DesperatK is a duo hailing from Uppsala who have published their first songs this Autumn. It’s two songs that breathes post punk, new wave and synth pop, well there is strong vibe of the eighties from these two tracks. The two members call themselves August Silverman and Torgny Lagman. August was earlier a member of the band Light In Your Life and Torgny has appeared before under names such as Tactful Perfection or Triska. As the band info is rather sparse and there is a bit of mystique around the band I decided to ask August Silverman a few questions:

– Can you tell us something about the ideas behind the band?

– It started when me met and hung out together in Enköping in 2005, but the band in its present shape started out in 2010 when we were living together for a while. The idea is to make music that’s beautiful and that stands on its own legs, beyond our persons and beyond the degrading everyday life.

– The songs you have released so far have a certain vibe of the eighties, post punk and new wave. Is that something that inspires you or do you feel that you have your roots elsewhere?

– We have very different taste in music but of course the eighties dark punk and synth is something that lies close to our hearts. Otherwise I’m more of a rock and metal fan while Torgny has a fondness for techno and euro/trance. Those roots can of course be heard when we make songs.

– Where does the band name come from?

– From an old poem I wrote when I was about 15. It was rather melodramatic and contained the line: “my name is desperate master chef, and these are his knives”.

– Finally, what are your plans now?

– These two songs is a taste of a release in Spring, which will contain 4 or 5 songs, and some remix, and will be released on Spotify. We also hope that we will do our first live shows then – together with a band from Malmö called Solero.

– Thanks a lot for the chat August and best of luck in the future!

DesperatK on Facebook – on Soundcloud

Prince of Assyria

The Litsos – “Guidance”

The Litsos have released their second song in their single trilogy. It’s called “Guidance”, and is also a child of the eighties’ new wave era, and I’d say that Echo and the Bunnymen is not far away from this sound.

Prince of Assyria – “Bring Along Joy”

Ninos Dankha was born in Iraque, but came to Sweden with his parents when he was only one years old and then grew up in Linköping. As an artist he calls himself Prince of Assyria and is on his way of releasing his second album “Changing Places”, after a five year long break. The song “Bring Along Joy” is a first taste of the album, a melancholic singer/songwriter-track which reminds me a bit of Junip in the ambience. “Annika” is another song of his, which was released last year, and it’s so beautiful that I just had to add that one too.

Center of Attention – “Dancing In the Rain”

Center of Attention is a newly formed band from Stockholm. They write that they have worked behind other artists before, like Veronica Maggio and Erik Saade, and performed in musicals like “Kristina from Duvemåla” and “Rock of Ages”. Their own musical influences seem to come from other directions, though, to judge from their debut single “Dancing In the Rain”. Scissor Sisters, The Killers and disco influences from the eighties come to mind when I listen to this catchy rock/pop track.

Peacock Farm – New EP

The psychadelia-inspired Peacock Farm, whom I wrote about last month, released the EP they announced before. And the four songs on the EP doesn’t dissappoint me at all, considering the expectations I had after last month’s “Monogram (Plum Run)“. A great EP with music I’d like to hear more of.

Danmarck – “don’t mean in don’t mean out”

And finally Danmarck with a video follow-up to the last one “neat neat neat“. Rock. High volume is recommended.

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I’m continuing with electroncia duos and new singles. Here’s Fatal Casualties, Stefan Ljungdahl and Ivan Hirvonen, with the new single “Somewhere In the Middle”, which was released yesterday.

Fatal Casualties’ site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp – on Bandcamp

I have presented The Litsos here before as a duo. They have now grown to a five membered band, though, and have moved their base of operations from the north of Sweden to Göteborg. And they have grown with their music and their productions as well, here with the single “Dance Like Children”, the first one in a series of three. The inspiration still comes from the eighties’ New Wave and postpunk scene, but it’s starting to sound more and more like The Litsos than like anything else.

The Litsos på Facebook – på Spotify

Fun Control describe themselves as a bunch of old post punk/synth musicians who now have found their way back to their roots after many years of discovering other genres. In Spring they released a couple of songs to explore this dark landscape they have returned to, a landscape created in the eighties which they gently sweeps over with echoing guitars and synth pads, enveloping us in a dreamy melancholy.

Fun Control on Facebook – on Soundcloud – on Bandcamp