In Bloom

September 4, 2008 at 10:00 am

In BloomAlthough bordering genres that are almost overloaded these days, with a lot of skilful bands that resembles eachother a little bit too much, In Bloom has definitely found their own way.
A grunge feeling is mixed with nice melodic refrains, but what makes them unique is the sound. The guitar base is lightly disted acoustic guitars, performed by the singer and songwriter of the band, Pär Eriksson, which renders a certain nearness. This feeling is also enhanced by sensitive arrangements and good lyrics.

The band released their debut album, “With Faded Lights” in July on Blue Topaz Recordings , and I’m proud to be able to present two songs from the album below, “Somewhere” and “Succeed”.

The video for “Somewhere” (and yes, according to sources, it took quite som effort to sing and run at the same time ;-))

Somewhere
Succeed

In Bloom’s home page

In Bloom on Myspace

Victoria Lagerström

September 2, 2008 at 7:32 pm

“Heaven Sent”, the new album from Victoria Lagerström, is fascinatingly beautiful and filled with different emotions. It strikes me how big the sound is, even though the arrangements are basic.

It also strikes me how carefully each song has been produced, where each track has it’s own characteristics and feeling. The arrangement is created after the principle “less is more” and guided by what the song has to offer, and not according to a common band setup.
And on top of this, Victoria’s soft soul-jazz voice, like a young to midaged Joni Mitchell.

I’m sure you’ll understand what I mean when you listen to the songs below. “Heaven Sent”, the title track, has a latino feeling, a soft jazzy cornet, a kind of desert ambience which leads into a jazz-pop chorus, like a reply to a later Mecano.

And then there is the wonderful “If I Say Yes” where the jazz influence feels stronger and the relationship with Joni Mitchell shines through even brighter. A soft beautiful saxophone guides the listener from the first chorus to the end.

Listen and enjoy:

Heaven Sent
If I Say Yes

Visit Victoria:

Victoria Lagerström’s home page

Victoria on Myspace

Jamin Pirnia

September 1, 2008 at 8:00 am

Jamin PirniaIt just happened that way that I’ve seen Jamin Pirnia perform live four times during the last 8 months. Predictable? Boring? Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

Jamin is an artist that is in constant movement. Actually I think he is uncapable of repeating himself. I have spoken to him a couple of times before concerts, and listening to him describing the concert, feels like listening to an artist preparing his next painting. For Jamin each scene is like a unique canvas ready to be filled with new colours, feelings, people and music.

The show changes and develops right in front of my eyes. On one concert he is alone with his piano, the next time he has also a sampler and a friend playing a minimoog. Then there is a band with three members and suddenly there are ten people on stage with a theatrical act going on in front of the stage. Theater, masks, megaphones but also stillness. He fascinates, provokes and invites you to surprises. Some of the songs may be the same from one concert to another and also in his different incarnations as Transparent Blanche, Jamin Pirnia or Jamin’ with Jamin, but the experience is always new.

Maybe the strongest about Jamin on stage is his presence, his ability to deliver no matter what. It doesn’t matter if there are only ten people in the audience, spread out along the walls of a big concert hall, or if there are hundreds of people on a crowded market square. When he looks up after finishing a song, you can sense in his smile that sweet happiness and satisfaction of having been given the opportunity to play right here and now for you.

Enjoy his music by listening to some tracks from his project Transparent Blanche:

Lipstick Killer
Lime
Song of Despair
Ak/not 47

Jamin Pirnia, solo:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDJUeTd0iD0

Jamin Pirnia and Transparent Blanche’s web site

Transparent Blanche on Myspace

/Pär

The Deer Tracks

August 30, 2008 at 1:16 pm

The Deer Tracks started out as a studio project and a side project for the two members Elin Lindfors (Twiggy Frostbite) and David Lehnberg (Leiah, Ariel Kill Him). After a lot of attention on the net, they ended up playing on the Rookie festival in Hultsfred, and the project quickly evolved into something more serious. The 27th of august, they released their debut album “Aurora” on Despotz Records. This summer they have toured around Sweden, they have played at Hultsfredsfestivalen and are now on their way to scenes in London and Finland in the early autumn.

You can listen to and download two songs from the album below. It’s beautiful, it’s emotional, it’s playful and becomes almost epical when the songs reach the crescendo. The bright, fragile and almos hypnotical voice of Elin is beautifully complemented by David’s voice. “Slow Collision” catches my attention most, and it feels like the entire song is built upon a short and simple repeating melody, a melody that has a real hook and turns into a fanfare in the end of the song. Brilliant!
On their Myspace page you can listen more.  Visit also their remix page on Myspace.

Slow Collision
Yes, This Is My Broken Shield

Other blogs about The Deer Tracks: GirlSonic, IndieHere, Rock Sellout, Quarterlifeparty

Slow Collision:

The video is built upon the paintings of the artist Scott Belcastro as you can read about here.

Also, checkout The Deer Tracks performing live at TV4.

Skuggan

August 21, 2008 at 12:00 pm

Skuggan i replokalenThe band Skuggan is a new pleasant musical acquaintance. This is a band that has started over afresh, they made a control-alt-delete, as they themselves describe it, from the roots in the previous band Shade Tree. Below, you can listen to “Rör vid mig i igen” (“Touch Me Again”), a melancholic, beautiful, atmospheric, pensive song – expressed by Carl Jönssons light and soft voice.

At their current restart they have been mentioned on several other good music blogs, such as jacksoncage (in swedish) and skivgrisen (in swedish). Check them out.

What is perhaps equally interesting about Skuggan is how one can follow them on their journey on their web site, which is in blog format. They purvey a feeling of movement, a sense of who they are through what they write about. One can follow the development of the songs from early scetch, to rehearsal demo to the version you can listen to here. One can read about the band, personal thoughts and what they see and feel. Compared to traditional band sites where there are long bios and a separate news section, one can create one’s own image of who they really are and where they are going. And they are there with you, as they are only a comment away. I hope that more artists realize the strength of this concept and follow their example. (note: Their blog is in swedish)

Other songs you can listen to at the site, in different versions, are “Västergatan” and “Buena Vista” – the latter with pleasant Joni Mitchell vibes in my ears. And it is most likely that, by the time this piece is written and published, you will find new tracks to listen to, new stories to read and new reflections to take part of.

Visit Skuggan on their homepage

Rör vid mig igen

(translated by Clint Hell)

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