Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Tiger Lou
02. Frida Hyvönen
03. Anna Ternheim
04. Juvelen
05. Hello Saferide
06. The Radio Dept.
07. Kent
08. Jens Lekman
09. Britta Persson
10. The Legends
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Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Tiger Lou
02. Frida Hyvönen
03. Anna Ternheim
04. Juvelen
05. Hello Saferide
06. The Radio Dept.
07. Kent
08. Jens Lekman
09. Britta Persson
10. The Legends
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 is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Frida Hyvönen
02. Tiger Lou
03. Hello Saferide
04. Håkan Hellström
05. Glasvegas
06. Jens Lekman
07. Detektivbyrån
08. The Tough Alliance
09. The Legends
10. Anna Ternheim
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 is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Hello Saferide
02. Vapnet
03. Laakso
04. Those Dancing Days
05. Tiger Lou
06. Juvelen
07. The Tough Alliance
08. Anna Ternheim
09. The Legends
10. Detektivbyrån
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/
Swedish act The Legends have licensed an exclusive new track with the working title "Whenever I am near you" for use in a new Volvo ad that will begin airing soon. Hopefully a clip will be available online soon.
Club 8It's usually the first record you hear by a band that remains your favorite, but Club 8 have reached new heights with their sixth outing. At it's worst, it's as good as anything they've done before. At it's best, it's more complex, personal, and compelling. The band have extraordinary credentials in a certain genre of laid back Swedish indie. Their singer Karolina Komstedt was in the band Poprace, as was their songwriter/instrumentalist Johan Angergård, who is also busy in his other bands The Legends, The Acid House Kings, and behind the scenes at Labrador Records. Club 8 is distinguished by the contrasts among Komstedt's ethereal voice, which is astoundingly pretty without ever being cloying or affected, their melancholy lyrics, and a sound that is simultaneously gentle, dark and uplifting. On this record they all shine. While the lyrics grapple with relationships that don't work, fear of mortality, questioning God, inappropriate drug use and rural desolation, the music is relaxed and airy. Her singing has never been better and the production has never made the instruments sound this good. The total effect is akin to aloe vera for the soul; it soaks in, soothes, and somehow sets things right. It's chill without the snores, twee without the cute, and sweet without the toothache.
- Nancy Baym
Offhand, Custer, Ohio, USA, springs to mind. This was likely unintentional and fortunately, very few expect a band to be defined by their name, at least not completely. "States" is an EP, and included on the disc is their previous EP release "Leaves". Two for one isn't a bad deal. Throughout the record, jangly guitar, reverb-laden vocals, and somber lyrics make for a sound not unlike the UK's Field Mice. In fact, the title track could be straight off a Sarah Records disc. Unlike the Field Mice however, who are known for dipping into a kind of beautiful comatose tempo, the disc keeps up a steady pace, with some clever hooks and a well-balanced indiepop mentality. Oh! Custer, with only two members, has conjured up a solid, energetic record. Fans of The Legends and Comet Gain should take notice and give this a spin.
- Paul Bredenberg
Absolut Noise talks to Johan Angergård of Labrador Records/Club 8/Acid House Kings/The Legends: http://absolutnoise.blogspot.com/2007/06/interview-johan-angergard-labrador.html
It's Friday and once again I'm handing things over to one of my frequent contributors. This week, it's Matt Giordano:
This morning I was mulling over how on Earth I'm going to get Jesus & Mary Chain tickets for their London show in June (seeing as how they'll sell out ridiculously quickly, plus the time difference) when I just thought of the first Legends album. I really enjoyed (and still do) listening to it. There are so many catchy songs brimming with static and, seeing as how it's about 25 minutes long, one can easily get lost in it and kind of forget what's going on. Anyway, here's a great pop song.
The Legends - When the day is done
The tracklist for Montt Mardié's forthcoming double album "Clocks/Pretender":
Clocks:
01. In which we meet the clocks and a song is reveled (Too many songs unwritten)
02. Set sail tomorrow
03. Birthday boy (drama)
04. I will write a book
05. Let's get away from it all
06. 1969
07. Travelers
08. The windmill turns all the same
09. How I won the war
10. In which a sailor returns and we say good-bye for now (Set sail tomorrow)
Pretender:
01. Surprised (with Andreas Mattsson)
02. Metropolis (with Fredrik Hellström of Le Sport)
03. Once I was so in love that I followed (with Bobby Baby)
04. Castle in the sky (with Jens Lekman)
05. Hurry home (with The Legends)
06. Daughters (with Peder Stenberg of Deportees)
07. Hacienda (with Christian Zellinger)
08. När vi gett dom våld ska vi ge er kärlek (with Vapnet)
09. Grand Prix finals (with Mr Suitcase)
10. Pretenders (with Hello Saferide)
As mentioned before, it comes out April 18 via Hybris. Buy the first single "The windmill turns all the same" and download a free track here: http://tinyurl.com/yoo7nl
PopMatters pans The Legends' "Public radio": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/8451/the-legends-public-radio/
"Facts and figures" sees Johan Angergård return to form after last year's disappointingly slow "Public radio". Whilst that record was fine in its own right, the loss of tempo from the band's debut caught me offguard. Luckily, the tempo is back. Always exploring various textures and aesthetics in his music, Angergård relies very heavily on synthesizers this time around and the result is great pop album that sounds as if it is from 1976 or 1986 as opposed to this year. Coupled with his trademark smooth vocals (and heavy effects), this is the soundtrack to a postmodern dance club in some old warehouse in the nefarious part of town. Top on that the aura of seediness and you have yourself one of the best dark pop records since The Bear Quartet's "Ny våg".
- Matt Giordano
Lookee here, a full live set from The Legends in Cambridge, MA: http://www.bradleysalmanac.com/2006/08/mp3s-legends-live-in-cambridge-ma.htm
Note the teaser promising a recording of the Acid House Kings set from the same show in the future.
This week's It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group most-played album chart:
01. The Knife - Silent Shout
02. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
03. Camera Obscura - Let's Get out of This Country
04. The Arcade Fire - Funeral
05. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
06. The Embassy - Tacking
07. The Knife - Deep Cuts
08. The Radio Dept. - Pet Grief
09. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
10. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Top 10 tracks for the week:
01. The Knife – silent shout
02. The Legends – Lucky star
03. Camera Obscura – If Looks Could Kill
04. The Pipettes – Pull Shapes
05. The Embassy – Some indulgence
06. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
07. Camera Obscura – Let's Get Out of This Country
08. Lily Allen – Smile
09. Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks
10. The Pipettes – Dirty Mind
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