After 15 years and 6 albums, Sweden's New Tango Orquesta is changing their name to New Tide Orquesta. The band will make their public debut with the new moniker on SVT2 this coming Saturday at 8pm and will be releasing the new record "How to climb a mountain" this coming October via .
has posted full details and a couple sample tunes for their latest release, "Objets trouves" from Swedish saxophonist Linus Lindblom: http://www.hoob.net/
has announced that they will be releasing the debut album "The bride" from Swedish bassist Martin Höper on January 25. Go here for a sample tune. HOOB will also be collaborating with Norwegian jazz/folk label on the release of the new Lindha Kallerdahl album "Let's dance" on February 15. Samples and more info on that one right here.
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/
has announced that they will be releasing the debut album "Laponia" from young Swedish composer/guitarist Daniel Ögren on November 30. Says the label: "If mountains could sing, this would be the tune. Laponia is the musical equivalent of the northern Swedish landscape bearing the same name.". More: http://www.hoob.net/downloads/pressreleases/pressrelease_HOOBCD026.pdf
More pop from the archives. One thing I neglected to mention in that last post is how Spotify has affected by current listening habits. While I'm still spending way too much time listening to all the new releases that come my way, I'm mostly exploring the vast acres of music I could never get access to previously. There's still huge gaps in availability (no Bob Seger WTF? and howabout some more Finnish folk?), but there's more than enough good stuff to keep me satisfied for a long, long time. For instance, yesterday I spent a lot of time exploring the catalog, something I would have never enjoyed without shelling out top dollar for import CDs (I highly recommend "Vesper" by New Tango Orquestra). My cup runneth over; it's easy to become overwhelmed. But let us not forget the obscure hits of years past: Boys of Scandinavia do goth/wave-y/funky synth-pop like no other. Will they ever release a new record?
Swedish jazz label (Thus:Owls, The Stoner/Nils Berg, etc.) has announced the signing of organ/drum duo Le Système and will be releasing their debut album in October.
Coming on April 27 via , the debut album from Nils Berg Cinemascope, a 3-piece jazz combo that performs live with their favorite artists via YouTube. Not sure as to how that will translate on record, but I'm definitely curious to hear it.
Also on the way from HOOB on March 16: the duo Josef & Erika's third album "Flood", on which they are joined by a brass trio of tuba, French horn and flugelhorn.
Synth: Code 64 - Trialogue () Cryo - Hidden Aggression () Page - Nu () Social Ambitions - Almost gone ()
Hardrock/Metal: Ghost - Opus Eponymous () Watain - Lawless Darkness () Khoma - A final storm () Dark Tranquility - We are the void ()
Rhythm: Haci Tekbilek - Türlü () Helt Off - Marknadens Soldat () Million Stylez - Everyday () Serengeti - Standing Steady ()
Jazz: Elin Larsson Group - Live and Alive () Lekverk - Everyday () NEO (Nässjö Extreme Orchestra) - NEO () The Country - The Country ()
Punk/Hardcore Antipati - Frågor som rör det allmänna () Hårda Tider - Gatan Kallar () Old Fashioned Ideas - We're in this shit together () The Baboon Show - Punk Rock harbour ()
Hip-Hop: Academics - Tare Lugnt 4 () Carlito - Guldburen () PH3 - Löser ett fall () Zacke - Visst är det vackert ()
Rock: Bad Hands - Take The Money And Run () Dundertåget - Dom feta åren är förbi () Pascal - Orkanen närmar sig () The Bear Quartet - Monty Python ()
Folk/Visa: Anders Svensson, Magnus Gustafsson, Susanne Gustafsson, Anders Löfberg, Jörgen Svensson - Bålgetingen, Låtar efter August Strömberg () Mats Edén, Daniel Sandén-Warg, Leif Stinnerbom, Magnus Stinnerbom - Anno 2010 () OK Star Orchestra - Sound Classique () Ola Magnell - Rolös ()
Experimental: Ombudsman - And His Father Was A Great Machine () Erik Enocksson - Man tänker sitt () Leif Jordansson - The Comet / The Doll Maker () New Tango Orquesta - Vesper ()
Singer/Songwriter: I'm Kingfisher - Arctic () Daniel Norgren - Horrifying Death Eating Blood Spider () The Tarantula Waltz - Did Not Leave To Find But To Forget, To Leave Behind () The Tallest Man On Earth - Wild Hunt ()
Best live act: Anna Von Hausswolff The Tallest Man On Earth Masshysteri Robyn
Best unsigned act (in collaboration w/P3 Lab): Alice B Katakomb Ascend Broken Boys
Winners will be announced at a ceremony on February 4 at Nalen in Stockholm. More info: http://www.manifestgalan.se/