After an intense rehearsal with Martin Berglund & Stödorkestern a couple of members stayed behind afterwards to clean up the rehearsal room. Far into a corner, behind a half-empty bottle of beer, they found to their surprise a collection of guitar riffs scattered about on the floor. They were some quite dirty riffs, but they picked them up anyway and gave them a closer look. “Mm, they smell punk and grunge, but god damn’ how sweet they look. We can’t just throw them away, and Martin will never let us play them. What are we going to do?”

They grabbed the riffs and headed home, walking along the streets in the middle of the night, quiet and deep in thought. Just when they turned around a street corner they bumped into some members from Grand Minnows. The riffs fell out of their pockets and landed hard on the dark asphalt of the pavement. There in the glow of the street lamps the riffs glittered stronger than ever. They all looked at each other, puzzled and hesitating, until one of them said: “Let’s start a band and conquer the world!” Soon they were all smiling in agreement. “But what about the band name?” “Well, it should be something that directly tells something about our music, why not Horses Without Makeup?” Spot-on!” the others concurred.

Here below you can listen to the result of their endeavor, in the shape of a couple of tracks from Horses Without Makeup’s debut EP, “Just Like Home”, which was released in the end of October:

Horses Without Makeup on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

The two sisters Johanna and Nina Piroth have been our guests here several times before with their folk-vibing indie music. Now they have started a new project they call Lokatt. Here they explore the electronic spaces instead, playing with techno beats, mellotrones and synthpads. On Friday they released the debut EP “Karg”, an EP with three songs where I recognize them very well despite the new environment. The folk mystique, the melancholic ambience and the dreamy vibe are still there, but at the same time it feels entirely fresh with new, dance-enticing and suggestive soundscapes. Here are two of the tracks:

Lokatt on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

The duo Jean Dark are presenting themselves today with their first single, “I Will Never Let Me Down”. It’s a wonderful, soft, ambient ballad with a nocturnal 80’s vibe. The duo consists of Minna Bolin, whom we’ve heard here before in the band Desertsongs, and Ingela Jansson. They write that they are releasing the song today, on the 30th of November, to remind us to never give up the struggle for our future on this planet. Because today is also the start of the climate conference in Paris.

Jean Dark on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

Astro Tan, a trio hailing from Portland, Oregon, recently released this fascinating single, “Whiskey + Water”. They write that they have experimented with the recordings in various ways to achieve the right blend of darkness and exotica. They have for example recorded themselves in large, cavernous spaces and mixed this with isolated instrument tracks. They have in any case produced a special atmosphere; dark without being intimidating, mysterious but still with a laidback warmth in the bottom. It’s psychadelia with a relaxed, exotic vibe that makes me think of David Sylvain and his Japan. If you’d like to listen to more from the band I can recommend their album “Soma” they released last year.

Astro Tan on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music – on Bandcamp

The producer Victor Rådström has been working behind artists like Miriam Bryant and Elin Bergman before. Now he’s launched his own project under the name Neiked, a project which will feature both Swedish and international artists in the time to come.

First up is the song “Cowboy” and Thomas Stenström. The song fits Thomas like hand in glove and is a wonderful, uplifting mix with both an organic and an electronic vibe, where a funkish deep bass comes in the company of a catchy muted guitar riff, sitar strands, children choirs and handclaps.

The next installation is coming up in the beginning of December.

Neiked on Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music