The nominees for the 2012 Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative/indie Grammy, have been announced:
Folk/Ballad: Marin/Marin – Småfolket () Merit Hemmingson – EQ () Navarra – Nya fönster () Siri Karlsson – Gran Fuego ()
Dance: Skudge – Samlad årsproduktion () Jonsson/Alter – Samlad årsproduktion () The Field – Looping State of mind () Pallers – The Sea Of Memories ()
Punk: Sju Svåra År – Storma varje hjärta () Obnoxious Youth – The Eternal Void () Vånna Inget – Allvar () Black Feet – Black Feet ()
Hip-Hop: Mofeta & Jerre – Briljanter & Smaragder () Ison & Fille – För evigt () Mohammed Ali – Vi () Roffe Ruff – Barrabas ()
Experimental: Hans Appelqvist – Sjunga slutet nu () Hanna Hartman – H ^ 2 () Ophir – Opus Operatum () Midaircondo feat. Michala Østergaard-Nielsen – Reports on the Horizon ()
Hardrock: In Solitude – The World. The Flesh. The Devil () Opeth – Heritage () Terra Tenebrosa – The Tunnels () The Haunted – Unseen ()
Rhythm: Syster Sol – Kichinga! () Simone Moreno – Planetas () Kapten Röd – Fläcken Som Aldrig Går Bort () OK Star Orchestra – The Beat and the Melody ()
Pop: Azure Blue – Rule of thirds () Jonathan Johansson – Klagomuren () Korallreven – An album by Korallreven () Loney Dear – Hall Music ()
Rock: Pascal/Mattias Alkberg – Allt det här () Kajsa Grytt – En kvinna under påverkan () Bob Hund - Det överexponerade gömstället () Tramp – Indigo ()
Synth: Henric de la Cour – Henric de la Cour () Necro Facility – Wintermute () Mr Jones Machine – Monokrom () Covenant – Modern Ruin ()
Jazz: Jonas Holgersson – Snick Snack () Parti & Minut – Från klart till halvklart () Priming Orchestra – Deep Blue () The Splendor – Delphian Palace ()
Best Unsigned: Death By Armborst Storskogen Schizo and the Personalities Farsta
Singer/Songwriter/Country/Americana: Brothers of End – Mount Inside () Ane Brun – It All Start With One () Promise & the Monster – Red Tide () Lars Bygdén – Songs I Wrote ()
Best live act: Kriget () This is Head () Graveyard () Mattias Alkberg ()
The excellent Swedish (mostly) jazz label has a nice new website: http://www.hoob.net/
It's also a good reminder that The Splendor's new album "Delphian Palace" is out now and available on Spotify.
has confirmed that The Splendor's sophomore album "Delphian Palace" will be released on November 23 and will be celebrated with a show at Amerikabaren in Göteborg on the 25th. Hear sample tunes at the band's website: http://www.thesplendor.nu/
Hoob Records (The Splendor) will be releasing the new album "Vesper" from Swedish jazz/folk act New Tango Orchestra on September 23. Expect Swedish and German tourdates to follow in the fall, in the meantime, head to their website to hear samples of old material: http://www.nto.nu/
Well worth checking out I'd say.
The nominees for the Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative Grammy, have been announced:
Synth: Thermostatic - Humanizer (Wonderland Records) Zeigeist - The Jade Motel (Spegel/Imperial Recordings/Playground) Moonlight Cove - Orphans of the Storm (Kinetophone/Hot Stuff) Elegant Machinery - A soft exchange (Out of Line/Hot Stuff) Rhythm: Movits - Äppelknyckarjazz (BD Pop/Universal) Erici - Brasilicum (Erici Music/Dead Frog) Saft Stockholm - Ordet (Saft Productions/Stockholm Electronica) Kungers - Galaxen (Rätta Visan/Border) Experimental: Anders Dahl - Doorbells (Bombaxbombax) Nina de Heyney, Charlotte Hug & Christian Jormin - Acoustic Electronic (LJ Records) Pär Thörn - Schöneberg/Stammheim/Gärdet/Rågsved (Treffpunkt) Anders Hultqvist - Traces (Chamber Sound) Pop: Frida Hyvönen - Silence Is Wild (Licking Fingers/Playground) Hello Saferide - More modern short stories from... (Razzia/Bonnier Amigo) Joel Alme - A Master Of Ceremonies (Sincerely Yours/Border) Nordpolen - På Nordpolen (Sincerely Yours/Border) Rock: The Hellacopters - Head Off (Wild Kingdom/Sound Pollution) Pascal - Galgberget (Novoton/Bonnier Amigo) Fatboy - In My Bones (Fat State Production/Playground) Manikins - Crocodiles (P.Trash Records) Dance: Pär Grindvik - Samlad årsproduktion (Stockholm LTD) Anders Ilar - Sworn (Level Records 11) Style of Eye - Duck cover and hold (Pieces of eight records) Zoo Brazil - No Place Like Home (Gung Ho! Recordings) Jazz: Bobo Stenson Trio - Cantando (ECM/Naxos) Nina Ramsby & Ludwig Berghe Trio - Du har blivit stor nu [En kamp!] (Moserobie/Bonnier Amigo) e.s.t. - Leucocyte (ACT/Bonnier Amigo) The Splendor - Sound of Splendor (HOOB/Border) Punk/Hardcore: Disco Volante - "We are forever" (Not enough) Disfear - "Live the storm" (Relapse/Border) Nitad - "Ibland kan man inte hindra sig själv" (Kranium) Meanwhile - "Reality or nothing" (Feral Ward) Hårdrock/Metal: Burst - Lazarus Bird (Relapse/Border) Dismember - Dismember (Regain/Sound Pollution) Grand Magus - Iron Will (Rise above/Border) Opeth - Watershed (Roadrunner/Bonnier Amigo) Hip-hop/R'n'B/Soul: Chords - Things We Do For Things (Juju/Playground) Afasi & Filthy – Fläcken (P.o.p.e./Playground) Masse - Gott & Blandat Vol. 2 Allyawan - Blu Duk Mixtape Vol. 2 Folk/Ballad: Gunnel Mauritzson Band - Det som sker...(Sandkvie Records/CDA) Maria Hörnelius, Bernt Andersson & Kjell Jansson - En sång för Kent (Eld Records/Border) Jonas Knutsson & Johan Norberg - Skaren - Norrland III (Act/BAM) Bjernulf/Björklund/Lindh – Pål Olles väg (Courage) Singer/Songwriter: Melpo Mene - Bring the Lions Out (Imperial Recordings/Playground) Hyacinth House - Black Crows Country (True Music Production/Glitterhouse) First Aid Kit - Drunken Trees (Rabid Records/Border) Olle Nyman - Venture (A West Side Fabrication/Border) Live: Detektivbyrån (Danarkia) The Hellacopters (Psychout Records) Lykke Li (LL Recordings) Robyn (Konichiwa Records) Myspace prize for best unsigned act: Montauk Hero in action Miranda Gjerstad Sci-Fi Hands John F Karlsson Dyno Tim Schmidt Nottee The Bellevues Diskoteket
Here's the playlist for last week's radio show on 12/28, a special all-jazz program to close out the year:
01. TALK 1
02. Jan Johansson - Visa från Utanmyra
03. Saft - Marching for no. 1
04. Auton - El Dorado
05. TALK 2
06. The Splendor - Canary Islands
07. Kornstad/Opsvik - Happy house (live)
08. TALK 3
09. Yttling Jazz - Konstant krease
10. Jonas Knutsson - Glaciär
11. Moha! - Teknosangen
12. Oskar Schönning - Faustine
13. TALK 4
14. E.S.T. (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) - Leucocyte (ad initio)
And in case you happened to catch it, here also is my Sirius XMU top 10 most important albums of 2008 playlist:
#10 - Fucked Up - Days of last
#09 - Commando M Pigg - Baby doll
BEST COVER SONG - The Kid - Mayhem troopers (Cortex)
#08 - Katzenjammer - Le pop
#07 - Tobias Hellkvist - Wintervarm
#06 - The Goner - Field ceremony
BEST REMIX OF 2008 - Firefox AK vs Laid - Once I was like you
#05 - Haust - Ugly fucking Oslo
#04 - Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Which way to go
#03 - Sort Sol - White shirt
BEST LIVE ACT OF 2008 - Sex Vid - Cleansing
#02 - Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
#01 - Lukestar - White shade
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Download a free track from Swedish experimental/jazz/indie act Thus:Owls: http://www.thusowls.com/
The group's debut album "Cardiac malformations" will be out in April via Hoob (The Splendor, MusicMusicMusic).
Hoob Records (The Stoner, The Splendor, Kristoffer Ragnstam) has signed Thus:Owls, the new project of jazz vocalist Erika Alexandersson and will be releasing their debut album "Cardiac malformations" in April. Preview at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thusowls
In related news, also look for a new album from The Stoner (Nils Berg) on Hoob this coming spring. Details tba.
Our guest for this week's Göteborg Spotlight feature: Lisen Rylander of Midaircondo and The Splendor. On to the questions!
How long have you lived in Göteborg? What brought you there and what keeps you hanging around?
I've lived here for all my life except for two years in Skurup studying improvisation, and two and a half years in Stockholm. I really enjoy living here now, I think it's a good music climate and I play with many good musicians. Of course I'm sometimes thinking of moving to another city for a while when I think Göteborg is too small. For example New York would be nice, but not right now. Actually, I often like the small size of Göteborg, you always meet someone you know on the street and it's easy to get everywhere.
I'm touring internationally a lot and Göteborg is a nice city to have as a base.
Do you think there's a particular Gbg sound or attitude? If so, how would you describe it?
Yes, maybe... I think there's a very relaxed music atmosphere here, not so much competition between musicians. Since media in Sweden are very focused on what's going on in Stockholm, musicians here have kind of the same situation in fighting for attention. Most Gbg musicians I've met are also very musically open minded. Göteborg is kind of an industrial city, rough in a way, and that sometimes shows in the music. A lot of interesting bands and artists are coming from here. For example, an artist like Håkan Hellström could probably not come from another city than Göteborg...
How does the city inspire you? Is it the people? The geography? Weather? Other artists?
I'm inspired by the way many Gbg musicians are open minded and do their own thing irrespectively of what other people think.
One thing I appreciate about the Gbg scene is that it seems to foster a collaborative attitude - do you find this to be true as well? How do you think it compares with the scene in Stockholm and/or other Swedish cities (or elsewhere)?
I agree that there's a collaborative attitude among musicians in Gbg but I can't really compare to other cities... Maybe this attitude comes from that the city is quite small and everyone knows one another. Also, musicians here often mix genres. But on the other hand, I think this is quite common everywhere these days.
In my interviews with Petter Ottosson of Fang Bomb I bemoaned the lack of a female presence in the experimental music world. Would you agree that this is the case? What do you think can be done to change the situation?
Yes, I agree that there's too few female artists in experimental music but I think it's about to change. For younger female musicians to have role models in experimental music, it's important that the one's working in the field today are encouraged and exposed.
Lastly, do you have a song you'd like to share with our readers?
Sure! Here is "Canary Islands" with The Splendor. It's a track from the new cd "Sound of Splendor", released in April.