It’s very easy to get caught by the music as Ram Di Dam gathers speed. Five guys from Majorna in Göteborg, who have something really good going on. They have just released their first single “Flashbacks” (Mock Turtle Music) and soon an EP awaits, produced by Kristian Anttila, who also produced “Flashbacks”.

If one can speak about direct music, then it’s here, when Ram Di Dam’s indie-pop-disco bomb explodes already in the first beats. It feels like that The Strokes have started a collaboration with Melody Club and decided to increase the pace and drop the synths. Try to sit still as you listen to “Flashbacks” here below.
And that this is based on a live act that is something special just makes it even better. Jerry is a witness to this.

Flashbacks

If you feel that you can’t get enough, I suggest that you visit Ram Di Dam’s Myspace page

Niklas Lindkvists manages to recreate the nice feeling from the seventies when CSN&Y, Neil Young and Tom Petty gave birth to a lot of classics. And first of all it’s the spirit of Neil Young that I feel hovers in the background of Niklas Lindkvist’s music.

Here’s a nice live feeling with nicely disted massive guitars, an underlying energy, a drive and a musical playfulness that I like. Niklas Lindkvist’s voice summarises it all with his naked honesty, as far from artificial perfection as you can go.

Niklas Lindkvist has released three albums before and is now working on a fourth. If you want to listen more, you should go to Niklas Lindkvist’s Myspace page.

Enjoy two tracks:

With Your Friends
Don’t You Shake

Sol Wikström is Sol Skugga and has just released her new album “Gardenia”. And her name Sol Skugga (Sun Shadow) catches what I feel most strongly about in the music of “Gardenia: the contrasts. Between the beautiful and the disturbing, between the old and the new, between the grand and the low-voiced.

Overall it feels beautifully dark with Sol’s classical voice pouring like a clear trickle through the mellow ambience, whether it’s a folk-inspired piece or a more dense goth-inspired music. The electronica forms the base of the music, but a great interplay with foremost brilliant guitars and violins creates nice contrasts.

You should go and visit Sol Skugga’s site where you can listen to all the tracks of “Gardenia” and read more about her. Sol Skugga is also on Myspace.
Here you have the two first tracks from the album and the video for “Empty Street”.

Intuition
Until Now

I thought it was time for some blues again. This time with the blues veteran Brian Kramer, who have recently released the album “Live at Club Stampen” under the name Brian Kramer & the Nights of Blu-topia. Brian invites us to an intimate and soulful performance in the company of great musicians like Mats Qwarfordt, “Iron Hand” Mike Haglund, Marcelo Nunez and Peter Freij.

It’s a wonderful collection of songs that Brian presents here. I find a nice earthy, positive (can I say that?) blues, together with folk music and bluegrass, which makes my feet move, and also nice bluesy singer/songwriter tunes. Good music, of course, always comes from within, but somewhere I feel that the blues lies as close as you can get to the soul. And judging from what I hear it would be real nice to meet a person like Brian Kramer.

Of course you should go to Brian Kramer’s site and his Myspace page to read more about him and to listen more to his music.

Here’s two tracks from Brian Kramer and the Nights of Blutopias’ “Live at Club Stampen”:

I Get It Wrong
Everything Is Headed Somewhere

A couple of months ago The Plastic Pals released their debut album “Good Karma Café”. A solid, exciting rock and powerpop album with a collection of strong tracks with The Plastic Pals’ own special sound. It feels like great retro mixture molded into something new. I get so many associations to this that I find it hard to tell them apart into some kind of description.

Sixties pop, psychadelia, Blue Öyster Cult, Television, and yes it feels clean and rough at the same time. I really love the vocals from Håkan Soold, which adds a lot of soul to the music and keeps everything together. A really good album that grows each time I listen to it.

Below you’ll find a couple of tracks from Good Karma Café plus a video. Visit The Plastic Pals on Myspace to listen and read more.

She’s Going Back:

Here Comes the Sun
Long and Lovely