The music coordinator for the British drama series Sparks on Channel 4, Alex Hancock, has taken a different approach for the selection of music for the series. He has asked the songwriters among the viewers to send in their own contributions, well, anyone can participate. And from this material he then chooses songs for some special scenes.

When this started a little more than a year ago, before the third season, they received thousands of songs, and for the first occasion a song from the Swedish singer/songwriter Desireé Duvringe was chosen. The song’s name is “Automation” and you can listen to it here, and here you can see how the scene ended up.

The song became very popular among the viewers, a singel was released in the autumn and Desireé is now working on following up on all the interest around “Automation”. You can find her on her Myspace page.
Here are two new songs you can listen to:

It’s Not Easy
Behind Your Eyes

It’s rather fascinating to listen to Fredrik Jonasson & the Hoarse Horses. Their third EP “Kolme” was released in January this year and contains their own special pop/rock brewage, catchy and melodic, raw edges and a sound where I can hear some New Wave, Pulp, Bowie, Stone Roses and much more. I really like Fredrik’s voice which is very characteristic and fits perfectly with the rather raw sound. On this third EP they have moved away from the electronica background, which was the base before, to a more guitar-based sound.

You can find Fredrik Jonasson & the Hoarse Horses’ headquarters on their site. You can also visit their Bandcamp page to listen to “Kolme” and the earlier releases. Here are two songs from “Kolme”:

Simone
Angels

Angels:

Fredrik Jonasson & The Hoarse Horses – Angels from Fredrik Jonasson on Vimeo.

Stillheten (the tranquillity) is a very suitable name for David Videfrost’s music project. He has released two EP:s, “I ensamhetens kapell” and “Requiem For a Loving God”, two records with different character but with tranquillity and contemplation in focus. On the first one a 12-string guitar has the leading role in both harmonies and melodies, while the second one is more ambient; exploring sound spaces and emotions. To me it gives a feeling of being close to nature, like walking through a still wood.

You can listen more and read about Stillheten on his Myspace page. On the netlabel DNA’s page you can download both “I ensamhetens kapell” and “Requiem For a Loving God”.
Here are two tracks from “I ensamhetens kapell”:

I det gryende ljusets bleka sken
När skuggan saknas

The Stockholm band Good Morning June sounds surprisingly mature for being so young (the members are 19 years old). With a mellow indie pop that reminds me somewhat of Radiohead, they are now underway with the release of their debut EP. It’s said to be released on the 20th of April.

You can find Good Morning June on Myspace. Here’s “Rule Your Body”:

Rule Your Body

Today I’m listening to Saigon Sickness. It’s about alternative rock with stains of melancholy, where massive guitars, a big sound and good melodies is the foundation. I find it hard to make direct comparisons as they move from something that’s close to Foo Fighters to metal to pop influences. All this is showcased on their debut album “Invocation of my demon brothers”, which was released in the beginning of the year.

Saigon Sickness was formed in 2005 and is a rebirth of the nineties band Voyager, but with a new musical mission. On Saigon Sickness’ site you can follow their blog and listen to the album. It’s also available on Spotify. Here’s “Dear China”:

Dear China