I wrote earlier about Shotgun Crackers here on Meadowmusic, and I have listened a lot to their songs. I get a real feeling of joy when I listen to them.
The band has just completed their new EP “Kpptsch” (is it maybe the sound of the snare and the cymbal?) and they release it here on Meadowmusic first, for everyone to download!
It’s just as playful as before but it sounds more “mature”. And I mean that in a positive sense, the guys in the band are incredibly musical and play well together. That was a fact also before, but now it feels like they really have found eachother and feel more secure with what they do.
In the songs you can listen to here, Shotgun Crackers are not afraid to try new directions and play with the music and the result is so nice and liberating.
The singer, Fredrik, is really good and in the only song in Swedish, he sounds startingly like Håkan Hellström!
Congratulations for being one of the first who can download the new EP from Shotgun Crackers!
Could Skellefteå be the city that produces most bands with quality in Sweden? Well, Skumdum is another one of those. They say themselves that they are too much punk rock to be skaters and to much skaters to be punk rockers. In any case I think that they are perfect for a music lover.
Skumdum succeeds in a great way to combine the punk rock and rock with folk music (yes really), so that the result feels interesting and dynamic. I find influences in everything from Green Day, to Mano Negra. I also have a soft spot for the vocal adds, which makes it feel like singalong in the choruses.
The band sang in Swedish until around 2004-2005, but is now singing in English since they needed new challenges and also because they wanted to reach a bigger audience.
Skumdum has been around for 16 years and released 4 albums, where the latest one, “Two Sides of the Story”, will be released the 28-29 of November in Skellefteå. Below you’ll find a track from this album, “Proud Minority”, along with a couple of tracks from earlier albums.
If you compare bands like for example Monster Magnet, Terrorvision, Rocket from the Crypt and Marilyn Manson with many other hard grinding hard rock bands, you’ll find that the big difference is that the first mentioned bands have melodies that hooks you up instantly. And the band Ninja Dolls from Falun also has this quality. They speed up and hit hard (just listen to the drums in “Don’t Come Too Close”, and they also have a sense for melodies. Combining this with the really cool vocals from the singer Vicky makes it even better!
Ninja Dolls started in 2001, they have released an album “Cheap Tricks and Lies”, played over 100 gigs and have been the band of the month in P3 Rockster (radio show on Swedish national radio). In the beginning of 2009 they will release the EP “HeyHeyHey” (Poison Tree Records) and after that they will tour in Holland and Germany.
I wish that the video for “Don’t Come Too Close” will be made in Manga style…that would have been so cool ;-)
“Almost 300.000 viewers on YouTube since January - without marketing. The limited edition of the debut album Atonic Atrocity sold out - without marketing. This is the result of Nomy’s releasing his songs for free on the Internet, opening up his self produced collection of music to the public. The Swedish artist from Jönköping is a tremendous success thanks to the most music friendly platform of the 21th century - WorldWideWeb.”
That’s what you can read on Nomy’s site. I don’t agree though, that it has been done without marketing. What he’s doing IS marketing, and marketing that really works!
Nomy is the rocker from Jönköping, at the moment a one man band. Nomy, or Patrick Marquardt, which is his real name, records everything at home through his computer.
He’s serving us a high energy rock that runs through the body in a way that the joy is pulsating right out through my skin. It is Linkin park, HIM, Danko Jones mixed. There is nice dynamics and changes between cool vocals and howls of anxiety that should make Thåström envious.
The playing is good as well as the production in itself, but it’s the voice, as an instrument, that I believe is the real strength in Nomy’s music. Often he’s using the Marilyn Manson-”trick”, dubbing a high-pitched voice with a lower one, and he’s really good at this. And the way he lets himself go in the vocals makes it even stronger.
Enough said…listen and enjoy!
On Nomy’s site you can download all his music for free. If you like it you can show your appreciation by pressing a donate button.
No matter how nice it is with really great massive guitars that cover your body, that feeling still intensifies when the songs are based on a guitar melody. The band Kaross performs this beautifully! There’s a drive throughout the songs that carries them all the way and offers great music. Combine that with a great, hoarse rock’n'roll voice and you get magic.
Kaross have played together since 2000 and in 2005 they won a local rock contest, Partillerocken, and got the record deal that was the first prize. The album was released in 2007 through the company Eastground records.
You can listen to and download two great rock-and-rolling songs. On their Myspace page, you can listen to a pretty cool tune, “Old Vinyl”, that draws your mind towards the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Unfortunately without the rockabilly guitar.
The Malmö band Juxtapose consists of the two former members of Loud Silence, Simon Bengtsson and Henrik Nilsson.
Their music is a pop mixture with electronica influences. The songs don’t really have those catchy refrains, but the songs in themselves are nevertheless attractive. The music goes on in a nice melancholic groove, with relaxed, cool vocals, and I feel that I don’t want it to stop.
I wonder if the bass melody in “Ghost With a Pretty Face” isn’t inspired by White Stripes? ;-)
Here are three songs to listen to and download.
Enjoy!
Karin Ström has managed to achieve quite a lot in her life. She has written two books, “Bensin” (”Gasoline”) and “Feber” (”Fever”), worked as a journalist on Svenska Dagbladet, Elle and a few more and also been dumped by a record label!
I don’t know if it’s because of these experiences or if it’s due to the fact that she has been living in London and Los Angeles or simply that she is just fantastic, that makes the music sound exciting, vibrant and very international.
It’s like a mixture of Irma Schultz and New Order, or Eva Dahlgren and Pet shop boys or…, ah it sounds like the panning synth melodies goes like pin balls in my head with Karin’s soft, but distinct voice caressing the music.
Karin has made a remix together with the Malmö guy Miki, , the captain, which is performed by Miki with his typical, kind of aristocratic skånska (dialect in Skåne, in the south of Sweden)
Safari is the lovely AnnaSara Dahrén with guests. I have talked to AnnaSara a couple of times, but never met her, yet it feels like I know her so well. The warmth and the kindness that comes from her I feel so well also in the music she creates.
In the production of the songs “Me and You” and “His Majesty”, AnnaSara have worked with Daniel Lindblom (DiLeva, Mora Träsk et al). The songs are very well balanced and produced in way that it feels very intimate. In “Me and You”, Christer Björklund plays the drums and Olle Nyberg the piano.
The song “In Time”, recorded with a pocket recorder, gives the same feeling, although entirely acoustic. This song is cowritten with Anette Skåhlberg (lyrics), and her father, Ingemar Dahrén, plays the guitar.
I’m sitting here listening to “Drowning” with Lisa Pedersen and dreaming myself away to my meadow, where everything is possible and everyone is creating everything they want. I and Lisa share the same belief that everything and everyone is God! She mention the music as her god and I can sense it in the brittle tones that come from her voice and piano.
There’s so much I would like to say about Lisa’s music, but I can’t find the words. I just sit still, fully relaxed and enjoy.
Instead I’ll leave you with her video and three songs.
Industri Royal is a band that has understood that it takes more than producing good music to succeed. Of course it’s the base of it all, but to see the whole package with band members, clothes, and attitude together with good music is a real advantage. And I think that Industri Royal has managed to put this together really well.
It’s somewhat difficult to categorise the music, and therefore I decided to call it pop going 110. That is, really good pop melodies that’s performed in high speed and I instantly hang on. The lyrics are political, anarchistic and about equal opportunities. Industry Royal are feminists and state that they want to open the eyes of young women to make them see that they really can change society.
The band from Västerbotten has earlier released an EP with the cool title You broke my nose, but I broke your heart. You can hear two songs and watch a video from that EP in this post.
This autumn, Industri Royal is releasing their debut album Tacky skills on Alleycat Records! The release parties are scheduled to the 6th of December in Umeå and the 13th of December in Göteborg. You can listen to the first single from the album here, Location location location.
The goal they have are “to become a great fucking band”! And I think that they doing pretty well!
Malte X is a Swedish punk rock band that really lives the rock’n'roll myth. Or what can you say about getting signed by Sony and then get kicked out because of too much partying? A comparison that comes to my mind is when Sex Pistols got a deal with A&M and then got thrown out, after a channel concert on the Thames, after only a week!
Their style is punk rock, and by that I don’t mean only the music, but also the attitude and the lyrics, which for me is why punk rock is punk rock. Just like Ebba Grön, Malte X writes lyrics with social criticism and sometimes very provoking. And when it’s incorporated into this hot rock’n'roll the result is great.
Malte X has released two albums, where “Försent” (”Too Late”, Hornvalley Records) is the latest release.
For their second single “Varning” (”Warning”), they made a video together with the illegal street race gang “Get Away” in Stockholm. Therefore the video was banned on TV…but here on Meadow Music you can watch it of course ;-)
Ever since I heard “Didjerama” with Jamiroquai the first time, I’ve been a fan to didgeridoo playing. I made som brave attempts to play myself, but I never really managed the circular breathing…
Lars Wallin and his tribe invites you to great didgeridoo based music. With this chewed out eucalyptus tube, you can produce incredibly cool sounds by blowing, talking, shouting and whatever you like to create music. The songs below shows a lot of different techniques.
It’s a wonderful mix of music that you can listen to here; everything from three chord punk rock to back beat reggae.
Lars Wallin also has a very characteristic voice, that sometimes sounds like a mixture of Dylan and Manu Chao (it’s bound to be unique then;-))
Lars has been on tour frequently and visited most parts of the world. He has also played with Chris Bailey.
Gustav Haggren is an extremely busy musician! It’s obviously not enough that he has a solo project, plays with two other songwriters, Christian Cuff and Helena Arlock, and is coordinating a world band (yes, they are spread all over the world); he is also touring all the time! Go and check out his tourdates for 2007…jesus!
Nevertheless, it seems like it’s among the seasick sailors that Gustav likes it best. And it’s from this constellation the songs below comes from.
The first song I heard is from 2004, “Vagabond’s Polka”, and it feels like I’m invited to Montmartre, Paris. There’s a fantastic Tivoli-feeling here!
And when I listen to “Something Weihtless” I hear great pop with hit potential. Overall, there is an incredible mix of songs I find with Gustav and the Seasick Sailors.
On Friday the 26th of September, they will celebrate the release of their new album “Brilliant Hands” on Tivoli in Helsingborg. Check out the info on their Myspace page.
Listen and download some tracks (Vagabond Polka is a live song with a slightly less sound quality, but I have included it because of the great feeling here. I hope I’m excused ;-)): Something Weightless Nightlife Vagabonds Polka Distant Mornings
I know it’s maybe a month away or less, but imagine a fierce autumn night when the winds blow cold and hard. You come into a warm house and sit down in your favourite sofa and long for summer. But when you listen to the melancholic and beautiful melodies from Amandine your thoughts just stop wandering away and you start enjoying the present.
With a mix of Swedish folk and americana arrangements, edged by vocals not far away from José González , Amandine brings impressions and warmth that digs deep into my soul.
The band begun 2001 in Sandviken, Sweden, under the name Wichita Linemen, but moved to Malmö in 2004 and changed their name to Amandine. In autumn 2004 they got a contract with the Brighton label Fat Cat Records, and 2005 they released the debut album “This Is Where Our Heart Collide”.
After this the band has released some EP:s and a second album, and toured around Europe and in the USA.
Here’s a video clip from Amandine’s concert in New York 2005:
Well, I do like powerchords that slides over the guitar neck and licks that dance straight out of the massive sound. Bad Poetry Band offers this in their high energy rock’n'roll.
This is how I remember Fireside or Backyard Babies in the late nineties. Whether it comes with long hair, beards or “proper” hair styles, the music is straight, honest and down to the bone!
Even if Bad Poetry Band is a tight and professional band, it is the vocals by Mula that really make the the difference. Han throws out the words at me like he was Dave Wyndorf. Listen to “Home of the Brave”, and you’ll hear what I mean.
I’m sitting here in the light of the night lamp, which right now is whiskey coloured. But gee I feel good…well not only from the sweet drops from Ardbeg, more, I would say, from the sweet tones from the Gothenburg-Borås band Giant Wide.
I’m looking for influences from the psychedelic blues of Roky Erickson and from Soundtrack of our lives, where Ebbot’s vocals are more of an instrument than just vocals. But I have to say that Giant Wide sounds like Giant Wide and not like anything else. I feels like this great band has found their own unique style.
THIS IS SO GOOD!!! (whoops, the whiskey voice came through)
This is grinding guitars and a drummer that really has to fight to be heard, but really succeeds in the end. The vocals are sometimes really distorted, but is mixed into the songs, not just like “normal” vocals, but like it’s an extra instrument and offers an incredible feeling to it.
All artists presented in here are songwriters and composers also performing their products. Tobbe Möller is a songwriter and a composer who’s performing solely for practical reasons, as he puts it.
There’s something special about Tobbe Möller, something supernatural, maybe even godlike! He may for real be the best songwriter in the world, but I’m not sure he’s aware himself.
I see Tobbe like a fairy dressed in an armour you don`t easily penetrate. But just as Tinkerbell sprinkles river glitter (or whatever) over people in need, he does the same for his tunes.
His are lyrics that are incredibly strong, clever harmonies and changes of chords, and melodies a raging bull won’t shake off.
Offered here is an early work, “Too Hard to Chew”, aside two later ones where Tobbe worked with other musicians. In “Young Boy In the Far Back Row” he got together with Lasse Söhr and singer Isak Strand.
Other recent collaborations include names as Pär Edwardson, Aurgrunn and Pär Enqvist.
Early works by Tobbe Möller maintain a feel of old rock/punk music with pumping Rickenbackers and delightful choirs; do listen to Purple Foxglove on his Myspace-page. Then rapidly switch to Tonårsbarn (Teenage Kid) or “Skakar inte mer” (Shaking No More) and enjoy the breadth of the man!
If you’re interested in the music or want to work with the originator, visit his Myspace page.
Joshua Homme, from Queens of the Stoneage, has run a music collective called “Desert Session”, since 1997. Musicians, mostly rock musicians, gather in the desert for a few weeks at Joshua Tree, and make music together. The results are published on a record named “Desert Session”. Among the bands and artists that have participated you’ll find Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Soundgarden and many more! A band that Joshua should invite is Dollface!
The music that Dollface delivers is a well composed rock music, that attracts me using nice Les Paul carpets and guitar melodies that floats on top of it. The vocals are very professional and with a great presence.
Listen to “Bad Boy”, which presents some kind of arranged chaos, and the first time I heard it I thought that they wouldn’t be able to sort it out…but what a great song it is!
I don’t know if it’s the band that’s behind the arrangements or if it’s the producer Henryk Lipp. Lipp, a producer that, among others, has worked with Thåström, Sator and Håkan Hellström.
I really wish that I had experienced the classical concerts at CBGB in New York. Yes, I know that the club still exists, but I’m talking about the seventies with Ramones, Sex Pistols and Blondie. I also believe that The Headlines would have fit in perfectly there.
If you don’t know the Malmö band The Headlines, I can tell that it’s a band that tours frequently around Europe and that they recently have released their debut album “Plug ‘n’ Play”. They have toured with New York Dolls, The Levellers, Hanoi Rocks, to mention a few, and they started out in 2005!
The Headlines play a fascinating kind of rock, that sometimes can be compared with the early Green Day, and that’s brilliantly mixed with the sound of mandolins and saxophones.
The album is produced by Stry Terrarie (Ebba Grön, Kriminella Gitarrer), and is handled by the german label Radio Rebel Records!
Anyone who has listened to “Godzilla” with Blue Öyster Cult knows what a great song it is. When you hear it as the opening act, with downtuned guitars and a massive wall of sound, on a Fu Manchu concert, you just freak out! I was 30 years old when I saw them at KB in Malmö, but I acted like I was 17…
There is a good chance that Are We Ape also like Fu Manchu. Not that they are some kind of clones, but the sound with downtuned instruments and fuzzy guitar licks has similarities and is just as good.
It’s a kind of heavy rock that the band presents, but with cool riffs, good vocals and melodies, they do a really good job.
I don’t know why, but I have always thought that you have to be an American to make this kind of rock. Well then, now Are We Ape has proved me wrong about this,…unless they have migrated to Malmö from the States. :-)
I remember the first time that a voice really entranced me. It was when I heard Björk perform some kind of wordless misty song that was absolutely fantastic! If you replace the part about the fog, but with the same capacity of spellbinding the listener, you get Frida in Spectroscope.
It is exciting, fantastic and fascinating to listen to Spectroscope. They deliver music that doesn’t resemble any other artist I can think about. Drums and bass form the base of their music together with synth pads, and on top of this Oscar adds an outstanding guitar playing that makes the sound very unique. Together with the vocals I mentioned, you get a result that’s really good.
Well, I suppose you have gathered by now that I like this pretty much. ;-)
Decide for yourself by listening and downloading two tracks: Oxygene Claus
When I listen to Jive, an image of a live scene appears in my head: four charged guys, with the guitars and the bass carried high upon their chests, hair swirling around, and dancing intensely…I hope it’s like that when they play live.
There’s such a groove about the Malmö band Jive’s music that it’s hard for me to sit still. The bass melodies are incredibly nice, and the vocals are brilliant. On the high notes the singer “growls” almost in a way like Howlin’ Pelle from the Hives.
Jive is just about to release their first EP, “Nite O’s”, which you can read about on their Myspace page. As a teaser you have the chance here to listen and download two great songs:
I’m sitting here, the last day at work before the vacations, with a real cold…yes, I usually save them for my vacation. With a heavy head I am going through some tips, sent to us here at Meadowmusic, and finally I land on Highride’s Myspace page. Finally some music that clears up the pipes!
I’m hit by a Rock’n'roll energy that I really feel in my whole body. The singer Peter has a special voice, and sounds almost like he is swallowing the words, or like he is singing from deep inside. Together with grinding power chords from the guitars, this sounds surprisingly unique.
One comparison that strikes me is the one with Danko Jones. Maybe not with the same energy (but who can beat that?), but then again, I haven’t yet seen Highride live.
This is three chord rock, this is nostalgia, this is punk rock and this is truly great! The memories from my childhood room with the Swedish punk rock band Ebba Grön on loudest volume possible, charges towards me at high speed. However, this is not Ebba Grön with Thåström at the mic but Ebba with Fjodor screaming “profit” on the recording from an apartment from “Ebba the movie”!
That’s what it feels like to listen to Stefan Lundblad & Hyrda Knektar! I just enjoy it Sooo much and I’m Sooo happy that there are still artists out there creating music like this!
I’ll post three songs for download and listening. I’m afraid that the last creation “För nära kanten” (”Too close to the edge”) is of poor quality, but I’ll include it anyway… anyone who’s heard the bootleg “Where were you at -77″ of the Sex Pistols will consider the song high quality stuff ;-)
Inspired by Tarantino, in my last post, I threw myself over a band from Växjö, Zed is Dead. In their new tracks they continue with the type of “draggy” rock that define their music. Yes, I really mean “draggy”, but in a positive sense. The singer Edin Z sings in a cloudy, sensitive voice that fits superbly with the avant garde rock of Zed is Dead.
The new songs are really good, but to me, the real gems lie in the songs “Shadow of My Pain” and “Here By Your Side”. If you think it sounds like Edin Z is lisping on “Shadow of My Pain”, I can tell you that he does indeed. Sources have told me that he missed a front tooth during the recordings.
I’m sitting down with my headphones on, but I feel that I just want to get up and drift away doing some unknown dance! I want to be Travolta, but can only see myself as Uma Thurman???!!!…strange! I realize that the supercool Malmö band Salma Ghandi (just look at the name!) would fit in any Tarantino movie.
I’m sorry to say that I seldom listen to instrumental music, but when this psychedelic jazz-rock goes on and on, I just feel pure joy!
As a hot tip I can tell you that right now, Salma Ghandi is in the studio, producing a full length album. Exactly how they will realease it, is, according to the bass player Alex, not yet decided….but…how about releasing it as a free download!?
Johan Paulson, or John-John as he calls himself, is a fantastic person in many ways. Musically he is found, among other places, as a former member of the Swedish grunge band Icke Lika Med, he has played with Håkan Hellström and performed at “Allsång på Skansen” (an extremely popular music show on Swedish TV) with his father, Mats Paulson!
It is now time for his own solo project under his own name and his own record company De las mercedes recordings with experimental, electronica/ambient songs.
To listen to the songs is like talking to or meeting Johan, it calms you down, and provides a comfortable feeling of love and warmth.
Now, here’s your chance to meet Johan, through his music. Here are three downloadable songs, and you can find much more on his web sites.
You probably recognize that feeling of exaltation, that comes when you have discovered a new song or a band that’s so good that you know for sure that you will never grow tired of it. And you just want to hear it over and over again.
That’s exactly what I felt like, the first time I listened to Billie the Vision and the Dancers. I was also totally convinced that I alone had discovered a new great band…(don’t we all have a talent-scout inside of us?;-)). I was soon to discover though, that the band had been very productive, that they had released a number of albums, all free for downloading, and that they had thousands of fans. Well, my joy grew even bigger then!
Billie the Vision may be the coolest band on earth!
What the Lund based band Brainpool left in the 90’s and the Gothenburg based band Bad Cash Quartet picked up at the beginning of the 21st century is now taken a step further by Shotgun Crackers from Norrtälje, north of Stockholm!
Don’t be fooled by the slightly metal sounding name. Shotgun Crackers offers a fantastic mix of great melodies, marvellous vocals (in that extremely cool childish way), accomplished musicians…..and….hand claps…..(there should definitely be more hand claps in songs!!), combined with pop music that, at times, closes in on the Beatles.
I almost got beat up once, way back when, when I thought The Cult sounded glammy…I still think that Ian would be a great glam vocalist;-)…but I do not hesitate to say that Cowboy Prostitutes sound glam. And very wonderfully glam at that! The last time I heard this type of rock, at this accomplished level, was when I listened to Hardcore Superstars debut album.
Cowboy Prostitutes have recently released a new album “Swingin’ At the fences” that will be released in Sweden, Germany, Austria and Switzerland!
Listen to new swedish music and download mp3-files. (right-click link to download)
Do you like what you hear? Then tell others about it! Add links about the artist on communities and other websites, write about it on your blog site and tell your friends.
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All songs you find here on this page have been approved for publication by the the artists.
I wrote earlier about Shotgun Crackers here on Meadowmusic, and I have listened a lot to their songs. I get a real feeling of joy when I listen to them.
If you compare bands like for example 
No matter how nice it is with really great massive guitars that cover your body, that feeling still intensifies when the songs are based on a guitar melody. The band Kaross performs this beautifully! There’s a drive throughout the songs that carries them all the way and offers great music. Combine that with a great, hoarse rock’n'roll voice and you get magic.
Karin Ström has managed to achieve quite a lot in her life. She has written two books, “Bensin” (”Gasoline”) and “Feber” (”Fever”), worked as a journalist on 
Safari is the lovely AnnaSara Dahrén with guests. I have talked to AnnaSara a couple of times, but never met her, yet it feels like I know her so well. The warmth and the kindness that comes from her I feel so well also in the music she creates.
Industri Royal is a band that has understood that it takes more than producing good music to succeed. Of course it’s the base of it all, but to see the whole package with band members, clothes, and attitude together with good music is a real advantage. And I think that Industri Royal has managed to put this together really well.
Malte X is a Swedish punk rock band that really lives the rock’n'roll myth. Or what can you say about getting signed by Sony and then get kicked out because of too much partying? A comparison that comes to my mind is when 
Ever since I heard “Didjerama” with 
Gustav Haggren is an extremely busy musician! It’s obviously not enough that he has a solo project, plays with two other songwriters, 
You probably recognize that feeling of exaltation, that comes when you have discovered a new song or a band that’s so good that you know for sure that you will never grow tired of it. And you just want to hear it over and over again.
