This is the hundredth post on this blog. It means that we so far have presented ninetynine artists, songwriters and producers. We thought of celebrating this by having a mini cavalcade with songs from some of the artists we have reviewed. Many of these songs are exclusive for download only here on Meadowmusic, and I hope that they are shared with people all over the world if you as a visitor like the songs.

We, here on Meadowmusic, are overwhelmed by all the support we have received since we started in the beginning of July. We started this because it felt like we were carrying around a secret that we just had to share with the world. And the secret was that there’s so much fantastic Swedish music, that seldom is played on the radio or other mainstream channels. And that this music is just as good, well, in fact much better than what is heard there. Well, it’s not a secret anymore, is it?

First we would like to thank you as a visitor, because you come here and listen to the music. Every visit, every time you listen, every recommendation to a friend, every mention of what you hear contributes to the promotion of the artists and their music, and to the support of this blog.
Thank you for all mail and tips and also for the communication with the artists.

We also would like to thank all the artists that support us. And I don’t mean only the artists that we have presented here, but also all of you that have contacted us, telling us that what we do is important and great. Thank you!

Below you’ll find some extra songs with artists from earlier posts. (Click on the artist’s name to go to the post about the artist.)

Pär Edwardson in a fantastic song about a girl with huge hair
The Girl With the Huge Hair

Aurgunn, the poet, on bliss
Saligheten

Lasse Söhr has produced Isak Strand in this song
The Lie

Maini Sorri sings about Goose-Liisa
Hanhi-Liisa

Angelica wishes that you let her enter
Let Me In

Chris Michols wants to go home
I Wanna Go Home

Listen to Jamin Pirnia in a collaboration with Nihad Tule
Are You Happy Now?

Andreas Lundgren is so cool
Sunset-lover

Some Kind of Rubus sings about Goula, “no one could fool’er”
Goula

Rock with Bodies
Loser

And 100 % energy with The Rumble
The Long Run

Martin Bentancourt, whom, together with David Silva, gave the FRA debate some groove this summer, with his hit “Första generationens svenne”
Första generationens svenne

Last but not least the cool Zed Is Dead
Soul Pollution

I think that we’ll be hearing about Peter Dahlin a lot more in the future. He presents a pleasant indie pop with strong melodies and on top of this his bright, sensitive voice. When I listen to his earlier EP “Out In the Snow” (Peter Dahlin and Sleeping Beauty, 2005), it reminds me a lot of the light and happy feeling from the music of Belle & Sebastian.

Underway is a split EP together with Thor Rutgersson, to be released in the first half of 2009. Another interesting project that Peter is involved in, is the live club MaydaySticky. He runs this together with Mattias Dristig since 2004, and it all takes place in Sticky Fingers in Göteborg. Once a month four independent artists performs, and the selection of artists is based on different themes for each club night.

Out In the Snow:

You can listen to two songs here, where “Det snurrar i min skalle” (a cover of a song by Familjen) is a collaboration with Annelie, whom we presented a few weeks ago here on Meadowmusic.

Chance to Dance
Det snurrar i min skalle

Visit Peter Dahlin on Myspace

If there’s any artist that I would confess to having been a fan to, and then in the sense of being slightly fanatic, then it would be David Bowie. It was worst in junior high school, when the walls of my room was covered with photos and attempts were made trying to look like the idol. In high school the fanatic part of it all vanished, but Bowie was there to mark my identity. Others were hard rockers or devoted to synth pop; I was a Bowie fan.

My admiration for this fantastic artist is still there and has always been there. As an admirer I have always been sceptical of artists trying to cover his work, maybe not so unusual with that attitude; the original rules. So far I can’t really come up with anyone that has succeeded in making something really good. Bauhaus made a decent cover of “Ziggy Stardust” in the eighties though. Maybe you know of someone else?

Up until now! I heard a few songs from Max Lorentz’ “Kiss You In the Rain – Max Lorentz Sings David Bowie”, my initial scepticism was completely swept aside after a while, and in the end I was completely caught. Now that I’ve heard the entire album I feel childishly entranced by how damn’ great this is. If I was to choose only one album out of all the albums I’ve listened to this year, and I’ve heard quite a few, I would choose this one without hesitation.

Max has chosen one song from every studio album Bowie made between 1967 and 1980 (except Pinups), and the choices are not the most obvious ones (which is great), at least not for the wider audience. But what great songs they are, and how Max emphasises this in his interpretations!

Carefully he undresses the songs to rebuild them again, trying to catch the essence of the songs. Completely acoustic and with the help of fantastic jazz musicians like Patrik Boman, Wojtek Goral, Karl-Martin Almqvist, Per “Texas” Johansson and André Ferrari with the addition of Bebe Risenfors, Anna Sise and his sons Kevin and Loi.

The original is always there, respectfully regarded with love, and influences the songs to various degrees. Sometimes it means more naked acoustic versions like in “Five Years” below, and sometimes he creates new pieces of musical art like in “All the Madmen” and “Blackout”, which you can listen to here. Other songs come alive in a way that they never have done before like for example “Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me”, “When I Live My Dream” and “Can You Hear Me”.

Well, I have to mention Max Lorentz’ voice here, a voice with an incredibly nice depth, which touches Bowie’s own in the lower registers. That cool, relaxed voice that many of us love. Many times he follows Bowie faithfully in the phrasings but when a song permits it, he makes his own case.

Do you have to be a Bowie fan to appreciate this? No, definitely not. This stands for itself as a piece of innovative art with a great feeling, and the songs in themselves belong to the classics of pop and rock history , but luckily haven’t been played too many times on radio, and still have a lot to give.
Now to the sad part. The album is not out yet and I have no exact information on when this will happen. I suggest that you go to Max Lorentz’ Myspace page and urges him on a little.
For Bowie fans it could be interesting with a list of all the tracks: “Station to Station pt1”, “Five Years”, “All the Madmen”, “Be My Wife”, “Drive-In Saturday”, “Blackout”, “When I Live My Dream”, “Scream Like a Baby”, “Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me”, “Quicksand”, “Yassassin”, “Cygnet Committee”, “Can You Hear Me”, “Station to Station pt2”

Listen and download:

Five Years
All the Madmen
Blackout

Listen some more by visiting Max Lorentz on Myspace.

Max has also released four solo albums, which all have their own page, where you can listen and tell him what you think:

Lovely – 1994
Bravo – 1996
12 Songs – 2000
The World Is Watching – 2004

With Sarah Nilsson, singer and songwriter in the band Once Upon a Girl, I find one of those special voices that stands out and sticks to my mind. A lot of expression, warm, somewhat dramatic and with a unique tone.

This is simple and straight pop music, with influences from different sources, from classic pop from the sixties, to newer ballad pop and indie pop. There is a nice groove and it feels positive and full of joy.

Sarah tells me what she wants with her music:
“Honestly, in the moment of creation I mostly write just for myself. But the fantastic part comes afterwards, when you happen to touch someone. Therefore I have a small wish to be able to create small musical pills. Pills that goes straight to the heart of my listeners and create all kinds of chemical processes, without any synthetic substances. Happy pills, thrilling, calming and hopefully comforting pills. Quick-working pills that emphasize our sense of being alive.”

The others in the band are Marika Willstedt, piano, Alexander Kronbrink, guitars, Johan Ivansson, bass och Samuel Lindberg, drums. What you can listen to below is the result of a joint process of creation that starts with Sarah:
“The songs are born at home, often from the starting point of a phrase which through lilting evolves into a melody. I hear the harmonies in my head, but what their names are I most often find out afterwards by playing my old piano, which I’ve played (rather badly, I might add) since I was eight. A method of songwriting that works perfectly when your main instrument is your voice.

At this point I present my songs to the band. The lyrics are written on a piece of paper with the chords annotated above the words. I start to sing and they join in and afterwards we marvel over what we have created that day”

“Not Over You” (produced by Peter Wirén)

Listen to four songs with Once Upon a Girl. All lyrics and music by Sarah Nilsson exept for “Paper Doll”, where Alexander Kronbrink helped out with the music.
My own favourite is “Rebecca’s Song, what’s yours?

Oh No Not Again
Not Over You
Paper Doll
Rebecca’s Song

Visit Once Upon a Girl on Myspace

The producer

Some people may know him as Jonas Wickman, others as Bordun. When I first came in contact with his music and his production, it was like living on a flat earth and suddenly realise that it’s actually a globe. Jonas’ strange sound landscapes and emotional dimensions, opened me up and confronted me. Maybe not so much the music itself, but the feelings that grew inside when I listened; I was at the same time freightened and fascinated.

And I believe this is Jonas’ strength; the buildup of emotional atmospheres. He says that he has been living on the so called soft side of life. Art, philosophy, food and pleasure. And of course also music! And it all adds up in some way here. It’s artistry in the shape of music.

I think that Jonas really shows how important the producer role is. To build these sound backgrounds and sceneries behind the artist. A good producer can lift a mediocre artist right up in the sky, but above all, a good producer makes the artist and the music come out.

Listen here to a collaboration between Aurgrunn, Miss Allena, and Jonas:

Storm

And another collaboration with the artist Tobbe Möller:

Sanity

And here is a gem from his own works:

När kommer du igen

Last spring Jonas released an album, in a producer collaboration with Robert Wahlström/Jonas Färnlöv, called Umami (Plugged Records)

Among the participating artists were Freddie Wadling, Caroline af Ugglas, Desmond Foster, Ardis, Katarina Niklasson, Safiye Färnlöv, T-Root and Caroline Wennergren; artists that all share the same passion as the producer trio. That is, art and music.

Good In Colours:

Listen to Umami on Myspace and visit their site.

Buy the record on CDon and ITunes