I’m sitting here listening to Petra Engdahl’s debut album and just enjoying. It’s soothing and beautiful and it’s made for just to be inside the music and let go of all thoughts. She uses few means to build the strong ambience in the songs. Mostly it’s about the piano and Petra’s voice, but the acoustic guitar is also used frequently, and often she colours with electric guitars, organ, strings and other sounds.

As an album it’s as varying as I like an album to be. You can’t tire of the music with these range of songs and yet she keeps it quite still with an atmosphere that runs through the entire album.

You can listen to and download three tracks below and of course you should visit Petras on Myspace to discover some more.

Closer to
Collectors (with Martin Nilsson)
Trail

Streets of Mars formed nine years ago and stands today on solid ground as a band on the way to success. It’s not a question if they will succeed, but when. And I really wish them nothing less but a quick break. I have seen them live twice, and sincerely hope there will be more occasions.

Among their most obvious influences are Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2 and Smashing Pumpkins. And I’m sure you’ll hear that when you listen (with the strongest vibes from the first band mentioned, if you ask me). Mix in a little of Moneybrother and Mando Diao, a real dose of energy, drive and feeling…well, then you are getting close.

You can visit their their Myspace page to listen, and you can download som tracks here, from the band that was appointed “Best International Band” at New York International Music Festival.

Bleeder
Taste
Breathe In Breathe Out

Edit 1/10 2010 – New versions of the songs. Listen on the band’s Myspace page.

There is a nice flow in the alternative rock that Nico the Band serves us. You just have to take a ride when they gather speed with a massive sound, tempting guitar licks and nice rising choruses. I think that they have found a safe basic sound that feels good just to be inside, without it being boring and too polished. Sometimes I get Foo Fighters vibes, especially in the sound of the vocals.

“Go With the Flow” is the name of a superb song you can listen to here. And it really feels like Nico the Band has something going and that they have “flow” now. This September they released an EP, recorded in the renowned Sidelake Studios in Sundsvall, , Sweden, produced by the Swedish Grammis Winner Micke Öhlén. They have been played on P3 rock and P3 Rockster (well-known shows on Swedish national radio), and currently they are on a Swedish tour, a tour that will continue a couple of months into the next year.

Listen to two songs by Nico the Band:

Go With the Flow
Mental Exile

Visit Nico the Band on Myspace

Yes, this blog is still about swedish music and swedish artists; de la Mancha is not from la Mancha but from Göteborg. And this year they have released their first full length album “Atlas”.

If you’re in a hurry this is not for you. But if you can let go of time and immerse yourself fully into the music and just be there, then you have come to the right place. Because de la Mancha take the space they need to develop their songs to what they are supposed to be. Carefully they build ambiences from themes and melodies, often up to a grand crescendo.

There are a lot of influences here and I find vibes from Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Sigur Ros and the dreamy pop of Marjorie Fair. It has a lot of variation, it’s beautiful, it’s dreamy, well yes it’s great music this.

Listen to two tracks from “Atlas”:

The Kimono
Release All Light

Visit de la Mancha on Myspace and listen some more

foto: My Magnusson

On Valborg 2008 (Walpurgis night, swedish festivity), I went to Brännestad in Skåne, together with my collective “Kärlek-Framför-Allt” (“Love-Before-Everything”). When we arrived we came to a barn were we met a lot of nice people and the collective that lives there and that was behind the party.

A murderous bus as the place to sleep, a robust underground gramophone that picked up sounds from the earth, a bubble machine, a tipi tent and of course chopped wood that later that night would burn in the bonfire, with a fire show and Timothy the clown. Up in the barn there was a big stage where bands like Pulejam would get people going and set the atmosphere. Another dancefloor beneath the stage, with crunchy electronica and an open stage for the perceptional jammer.

Right there on the open stage I met Miranda for the first time. Both of us just as affected by alcohol and ready to improvise together. The girl that threw up in the sauna when everyone else was asleep, was obviously a star.

Time passed and spring turned into summer. I could see her name booked on Malmöfestivalen, Vinylbaren, as a supporting act for Detektivbyrån on Smålands Nation. I managed to miss her on Malmöfestivalen as her concert boat left before the scheduled time, so I had to wait until the gig at Vinylbaren…

With purple walls and a red ceiling, the golden frame surrounds beautifully the canvas filled with artists like Tom Waits, The Stone Roses, Nick Cave and in a few years also Miranda. The place is quite small, more ungracefully narrow. I place myself next to some people that’s drinking the first beer of the evening. It’s only a quarter to eight, so I order a Staropramen, call Pär Berglund and tell him the good news that Nöjesguiden has published an article about our blog Meadowmusic.se. Real soon I am about to listen to the voice that has haunted my head and the song “Polly Pocket”, that runs in repeat ever since.

She arrives on stage together with her beautiful mother on cello, and a bunch of skilled musicians playing accordion, guitars, bass and glockenspiel. She has her arm in plaster and brings Boris, her alter ego mannequin, up on stage. The first tones and Vinylbaren calms down to witness Miranda’s voice and performance.

Amsterdam (live) (Jaques Brel)

Well, she’s not quite anonymous as Tore Johansson has his ears on her and is interested in a collaboration. Miranda has the most beautiful voice of Malmö and can become a Swedish Édit Piaf if she wants to and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you her age…

Polly Pocket
Duet With the Clown
While I Run

Miranda on Myspace