I have a premiere for you today as well. The producer and songwriter Joakim Persson has created the project Sagan om Alltings Förträfflighet and is releasing the 18 minute long piece “6 år” today. If you follow this blog you have heard Joakim before in the bands Tiny Union and  Century Of Ecstasy, but this is something completely different, and I recommend you to read the background story below before you listen.

This “instrumental lofi-monster with elements of poetry”, as he describes it, was created after he had browsed through 10 year old notes from a very dark period of his life. He continues:

“I was tired of everything and I decided to give myself 6 years to sort out my life and my feelings. During that time I scribbled down cryptic fragments of texts in my notebook. The music is an interpretation of the various phases of depression and in the end the idea of the 6 year period gets a bit blurred, and you can sense that the mist finally disperse and disappears.
The song also comes with an instruction of how to experience it: in solitude, standing by a window. Then the music becomes a dystopic soundtrack to everyday phenomenons and twist them into something very disturbing.”
(transl. from Swedish)

This is hardly some easy listening, but a fascinating and naked characterization of something hard and difficult in the lives of many people. Earlier this year Joakim released a debut album under the same project name, with songs of a totally different character, and next year he’s planning to release an electronic pop album, he says.

Site – på Facebook – on Spotify – on Apple Music

Koltrast (transl. Blackbird) is an odd bird in the world of hip hop, if I should call it hip hop. The band consists of the duo Bessem Bedziri, who is behind the beats and the soundscapes, and Olov Larsson, who delivers the lyrics. On their new album “Inre”, you can also find guests like Remedeeh, Henrik Stålnacke, Naomi Runa and Emilie Tejeda.

They explain that the core in the project from the start has been to experiment with the relation between words and sound, and even if the song below “Ruttna Röda Äpplen” (“Rotten Red Apples”) is closing in on hip hop with melody and a strong hook, much of what you can hear on the album would make a strong impression on a poetry recital as well as on a hip hop scene.

I think that they succeed extremely well in creating a connection between the somewhat desolate, melancholic music and Olov’s word imagery and a pleasant balance between the inner journeys and the outside scenery. There’s a strong bond to nature, which is evident in the song titles to start with, and to what I experince as being nordic. I also appreciate that Olov sings in his northern dialect which makes it feel more naked and closer.

You can listen to the album on Spotify. Follow the band on Facebook.

Ruttna Röda Äpplen

Burlin is a rare bird in hip hop, I’d say. It’s the poet who’s chosen hip hop to carry his lyrics rather than the hip hop artist that’s become a poet. This is empasized even further in the poetry readings in between the songs, as poetic comments to the sharp, hard song lyrics, which shows us seriousness as well as gallows humour.

Stefan Källström (Dirty Cannibal Peasants) has created the music and Burlin’s father, Christer (sr) Burlin excels in the dramatic readings (all in Swedish I’m afraid).

The EP, with it’s 10 tracks is available on Spotify. You can find Burlin on his site.

Jävla Burlin
O Gudar