Du Gråter Så Store Tåra

I know, i know... Ane Brun is not Swedish, she is a "Stockholmare from Norways north-west coast" as said by Skavlan. I can't help myself so i have to tell you that she now also sings beautifully in Norweigan.

Don't miss this video, it's Youtube fresh and right of the national Swedish TV. Below you can compare it with the English version if you like.

Ane Brun – Du gråter så store tåra [Norweigan]


Ane Brun – Du gråter så store tåra [English]

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?

Happy Lucia Dummies!

Today is the day when Saint Lucia comes with lights, gingerbread cookies and song for us up here in the north :) Happy Lucia!

Busy days and Taken by Trees

Busy times in my part of the world. In less than two weeks Im featured as one of five Photographers in an exhibition here in Gothenburg. I don't have much time to listen to new music before the opening, so i turn to my old favorites when my head is crowded with creative worries.

Although...

If you should listen to something new this week, you should listen to Taken by Trees new album East of Eden that was recorded in Pakistan under adventurous circumstances [read the press release on the official website]. The album has clear eastern influences that we aren't used to take part of in pop music. Taken by Trees [Victoria] is known for her special singing voice in The Concretes and the big hit Young Folks with Peter, Björn and John.

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Find out more about Taken by Trees on the official website, and listen to the new album at Spotify.
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Poor Jens!

Off topic news! You might have heard that Jens Lekman picked up what is commonly known as the Swine-flu when he went to South America to play live. In Jens's own words: "I picked home one last souvenir from South America, it's called the H1N1 virus."

He is now recovering in quarantine and hoping that he will get well soon! Jens: "I can see the summer through my window and it's just perfect. Summer is always best through a window."

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More information about Jens is found on his website.
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Who is your favorite?

Who is your favorite Swedish artist, and why? The world, and I, want to know more about the people reading this blog. Therefor i now open the blog for guest entries!

Email me at swedishmusicfordummies[at]gmail.com and i will publish your story.

Ane in Haarlem

Last weekend I had the privilege to see Ane Brun live in the Patronaat in Haarlem [Holland] and it was my first time seeing this lovely lady outside of Sweden. It was the last show of the European tour of the Sketches. Sketches is the acoustic version of the latest album Changing of The Seasons that was released last spring. I bought it at Klicktrack, and so can you!

Ane and her diamonds were in a great mood and it was fun to see her make small talk in English instead of Swedish in between songs. She dedicated the song Changing of The Seasons to me and my fellow Scandinavians that night :)

Pssst! Ane is going on a Scandinavian tour after the summer, but if you are lucky you can see her in the UK during may. Check out more specific tour dates at AneBrun.com

Black Cab Sessions

The past week I have been addicted to the Black Cab Sessions. Its full of acoustic live acts recorded on video in a black cab in London, with a lot of great artists and bands. Some of the great ones is Swedes that are being hyped at the moment, like Jens Lekman, Lykke Li, Peter, Björn and John and fellow Scandinavian Ane Brun.

Jens is performing his song Black Cab, but the cab Jens is singing about is not the black cabs of London, its actually the black cab market in Gothenburg [and the sometimes dangerous men that drives them].

You can also find a lot of great non-Swedish music like Ryan Adams, Death Cab for Cutie, Martha Wainwright, Daniel Johnston, Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver to name a few. All of these are worth to check out [if you haven't already].

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Check out more at BlackCabSessions.com
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Off topic with PSL

...and just because its so freakin good, Glasvegas and Kate Nash is making a guest appearance, recorded by PSL.

Glasvegas [James Allan] - Geraldine


Kate Nash - Foundations

Drottninglandet

Earlier this spring the photographer Elin Berge and musician Frida Hyvönen released their collaboration Drottninglandet, a photographical work with special written music. Its an interesting way to combine two artistic expressions and make them into one. Something i would love to do myself someday.

The picture's show images of the life of Thai women in the deep forests of northern Sweden. The title of the exibition; Drottninglandet [Queen country] have several depths since the area is bearing many names of Swedish queens through history, but also because it is now inhabited by many Thai women, coming from a country that often is referred to as "The Kingdom". Read more about it [here] on Hasselblad Center's website. Friday Hyvönen also have ties to the area, since she was born and raised in Robertsfors, a small city outside of Umeå.

Its possible to buy the book with the images, and with that you also get Frida's CD. Isn't that a great way to spend an afternoon?

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Read more about the exhibition at Hasselblad Center, at Frida's and Elin's websites.
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Record Store Day | April 18th

In the past week we have been able to read about the fact that Sweden now officially is a part of the world-round celebration of the Record Store Day on April 18th.

The past years a lot of Gothenburg's and Sweden's record stores have become victims of internet stores and downloads (legal and illegal). And i understand why, its cheaper and has a better coverage of all the music available for us. And its open 24|7. A colleague of mine said that she buys her music online when the kids are asleep at 11 pm at night. She could never find the time to actually go to a store and "shop around". Its easy to do it online, but shopping for music has lost that mystical feeling that is surrounding a record store. How many of us music nerds haven't dreamed of being slightly more like Rob [in High Fidelity] from time to time? I know i did.

The forecast for Swedish records stores are bleak. The local newspaper made some research and most of the one's that are open today will probably have to close down within the year. A business can't run on passion alone. A few is planning to start selling online too, or create a special nisch that attracts more people. Thought's of creating music cafés has been mentioned. Only the future will know.

Its with a slightly melancholy feeling i will celebrate the Record Store Day this spring. Sales, live acts and celebrations will hopefully attract the crowds too.

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Read more about The Record Store Day on the official website
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Disappointments of a dinosaur

A month with Spotify and the joy of something new and inspiring has worn off a bit. The possibilities are so endless that it feels a bit soulless after a while. At times i felt a bit forced trying to find what i have always missed, music wise, other times im disappointed for not being able to find some of the somewhat underground artist's that i like. No surprise there, its mostly big labels that have connected themselves to the database.

The news surrounding Spotify this week is regarding the fact that the big labels now wants to limit the use of songs and artists depending on where you live etc. What was from the start a great idea will now be limited and slowly fade away. Because we all know that if the customer feels limited and cant find what they are looking for, they will probably go back to illegal downloads again.

With nostalgia i remember the old hunt for cheap records (and im not the only one feeling that way) and im not even one of those people who bought a lot of LP's back in the day. I still love the smell of a great printed cover, like mini pieces of art to bright up my day. These days my record shopping is limited to buying them at gigs, directly from the artist with the memory of a great live experience connected to the little piece of plastic. I know im a relic, a dinosaur, a dying breed, but i still love CD's.

Spotify Press Picture

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Read more about the news at Spotify.com
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... help!

Hi everyone! Seems like the layout for my blog isn't wide enough to fit Youtube's widescreen videos. I'm not blessed with a talent to edit HTML code, so im asking if any of you, the readers, knows how to do this?

Im very grateful for any help i can get!

Spotify yourself!

For the better part of 2008 people started to whisper about Spotify and how great it was, to get an invite to this great musical mystery was granted only a few very hip and happening people. So, finally, late 2008 i gave in to the curiosity and beg some of my friends for an invite and started listening.

Spotify is one of those applications that will change the way we listen to music once again. Its a Swedish invention to make it easier for people to listen to all the music they want, legally, for free. You have an account and that account give you access to a lot of music on a server. Its financed with commercials, but you can buy yourself a commercial free subscription. Its said to the the salvation for the record industry that's currently on its knees from plummeting record sales. The artist's/labels get paid for every song played, fair for every one.

I didn't want to write about it until i tried it, so that's why im the last one in Sweden to blog about this ;) The commercials are not that frequent, so i don't find it as annoying as the commercial radio channels we've got here. Much better. The music server is lacking some of my more alternative choices, but more and more music is added every day. It has given me the opportunity to look up some of the music that i want to sample but isn't sure i want, which is great. Another nice thing is that the developers made it possible for us last.fm nerds to scrobble directly from Spotify :)

So sign up for a paid try-out or beg someone for an invite and start exploring all that music you have been wondering about!

Press pictures from Spotify's playful "google-ish" headquarters. Work and play in symbiosis.

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Find out more at Spotify.com
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Lucia

Its the darkest time of the year, with only 5 hours of daylight per day... [ugh!] Now its also time for the St Lucia holiday, to celebrate the saint Lucia who brings light to us in the dark. It all started at the time when Sweden was Catholic and needed to incorporate the pagan mid-winter celebrations into the christian faith.

Anyway... Its still a very nice tradition filled with songs, candle lights and sweets :) And because its Lucia weekend here in Sweden i will give you a treat of a traditional Swedish Luciatåg [train of singing girls].

If you want to find out more about this tradition you can read about it here.

Dedicate a Song

I have this thing that i do, every day, sometimes many times per day... I dedicate songs to people in my life. No one knows this because i do it silently in my head. Its my secret. Sometimes its long and emotional dedications with reasons and feelings and sometimes its short ones, just because a song reminds me of someone special. I do it on the bus with my ipod, when i do my dishes or at night when im about to sleep. Who do you want to dedicate a song to?

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Today i dedicate this song to Jeroen. You are my light!

You are the light [Jens Lekman cover performed by a guy called Dimitri]

Thursday Update

A Thursday update: I got the new Hello Saferide album in my mailbox yesterday and what i heard so far is potentially very good, although different from before. More updates will come on that later, because im still digesting a great live performance from Bon Iver from last night. He is from Wisconsin, so i wont write about it here ;) but you can check it out here if you want.

Otherwise the blog is alive and well, over 300 visitors so far :) Im also grateful for all the comments and recommendations that are being sent to me on my last.fm, i check them out as soon as i can! Just know that i read them all! Also, feel free to comment on the blog, make connections to other Swedish or foreign artists that may be of interest to more people.

Over and out.

Bad Connection

I have some problem with my broadband connection. Its difficult for me to stay online long enough to publish... a real patience killer :( Im doing my best and hopefully everything will work 100% soon.