In one of the nicest pubs and restaurants on Söder in Stockholm, Akkurat, you can find also one of the coolest songwriters and artists in Stockholm, Stene. A long life with music, with hard rock and recidency in the USA, Americana and as a part of Månmen together with Pär Enqvist, in that order, has finally resulted in a debut album: “Better to Take a Stand” (Rootsy Records)

And what a debut album it is! 14 intense tracks in a variety of styles, but that in the end makes me feel like standing on American soil. Here he seems secure and his own in some sense, with a production that’s very careful and precise, and with a feeling that’s manifested by his vocals, melodies and lyrics. I love these special voices, which in this case shows similarities with one of my favourites, John Hiatt, but with more depth and more seriousness.

Listen to the songs below, download them, and buy the album if you like.
If you’d like to see Stene playing live, the best bet is to checkout the schedule at
Akkurat.se.

Born Blue
Telltale Dust

Read more about Stene and buy the record at Rootsy
The songs and the album are also available on Itunes, CDon et al

Stene’s home page

At a first glance I thought I had had a tip about yet another trucker-cap-rapping Lidingö islander who hired a pal in order to get some publicity. But then…this was something else.

Levis-commercials gone magic, at last a swedish rapper who doesn’t collect troublesome rhymes and harmful south coast beats It’s inventive and feels alive and real and somehow it fills up a kind of void in me.

“Den här ungtuppen har putsat fjädrarna sen lunchrushen” (“This young rooster has been grooming his feathers since the noon rush”) is only one of many resourceful ways in the song “BS” to establish the fact that he’s a little bit smarter than the rest in this line of business.

BS sounds like a blend of Timbaland production and JQ. The wittyness of the rhymes sound somewhat like Robert Blom with a touch of fifteen year old voice-broken provocateur – and that is definitely meant as a compliment. It adds a little edge to something that else might have been somewhat lame.

On the MySpace page there’s also a number that feels more like everyday swedish hiphop beat. “Johnny Depp 08” has got a lot of Timbuktu, which obviously ain`t ever all bad.
Your are anywayze recommended a visit to the MS page of Zacke.

To find Zacke’s music:
http://www.myspace.com/zackemusik
http://www.zackemusik.se/

An mp3-song:
Johnny Depp 08

BS – from Youtube:

(translated by Aurgrunn)