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.

Last month Emerald Park released their second studio album “For Tomorrow”. The album is produced by Ola Frick from Moonbabies. You can listen and download two tracks from the album below.

And it is a strong album they have created. Dreamy, grand pop, but without the big poses is combined with an indie sound. A sound where I hear an ambition to create their own sound, without the polished edges which make music boring. And the fact that the album contains a number of great pop songs with direct, but yet interesting melodies doesn’t make it any worse.

If you’d like to listen more to Emerald Park and “For Tomorrow” you should visit their page on Last.fm or their Myspace page.

Värnhem:

Lights of Sunday
For Tomorrow

It’s a day of contrasts today. At six a’clock pm I’m going to church to listen to the Lucia performance. Traditional, beautiful and extra emotional since my little daughter is singing in the choir. And I’m sitting here, preparing myself by listening to something completely different. From the fully predictable to the total opposite. But, of course, there is also beauty in The Argument’s new album “Summer/Winter Nights”, so it’s not completely the opposite in all aspects.

This feels very fun to listen to. As I said, it feels unpredictable in this lo-fi indie-pop/rock from The Argument. You’ll find great pop gems mixed with considerably more experimental tracks. In one track I feel the vibes from Talking Heads and in another I hear Bright Eyes, but it’s far away from some kind of description of the music overall. Basically it feels quite unique.

The Argument are generous enough to offer their entire album free for download, track by track or the album in one zip-file. You can access this on The Argument’s page on Bandcamp. (excellent service Bandcamp, btw)
You can also visit The Argument on Myspace and also their blog.

Listen to three tracks from “Summer/Winter Nights”:

Forget About the Politics
What I Like
The Boat

It’s very easy to get caught by the music as Ram Di Dam gathers speed. Five guys from Majorna in Göteborg, who have something really good going on. They have just released their first single “Flashbacks” (Mock Turtle Music) and soon an EP awaits, produced by Kristian Anttila, who also produced “Flashbacks”.

If one can speak about direct music, then it’s here, when Ram Di Dam’s indie-pop-disco bomb explodes already in the first beats. It feels like that The Strokes have started a collaboration with Melody Club and decided to increase the pace and drop the synths. Try to sit still as you listen to “Flashbacks” here below.
And that this is based on a live act that is something special just makes it even better. Jerry is a witness to this.

Flashbacks

If you feel that you can’t get enough, I suggest that you visit Ram Di Dam’s Myspace page

Sol Wikström is Sol Skugga and has just released her new album “Gardenia”. And her name Sol Skugga (Sun Shadow) catches what I feel most strongly about in the music of “Gardenia: the contrasts. Between the beautiful and the disturbing, between the old and the new, between the grand and the low-voiced.

Overall it feels beautifully dark with Sol’s classical voice pouring like a clear trickle through the mellow ambience, whether it’s a folk-inspired piece or a more dense goth-inspired music. The electronica forms the base of the music, but a great interplay with foremost brilliant guitars and violins creates nice contrasts.

You should go and visit Sol Skugga’s site where you can listen to all the tracks of “Gardenia” and read more about her. Sol Skugga is also on Myspace.
Here you have the two first tracks from the album and the video for “Empty Street”.

Intuition
Until Now