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 ()
will celebrate 9 years as a label on March 1 with the release of a new digital-only 41-track greatest hits collection, simply titled "Best of". Featured artists include José González, Promise and the Monster, Zeigeist, Martin McFaul, Melpo Mene, Eskju Divine and Samuraj Cities.
Paper will be putting out "Before that day" as a new single to coincide with the re-release of their album "An object" on vinyl via . The official release date is February 4 for radio, March 1 elsewhere. Not sure if there will be a 7" version or what, but I'll keep you posted.
Listen to them once and you'd be forgiven for mistaking Zeigeist for fellow Swedish art poppers The Knife. The first few tracks certainly support this theory. But listen again and you'll start to notice the (admittedly minor) differences. For one, Zeigeist trade off vocal duties between Princess and Per (no surnames needed, apparently), giving their sound a little bit more variety. Secondly, though they wear their "artsy" label proudly on their sleeves, Zeigeist's music is almost always more direct and more pop. This would be an amazing thing if the songs on their debut had the kind of hooks needed to match their fantastic electro dance beats. The album improves as it goes on, but even with repeated listens, there isn't much to sink your teeth into. "Black milk" and "Cuffs" have some interesting ideas, while "Wrecked metal" is probably the most immediately catchy of all the tracks. The frustrating thing is that it's clear that the band has enough creativity to come up with something really jaw-dropping. I'm sure every song works better as a part of their reportedly theatric live shows, but on record it's a little less than inspiring. - Nick James
While intensely lush and dreamlike, there's a significant flaw in "A song left for you": it meanders beautifully, and it even feels right, but the compositions just don't go anywhere. The listener's patience is rarely rewarded; unlike a Mono track or a slow Radio Dept. song, there's no conclusion to the convoluted instrumentation and emotions with TLS - just moment after moment of stagnant thought, beautiful as it may be. Even on "Future rush", with its crackling electronic elements, there is no progression, just an in medias res entrance into a moment and a fade out before the scene feels completed or accomplished. Dreamy, shoegaze inspired pop still needs to take a page from post-rock bands' notebooks - take all the time you need, just make the journey worthwhile. - Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
There is often a saturation point with music for me. I can only own so many 'types' of albums - lonely, rambling narratives of singer-songwriters, the dancefloor-bound energy of a new generation of post-punk bands, the aural nostalgia of the 80s throwbacks. The first few moments of Promise and the Monster's "Transparent knives" had me nearly pigeonholing this album as another longing, echo-laden proclamation of emptiness and lack of direction. Luckily for me, I pushed on, returning over and over to examine the strata of guitars (not completely unlike José González's deft finger work) and accompanying instrumentation, Billie Lindahl's fragile, beautiful voice soaring easily over her dreamscape compositions. Had I not already submitted my Top 10 of 2007 list, "Transparent knives" would at the very least warrant a 'notable mention' spot there, if not a proper place. An absolutely masterful album that is at home with comfortable isolation as it is with desolate, sorrowful artic wastelands, whose guitar work is as poetic as Lindahl's unique voice and lyrics, unveiling new layers through repeated listening, and, more often than not, leaving the listener awestruck and hopeful instead of disheartened or darkly introspective. - Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
My first listen through "Veneer", I was floored by José González's skill and songwriting abilities... and then much of the glimmer and spark of the music bled out with repeated listening, leaving only a few stragglers still heralding this Swedish talent, and one of those was a cover song. With "In our nature", González crafts every song with the care he took with "Crosses" and his lavish reconstruction of The Knife's "Heartbeats". The delivery is nearly identical to that of "Veneer": lo-fi production, the 'a man and his guitar' approach that garnered so many comparisons to the dearly departed Nick Drake... but, José González has subtly adapted his sound. His stronger songwriting is accompanied by a few overdubbed vocal sections and I'm convinced there's a synth towards the end of "Cycling trivialities" (my favorite track and a powerful closer to this exceptional record). Overall, José González has more than redeemed himself in my eyes - "In our nature" is exceptional and is already at risk of being overplayed as the days grow shorter and cooler, and life slows down in preparation for autumn. - Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
As its title and cover (with one of the two band members holding flowers and the other a gun) imply, this is an album of immaculately synthesized contradictions. The feel is slow and moody, but it's got an electrobeat you can dance to (heck, it's hard not to dance to it). It's heavily distorted, dark and fuzzy, but full of crystal clear, bright, new-wave synth riffs. It's warm and emotional, cold and calculated. It's like looking out the dirty window of a train at night, encased in metal, moving quickly through scenes of human experience, empathic and removed. But most of all, it's a really cool record with subversively catchy melodies that demand repeated listening. Shoulda been on my 2006 Top 10. - Nancy Baym
Eskju Divine could have made it big if they came from England, they've got the same sound as lots of bands over here, most of them derived from a love of Radiohead, or lately - Coldplay. It's unexciting, uninspiring and highly unoriginal, "Heights" is a collection of bland songs that feature "emotional" vocals that sound pretentious. I don't mind music like this now and then, if it's done in another more interesting fashion. Eskju Divine just tread boring territory that's been treaded many times over and they're just bringing another plain offering to the table of dullness. No thank you, I rather eat in silence! - Simon Tagestam
For someone like me who's been following the Imperial label for awhile, this comp is fairly pointless. All of the tracks are previously released or will be featured on upcoming stuff, so it's redundant to my collection. However, if you're even the slightest bit curious about what Imperial has to offer beyond José González, there's tons of great contributions here to get acquainted with from acts such as Eskju Divine, Samuraj Cities, Melpo Mene, etc. - Avi Roig
On their new EP, Eskju Divine continue their epic-styled indie rock. At points reminding me of Adom, with parts Radiohead, The Mercury Program and The Cancer Conspiracy. I was unsure what to think about it as first, but after listening multiple times, it's really the instrumentation that shines on this recording. It creates a surreal dreamland for the listener and is the most effective when the vocals are absent. And while the vocals are not bad at all (at points, they are good segues into different song-parts), I particularly find the music to be the strong point. - Matt Giordano
Zeigeist
TLS
Promise and the Monster
José González
Samuraj Cities
