Billie The Vision & The Dancers

When the weather is really crappy and grey outside i turn on one of my happy-favorites Billie The Vision & The Dancers. They always makes me smile :)

I don't know much about them, but they fell into my life 2+ years ago thanks to an ex who saw them live in a festival. And that is their strength, they are out there performing and getting a very dedicated fan base.

If you dig under that joyful indie-pop-band shell you will find that they are always expressing happiness and joy, but also more complex feelings of loneliness. Its sometimes sad, but most of the time with a positive melody in the background somewhere. A who is that guy Pablo that keeps popping up in the songs? :)

They have released an album every year since 2004 and im pretty sure that they will keep up the same kind of productivity in the future, this is a band that really loves making music and you can hear it! The latest album I Used to Wander These Streets id definitely on my top 10 list of 2008. A few of my favorite Billie The Vision... songs are: Summercat, Ask for More, Apologize, City, A Beautiful Night in Oslo, Overdosing With You and I Belong To You just to name a few.

Luckily for you, their music is available as free downloads on their website and on last.fm. Have a listen, i know you wont regret it! Btw. make sure you make a donation when you download.

Press picture Martin Lindeborg

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Read more on Billie The Vision & The Dancers official website.
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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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Swedish Grammy '09

The Swedish Grammy award of 2009 had some prices for our favorites. These are a few of the winners:

Album of the year:
Anna Ternheim - Leaving On A Mayday

Group of the year:
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - Communion

Rock Group of the year:
In Flames A Sense Of Purpose

Female artist of the year:
Anna Ternheim - Leaving On A Mayday

Live act of the year:
Robyn

Song of the year:
E.M.D. - Jennie Let Me Love You

Male artist of the year:
Håkan Hellström - För Sent För Edelweiss

Newcomer of the year:
Kleerup - Kleerup

Composer of the year:
Kleerup - Kleerup

Producer of the year:
Kleerup - Kleerup

Lyrics of the year:
Annika Norlin - More Modern Short Stories From Hello Saferide

MTV award, Best video:
They Live By Night - Catching Up.
Regissör: Senay/ Kolacz

Grammy Live Act: Robyn


Grammy Live Act: A Camp


Grammy Live Act: Christian Walz

Loney, Dear [heart] Andrew Bird

Good news for all you citizens of the US. Loney, Dear is coming to a city near you. I have written about Emil before, urging you to take a listen. Now its time for Emil to release a long awaited new album: Dear John. On his official website he describes the new album as something darker than before or more precise "A dark record with a lava-ish glow from underneath".

Most os the US tour is a collaboration with his friend Andrew Bird, that you might have come across before. He also features in some of the song on the new album. The album is released January 27th in the US and March 15th here in Sweden. Go to Loney, Dear's Myspace and listen to the new song Airport Surroundings.

Tour Dates for the US tour:
12/10 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
12/12 Brooklyn, NY Union Hall
01/29 Northampton, MA Iron Horse
01/30 Boston, MA The Orpheum*
02/03 Washington, DC The 930 Club*
02/04 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse*
02/06 Orlando, FL The Plaza*
02/07 New Orleans, LA House of Blues*
02/09 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
02/10 Houston, TX Rudyard’s British Pub
02/11 Denton, TX Hailey’s
02/12 Austin, TX The Paramount Theater*
02/13 Albuquerque, NM The El Rey*
02/14 Tucson, AZ The Rialto*
02/17 Visalia, CA Howie and Son’s Pizza
02/18 Los Angeles, CA The Orpheum*
02/19 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
02/20 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
02/21 Portland, OR Roseland*
02/23 Seattle, WA The Moore*
02/24 Boise, ID The Knitting Factory*
02/25 Murray, UT The Murray*
02/26 Denver, CO The Ogden*
02/27 Omaha, NE Slowdown*
03/01 Chicago, IL Schubas

* = w/ Andrew Bird

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Find out more information on Loney, Dear's official website, on Myspace or Sub Pop.
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Press Photo: Peter Beste

Julklapp from Kent

Happy new year! 2009 will be a great year! Kent thought they should give their fans a Christmas gift, and thats why you can find På Drift? as a free download on their official website. [Get it while its hot!]

The song is made especially for the anti-bully organization Friends. And since Kent's music has helped generations of anxiety filled teens since the early 90ties so i think its a good choice for them to back up this organization.

Kent is one of the biggest indie bands in Sweden and has been since 1991 when the breakthrough came with the album Kent and the song Blåjeans that became a big hit. I have been following them since then, and i have all the albums like a true fan :] Although the teen anxiety has lifted i still get shivers when i listen to this.

Kent - På Drift? [commercial version from Swedish Television]


[More about Kent will surely come...]

The Holidays are Here!

For all of you Swedophiles who feel tired of the traditional Celine Dion Christmas songs i have something for you. Oh, no its Christmas! was released by Razzia Records last year and feature many of our favorite artists and their versions of Christmas songs.

Just to name a few: Hello Saferide, Kristofer Åström, The Soundrtack Of Our Lives, Maia Hirasawa, Laakso, Firefox AK, Tiger Lou among others.

Go check it out!

Petter – Mikrofonkåt

During the fall the Swedish Public Television [SVT] has given us a documentary series about Swedish artists called Dom Kallar Oss Artister [They call us Artists]. We have made visits to Per Gessle, Maia Hirasawa, Håkan Hellström among others... Unfortunately the programs is only in Swedish, but if you want to check it out you can do it here.

The other week we visited Petter, one of the big names on the Swedish hiphop scene for the last ten years. With five albums and countless of collaborations he is definitely one of the biggest hiphop artists in Sweden today. Its always interesting to see how the artists have every day lives like the rest of us with kids and bills. Im not a big hiphop connoisseur but i have a few favorite songs with Petter. One of them is the song Logiskt who comments on the every day life of Petter with the help of Säkert!

Logiskt


In the end of the show Teo Holmer performed an acoustic version of Petter's hit song Mikrofonkåt. I find covers fascinating to listen to when they have made something completely different and new from an existing song. [If you want to see Petter's original version, check it out here]

Teo Holmer - Mikrofonkåt


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More information about Petter is found on Petter.nu
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