The duo Degrees, hailing from Tranås, is back with a new album, “Dream On Dreamy”. Compared to their EP “Pt III”, which I wrote about last year, they don’t hold back on anything this time. It’s grand pop from the beginning to the end, bombastic enough to fill out the sound space on any big arena.

Last time I called it synth pop, but I feel now that they have passed the limits of where I would place them just within the electronica spheres, even if these intruments are still central. It’s grandiose pop with a lot of warmth and melody on this even and strong album. An album which reach a crescendo in the 8 minute long “Idiot Dreaming” and then takes us down to dreamy soundscapes to the finishing track “Dream On Dreamy”.

You can listen and download the album on their Bandcamp page. You can also visit their site, their Facebook page or listen on Spotify. Here’s a song and a video from the album:

At Least Rock & Roll Won’t Leave a Hole In My Back

A Dutch musician that has moved to Sweden may ring some bells. A. S. Swanski, though, produces music in quite different genres than the late Cornelis did. Here it’s about electronica, of the experimental kind, on the border to ambient, often with industrial vibes and sometimes with a feeling of mystique.

The song here below, “The Assassination”, was largely inspired by the parliament elections in both Holland and Sweden last year, and is a part of an EP with the same title. Presently he’s working on a full length album, to be released later this year. You can follow A.S. Swanski and listen more on his site.

The Assassination

I wrote about Old Amica in the beginning of the year. They have recorded a couple of new songs they want us to enjoy during summer, and you can download these below. They continue to develop their concept of nordic ambience, singer/songwriter and electronica, and I love it.

You’ll also find a video below to the wonderful song “Operation Table”, taken from their EP, a video made from clips from fans and listeners in a collaborative effort.
You’ll find Old Amica on their site.

Ocean Beach
In the Trees

The duo Pallers tell us that they have finished the recordings of their new album “The Sea of Memoirs”, which will be released later this year. They let us get a glimpse of what’s coming up with the new single, “Come Rain, Come Sunshine”, an electropop song that starts out naked and builds up nicely to a grande finale.

If you haven’t heard Pallers before I can recommend to listen to “The Kiss”, a great song from last year, which I’ve added here below as a Youtube clip.You can find Pallers on Myspace and on Twitter.

Come Rain, Come Sunshine

Fredrik Jonasson has activated his side project Silencio Stampa again and a couple of days ago he released “The Red Album”.

It’s about instrumental electronica and first of all I get retro vibes from the analogue synths and drum machines of the eighties and sometimes even from further back from  Vangelis and his friends during the seventies. Maybe then not so much from the bombastic varieties, but rather from the ambience building kind, with sweeping, beautiful melodies and figures that catch the listener.

A beautifully built album you can listen to by checking out Silencio Stampa’s site. Here’s the opener “The Red Pony”:

The Red Pony