GBG Belongs To Us

The song GBG Belongs To Us is part II in a three part love letter to Gothenburg, made by the duo Air France. The track was made together with Christina Roos from Cat 5 [another electronica duo from Gothenburg].

Air France is a Gothenburg based duo with Joel Karlsson and Henrik Markstedt. The music has a summery aura, with light tunes, mixes of sounds of nature and sweet female voices [I find resemblance to Australian The Avalanches]. Air France have released two EPs so far, but The Love Letter to GBG feels like a teaser of more to come. I'm hoping for more collaborations and great mixes soon.

Check out the love letter to GBG here ---> GBG belongs to us
Also, an interview made by Pitchfork here ---> Air France feature

Photo by: Teresa Jaksectic

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More information about Air France can be found on their Myspace.
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Kristofer Åström & The Rainaways

Last night me and my friends went to see Kristofer Åström at Liseberg. Liseberg is the oldest amusement park in Sweden and every summer they have a full schedule of live concerts for their visitors. Since the amusement park is close we can drop by for some music and an ice cream every week.

Last night Kristofer and The Rainaways came to play for us on the little stage. It was a sunny and humid summer night and the songs played are mixed with the sound of the visitors in the park. A lot of iiiih and aaaaaah from the rollercosters. That's the charm of going to concerts at Liseberg; the sounds, the smell of cotton candy and the great mixture of people in the audience [hipsters, teenagers, Moms with strollers, seniors and German tourists].

Kristofer has always been a very productive artist, he was a member of one of the best rock bands in Sweden, Fireside, for ten years. After that he has been recording a new singer/songwriter album almost every year since 1998. Most of them has been recorded with the band The Hidden Truck, but the last one, Sinkadus, was made together with The Rainaways. He also recorded a song with his friend Britta Persson [see below].

You can find Sinkadus at Spotify.

All Lovers Hell


The Wild [featuring Britta Persson]


Conjure Me


One Good Moment


Poor Young Mans Heart


Until Tomorrow


Press Photo

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Check out his Myspace for more information!
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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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Moneybrother

Moneybrother [aka Anders Wendin] is a energetic indie artist who combines rock, pop, soul, punk and reggae into his own unique sound. He already has six solo albums under his belt since 2002. Before he went solo he used to be a part of the indie group Monster who had a great deal of success during the 90ties.

Anders named his solo project after the only two words his little brother could say in English :) In 2006 he made a 180° turn and made an album in Swedish called Pengabrorsan [Moneybrother in Swedish]. Hopefully he will come back to singing in Swedish in the future.

The latest album Real Control was released earlier this year with some help from a friend and a great deal of tomato soup! Anders and his friend Maximilian Lundin tried out a new marketing/merchandise idea and is selling the ecological and bio dynamic soup at concerts. Anders also said goodbye to his group of old friends that has played with him from the start and started a new collaboration with Johan Brändström [Randy] and Mikael "Vigilante Carlstroem" Karlsson [Hives].

Moneybrother - Born Under A Bad Sign [2009]


Moneybrother - Dom Vet Ingenting Om Oss [2006]


Moneybrother - They're Building Walls Around Us [2005]


Press photo

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Find out more about Moneybrother on his official website Moneybrother.net
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New Video & Article | Maia Hirasawa

This week we can read an interview with Maia Hirasawa made by The Local [Swedish news in English].

Maia's second album GBG vs STHLM was released here in Sweden earlier this year by Razzia Records and now she is touring Sweden over the summer [Starting with the Hultsfred festival tonight]. According to Maia the album will be released in the US later this year. For you who can't wait, check out Bengan's online store.

Maia Hirasawa - The Wrong Way


Press photo

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Check out MaiaHirasawa.se and the Razzia Records website for more news about Maia.
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Broder Daniel Forever

On July 2d the documentary about the legendary rockband Broder Daniel had its gala premier at the Draken movie theater in Gothenburg [Broder Daniels hometown]. The band was there, meeting all of their fans together with the creators of the movie, Kristian Bengtsson, Fredrik Wenzel and Henrik Hellström. The movie will be shown in a few theaters in Stockholm and Gothenburg and then tour over the country during the rest of the summer.

Few bands in Sweden get to be as popular as Broder Daniel has been for the past ten years. They still have a religious status among some of their fans, even though their golden era was in the turn of the century. After the bands guitarist Anders Göthberg tragically took his own life in march 2008 they decided it was time to put the band to rest. Their final performance was made at the Way out West festival in august the same year and the movie is portraying the time leading up to that final moment. Read more about the movie at the SF website.

"If anything rock history taught us, it is that we should be ourselves and be proud of who you are. We should not wish to be someone else, or that it we were from another country or time. We are the ones that others may wish that they would be. We are the golden age"

Translated quote by Henrik Berggren, Broder Daniel

Broder Daniel Forever [official trailer]


Press photo: Carl Hjelte

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Listen to their music at Myspace.
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The Sound of Independent Sweden [new article]

A few days ago i stumbled on an article that is focusing on the Swedish Music phenomena. David Coleman of noripcord.com is publishing his own guide to Swedish Independent music in a two piece feature, divided by city of origin instead of alphabetical. Read the first part here, and stay tuned for the second part.

Its been mentioned many times before. Why does Sweden have such a high density of great artists in such a small country? I didn't have a good answer for that but some people have tried to explain it (someone was mentioning the water in the comments).

In a dutch article published recently they mentioned both the climate (stay inside all winter and write great music), the Swedish public radio, SR, is very good and focus a lot of their attention on new talents and Swedish music in general (especially P3). Plus our high taxes is giving the government a chance to sponsor youth organizations that focus on music and gives the kids somewhere to practice.

It all seems very likely to me :) but what do you think? Write your thoughts in the comments.

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Also check out Swedish Public Radio and the Scandinavian music blog Its a trap! for more info about Swedish music.
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