I was actually going to write about the EP “Hollywood”, which I had saved from last year as I didn’t have time then. But suddenly the duo The Red Fuze releases another EP, “Moonlight Drive”, that claims my attention. It’s their fourth EP and an album where they leave their earlier garagerock sound for a sound where they head back to their roots.
Already in the first bars with a funkbluesy guitar lick in the starting track “Let Me Be Your Dog” I feel my foot begin to move with the beat. Then they stock up with a wonderful bluesrock full of life, with organ lines, a great groove and a catchy chorus. “Don’t Call Me Baby” makes me think of both Canned Heat and T.Rex but the highlight of the EP comes later with the title track. Here they serve vibes from The Doors mixed with an exhuberant bluesrock with rock’n’roll-piano in one of the best tracks I’ve heard with the band.
The duo Christian Wallin and Lasse “Jison” Johansson started their collaboration already 10 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2014 they started releasing their work. In between we’ve seen Wallin’s blistering guitars in Killer Clan of F.U.N. and Hothead, while Jison has provided the metal band Stonelake with bass grooves .
Their first new recording was released in the Autumn as the album “Guilt” and less than half a year later the follow-up “The Black Sheep of the Family” was launched. This is quite some distance from heavy metal, instead they go back to their roots and serve us a blues-infused roots-rock’n’roll. The straight-on three chord tunes often have a downscaled sound, without sounding retro, it’s a razor sharp production. They play with different rhytms in each song and create a smooth pulse and a laidback vibe, making it easy to just sit back and float along with the music. It’s probably perfect for a relaxing car ride. It’s music which is drenched with classical riffs and phrases where they add their own spices in a restrained way and still make it taste unique and fresh. Here are a couple of tracks from the album.
Dubious Quip, aka Daniel Rosenholm, makes a splendid comeback with the new album “The Fear”, his first release in 6 years. He is bringing 6 dub-inspired tracks which breathes of laidback grooves and a calm thoughtfulness. There’s a wonderful mix of retro influences, sound experimentation and acoustic tones. He moves effortlessly across various genres from for example the John Lee Hooker-beckoning “Boom Boom Boom”, to the soul vibing “Sunny Weather”, which makes me think of Bill Withers, to the R&B-inspired “Tears of Happiness”.
The title track “The Fear” is the last song and is a piano ballad about the fear of strangers that lurks behind many doors in our society. It’s a sad and painfully beautiful song, but there’s no resignation here, rather a calm decisiveness and a humble peace.
He has declared that all revenue from the record goes to the organisation Save The Children and their work for helping the Syrian refugees. The official release is on Friday but the entire album is available now on Bandcamp.
Mårten Lärka serves us another song in French, this time an energic, bluesy tune called “Robot”. It’s quite captivating , and I’m starting to feel like a robot as I get caught in the smooth, hammering rhythm. In Spring he released the single “Je Suis Un Rocker“, and I wrote then that he would release an album in May, but it’s actually next year, in 2016, when his album “Alouette” is coming out.
Heres a taste of Billy Momo’s second album “Drunktalk” which was released during Spring. The duo Tomas Juto and Oskar Hovell serve us 15 songs, starting with the splendid “I’ve Got You” that was featured here in the Autumn. The main ingredients are pop, blues and american folk, but that doesn’t stop them from adding some spices from for example Motown or Balkan folk. All in all it’s quite a tasteful, varied menu that leaves me with a laidback feeling embedded in a certain melancholy, whether this is siphoned from the folk layers or from the blues tones. An accomplished album with it’s very own personality. Here are three tracks from the record:
Meadowmusic presents new music from many corners and edges of the world, but with a strong focus on Swedish music. Listen, read, watch, comment and share the music. All songs you find here on this page have been approved for publication by the artists and labels.
Go to the contact page if you want to suggest music or if you have anything else to discuss.
