The songwriter, producer and musician Magnus Bergman has just released his fourth solo album “I Mexico” (Tailor Maid). An album that was a pleasant surprise and real entertaining to listen through.

Magnus has managed to create an album with a lot of variation. The base is in a Swedish singer/songwriter pop with interesting and thoughtful lyrics and with influences from classic rock, americana and country in various songs. Really good melodies that together with Magnus personal and expressive voice create a nice, special atmosphere.

Börja om från början (from the album “Reflektor”):

Here a couple of songs from the album “I Mexico”:

I Mexico
Ett himlens hål

Visit Magnus Bergman on Myspace and checkout the album “I Mexico” on ITunes

Pontus Snibb has just released his second solo album “Admiral Street Recordings II” (Rootsy). And considering that he’s also the front man in Bonafide and has a bunch of other projects going on, it’s fascinating that he’s able to produce such a great album; 14 tracks with a bonus album. The bonus album is a 10-track rock opera with the title “The Musical Journey of Jim and Sam”.

Classic Rock is the base here with influences from southern rock, crunchy AC/DC-riffs and blues rock of a kind that makes me think of the early Whitesnake sometimes. A lot of variation and I can hear parts with americana and country breaking in. Maybe a heritage from Pontus’ engagement in Jason and the Scorchers?
I think the biggest asset, though, is Pontus’ voice, which has this soulful blues feeling, sometimes touching Coverdale’s way of singing, especially during the seventies.

Listen to and download two tracks from “Admiral Street Recordings II”:

Derailing In Full Speed
Signs and Answers

Listen more on Pontus Snibb’s Myspace page and visit his site too.
On Pontus Snibb’s page at Rootsy you can taste a little from all the tracks on the album.

I wrote earlier about Shotgun Crackers here on Meadowmusic, and I have listened a lot to their songs. I get a real feeling of joy when I listen to them.
The band has just completed their new EP “Kpptsch” (is it maybe the sound of the snare and the cymbal?) and they release it here on Meadowmusic first, for everyone to download!

It’s just as playful as before but it sounds more “mature”. And I mean that in a positive sense, the guys in the band are incredibly musical and play well together. That was a fact also before, but now it feels like they really have found eachother and feel more secure with what they do.

In the songs you can listen to here, Shotgun Crackers are not afraid to try new directions and play with the music and the result is so nice and liberating.
The singer, Fredrik, is really good and in the only song in Swedish, he sounds startingly like Håkan Hellström!

Congratulations for being one of the first who can download the new EP from Shotgun Crackers!

Khpptsch:

1. Trevor
2. Happiness of Flowers
3. Runner Runner
4. Allt va vi vill ha

Shotgun Crackers on Myspace

Keep cool,
Jeppe

Could Skellefteå be the city that produces most bands with quality in Sweden? Well, Skumdum is another one of those. They say themselves that they are too much punk rock to be skaters and to much skaters to be punk rockers. In any case I think that they are perfect for a music lover.

Skumdum succeeds in a great way to combine the punk rock and rock with folk music (yes really), so that the result feels interesting and dynamic. I find influences in everything from Green Day, to Mano Negra. I also have a soft spot for the vocal adds, which makes it feel like singalong in the choruses.

The band sang in Swedish until around 2004-2005, but is now singing in English since they needed new challenges and also because they wanted to reach a bigger audience.

Skumdum has been around for 16 years and released 4 albums, where the latest one, “Two Sides of the Story”, will be released the 28-29 of November in Skellefteå. Below you’ll find a track from this album, “Proud Minority”, along with a couple of tracks from earlier albums.

A big disgrace:

Proud Minority
War Is Money

Skumdum on Myspace
Skumdum on Lastfm

Keep cool,
Jeppe

If you compare bands like for example Monster Magnet, Terrorvision, Rocket from the Crypt and Marilyn Manson with many other hard grinding hard rock bands, you’ll find that the big difference is that the first mentioned bands have melodies that hooks you up instantly. And the band Ninja Dolls from Falun also has this quality. They speed up and hit hard (just listen to the drums in “Don’t Come Too Close”, and they also have a sense for melodies. Combining this with the really cool vocals from the singer Vicky makes it even better!

Ninja Dolls started in 2001, they have released an album “Cheap Tricks and Lies”, played over 100 gigs and have been the band of the month in P3 Rockster (radio show on Swedish national radio). In the beginning of 2009 they will release the EP “HeyHeyHey” (Poison Tree Records) and after that they will tour in Holland and Germany.

I wish that the video for “Don’t Come Too Close” will be made in Manga style…that would have been so cool ;-)

Enjoy a video and two tracks:

Run and Hide:

Don’t Come Too Close
HeyHeyHey

Ninja Dolls’ Official site
Ninja Dolls on Myspace

Keep cool, Jeppe