Hari and Aino is not a duo, as the name suggests, but a 5-member band with Andrea Dahlkild, with her Debbie Harry-sounding voice, behind the microphone. The music they create definitely belongs to the music-that-makes-you-happy-category. In an uncomplicated and clean way, they step lightly with bright, beautiful melodies. Part like a more pop-sounding Blondie and part like a modern indie pop band.

Earlier this year they released a much appreciated debut album (Plastilina Records) and this winter they release a singel on vinyl “A Considerate Kind of Home” (Cloudberry Records), and you can listen and download one of the tracks from the single below.
If you want to see them live and are close by Uppsala this week (and if you´re a student), then you can watch them at V-dala Nation’s live club on Friday. In February next year they will tour England, playing in London, Brighton, Birmingham among other cities.

Gold (or something just as nice):

Enjoy three tracks by Hari and Aino:

Second Song
Seasons
A Considerate Kind of Home

Visit Hari and Aino on Myspace or on Last.fm if you’d like to listen to and download more tracks.
I you want to buy their debut album, it’s available at Plastilina Records’ site.

Reviews of Hari and Aino’s debut album: Too Much Apple Pie, Absolut Noise, indie-mp3

The first time I heard Vindra, a couple of years ago, I dismissed them somewhat hastily. But the more songs I listened to they grew upon me and I started to hear the facets of their music. I like their style, and in fact I think they have found their own lane with a sound that feels like it’s their own.

From my point of view this feels like a mix between the FM rock of the eighties and some of the more atmospheric pop of this century, if that makes sense to you :-) I like the space in their productions, the dynamics, in the middle of the present loudness war with all compressed pop and rock releases, and it makes me rather comfortable to listen to Vindra for a while. Of course inventive and creative songwriting helps along with a high class singer and front man.

Vindra comes from Linköping, Sweden, they started as a band in 2004 and have released two EP:s sofar and this year participated on three collections. In 2009 they will release their debut full length album.

Get to know Vindra:

Will We Ever Know
Incomplete
Clouds

Besök Vindra’s site and Vindra on Myspace

The duo Newgate Fringes consists of Jesper Zakrisson and Johan Hansson and they celebrate 5 years as a band this winter. They have released three albums before and are just about to release their fourth, “Keeping the Score”. I recommend you to visit Newgate Fringes’ site, where you can download and listen to many tracks from their earlier records.

This is singer/songwriter music with a mellow touch, with tight beautiful vocal harmonies and nice guitar arrangements. In their latest album they produced an ambience that made me sometimes think of the early sixties with Everly Brothers and early Simon & Garfunkel, emphasized by the great percussion ideas in some tracks.

With the new songs they have moved on to larger arrangements with more instruments, but still with the same base and feeling in the songs. You can taste this by listening to two tracks here below. “In Her Shoes” is a track originally from the album “Collecting Your Points”, but this newer version is produced by David and Ludwig Franzén at Arrowstreet Recordings in Umeå. The Score is produced by the band.

In Her Shoes
The Score

Visit Newgate Fringes’ site and their Myspace page

Kim Stranne is a happy angry man. He has picked up the somewhat abandoned Swedish prog rock pen and sharpened it. He doesn’t forget, though, to sometimes pick up a softer brush instead, to celebrate life, people and love.

The music has a lot of variation; from softer ballads, to more dramatic rock to folk music inspired prog rock. Nice melodies, but he doesn’t complicate things, because the main purpose is to bring the message forward in a distinct and interesting way. And I think he succeds in this. The finishing touch is Kim’s voice that has that extra glow that can catch fire if needed and make the song ignite.

The lyrics are carefully written, and there is a poetic vein here that closes in on the subject in a different way than just pressing down opinions down the listener’s throat. And he has a good feeling for those frases and interesting titles that makes you want to listen more, and, if you like, take it with you afterwards.

Last year Kim Stranne & Kollektivet released their first album “Svart på vitt” and they are now in the studio recording the sequel, planned to be released in spring next year.
Here you can listen to and download two songs from “Svart på vitt”, “Aldrig” (“Never”) and “Jag litar inte på folk” (“I don’t trust people”), where the chorus line of the last song very well could serve as a slogan for the current intense Swedish debate over the IPRED law: “Jag litar inte på folk som inte litar på folk” (“I don’t trust people who don’t trust people”).

Aldrig
Jag litar inte på folk

Read more at Kim Stranne & Kollektivet’s site or go  to Myspace to listen more.

Behind this bandname hides Petter Hillström, who released his debut album “Hillström & Billy” on the 10th of November. If you are one of those that have started using your old record player again, then this release is perfect for you since the physical release of the album is on vinyl.

“American roots music and British folk with a light twist of modern pop” Petter describes his music. A good description, although in my ears the pop influence is more than a light twist in many songs. I have no problem with that since these songs are really good pop songs, and also quite varying, with nice melodies and sometimes with a retro feeling. This together with the more folk based tracks makes the album very interesting. Below you can listen to a couple of songs.

If you’re in Stockholm tonight, I can recommend a visit to the live club Bara Unplugged where Hillström & Billy will perform together with Mårten Lärka and Kinski.

If You Don’t Come Home
Hard to Grasp

Visit Hillström & Billy on Myspace