Behind the somewhat odd band name Ass & The Frenchmen we find 6 young men from Tranås and Gränna in the north of Småland. The seed to the band was sown in 2005 and after a long break they started up again in 2009, recording songs and uploading them on the net. Last year they released the album “One Night In Paris”, containing songs from the start in 2005 up until five years later, and earlier this year the album “Parent Approved Substitute” was launched.

They write that the main ingredients of the band is their common love for slightly weird things and obscure behaviour, mixed with foreign folksongs and late nights, which doesn’t come as a surprise after having listened to their album. The most obvious folk influence is the balkan music, and they also describe their music, rather spot-on I’d say, as a blend of gypsy music, blues and grunge influenced by Tom Waits, 16 Horsepower and Marilyn Manson. It feels like Tom Waits’ shadow looms behind most of the tracks, but suddenly you find yourself in a darker Manson-like atmosphere, realizing that the jump is not long at all. The vocals are mixed far back together with the rest of the band, a little too much I think if they want to really catch the listener, but maybe it’s their way of stating that they first of all are a live band, which you can get a taste of on the live album they released last year. Listen to two songs from “Parent Approved Substitute”:

Ass & the Frenchmen on Facebook – on Spotify

Son of a Bitch Cop Motherfucker
Another Last Cigarette

The two sisters Johanna and Nina Piroth have so far released three albums under the name Piroth, all in English. Today they release a song with Swedish lyrics for the first time, “Djupa skogen” (“The Deep Forest”), a beautiful ballad full of Nordic melancholy and nature poetry. The single is the first one in a series of four, where they will release one for every season, during the year to come, all collected in the end on the album “Djupa skogen”. They also collaborate with the artist Kheira Linder, photographer Philipp Gallon and film maker Lillemor Film, where each one interpret one or more of the songs in their own way.

Piroths site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp

Today we start a new series of posts here on Meadow Music where artists tell stories about other artists that are special to them in some way; influencing them, as sources of inspiration or for some other reason.
First up is Jon Rinneby from Turn Off Your Television, a band that has released both the new album “Humble Waves” and the EP “Wasted Time” this Autumn. Jon also works with music production and runs the studio Sound of Wool.

Jon Rinneby and Sparklehorse

Already after the first song phrase it felt like I had understood it all, and something inside of me broke. How could music sound so torn but at the same time so beautiful? A bizarre world of ideas is painted before me and confirms how elusive reality can be. It was the first time I listened to Sparklehorse and an existential void slowly started to fill up.

Mark Linkous

Behind the name Sparklehorse (which really isn’t a regular band, but rather an ongoing musical experiment) you’ll find the creator Mark Linkous. A many-faceted and complicated character, shaped by William Blake’s poetry and Daniel Johnston’s credibility, as well as by early power pop and old country. ”It’s a wonderful life” is Sparklehorse’ third album and the album that turned my own musical journey upside down.

Of course it’s impossible to describe music with words, especially Mark Linkous’ diverse and sometimes inaccessible work. This is music that requires attention and presence. You never know what’s behind the next corner, while it all in a strange way always feels familiar and homely. When I listen to Sparklehorse I always find myself having a perspective from below, often an animal’s perspective, where there’s room for small and uncontrolled emotions. At the same time the willful lyrics leave a lot of space for a free interpretation in a way that it feels untouched each time I listen. But above all, what makes Sparklehorse interesting to listen to and come back to is that the small things and what’s forgotten gets so much attention. Things that at a first glance seems trivial, are allowed to grow and turn into something new and exciting every time.

Jon Rinneby

Mark Linkous has meant a lot to me, both as a songwriter and as a producer, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it is that it doesn’t need to be perfect to sound good. That is something that I constantly remind myself about when I get stuck in the creative swamps. If a good song is performed on a mouth harp or on a ukulele and it’s still good, then you know you have succeeded.

Favorite album: It’s a wonderful life (2001)

Favorite song: Any song really, but a good start could for example be ”Gold Day” or ”Shade and Honey”

Shade and Honey (Sparklehorse cover by Jon Rinneby)

A Swedish artist to give some extra attention

A rather new and interesting accquaintance is Jeanette Sollén, who writes some kind of quirky and unpredictable pop music. We have recently started a one year long collaboration where she writes songs which I then produce; one song each month is the plan. First up was the song Yves:

Jeanette Sollén – Yves

One of my own songs you should listen to

I seldom get 100% satisfied with my own productions, but if I would pick one of them, the new song ”Soap” feels rather good. I think I have managed to capture a feeling and a sound which feels both old and new at the same time, without being intrusive. ”20 million people” is also a song that other people often come back to and that never feels boring.

Soap (from the EP “Wasted Time”, Turn Off Your Television)

she laid her head
on my chest
as the sun burned
down the west
there’s one thing we still got
this one last dance in this parking lot

Sparklehorse, “Heart of darkness”

/Jon Rinneby

A few weeks ago I got a tip from the band Flora Cash. And I’m happy for that, because on their Soundcloud page I found a collection of simply wonderful songs, which I’ve been enjoying today. The band, hailing from Stockholm, was started earlier this year by the trio Shpresa Ljeshaj (vocals), Cole Randall (vocals, guitars) and Daniel Westerlund (guitars, synth). They have so far release a couple of EP:s and some more songs, which you can listen to on Soundcloud, with folk inspired pop with gorgeous melodies. The songs from the EP “Fall 2012”, have been repeated some extra times through my loudspeakers; two delightful, uplifting duets, which you can listen to here below. Warmly recommended.

Flora Cash on Facebook – on Soundcloud

André Sandström calls his solo project Tidens Ande, a project where he also gets help from other musicians from the neighbourhoods around Malmö on his new EP “Relationer”, where he performs a melancholic acoustic music poetry with beautiful melodies. The southern Swedish dialect sometimes makes it a little too easy to compare with other artists, but stillI find it inevitable to hear some of Mikael Wiehe in the songs, and Timbuktu who sometimes breathes some air into the music, especially in the more rhytmic back beat-songs. There lies a somewhat lonely, sad and thoughtful atmosphere over the music, even if he, in the beautiful  “Hjärta” here below, gets some company with Maja Fröberg as a duet partner.

Tidens Ande’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp – on Soundcloud

Hjärta