Sunday, 28 March 2010

Life of a Swedish Music Dummy


Time to get personal. I go through my day with many different tunes and moods. You might think it's only time for Swedish music, but in fact I listen to lots and lots more than that. This is how a soundtrack of my day can sound like.

When I wake up in the morning I don't think about music, I think about going back to bed again ;) [I'm not really a morning person] but when I get out into the fresh air and walk to the bus my brain wakes up and I dig out the iPod from my jacket pocket. A couple of years ago I got myself one with lots of gigabytes so I can fit a lot of music and pictures. I usually put it on random, because I'm not very good at making decisions in the early morning hours... often featured in the morning is Jens Lekman, Loney Dear, Cat Power or Feist.

At work I start up my Spotify, the savior of my day! I put my headphones on and dig into my work as a Final Art/Graphic Designer. The day of a freelancer is never the same. Sometimes I work from my home office all day and sometimes I'm doing consultant work at companies. So the assignments vary, but the music is always with me. I start the day with something for a good mood, like Billie the Vision and the Dancers, work myself through some current playlists, [at the moment] The XX, Beach House, Moto Boy, Vashti Bunyan or Monsters of Folk... and later during the afternoon I might put on something from my of old favorites J. Tillman, Band of Horses, Rosie Thomas or Kings of Convenience.

During periods of insomnia I listen to Sigur Rós, Múm, Ólafur Arnalds and Jónsi and Alex at bedtime, it makes me sleepy and dreamy in the dark hours of the night...

Oh, and there is probably not a day that goes by without me listening to The Radio Dept. That is music that works with every mood :)

How does your soundtrack sound like?

Saturday, 27 March 2010

Hari and Aino

Felipe sent me an email and told me he made this video for a Swedish indie pop band called Hari and Aino, so i checked it out. Weee! I like it! The video and the twee pop songs went straight to my heart. I know nothing more about them yet, but please check them out, I promise you will like it :)

Hari and Aino have a Myspace and a official website, so take a look if you want to find out more! Their music is available on the big online music stores.

Btw. Felipe is a fellow music blogger, so check out his blog too! -->
Chaotisch und Charmant

Hari and Aino - All That Remains

Friday, 12 March 2010

Röyksopp [loves] Robyn

Let's start the weekend with some dancing with Röyksopp and lovely Robyn! Röyksopp and Robyn is working together on a song for Robyn's upcoming album later this year :)

Saturday, 6 March 2010

New album | Moto Boy


Oskar Humlebo aka Moto Boy just released his second album Lost in the Call. Moto Boy released his first album in early 2008 and it was something new with his romantic yet so simple songs and androgynous image. I love it!

You can listen to Moto Boy on Spotify, but you can also find out more and buy his new album on the official website for only 50 SEK | 5 EUR | 6 USD. Get your own copy today!

Moto Boy - Lost in the Call [album teaser]


Moto Boy - Early Grave [live on Swedish Television]

Monday, 1 March 2010

New video | Joel Alme

Joel Alme just released a video [with a sweet ending] for the second single If You Got Somebody Waiting of his second album, Waiting For The Bells. This song gives me 60ties vibes, but i don't know why. Do you? I think it might be how he emphasize certain words... Hmm.

The video is shoot on an island outside Stockholm in February and is directed by Mats Udd. Enjoy!

Joel Alme - If You Got Somebody Waiting

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Oscar Danielson


If you need some inspiration in your dull every day life, you should listen to Oscar Danielson's music. He writes about beautiful and sad little truths in life. I found him for the first time around the time he released his first album Schysst & Populär [1996] and fell in love with his jazzy singer song writer pop :) You could even say that his album was a major part of my youth, and will always stay with me as a loved one.

Since then, Oscar has released another three album, but is still pretty much unknown to the public [except for a small and devoted group of fans]. I hope you will fall in love with his music too!

"Du var som fem soliga dar, som kommer efter varandra på rad."

Oscar Danielson - Top of The Foodchain


Oscar Danielson - Gitarren Är Mitt Svärd


Find out more about Oscar on his official website or Myspace. You can also listen to all of his albums on Spotify. Photo above Mikeadelica.

Saturday, 13 February 2010

Illegal downloads on decline?




I read an interesting article the other day [thanks to honorary Dummy Jeroen] about the possible decline of illegal music downloads. Read the article at NY Times.com. It made me think of my own behavior and if it has changed, and i realized that it has. A year ago one was more inclined to turn to illegal downloads than today...

The reason it has changed is the growth of music services like Spotify. They make it easy to find new music and the cost for it is little compared to what it would cost to buy all the albums you listen to [99 SEK | 10 EUR | 13 USD for 30 days or free of charge with commercials at Spotify]. Well spent money my friend. For someone like me its ideal, I can listen to a lot of new music, and if I fall in love with an album I will buy it on CD [yes, i still buy CDs]. The best part is that the artist get's a little something every time you listen to their song :)

So, are you still downloading illegally? Please comment [you can be anonymous] below. Thanks!

So far Spotify is only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain. It will grow to new countries eventually, but in the meantime, try to find a similar service in your own home country.