Sidewalk sounds like if someone crossbreeded a The Doors-flower with a hiphop-tree and created a new species. Music with the feeling from both worlds, glued together so well that it feels completely natural.

Sidewalk, which consists of Pitz (rap), the Sun (vocals and guitars) and DJ Lastword (bass and prod), recorded, during three days in late December, the EP “Wonderland Sessions”. Nice, laidback, cool music which you can enjoy on Spotify or on their site.

“Wonderland Sessions” is a first taste of the upcoming album “Touching the Sky” and if you’d like to follow the band, you can do so on their blog and on Facebook.

Wonderland (Wonderland 1)

Today I’ve been listening to some songs from the duo Kastanj. And it’s a very pleasant new acqaintance from Lund, where Simon Lussi’s clear vocals is the first thing that catches my attention.

It’s mostly acoustic with nice melodies and sometimes I get a feeling of Swedish prog, even though I wouldn’t put the duo directly in that genre. Listen for yourself here below.

You can follow Kastanj on their site where you also can listen some more.

Kär i en karriär
Jag ser dig

It’s finally spring in the air here in the south of Sweden. And the spring is so eager to please that it wants to blow you away as soon as you step outside. Hagaliden is also spring. They came in here and yelled at me:

“Throw out that bloody winter melancholy! Spring is here goddamnit! Out! Get out of the house and taste the air!”

“But it’s too windy…”

“Cut it out! Do you see that spot of grass over there? Go sit down with the others and have some beer and smoked herring, and when you’re finished you can join the choir and sing along. There’s already eight of us and there’s always room for one more.”

It’s pop and it’s Göteborg and it’s springtime. Here are a couple of songs with Hagaliden and if you’d like to hear som more you can visit Hagaliden’s Soundcloud page or their Myspace page. You can also find them on Facebook.

Det gör ingenting
Hagaliden

Daniel Rodin is alone with a guitar in his songs (accompanied by Johan Brännström, Heart-Sick Groans), and we end up in the early sixties’ folk where Dylan defined the genre. Daniel’s soft voice and playing, though, often make me think of Damien Rice.

In January he released the two-track single “Remarks”, which you can listen to on his Bandcamp page. Here’s the first track “I Guess We Are Free Now”, a song that really has caught me:

I Guess We Are Free Now

“Between Two States” is what Kallocain, hailing from Norrköping, has called their debut album. I get a feeling that this could have been one of Radiohead’s side projects that never was released, in the end of the nineties. At the same time I get vibes from the seventies, americana and singer/songwriter. It all blends into a mix where I’m thrown between softer tracks with beautiful acoustic guitars and tracks with dirty indie guitars, all in a common mellow atmosphere.

It’s an even and interesting album, where each song deserves attention, which made it hard to choose two songs you can listen to. The first track “Firecracker” below, is the track that differs most from the other songs on the album, with more pop vibes and synth sounds.

You can listen to “Between Two States” on Spotify or on Ge.tt. You can also find Kallocain on Facebook.

Firecracker
Genesis