Slowman, aka Svante Törngren, released his debut solo album last autumn. The title is “The Best of Slowman”, which is an interesting title. And after listening and some afterthought I find it a rather fitting name. This could very well be an album from someone that has released a number of records during the years. Also, it feels like an album from someone that has created music for many years and that has rounded up quite a lot of music, and is now presenting some of the best parts to us.
For those that like blues rock and to some extent country rock, this is a fiesta. 15 really good tracks, with wonderful guitars and a front man that stands steady and has a great expression. And considering all the giants in this genre, it really takes someone who is able to fill out his clothes to be able to go all the way here, and I really feel that Slowman is that someone.
A pleasant new acqaintance, new at least for me, is Lo Kivikas. Last year she released her debut EP “Master of Your Mind”, produced by Jair-Rohm Parker Wells, and you can listen to a couple of tracks from the EP here below.
It’s a nice mix of country, blues and rock, rather peaceful and intimate. Lo has a special voice, maybe like a bluesier Marianne Faithfull, and her voice fits perfectly in these nice arrangements, backed by these skilled musicians. Hammond, harmonica, lap-steel, violins colour the music and brings the best out of each song.
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”:
There’s been too little blues on meadowmusic.se, no doubt about it. At least if we’re talking about pure blues in it’s basic form. Of course the blues is present in a lot of the music we have presented, as an inspiration, a base and an origin of many of the different styles of music that have been presented here. But to dig down to the true soil of the blues isn’t easy; to expose this naked, dirty ground of yourself so we can feel it and also to add something new to this is limited to a few people.
How happy I am then, that I bumped into Slidin’ Slim. He digs down into the swamps like he’s done done nothing else and howls with his blues-vibrato so I can feel it. Slidin’ Slim feels for real! But does he add something new?
The answer is definitely yes! There is a weight and a play with new modern beats and sounds that I haven’t heard before in blues. And the way that he does it, without leaving the dirt and the swamp for one second, while his slide guitar cries out it’s moaning.
I like the close acoustic feeling when I listen to Ulf Ljusberg. My thoughts wander of to a small jazz or blues club, where people in a relaxed way are sitting down, sipping their beer, with their attention on Ulf and his collegues performing on stage. It feels familiar in a way.
It’s hard to directly put Ulf in a single genre. I would say that the base is the blues that often marries folk music in the songs, but there is more than that. There is a nice jazzy playfulness, which surprises me and catches my attention, and an experimention with rhythms that I seldom hear with other artists. Maybe it’s this last thing what makes me sense the uniqueness in Ulf’s music. That he can take an apparently common style and make something new out of it, with a different accent.
Ulf has released a number of EP:s, some of them under the name “Something From a Forest”, but since 2005 in his own name. Read an interview with Ulf on It’s a Trap.
On Ulf’s Last.fm page you can listen more and download songs. You can also visit his Myspace page.
Here’s three songs to enjoy:
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A pleasant new acqaintance, new at least for me, is Lo Kivikas. Last year she released her debut EP “Master of Your Mind”, produced by 
Pontus Snibb has just released his second solo album “Admiral Street Recordings II” (
There’s been too little blues on meadowmusic.se, no doubt about it. At least if we’re talking about pure blues in it’s basic form. Of course the blues is present in a lot of the music we have presented, as an inspiration, a base and an origin of many of the different styles of music that have been presented here. But to dig down to the true soil of the blues isn’t easy; to expose this naked, dirty ground of yourself so we can feel it and also to add something new to this is limited to a few people.
I like the close acoustic feeling when I listen to Ulf Ljusberg. My thoughts wander of to a small jazz or blues club, where people in a relaxed way are sitting down, sipping their beer, with their attention on Ulf and his collegues performing on stage. It feels familiar in a way.
