We all need some breathing space somtimes, a moment where we can sit down and just look out the window, maybe daydream a little, maybe just watch what’s happening outside and just be. I find this space when i listen to Lovisa Samuelsson. Maybe it also helps that two of her songs are called “Andrum” (“Breathing Space”) and “Fönsterplats” (“Window Seat”). :-)

Backed by piano or guitar and sometimes a cello she performs soft, beautiful jazz ballads. Listen here below, and if you’d like to listen to more songs you can visit Lovisa Samuelsson on Myspace. There you can also buy her EP.

Andrum
Drunken Heart Song
Fönsterplats

After listening to Best-of Christmas albums too many times, too many Christmases, I thought it would be nice to find some new favourites. And why not start looking among all the artists we have presented here at Meadowmusic?

So, here’s a collection of new christmas songs, and I hope that you too will find some songs that gives you that extra Christmas atmosphere.

Merry Christmas!

ad dios, the masters of ambience have created their own version of an old Christmas carol. On their site you can also download the wav-file of the song and a cover, so that you create your own Christmas gift.
Once In Royal David’s City

The Deer Tracks
Christmas Fire

Twiggy Frostbite
Lanterns & Stars

Mikael Herrström (with his own version of Hanoi Rocks’ song. Mikael will be presented in an upcoming post.)
Dead By X-mas

Maini Sorri, buy her Christmas EP here.
Our River Runs On Christmas Night

Strangers In Wonderland
Flickan i fönstret

Christian Björklund and Chuck Dread
O, helga natt (Chuck Dread remix)

Pär Enqvist Band
Blir det nån jul i år?

SvenStures Poporkester, the children’s pop band, world famous in Skåne, Sweden, also gives away their new album for free download. If you’d like to listen to the songs you can visit their site. (in Swedish)
Nissarnas A-lagskapten

Already after a few beats in the first song, I’m caught by Nina Christensens emotional vocals. She gives a full expression to the music, strongly, playfully and stretches the melodies to new forms.

It’s difficult to describe Skilla’s music. I can’t find any direct references to use here. Well, you can’t deny that there is a lot of folk music influences here and besides the melodies the violin makes this even more obvious. Mix that with pop, drama, dreams and playful melodies and you’ll come somewhere close to a description.

Best, though, is if you listen for yourself and feel their music, because this is music you really feel:

Tragic Song:

Summer In December
Sun In the End of Today
Tragic Song

The songs come from Skilla’s debut album, which was released earlier this year. If you want to listen more and know more about Skilla, then you should visit their Myspace page and Skilla’s site.

There’s been too little reggae in this blog, no doubt about it. Hopefully we will have new writers in the future to write about great swedish reggae artists. Even if I don’t listen that much to reggae myself, I couldn’t help to fall for Kultiration. I at least haven’t heard this mix of reggae, folk and jazz before.

Violins and accordion paint beautiful mellow folk music melodies to the backbeat, Marcus Bergs vulnerable, naked voice conveys soul, thoughts and social criticism and the brass lifts it all with nice arrangements. It may be melancholic but it nevertheless feels elevating. Maybe it’s the backbeat in itself, maybe it’s the feet that start moving when I listen.

Kultiration is now working on their fourth album, which will be released in April next year. Here you can listen to two tracks from their album “Döden föder” (I-Ration Records) and watch a video from a TV4 performance.

“En timme kvar att leva” (“An hour left to live” from TV4 Nyhetsmorgon):

Glömd e jorden
Rikemansghetto

If you want to listen some more you can visit Kultiration’s site, their Myspace page and Kultiration on Last.fm

I thought it was time for some blues again. This time with the blues veteran Brian Kramer, who have recently released the album “Live at Club Stampen” under the name Brian Kramer & the Nights of Blu-topia. Brian invites us to an intimate and soulful performance in the company of great musicians like Mats Qwarfordt, “Iron Hand” Mike Haglund, Marcelo Nunez and Peter Freij.

It’s a wonderful collection of songs that Brian presents here. I find a nice earthy, positive (can I say that?) blues, together with folk music and bluegrass, which makes my feet move, and also nice bluesy singer/songwriter tunes. Good music, of course, always comes from within, but somewhere I feel that the blues lies as close as you can get to the soul. And judging from what I hear it would be real nice to meet a person like Brian Kramer.

Of course you should go to Brian Kramer’s site and his Myspace page to read more about him and to listen more to his music.

Here’s two tracks from Brian Kramer and the Nights of Blutopias’ “Live at Club Stampen”:

I Get It Wrong
Everything Is Headed Somewhere