A year ago I wrote about Imi Fal and his ambient, beautiful daydreaming-music. Since then he has released the album “The Man Who Sat Down” and after that also a few individual tracks. On the two last ones “Hymn for the Waiting” and “Sonder” he has developed his soundscapes further; it feels more vivid and richer in images, beautiful like sparkling morning dew in the light of early dawn. To me this is a perfect start of the week, a way of finding some peace in the middle of stress and obligations.

Imi Fal on Spotify – on Soundcloud – on Bandcamp

Håkan Ludvigson is one of a trio who are running the label Substream, a label that has released more than 3000 songs with artists from around the world since the start in 2004. Håkan is also an artist himself and in Spring he released his second album, “Intra-Extra”, in collaboration with Mechanist from England.

Together they create a fascinating soundscape across 8 tracks, in the bottom rather warm and soothing but also with feelings of mystique, desolation and unknown worlds. Here’s a unique mix of many elements from the world electronica such as ambient, deep house, downbeat, techno and drum & bass. Here are three of the tracks:

Ludvigson på Facebook – på Spotify – på Wimp

The Spiny Normans

I receive more great music than ever, so I’ll kickstart this week with six releases:

The Spiny Normans – “Waiting For the Storm” – EP

The Spiny Normans are based in Stockholm but have some of their roots in Åland. They released the debut EP in the Autumn, which will be available on Spotify and other services in a couple of weeks. I’d say it’s about folk inspired pop with a certain sense of drama. Here are two songs:

Lejonsläktet – “In och ut” – EP

The duo Lejonsläktet, whom I talked about last month, have released their debut EP now, full of great psychadelia with a vibe of Jämtland. Here’s the starting track “Ett svagt hopp om” from the EP:

The Tarantula Waltz – “Scandinavian Minds”

The Tarantula Waltz has released this Americana-sounding single from the new album “Tinder Stick Neck”, his third album which is being released this week.

Iris & Hedvig – “The Watcher & The Mind”

Here’s a new interesting young pop duo, Iris & Hedvig, with the debut single “The Watcher & The Mind”.  The song was produced by Christina Wehage, whom we’ve met before in her own project Be The Bear.

Rökmorsa

Rökmorsa is one of the projects the trio Pontus Björlin, Anders Åkesson and August Sörensons have been working on. They have collected 12 songs they recorded already in 2008 on the album “Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight”. It’s instrumental, experimental and a blend of influences from now and then. Here are two tracks:

Manor Rungs

The producer deadbeat has written songs and produced music for other artists before, for example electronica artist Compute and The Girl & The Robot. Now he’s grabbed the microphone himself and released seven songs under the name Manor Rungs. It’s a quite special blend of electronica and rock in Swedish, with some instrumental breaks. Listen for yourself:

Felix Wickman

Tired Tape Machine – “Sisyphus”

Petter Lindhagen and his Tired Tape Machine is underway with his third album, “Not Here”. “Sisyphus” is the first taste of the record, a song you can listen to below in two versions.

Pizzaboys – “day”

Frederick from the electronica duo Sameblod is working on a solo project also , a project he calls Pizzaboys. “day” is his first creation, an instrumental tune; indie pop with vibes of new wave from the eighties.

Felix Wickman – “I Recommend Swimming”

Felix Wickman will release his third album, “I recommend swimming”, on the 15th of May. The single “Grown Ups/Ballerina” is a fine presentation to this album’s special sound; Felix’ fragile voice in a live atmosphere with a shimmering patina swept over the entire production. A great song and an album that’s just as great.

Solen – “Förlorare”

Solen, hailing from Gävle, released the single “Förlorare” (“Losers”) a week ago. It’s pop with a wonderful raw sound and my thoughts go also to Hurula, an artist they will be the opening act to in Stockholm April 25th and in Göteborg May 9th.

Marigold

Billy the Zombie Kid – “The Blessing and the Curse” – EP

Billy The Zombie Kid is a band from Borlänge, who released the debut album “The Blessing and the Curse” a couple of months ago. It contains five songs with a melodic, alternative pop/rock spiced up with electronica, well a bit in the direction of The Killers. Here’s the title track “The Blessing and the Curse”:

Marigold – “Allt kommer bli bra”

The next band, Marigold is also from Borlänge. A month ago they released the single “Allt kommer bli bra” and last year the excellent EP “Och så kom regnet”. I can sense a part of The Killers here also, but here more in the direction of synth pop, as a melancholic, a bit eighties-like ambience sweeps into the room. Here’s the latest single together with “City Farewell” from the EP:

Sisilisko – “Waldeinsamkeit” – EP

I wrote about the duo Sisilisko, Albin Boman and Peter Engqvist, in the Autumn. Now they are back with the EP “Waldeinsamkeit”, an EP where their doom-folk music runs further into the dark woods to explore the mystique, nature and darkness. Here’s “The Woods” from the album:

Lerin/Hystad – “Mount Buzhou” – album

On the 25th of April the Swedish/Norwegian duo Simon Torssell Lerin and Bettina Hvidevold Hystad are releasing their debut album “Mount Buzhou”. The album title is taken from the name of a mountain in Chinese mythology, a mountain said to have supported the heavens.

The Chinese tradition also run through the music. In 2010 the duo travelled to Kunming in the south west of China, where over 1000 retired musicians gathered each day to play traditional Chinese music together. During two months they recorded this music, and later blended these recordings with their own instrumental music. Postrock and progressive rock meet Chinese traditions which create a very special atmosphere. Here’s one of the six songs on the album:

Read an interview with Lerin/Hystad on Alltformusik.se (in Swedish)