memfis - The Wind-Up (Dental Records/TMC Nordic)
Folk/World/Reggae
Bosse Skoglund – Groovesopor (Rub-a-dub Records/Border)
Göran Månsson - Mon (Nordic Tunes/CDA)
Bebo Valdés – Bebo (Calle 54/BMG Dist)
Lena Willemark - Älvdalens elektriska (Amigo/BAM)
Ranarim - Morgonstjärna (Drone/CDA)
Best live act:
The Radio Dept.
Mapei
The Knife
The Je Ne Sais Quoi
Slagsmålsklubben
Best newcomer:
Vapnet - Jag Vet Hur Man Väntar (Hybris/Playground)
Britta Persson - Top Quality Bones And A Little Terrorist (Amigo/BAM)
The Kid - La Société Nouvelle (Hybris/Playground)
Loney, Dear - Sologne (Dear John Recordings/Dotshop.se)
Lo-Fi-Fnk - Boylife (La Vida Locash/dotshop.se)
Best unsigned act (Digfi Prize):
The Wonderful Guinea Pigs (Linköping)
Denver Mod (Jönköping)
The Open Up And Bleeds (Stockholm)
Trucker Cleavage (Stockholm)
Ikons (Göteborg)
Swedish melancholy country act The Lancaster Orchestra has completed work on a new album, due out in September via Rootsy Records. One half of Logh makes up the backing band behind singer/songwriter Carl Mathson and Mark Olson of The Jayhawks was set to produce, but was held up at the last minute by a family emergency. Despite the setback, the band feels like it came out quite nice regardless.
Every week I seem to listen to a new Scandinavian "alt-country" (or whatever you'd like to call this type of music) band (usually of pretty high standard and most often Swedish) that I'm meant to review for It's a trap. Involuntarily I've become something of an expert on this type of music from those northern shores, which is quite cool, but to be honest, I'm getting a bit bored! Bored of good music? How can that be? Well, it's a bit like eating vanilla ice cream week in and week out. Not that exciting, huh? I love American alt-country, but my absolute favourite artists of this genre are people like Will Oldham, Robbie Fulks, and Silver Jews, artists who are subversive one way or another (usually lyrically). What I'm trying to say is that I need some edge, please! You can still be rock'n'roll even though you're playing slow and beautiful music (look at Gram Parsons). When bands follow the standard template (The Lancaster Orchestra's album has "smokey" photos, and song titles like "Bad horse" and "Easy lover" – yawn!). Sure, The Lancaster Orchestra got some pretty fine songs (e.g. "Closingtime will you walk me home"), and they do a cool cover version of The Smiths' "Please please please let me get what I want", but if you're not in a sitting-by-the-fireside-drinking-whiskey mood it can be so booooring that it takes a "fucking" in the lyrics to ("Newfound friends") to wake me up.
- Simon Tagestam
The list of unsigned bands confirmed for Rookiefest in Hultsfred has been announced:
Addeboy vs Cliff (Umeå)
Ambassadeurs (Malmö/Lund)
Beckster (Stockholm)
The Colombos (Västerås)
Convoj (Göteborg)
Crang (Göteborg)
The Dandelions (Stockholm)
Dog Almighty (Borås)
Dying on a Sunday (Hultsfred)
Edward (Göteborg)
Elias One Man Band (Falun)
Funka (Stockholm)
Gender (Göteborg)
Hospital (Malmö)
The Lancaster Orchestra (Malmö)
Marble (Sundsvall)
Mother Misery (Enköping)
Le Muhr (Stockholm)
Lethal Techniques (Umeå)
Nikka Blue (Malmö)
P.R.I.D.E. (Stockholm)
Random Hero (Göteborg)
Rentokiller (Borås)
Reverend Martin Savage & His Holy Rollers (Stockholm)
Rico Wondahman & obnoXiuz (Göteborg)
Shoot Charlie (Älmhult)
The Sound of O.E. (Eskilstuna)
The Third Try (Norrköping)
Tristes Tigres (Stockholm)
Full details here: http://www.rookierockparty.se/