Everett Parker is Daniel Börjesson’s solo project he started in 2006. He tells about the name that the project’s name from the start was Writers Edge, mainly because he then only had his lyrics and had just started to play the guitar. He got tired of that name and changed to Everett Parker. Everett he got from George Clooney’s character in the movie “O Brother Where Art Thou”, and Parker, well, it sounded good together with the first name.

“Run For the Uppercut” is the name of his debut EP and was released about a month ago. On the surface it’s about americana and somewhere close the spirit of Dylan inevitably shows itself. A closer look reveals four songs of different character, all with Everett’s somewhat raspy voice that breathes authenticity into the well-written lyrics. I’m close to the sixties in the naked production but in a song like “Truck Light Search” I sense that I get closer to contemporary  singer/songwriters like Damien Rice in the mellow feeling.

Listen more on Spotify or on Soundcloud. You can find Everett Parker on his site and on Facebook.

Central Station

Support the artist: Buy “Run For the Uppercut” – on Itunes – on Amazon

The duo Musicemia, consisting of Daniel Renström and Goran Sajinovic, has a somewhat different setup with acoustic guitar and accordion. They describe their music as folk/rock/lo-fi influenced by Pearl Jam, Beirut and Yann Tiersen which feels like a very fitting description of how they sound.

With a nice voice from Daniel Renström they produce a quite pleasant melancholy, a melancholy with ingredients from various sources in folk music. I hear British islands, french cafés, some americana and on occasion a breath from the Balkans.

They have recently released their second EP “Light and Sound” which you can listen to on their Bandcamp page or on Spotify. Follow Musicemia on Facebook.

I Am

I discovered Jon Rinneby and his special ability of creating melodies that stick, a couple of years ago. It’s hard to put your finger on it but all my alarm signals shouted out that this was a songwriter who had that extra creativity to craft songs that you can’t get rid of. That he’s not more well-known is just because of that he hasn’t put his marketing puzzle together yet.

It seems, though, that this is on it’s way with his band Turn Off Your Television, a trio that recently released their self-titled debut album, And I wasn’t disappointed; it’s a brilliant album that can stand many listens. I’ve tested it.

They play pop with americana influences in a soft and nice ambience. I recognize “20 Million People” from before but the other songs are new to me, and they show a good variation and excellent songwriting. To me the best song is the totally disarming “The Days We Have Today”, which you can listen to here below.

You can listen to the album and download it for free on the band’s site and it’s also available on Spotify. You can also follow Turn Off Your Television on Facebook.

Never Rusting Symphony
The Days We Have Today

Magnus Fagernäs has quite some experience from the music biz.  After being member in bands like Pinballs, Bombi Bitt et al, he handled the drumsticks in Dead Scouts, Traste Lindéns kvintett, Perssons Pack and Atomic Swing. One day he tired of it all and left the stage to focus on other things.

10 years later he was persuaded to join the band Little Red Snapper, he regained his passion for music and started to write songs. The result was a debut album as a solo artist under the name Mankku [mancko]. The album was released last month and is called “Festen har bara börjat” (“The party has just begun”).

It’s an album that grows each time I listen and the more I give it attention. And this is also the case with Mankkus bright, dramatic vocals that little by little put new layers of meaning to the stories. I like the arrangements which are tastefully “less is more”-produced, and gives an extra fateful and mellow feeling to the ambience.

It’s a varied album where he blends pop, rock, country and folk. In a way it feels in the end like something born out of the deep nordic woods, in the stories, in the blackness and in the folk sounds that shine through. Well, I’d love to party on with Mankku [mancko].

You can listen to the album on Spotify and you can find Mankku on his site and on Facebook. Here’s “Väskan” (“The bag”):

Väskan

Kim Strannes new album “Ett Arv” is undoubtely the strongest album I’ve heard from Kim Stranne so far. It feels like he’s lifted the entire production to something more intimate, naked, unique and more beautiful than ever before.

At the same time I hear a sharpness and a roughness in his voice that demands more attention than before and that makes him stand out. A strong album you can listen to on Spotify. Visit his site and his Facebook page.

Ett Arv