All-star Swedish label collective will release new albums from both Kriget and Woodlands this fall: http://www.ingrd.com/2012/first-news-for-fall/
Kriget, as mentioned before, is the instrumental act of Per Nordmark (Fireside, Britta Persson, etc.), Crille Roth (Monster, Hets) and Gustav Bendt (Moneybrother, Club Killers). Woodlands, on the other hand, features Sara Wilson (First Floor Power), Niklas Korssell (Tutankamon, The Plan) and Marcus Holmberg (Komeda).
Titiyo and Theodor Jensen (Broder Daniel/The Plan) have teamed up for a new group called Keep Company and will be releasing their self-titled debut album on December 29.
Tutankamon is comprised of Stockholm all-stars Adam Olénius (Shout Out Louds), Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John), Daniel Värjö (The Concretes) and Niklas Korssell (The Plan) and, unsurprisingly, it sounds like a muddled mix of all four dudes' other bands: a bit of PB&J's mod and Beatles-influenced powerpop plus a dash of Shout Out Louds + The Plan's contemporary indie/MOR and topped off with a touch of The Concretes' lazy twee. As much as I'm sure there guys are having a great time playing together, I'm sorry to say that the sum of their parts adds up to less than they started with. That is, except for the lead single "Have you ever been in love?" which is a Grade A fantastic pop tune. I wasn't exactly wowed the first time I heard it, but it's quite easy on the ears and grows tremendously on repeated listens, something I imagine will be inescapable in weeks (months?) to come. It might not have the potential to reach "Young folks"-level ubiquity (few songs do), but I wouldn't mind if it did. There's nothing overtly clever or quirky to grow tired of; just four guys in a room making music together with the help of a few extra hand-claps.
Tutankamon - Have you ever been in love?
Tutankamon, the new all-star Swedish indie act featuring Adam Olénius (Shout Out Louds), Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John), Daniel Värjö (The Concretes) and Niklas Korssell (The Plan), will play their first official live gig on September 29 at the Nudie Jeans store in Stockholm and it will be streamed live. Check it: http://www.nudiejeans.com/blog/2009/09/14/tutankamon-live-nudie-jeans-sk%e2%88%9aonegatan-75-in-stockholm/
Theodor Jensen (The Plan, Broder Daniel) has confirmed his forthcoming solo debut "Tough love" will be released on September 2 via Razzia Records.
Via PSL comes word of a new Swedish supergroup of sorts called Tutankamon featuring Adam Olénius (Shout Out Louds), Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John), Daniel Värjö (The Concretes) and Niklas Korssell (The Plan). Their debut album will be released October 7 and the first single "Have you ever been in love" can be heard at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tutankamontheband
Razzia Records will release the new Theodor Jensen (The Plan) solo single "Songbird" on August 7.
Who doesn't love a kazoo refrain? You've got to be one cold, heartless bastard to resist. Anna Maria Espinosa has been kicking around the Stockholm scene for a long time now, performing with bands such as Morder Jords Massiva, Club Killers and tons more, as well as popping up as a guest vocalist on numerous releases from a vast variety of artists. And this fall she's breaking free with her very own solo release (due out October 8, I believe) and here now is her debut single "Everyday", a great little upbeat pop number that has me super excited for what's to come. It's produced by the always-reliable Jari Haapalainen and written with Theodor Jensen (The Plan), but it's her voice that carries the day, along with that lovely, buzzing refrain I referred to back in sentence #1. Pure joyful exuberance, pure summer bliss! I'm glad Anna Maria is finally stepping out to do her own thing, it's time she had a chance for the spotlight. Not that she's going at alone though, she does have a lot of help: besides Jari and Theodor, she's also recruited Ellekari Larsson (The Tiny), Mattias Hellberg, Andreas Mattson, The Concretes, Nicolai Dunger and others to help out. I guess it was time to call in some favors, eh? Like I said, 'bout time.
Anna Maria Espinosa - Everyday
Razzia Records is putting out a compilation on June 18 entitled "There's a Razzia thing going on" which feature various highlights of their excellent catalog. Here's the tracklist:
01. Hello Saferide - I was definitely made for these times
02. Adiam Dymott - Memory loss
03. Konie - My Life Is Shit But I Am Funky (remix)
04. I Are Droid - Blood & Ether
05. Firefox AK vs Laid - Once I was like you
06. Maia Hirasawa - Melody
07. Tripoli - Walk on
08. Säkert! - Det var tre månader sedan idag
09. They Live By Night - Meaningless repair
10. Timo Räisänen - Spill your beans
11. Svenska Kürkan - Besatt
12. The Plan - Stay Awhile
13. Jonna Lee - I wrote this song
14. Mange Schmidt feat. Thomas Rusiak & Eye N I - Håll käften del 2
15. Thunder Express - Switch
16. Tellevika feat. Firefox AK - Eric
17. Ebbot Lundberg & Mattias Bärjed - Coming down cold
Bonnier Amigo Music has signed Anna Maria Espinosa (Moder Jords Massiva, Club Killers) and will be sending her into the studio with producer Jari Haapalainen (The Bear Quartet, Laakso, etc.) to record her debut album. As for the actual songs she'll be doing, she's lined up an illustrious cast including Ellekari Larsson (The Tiny), The Concretes, The Plan, Mattias Hellberg, Andreas Mattsson, Moder Jords Massiva, Nicolai Dunger and of course, the aforementioned Jari Haapalainen. Expect a fall release.
The Plan's video for their new single "Bus" is now online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl2AurMqHkw
Fläskkvartetten will release their new album "Voices of Eden" on January 31. As always, the record will feature a host of high-profile guest vocalists including Andreas Mattsson, Anna Ternheim, Titiyo, Johan Renck (Stakka Bo), Theodor Jensen (The Plan) and, on the new single "This one's for you", Robyn. That song comes out January 10.
This week's It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group top 10 tracks of the week:
01. The Shins – Australia
02. The Shins – Pam Berry
03. The Shins – Sea Legs
04. The Postal Service – Such Great Heights
05. I'm from Barcelona – We're From Barcelona
06. The Pipettes – Pull Shapes
07. Bloc Party – Uniform
08. Bloc Party – Hunting For Witches
09. Bloc Party – The Prayer
10. The Plan – Walk for gold
And the top 10 albums of the week:
01. Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
02. Radiohead – OK Computer
03. The Arcade Fire – Funeral
04. The Postal Service – Give Up
05. The Pipettes – We Are the Pipettes
06. The Knife – Silent Shout
07. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
08. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
09. Håkan Hellström – Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg
10. The Radio Dept. – Pet Grief
Does this seem as boring to you as it does me? Help fight tedium by becoming a member of our group! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
The PlanThe Plan started out as Broder Daniel's Theodor Jensen's side project. Their first self-titled album (released 2001) had a bunch of great songs on it, but overall it had more charm than actual good songs, and I found their second album ("Embrace me beauty" from 2004) very disappointing. On their (or rather "his", since Jensen is the only member now) third album, the melodies are stronger and it feels much less contrived than before. It's not all as good as some Swedish reviews have made it out to be though - some parts are not that inspiring, but it's pretty pleasant and, as an album, it works very well. "Bus", with its enchanting pace, is the song I keep playing the most. Lyrically and musically, the album is in Håkan Hellström (Jensen's former bandmate) territory (listen, for an example, to the intro to "Stay awhile"), except that the lyrics are, of course, in English and it never reaches the same heights as Hellström's songs. Jensen's voice is almost as charming as Hellström's though, mainly due to both of them hardly being in "classical measures" very talented singers (who cares!), but ignoring this and bellowing away nevertheless. I also like to think that "Walk for gold" can be seen as a testament against a cynical music industry who tend to ostracize any artist whose first album isn't an instant classic.
- Simon Tagestam
The latest Swedish student radio top 20:
01. (01) Mando Diao - "TV & me"
02. (03) The Streets - "Prangin' out"
03. (NY) Johnossi - "Glory days to come"
04. (09) Salem Al Fakir - "Good song"
05. (05) The Knife - "Like a pen"
06. (NY) Gnarls Barkley - "Who cares?"
07. (NY) Fattaru - "Hörde jag skål"
08. (10) Supersci - "Move on"
09. (NY) The Dears - "Whites only party"
10. (12) Tingsek - "World of it's own"
11. (NY) Ying Yang Twins med Wyclef Jean - "Dangerous"
12. (17) Asha Ali - "Fire fire"
13. (NY) Danko Jones - "Don't fall in love"
14. (NY) Lily Allen - "LDN"
15. (NY) Goose - "British mode"
16. (16) David & The Citizens - "A heart and a hand and the love for the band"
17. (14) Deportees - "Missing you, missing me"
18. (13) Melody Club - "Destiny calling"
19. (15) Peter, Bjorn & John - "Let's call it off"
20. (ÅT) The Magic Numbers - "Take a chance"
Leaving the chart:
(02) The Mary Onettes - "Lost"
(04) The Plan - " Walk for gold"
(06) Depeche Mode - "Martyr"
(07) Fat Joe med Lil' Wayne - "Make it rain"
(08) Jet - "Bring it on back"
(11) The Lost Patrol Band - "Automatic kids"
(18) [ingenting] - "Punkdrömmar"
(19) Psapp - "Hi"
(20) Universal Poplab - Heart apart"
