In one of the nicest pubs and restaurants on Söder in Stockholm, Akkurat, you can find also one of the coolest songwriters and artists in Stockholm, Stene. A long life with music, with hard rock and recidency in the USA, Americana and as a part of Månmen together with Pär Enqvist, in that order, has finally resulted in a debut album: “Better to Take a Stand” (Rootsy Records)

And what a debut album it is! 14 intense tracks in a variety of styles, but that in the end makes me feel like standing on American soil. Here he seems secure and his own in some sense, with a production that’s very careful and precise, and with a feeling that’s manifested by his vocals, melodies and lyrics. I love these special voices, which in this case shows similarities with one of my favourites, John Hiatt, but with more depth and more seriousness.

Listen to the songs below, download them, and buy the album if you like.
If you’d like to see Stene playing live, the best bet is to checkout the schedule at
Akkurat.se.

Born Blue
Telltale Dust

Read more about Stene and buy the record at Rootsy
The songs and the album are also available on Itunes, CDon et al

Stene’s home page

Now I would like to get your attention presenting Alouatta, a really nice rock band with punk influences. They offer a lot of energy and attitude, with a close garage sound that reminds of the first punk rock era.

As I’m a real fan of special voices, I get hooked on the vocals from Karl Buhres. I hear Jimi Hendrix, both in the tone and the phrasing, but with a frenzy and energy that Jimi didn’t offer.

Alouatta was formed in 2007 by members from Coyote, Twopointeight, The Shiv, The Heartattacks and soon thereafter they released the EP “Manos Arriba”. This year they have released the vinyl single “Animal” (Big Bongo Recordings)

What Aloutta really means you can read about here (you won’t be surprised :-))

Download, listen and rock!:

Animal
Friday Night

Alouatta on Myspace

Other bloggers and netzines about Alouatta: Milkmilk-Lemonade, Multinyzine

It’s fascinating how someone who’s born 10 to 15 years later, can catch the spirit of passed times and recreate it in his own music. Well, it’s exactly what the 18th year old Gusten does in the band Gusten & the Demens, even though he’s backed by a gang of older, excellent musicians. Among the demented you’ll find names like Peter Simonsbacka (lead guitar), Jan Lidström (bass) and Mita (backing vocals).

Gusten, the songwriter and band leader, is exploring the domains of the softer rock of the seventies, where a few parts of Jackson Browne is mixed with some part of Eagles, some showtime Rolling Stones a little bit of Springsteen and something from Jimi Hendrix. He is heading this with a voice that sounds surprisingly mature and that sits perfectly with the music.

The Someones

Visit Gusten on Myspace

Carl Beijbom, singer in Them Jacks, calls himself “Sometimes I’m Blue” as a solo artist. He is working on an EP project that will be finished this autumn, and you can follow his work, song by song, on his Myspace page.

As a contrast to the more lighter indie pop of Them Jacks, Carl creates more blue feelings here, as the name implies. Not always in the melodies, but in his vocals and in the sound itself. It’s dreamy and echoing and maybe longing. Sometimes it feels like Conor Oberst has married the late Beatles (White Album).

Here you can listen to the two first tracks of the project, and you are welcome to visit his Myspace page to follow the development of the project.

Lovers’ Church
Come Back to Me

Stefan Leoson delivers soft, soft pop, a genre where it can be difficult to stand out. The border between cliché, clones and nagging repetition on one side and personality, feeling and pleasure can be very thin. Especially since the big labels have released one boring mainstream artist after the other during the years, with a helping hand of the big radio channels.

So it really takes the right man (or woman) to create his own space here, and one of those men is Stefan Leoson. With a light, easy hand he creates melodies and sound spaces where it’s very comfortable to be. I really like his arrangements where he doesn’t stress the songs to score cheap points, and the variation and the sensitivity makes me enjoy the length of the songs. His voice is like it’s made for this music, like some kind of softer Elvis Costello and I can hear that he loves what he does. One of those voices I believe I would recognise in any song.

Stefan Leoson released his debut album as a solo artist, “Pennies and Heartaches” one and a half year ago, and below you’ll find two songs from it. The third song “Don’t You Ever Change” is a demo preview of his coming album, which will be released in the end of the year.

My oh My
No One Like You
Don’t You Ever Change

Visit Stefan and listen to more songs:

Stefan Leoson’s home page

Stefan Leoson on Myspace