Bjorn Olsson
Self-Titled (The Lobster)
CD $12.00

Listen: Melodi I H-Moll • Låt I F#-Dur

New album, fourth and final in the “seafood series” from founding guitarist for the incendiary 90s rock juggernaut Union Carbide Productions and our beloved retro-psych-rockers The Soundtrack of Our Lives…OR… How a study in folksy, filmic Scandinavian melancholy and spaghetti western strains = a likely contender for makeout record of the year.

This is Björn's fourth and final album in the “seafood series”, all of which are self-titled but rely on various shellfish to distinguish between them, so... The Lobster is a new album of instrumental melancholies (oh sure there’s some whistling and humming) from Gothenburg’s mystic laureate Björn Olsson, past guitarist for Union Carbide Productions and The Soundtrack of Our Lives (and even for one lovely album, The Bear Quartet) and extremely busy producer of Swedish bands. It contains seven completely new songs featuring Bjorn on acoustic guitar with subtle backing by comrades Pontus Ottestig and Johan Andersson. Somber songs with adventurous widescreen appeal. Gravitation label honcho Niclas Stenholm senses "an openness previously unheard. Maybe he’s found a bit of self-trust and musical conviction. In other words-a perfect moment to end a project like this quadruple journey!"

The CD ends with the entire album being looped at an increasingly lowered volume and treble until the physical end of the CD. This nearly hour-long track is called "Insomning" which in Swedish means "to fall asleep" until merely the simplest of melodies remain as the more-and-more-muted cycle devolves… And in the end, with volume and treble gradually skimmed away it becomes an entirely different record, a murky melodic haunting, spooky and sleepy and I reckon exactly how Bjorn intended.

The Soft Eyes
Let's Dance To Our Own Beats
CD $12.00

A trio comprised of Johan Sigerud (My Orchard), Daniel Värjö (The Concretes, Marit Bergman) and Linda Hörnqvist (Marit Bergman) with the idea of doing their own music outside of their respective "day jobs", stretching their songwriting legs a bit. Homespun, like the quaint needlepoint which graces the cover art The Soft Eyes’ debut is all about lo-fi melancholy pop, intimate indoorsy folk, songs created shoulder-to-shoulder on comfy couches, bumping knees at kitchen tables, and crammed into tiny rehearsal rooms. Includes their absolutely lovely single, the shimmering, singalongable "Never The Last Time" and a winsome acoustic cover of My Bloody Valentine's "When You Sleep", which features guest vocals from Heikki vocalist and Concretes guitarist Maria Eriksson. Also helping out is Bear Quartet guitarist extraordinaire, Concretes member and extremely busy producer Jari Haapalainen, playing his banjo. To check out more music from The Soft Eyes go here, but then come back and take a chance on this gem.

Eskju Divine
Come join close your eyes become blind we're on our way to Eskju Divine
CD $13.50

Come join close your eyes become blind we're on our way to Eskju Divine is the highly anticipated debut album from Norrköping, Sweden trio Eskju Divine (pronounced "S, Q, divine"), the follow-up to a pair of truly otherworldly EPs. I can’t imagine what’s more to be written about Eskju Divine that I haven’t written already in regards to their pair of incandescent EPs, so I will begin plagiarizing myself immediately…

Imagine the icy harmonies, epic orchestral enchantment, and tribal crescendos of Sigur Ros, Radiohead, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, with words you can understand and relate to! Grandiose without apology, Eskju Divine wrap their epic songs in the somber theatrics of the most expansive eighties British outfits, channeling a penchant for riveting anthems in the spirit of U2, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Simple Minds. Although reminiscent of these artists Eskju Divine’s enormous melodic bombast is created without guitars, I repeat: without guitars. Mainman Gustaf Spetz is Elton John on ecstasy, rendering huge sonic murals from merely his array of synths and poignant piano, while the tumultuous rhythm section of Daniel Åsander and Kristian Karlsson offer beguiling harmonies while hammering away furiously at their instruments, a tweaked dub thunder to Gustaf's melodic keys and vocal downpour.

Eskju Divine rocketed into Parasol’s consciousness with their Darkness All Around EP, which led off (as does the album) with the triumphant “Darkness All Around” and if this were the only song on the album I’d be happy. But there’s more! There’s the band’s equally stirring second single “Struck By The Halo”, the upcoming third single “So High”, and heartrending deep album tracks like “Scars”. All in all there’s a bit more intimacy involved in the newer songs, a bit of breathy and boyish charm amidst the bombast, Amerindie-classic emo in elemental overdrive...makeout music for Autumn and all seasons that follow.

The Bear Quartet
Saturday Night
CD $12.00

Bear Quartet fans have become champions of Expecting The Unexpected and that’s a good thing, because even the most seasoned will find The Unexpected in quantity here... Electropunk perplexities with a motorik pulse, echoing dub synthscapes that trade spacey atmospheria for spooky claustrophobia, and last but not least an occasional true blue BQ pop melody. A lesson in integrity, to be sure. Theirs, mine, and maybe yours.

Exploring surrealism with fizzing synths of all stripes, spastic samples, and electronic percussion, The Bear Quartet have outdone themselves in the "because we can" sweepstakes. The same sampledelic streak of weirdness that informed previous stylistic oddities in the band's brilliant 11-album chronology dominates Saturday Night. The occasional suckerpunch of shadowy gothic noise and beatbox broadsiding, like the epic "What I Hate" from My War, and a handful of blister-raising instrumentals from Ny Vag, as well as a couple sample-laden tracks from their last album, Angry Brigade (and a slew of b-sides from the My War-to-Angry Brigade era). Saturday Night takes the same handful of wavelengths and reflects, magnifies, and distorts.

This album can be frantic and fun ("Birds Are Singing Deep Within The Greenery" and "Class Trip") or awash in melancholies ("Loneliness Abandons The Lonely", and "Today I Will Dress Up"), and these tracks are becoming more and more magical for me as I immerse myself in them. Of course I do always fall for the softer, ballady pop songs. A big old wimp is what I'm turning into, but entirely up for this challenge.

Still, it’s unlikely the big old wimp in me will put Saturday Night into heavy rotation this Fall (I'm not sure my wife and kids could handle it), and it will become something private and intimate for me… But the zealous, righteous fanatic I've become over the last several years understands implicitly why this chapter in The Bear Quartet's saga needs to exist, and is important as all the gilded/smudged/ruffled pages before it.

So all is not lost. Or is it? The closing track is titled "Death To The Bear Quartet" and asks "so what if this is the end"… The band has again proven their utter fearlessness and if this is The End then they unsurprisingly have chosen to ring out their career on one of their strangest notes yet. I'll not mourn them as they've left too much amazing music behind. I'll just continue to celebrate one of the world's most *important* pop bands, what came before, the arc they traveled and where and how deeply it has intersected mine.

Mattias Alkberg BD - Ragnar
CD5 $6.25
The new EP from Bear Quartet frontman Mattias Alkberg’s new-ish combo, seems intent on picking up the beautiful shards that The Bear Quartet has left in it’s wake lately… Whereas MABD started off rather bristling and somewhat taxing on the debut album Tunaskolan there’s some generous jangle and beautiful harmonies creeping in here. Especially with "Ragnar", a lovely Hatful Of Hollow-esque strummer with Matti’s distinctive yelp (equal parts John Lydon and Morrissey) crusading through the choruses. “Ragnar” is taken from their most recent full-length album Jag Ska Bli En Bättre Vän. EP includes three non-album tracks one of which is undeniable punk fury. Punk-pop with serious attitude, integrity and outright reverence, all sung in Swedish, easily crossing the language barrier, if you're willing to make the sacrifice for one of Sweden's very best songwriters. Feeling revolutionary?

Svenson - See You In Earth (Carcrash Records) CD $10.20
Listen: Svenson Manana • Howlong
A mutant strain of surrealist noise-rock and electronic zoom-pop from Swedish conglom featuring Silverbullit/Citizen Bird member Anders Gustavsson. One of my favorite and noisiest Swedish releases from mysterious, innovative, original Gothenburg-based quartet formed in 1999. The way they mix electronics, avant-garde and punk ideas in a decidedly rock-orientated format is unlike most contemporary music produced in Sweden today. Weird, wild and wonderful.

Dialog Cet Like Animals (Carcrash Records) CD $10.20
Listen: Like Animals
Dialog Cet Konsumera Era(Carcrash Records) CD $10.20
Listen: Buckfighter
Playing a brand of music self-dubbed as "Labyrinth Punk", which lies somewhere between Sonic Youth, Unwound, and Scandinavian abstract reasoning. Which sounds like early Bear Quartet to me. Receiving praises even from the post-punk luminary Ian Mackaye (of Fugazi fame) as "brilliant, fucking brilliant". Music not afraid to move or perplex you...open your ears and sound the alarm. Like Animals was released in 2004, Konsumera Era the year before.

Alarma Man Self-Titled (Carcrash Records) CD $10.20
Listen: Sweden Sweden • Cheese My Dad
Fans of Pelican and Kinski and the new instrumental scene will froth over Alarma Man's expansive hi-energy instrumentals, a mad mathy mixture of dark intentions and roving spirits that brings to mind Don Cabellero, Man Or Astroman, and Fugazi, yet all the more sinister and forward looking.

As we're carrying everything the label has available be sure to check out the rest of the Carcrash Records catalog: The first Dialog Cet CD, the CD and LP from QGMR, LP vinyl for C.Aarme and The Outstand, relatively rare 7" vinyl from The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Division of Laura Lee, and The Cassettes...

Madrugada - Industrial Silence
Virgin Norway
CD $13.50
Listen to: “Vocal” • “Shine”

When the NY Press wrote: “With their blend of thick aural textures and mopey lyrics they’re like the Norwegian Radiohead…” they were stretching a bit, but Madrugada frontman Sivert Høyem's voice, his truly Yorke-ian vocal range, and the dark miserable moods he explores, alongside guitarist Robert Burås' exquisite guitar work (textural indeed, pure rock-n-roll) could recall Radiohead’s more song-oriented albums, albeit a bit more bluesy and rootsy, through and through. It’s a stretch because Madrugada’s debut, originally released in 1999, is more about singers like Leonard Cohen, Chris Isaak, Nick Cave, and the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce; bands like 16 Horsepower, Tindersticks, Grant Lee Buffalo, and for the sake of hammering it home, The Gun Club. Epic, sprawling gloom-rock majesty with an undercurrent of dark, wild menace… One of the very best Scandinavian albums of the past decade. And where words don’t do this album justice, sound samples will, check out “Vocal” and “Shine”.

Since Industrial Silence Madrugada has released three subsequent albums: The Nightly Disease from 2001, Grit from 2002 (re-released in the UK in 2004), and their latest The Deep End, released earlier this year. We’re working on making these albums available to you at a decent price in the near future.

ALL MUSIC GUIDE: “Industrial Silence is unusually strong and even for a debut album. This, of course, has to do with the fact that they already had been playing together for six years before its release. It kicks off with the majestic "Vocal," with its dense and thick guitar sound and singer Sivert Høyem's distinctive crooning on top of it all. What's really impressive on this album, besides the quality of the songs, is guitarist Robert Burås' creative and versatile playing. He plays everything from country-like slide guitar leads to fierce punk rock power chords, gentle acoustic strumming, and something not unlike flamenco on the apocalyptical Salt.”

22-Pistepirkko - Drops & Kicks
Bare Bones Business Oy
CD $12.00
Finnish garage-(blues)-folk-(electro)-pop trio 22-Pistepirkko inhabit a weird place in my heart. I’m still fairly new to the band, having been finally immersed in their expansive catalog just last year with the release of their double-CD career retrospective, and most recent full-length, the incandescent beauty that is Rally of Love. I understand there’s a certain amount of “acquired taste” in the band’s slapdash, throw-it-and-see-if-it-sticks arrangements, in the uniquely reedy voice of frontman P-K, and in the songs’ intoxicating inexactness. Eccentricities that might once in a while overshadow, for less adventurous souls, what is truly spectacular songwriting. Anyone who can sit through his holiness Devendra’s recordings can find joy within these songs, seriously. But dangit the band’s been around for a quarter of a century honing their craft, and is positively revered in their native Finland. I am feeling preachy and truly convinced this counts for something! Brilliant bands with similarly and willfully perverse and prodigious output, like 22-P’s Scandinavian brethren Motorpsycho and The Bear Quartet, only prove my point. Integrity counts.

Once I’m suitably swaddled and cuddled in the symphonic surrealism of the folksy opening salvo of “Mr. Twister”, the middle-age guy in me takes over and falls in love with the Pistepirkko’s not-so-gently tugging at emotional counterweights or hesitantly trying to plug that hole in your heart with their deftly wrought weird and rootsy balladry. Here’s two heartwarmers: the exquisite “I Knew” and the Lennon-esque “Stay”. And because I seem intent on giving away half the album, check out the album closer (actually next to last, there's a hidden track), “We Ought”, 50% haunting nocturne, 50% blues stomper, 100% Pistepirkko. Deceptively simple and luxuriously strange. How do they do it?

Remember the band’s been around for 25 years, longer than some of you reading this! And on this, their 10th full-length album, Kalle Gustafsson (The Soundtrack of Our Lives bassist and renown producer) has produced (and played bass sometimes) while fellow TSOOL mates (Ebbot sings and Martin Hederos plays piano and keys) helped out. Notable Stateside 22-P fan John Hanlon (Neil Young's sound engineer) flew over from sunny California to Scandinavia to put his hands on a handful of the final mixes.

L.A. WEEKLY: "The beats have become more sophisticated, the lyrics more nuanced, the textures richer, but this Finnish ensemble’s most arresting quality remains its giddiness…steeped in contemporary beats and seductive aural backdrops, but instead of using samples, this band does a lot with echoes, their music a jumble of recontextualized rock history."

Eric Malmberg - Den Gåtfulla Människan
(Hapna) CD $16.00
Listen to: Det högre medvetandet • Undermedvetandet
This soothing album of instrumental organ music is the enigmatic debut solo release from Sweden-based Eric Malmberg, former songwriter and organist for the now-defunct Sagor & Swing. Space is the place, and both inner and outer are explored here, along with deep primordial forests, for this is music with an astounding elemental scope. Merging timeless folk-inspired melodies and quiet pastoral soundscapes, Malmberg's musicianship has often drawn comparisons to the work of fellow-Swedes (decades apart) Bo Hansson and Bjorn Olsson and with this he truly joins that exclusive pantheon. Created entirely on Malmberg's Hammond organ (a relic once played by Bo Hansson I believe), no synths, no foolin'.

STYLUS MAGAZINE: "Malmberg’s debut solo effort, Den Gåtfulla Människan, shares in [Bjorn Olsson debut] Instrumentalmusik’s leisurely temperament. It retains the same incantatory keyboard mastery found with both [Bo] Hansson and [Bjorn] Olsson. The obvious difference between Sagor & Swing and Malmberg (alone) is the lack of a drum kit. Möller’s percussion has been replaced with muffled, reverb-encrusted drum machine pitter-patter. Chances are you won’t even notice this element of Den Gåtfulla Människan unless you’re really listening for it. It is a minor component and simply ticks along in the background virtually unnoticed. With this missing element, Malmberg has extracted the drive and movement from Sagor & Swing, leaving merely the unpolluted, slow-moving serenity found with Hansson, Olsson et al. It amplifies the mystic nature of this scarcely ventured genre, making for a phenomenally pleasant listen."

Sergeant Petter - Monkey Tonk Matters
Excelsior Recordings CD $13.50
Sergeant Petter namesake Norwegian Petter Folkedal's new album is all about sultry dusty road Americana adorned in plush baroque pop finery, uncontrollably Beatlesque at times. In the same way epic pop infused his debut this new album slathers the Gram Parsons/Neil Young traditionalism in great gobs of pop, psych and soul to boot. And who don't love them a pedal steel? What Wilco/Son Volt/Uncle Tupelo fan couldn't find plenty to love here? Would you eat the moon if it was made of spare ribs? Check out new songs: As the Record Starts and Dear Robin. Also, why not check out Perfection from his debut album It's A Record.

“If "Monkey Tonk Matters" were made by a 29 year old guy from the south-western part of the States, it would have been dubbed one the best country-flavoured efforts since Richmond Fountaine's great service to country-rock "Post To Wire" of 2003… The great thing about the Sergeant is the way he lets pop, psychedelia, and jazz into his country rock… Petter's willingness to take the choose less travelled by makes for a richer listening experience. The album is more sixties than No Depression nineties. It conjures up images of Parsons, Furay, Young and their earlier releases.” (Groove-Norway)

Sioen - Ease Your Mind
Excelsior Recordings
CD $13.50
Sioen is basicly a man named Frederic Sioen from Belgium. With his band he creates stylish cabaret complexities, I'm talkin' richly appointed barqoue pop tunes. Lotsa piano and continental flair, with some sweetly proggy moments. Check out: Ease Your Mind

LPG - I Fear No Foe
Excelsior Recordings
CD $13.50
Shambling dark lounge rock with loads of layered harmonies, blending a whiff of the new freak folk movement with a bushel of Beta Band-ian whimsy... Iventive shadow rock steeped in intrigue, and seismic guitar.
Listen to: IARAC

Solo - Right Here [single]
Excelsior Recordings
CD5 $3.25
New single from Dutch duo Solo, my fave Dutch pop act. Two new songs and video footage... Sounds like Simon & Garfunkel, The Smiths, Jeff Buckley, and of course as I've said before: fans of Leopold will love Solo. Enjoy Right Here, and from their recent full-length album: Hit Me With A Kiss

Existensminimum
Running Down Everyone EP
Novoton-007 CD5 $2.00
New three-song single from one of Sweden's most interesting artists, Magnus Henriksson, the follow-up to The On And On EP. Features the title track "Running Down Everyone" [LISTEN] [MP3] plus the deluxe Radio Lxmbrg remix of "From Me To You", and the Henrik Svensson remix of "Growing Up Fast/Dealing With Darkness". [more info]

Antennas
Always On My Mind EP
Novoton-006 CD5 $2.00
New single from Antennas, who used to be known as Novak (SWE) and have changed their name as their are too many Novaks... "Always On my Mind" [LISTEN] [MP3] finds them updating their retro-60s sound for a brave new world, Antennas have taken things to soulful cathartic extremes... [more info]

Black Belt
Only One/Shortcut to Sensation EP
Novoton-005 CD5 $2.00
Two-song single from 70s rock retro-engineers Black Belt leads off with "Only One" [LISTEN] [MP3]. Think AC-DC, Cheap Trick, mid-period Motorpsycho, with a hint of Motown soul. A band like Jet comes to mind, mining similar influence to similar effect. Big, bold, brash rock tunes, riffs out the wazoo. Also check out Black Belt's debut album.

The HipWhips
Self-Titled [full-length 2005 album in black jacket]
CD $13.50
Sound sample: Time Is On the Way
Long-awaited new album! The follow-up to the organ-driven debut mini-album introduces just a bit of "futuristic guitar" into the mix, courtesy new member Konie, but again it's Markus Lindmark's heart-shaking organ and soul-shaking voice that are the real show here (not to discount the supple rapport of a white-hot rhythm section, bassist Thomas Meyer and Finn Ellison on drums). The HipWhips are still audaciously anachronistic and that's why we love them. Indeed, the "Magic Portal" to music's past is still wide open. Still blissfully beholden to acts like The Spencer Davis Group, Van Morrison, The Stones, and ? & The Mysterians... And still demonically driven by The Holy Spirit of Rock ‘n’ Roll and Blue-Eyed Soul.

Eskju Divine
Struck By The Halo EP
CD5 $7.75
Sound sample: Struck By the Halo
The follow-up to Eskju Divine's majestic and bombastic debut EP, "Darkness All Around". Four incandescent new songs from this ethereal power-trio from Norrkoping Sweden, who have chosen to forgo guitars, relying merely on piano, bass and drums. Mindblowing are the heights of anthemic grandeur and lush bombast the band ascends to, a truly incredible dynamic, guitars would just get in the way! When it comes to reverb this deep and songs this rich and full of emtion there aren’t many names to drop, other than the most obvious, esteemed artists like Radiohead and even U2 come to mind, because really I’m not sure this sound, in it’s extremes is happening anywhere else. If it is, is it this otherworldly and beautiful? Check out the novel I wrote about Eskju Divine's debut EP and pick it up if you haven't already.

”They've got quite a lush, dreamy sound for being a mere bass, drums and keyboard trio. Some of that has to do with their decision to bathe every sound in reverb, giving the melodies a soft, floating quality. This song starts off strong with a militaristic drumbeat reminiscent of classic U2 before flying off towards the skies with lilting, falsetto vocals. Definitely a step up from their already-excellent debut EP - can't wait to hear what they do with a full album.” (It’s A Trap!)

Martin McFaul
Maybe You And Me EP
CD5 $7.75
Sound sample: Maybe You And Me
And finally…the highly recommended debut EP from new Imperial signee, Gothenburg guy Martin McFaul, with special guest apperances from Martin Hederos (Hederos & Hellberg, The Soundtrack of Our Lives) and Jukka Rintamaki (Silverbullit/Citizen Bird). Luminous, atmospheric, twilight pop and spectral psychedelia go hand-in-hand here, to amazing effect. I liken it to the mellowest meanderings on The Soundtrack's classic Extended Revelation (it's got that spooky Bjorn Olsson feeling, plus Martin's keys of course), or a backlit baroque version of labelmate Jose Gonzalez's Nick Drake-esque manifestations… A haunting, haunted headtrip recorded earlier this century (but sounds like it could've been recorded 35 years ago, which I love), with a full-length expected later this year.

Mattias Alkberg BD
Jag Ska Bli En Battre Van
CD $13.50
Ripping new album from Bear Quartet frontman Mattias Alkberg, the follow-up to his debut album Tunaskolan. Bristling punk and pop, with a ultra-cool mod vibe, songs sung entirely in Swedish. "Vintage punk? he he he". [more info]
Sound sample: Politix

Bjorn Norestig
Come Take A Shine
CD $10.50
Highly recommended 7-song debut from Bjorn Norestig (a member of The Flu). Lilting and beautiful folk-pop singersongwritership, with a really pure and wonderful fringe-jacket sixties feeling, must be the harmonies. Think Neil Young, Woodstock folkies, Ron Sexsmith... [more info]
Sound sample: Come Take A Shine

Boy Omega
The Best Time Of The Year EP
CD5 $7.75
New EP of vivid folk-pop from Gothenburg singer/songwriter Martin Gustafsson, whose pleading vocals recall Bright Eyes and Elliott Smith, Damien Rice and Ed Harcourt. Title track (taken from his previous album, "I Name You Isolation") plus 3 exclusive b-sides. [more info]
Sound sample: The Best Time of the Year

Elodie
It's Too Bad You're Leaving
CD $13.50
Lush, lovely, minimalist Nordic pop, not too far removed from similarly female-fronted Swedish combos like Club 8 and Darcy, with nifty touches of torchy jazz and loungy exotica...sung in English. [more info]
Sound sample: Jannowitzbrucke

ZZZ
The Sound Of ZZZ
Howler Records
CD $14.00

Download these mp3s from the band's site:
Ecstacy
Lucy
Listen via Real Audio:
Soul

ZZZ (three Zs, not to be confused with ZZZZ) is a Dutch duo, bringing the Amsterdam underground to U.S. shores... Drummer/vocalist Björn Ottenheim and organ-pounder Daan Schinkel are the men behind "The Sound of ZZZ", and their sleazy soul-punk primitivism. A shambling monolithic gutter-groove coiled around the bare-bones set-up of Björn's microphone and drumset, and Daan's volcanic organ. Not so retro though, as let's say The Hip Whips, as ZZZ take these deeply-psychedelic missives into groove-driven dance-rock territories: leagues deep into chaotic trance, psychedelic electrowave, garage soul and dirty rock & roll, all sans guitar, naturally. Think the most fried offerings in the Nuggets boxsets, think Spencer Davis Group meets The Blues Explosion meets Suicide meets ? And The Mysterians...with a Jim Morrison lizard king glower. The soundtrack to the world's seediest urban underbellies...

"Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster type Cramp-ish ghouls swap the gothic overtones for piped party garage scuzz, a Suicide thunder-electro stabbing drone undercurrent and a crooning appeal to the hips. That, to me, is the sound of zZz. They do retain a darkness but it’s fairly arch, with an Austin Powers camp minced (in the more homicidal sense) through their gurgling free-jazz cinematic clatter." Vanity Project Webzine-Skif

Moneybrother
Blood Panic
Burning Heart (Sweden)
CD $13.50
Download these mp3s from the band's site:
Reconsider Me
It's Been Hurting All The Way With You Joanna
Listen via Real Audio:
Reconsider Me

Moneybrother is Anders Wendin, former member of Monster, and current torch-bearer for soulful seventies pop music in Sweden. The album's first single, "Reconsider Me" [listen] breaths a lot of classic Bruce Springsteen (play the damn song, you'll see, it's uncanny) but the rest of the album is more of a fusion of soul, reggae and straight-up rock. It is all centered around Wendin's powerful vocals that range from a sexy Marvin Gaye to an enraged Joe Strummer, loaded with a double-barrel dose of classic showmanship… For the recording of "Blood Panic" Anders was joined by an all-star cast including Moneybrother percussionist Existensminimum, The Bear Quartet's Jari Haapalainen (guitars, production) and members of The Soundtrack of Our Lives.

Moneybrother
To Die Alone
Burning Heart (Sweden)
CD SORRY UNAVAILABLE

Listen via Real Audio: It Ain't Gonna Work

New 2005 album of soul-drenched pop (and disco and reggae and rock and everything else) from consummate showman Ander Wendin's Moneybrother project. Camp elements balanced by Ander's ultra-sexy starpower and brilliant arrangements, harkens back to the days of superstars, studio entourages and session players falling over themselves to bring the songs to life. Think 70s soul, The Walker Brothers, The Boss, and yes, even in these orchestral pop operas, The Clash, especially the vocals. Songs about making it, making out, making up, and making tracks. From the little moustache to the big voice Anders has his sights set on world domination, and the craziest part is: I believe him. Dude's got it going on! Between Ander’s showmanship and his backing band, The Panthers’ sleek style “To Die Alone” might be the most purely enjoyable album of the year for me, and it’s not the type of stuff I’d normally listen too. This recording features contributions from The Bear Quartet's Jari Haapalainen (guitars, production), Existensminimum, and Bjorn Yttling, among other notables.

The Chrysler
Cold War Classic
Flora & Fauna/Idiotwind
CD SORRY, UNAVAILABLE
Listen to:
(When We're As Ugly As) St. Petersburg • Blue Gold MP3

When the rough mix of the new Chrysler album arrived earlier this year, with the working title "Brighter Chrysler", it seemed to describe the new album perfectly. A bit more winsome and hopefully and nearly cheery at time, with a bit more giddy-up in the tempos and even more harmonious harmonies, positively West Coast at times. Still, lurking in the shadows of these plush, spirited popsongs and cosmic Americana alchemy there’s that slinking sinister undercurrent throughout, reflected most queasily in their new video for "Blue Gold" (coming soon) while the whimsical “While The Tide Is High” is a pleasant antidote. Always good-natured, always good for a bout of mild spookiness, The Chrysler are masters of understatement, deceptively-simple songs that worm their way inside your head. Like a worm. In your head. Creepy, in the most lovely way, the properly titled "Cold War Classic” will be the perfect soundtrack to upcoming warmer and weirder days.

We’ve got 25 of the import version of “Cold War Classic” available now, and that will be all we get as I’ve got my sights set on an official U.S. release. Speaking of which The Chrysler’s debut album “Failures & Sparks” will be released in the U.S. this Summer via Parasol/Galaxy Gramaphone, and will come with an EP’s worth of outstanding extra songs.

If you haven't already: check out The Chrysler's latest single, "Blue Gold", which comes with two darling b-sides. Review: "Recalls the gentle approach and exceptional songcrafting of Odessey & Oracle-era Zombies as well as the early efforts of The Clientele." (The Noiseboy)

Serpentine
Honest
B&B Records CD $13.50
Listen to: Calculator

Mindboggling surrealist pop from Swiss multi-instrumentalist and studio-freak Jan Zimmerly and drummer Serge Olar. Think of Zimmer as Richard Swift in full-on discombobulation mode with monumental orchestrations balanced by lovingly tarnished recording values. At times it's seriously dynamic and oddly compelling sound-collage while at others it falls somewhere between The Beatles White Album meets Pink Floyd's Meddle, with a hint of Radiohead's The Bends. Ultra-dramatic, uber-dynamic, driven by the rich traditions of folk and psychedelia yet consummated within the elemental crackle of Jan's studio wizardry. Likened elsewhere to Kraftwerk/Neu! member Klaus Dinger's La Dusseldorf project's stylish progressive rock symphonies and again early Pink Floyd.

Elope
The No Name Record
Gravitation CD $12.00
Listen to: Sentimental Heart Alarm

A little re-promotion for one of last year's finest Swedish releases. With Gravitation's blessing Parasol will be distributing this CD all over the U.S. this Spring and we can now offer this via mailorder and a nicer price. Plus I've put it on sale for a week so now's your chance. Check out the sound sample below for "Sentimental Heart Alarm", it's the coolest. There's my old gushy decription and some reviews here and furthermore the latest accolades, landing at #2 in Kurt Wolf's Top 10 for 2004 in the San Francisco Bay Guardian: "Mashing together such titanic influences as Neil Young, Badfinger, and (gulp) the Beatles is hardly novel, even from a Swedish stoner rock band. Still, I keep dialing up this mellow, mesmerizing album on the iPod and digging it hard every single time."

David Fridlund
White Van EP
Adrian Recordings CD5 $3.25
Listen to: White Van

This new 3-song EP from David & The Citizens frontman David Fridlund serves a two-fold purpose... Firstly, it's a great reason to hype the upcoming Hidden Agenda release of David's debut solo album entitled Amaterasu. Secondly it's lovely little EP... It features "White Van" and a special track from David's long-time partner Sara Cullen and another from his brother Joel. A unique way to handle the b-sides at any rate and giving credit where credit is due... David writes in the liner notes: "These two songs are o this record for two reasons: 1. I think they are really good and they deserve to be heard by more people than just the closest friends. Both Joel and Sara have been writing and recording songs for years, so these two songs are not the only ones... 2. To have these two songs on this single is my way of saying thank you for helping me with the making of the AMATERASU-album...". While you're here you should definitely check out the video for "White Van", and if you didn't catch the charming video for "April & May" the first time, here's another chance.

Ed Harcourt - Strangers
Astralwerks
CD $15.75

Ed Harcourt's new album is a beautiful beast, a collection of grand, expansive pop-rockers and haunting ballads adorned in all manner of saucy baroquenesses…and all the while, behind the curtains, a truly gifted songwriter. With an album that's comparable to the best from Badly Drawn Boy and Jeff Buckley and Starsailor and Rufus Wainwright, Harcourt's is now a voice to be reckoned with…

Uncut: "One of Britain's most gifted songsmiths, Harcourt stripped down the bombast of his previous album From Every Sphere to craft an intimate collection of call-outs and confessionals. Falling in love and rising to embrace it were themes explored in beauties like "Black Dress", while "Born In The '70s" blazoned a love-hate rapport with the spirit of punk."

What, you might ask, is it doing in Jim's Pick? How does this fall into the category of the best new music from Scandinavia? Turns out Ed's Strangers was recorded in Sweden at the Aerosol Grey Machine (where Thirdimension's albums were recorded) by Christoffer Lundquist. It was then produced in Northern Sweden by Jari Haapalainen, guitarist for The Bear Quartet, half of Heikki, and sideman to Kristofer Astrom, who's recorded albums for The Concretes and Laakso, among others. It's Jari's involvement (he plays all over the album as well as producing) that turns this into something special for me. Have I read to much into it? Am I begging for comparisons? Probably. But I'm not kidding when I say this comes across for me as The Bear Quartet album that didn't happen. Fully-immersed fans of The BQ (like Eric and Josh, among others) will hear some familiar refrains and some ear-pricking nuancing, not enough ring alarm bells, but just enough to give you that warm fuzzy Bear-Quartet-at-their-most-beautiful feeling. There's no doubt Jari's deft hand is in there and that Ed himself must be a huge fan of The Bear Quartet. And conversely, if you're already an Ed Harcourt fan maybe it's time to explore some BQ backcatalog. It's early still but this will surely be one of my favorite records of the year.

Sound sample: Loneliness

Pete Thompson - Endless Nights
Johnny Brattom Records
CD5 $6.25
I've been waiting on this since last Spring… Six-song mini-album from Scandinavian troubadour/Americana alchemist Pete Thompson (AKA Peter Thisell and pals). Starkly psychedelic Nordic folkrock masquerading as melancholy Americana? Like British soft-popper John Cunningham with a Neil Young infatuation? Like Belle & Sebastian with a Gram Parsons obsession? Pete's voice is warm like the sun, blazing in fact, and backed by battered acoustic guitars and luminous harmonies. The highlight among the homespun here "Come On Down", my fave, with the simply described "Folk Song", with it's folksy accordion lead and gloriously subdued falsetto harmonies on the chorus, a close second.

Sound sample: Come On Down

Over at www.itsatrap.com you can download an entire exclusive collaborative EP by Pete and fellow Scandinavian songsmith Bjorn Kleinhenz. Highly recommended.

The Tiny - Close Enough
Eyeball Records
CD $11.75
This Swedish trio's minimalist acoustic jazzy lushness is led by Ellekari Larson's singularly precious vocals, sepia-toned heartbreak and timeless melodies through and through. Ellekari's unique voice has appeared on some other Swedish album's I'm rather fond of, like Vega's Sole Love and Heikki's second album (which will be released here in February with bonus tracks). Fans of Bjork's less pixilated/more pixie-ish albums will enjoy, and it's also quite comparable to our own AK-Momo release, if you don't mind trading in Akmomo's vintage electro scenery for stalwart upright bass, cello and paino. This enhanced CD has a lovely video for "Closer" and a photo album. A big round of applause for Eyeball Records: thanks for bringing this treasure to our shores.

Sound sample: Closer

And as a bonus for those pining for a new Leopold album… Our favorite Gothenburg melancholists offer full mp3 downloads of three new songs in the music section of their new/improved website.

Sergeant Petter - It's A Record
Excelsior Recordings CD $13.50
Easily straddles the most epic pop and the sultriest country, and in this way akin to Wilco, Sukilove, The Jayhawks, and Ryan Adams. This track is Sergeant Petter in full-on epic pop mode... [more info]
Sound sample: Perfection

Scram C Baby - Bending / Neverending (Best Of)
Excelsior Recordings DCD $13.50
Two-disc retrospective starts out in frothy GBV mode and ends up quite a bit lusher and expansive, drawing more mannered comparisons. Includes a guest appearance by Bettie Serveert's Carol Van Dyk. [more info]
Sound sample: Trainer/Container

Bauer - Baueresque
Excelsior Recordings CD $13.50
In their own lovely perverse way explores the dreamy revival of organic 60s and 70s soft pop, with defiant twists of electronica and synth-pop. Third album from this Dutch duo. [more info]
Sound sample: Cubicle

Gem (NL) - Tell Me What's New
Excelsior Recordings CD $13.50
Operates at the crossroads where The Strokes and The Jam and early Oasis meet. Rock-n-roll for rock-n-roll's sake, not because they want to, but because they have to. [more info]
Sound sample: The Opposite

Daryll-Ann - Don't Stop
Excelsior Recordings CD $13.50
A blissful and succint cosmic county album with plenty of carefree pop appeal. In addition to being Daryll-Ann's finest hour, it was sadly their final album, as the band has broken up during the past year. [more info]
Sound sample: "Strange"

Solo
Songs 'N Sounds
Excelsior Recordings
CD $13.50

Sound sample: "Hit Me With A Kiss"

A hushed, passionate pop album from one-take-wonders, Solo, a Dutch duo comprised of mainman J Perkin (AKA Michiel Flamman) and comrade Simon Gitsels. Expect melancholy taken to the sweetest most intimate extremes, the perfect album for the shortest days and the longest nights of the year, perpetual twilight and the people enduring it rendered in graceful sound. Within these ten songs you'll hear echoes of Ed Hartcourt, Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Jeff Buckley, and even my dear beloved Bear Quartet. Fans of The Smiths should note what I will herald as a certified "exquisite Morrissey moment" arrives in the highlight track "Hit Me With A Kiss" (check out the sound sample above). As well, fans of Leopold should find plenty to love here, as this comes highly recommended for many of the same reasons that made Leopold's "Dreaming Is for Anyone" one of my top albums of 2004. Likewise Melpo Mene's latest album "Holes". Plenty of piano, acoustic guitars and sensual, subdued arrangements, Solo seems intent doing more with less, minimalist pop rendered with optimum skill…

Hederos & Hellberg
Together In The Darkness
Silence
CD $13.50

Sound sample: "Together In The Darkness"

"Together In The Darkness" was the swansong 2001 full-length release by the esteemed duo of Martin Hederos (The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Nymphet Noodlers) & Mattias Hellberg (Hellacopters, Nymphet Noodlers) finds the brothers-in-arms offering their own originals alongside some splendidly rendered covers. Christmas can be a melancholy season (especially around the Artic Circle) and the three releases by Hederos and Hellberg do effectively enshrine that supremely Nordic mood. After their debut album of covers this release includes the bands first (brilliant) original compositions plus their trademark heartbreaking cover versions: Neil Young's "Mellow My Mind," Tim Hardin's Hang On To A Dream," Bob Marley's "Concrete Jungle", Kris Kristofferson's "Epitaph (Black & Blue)", and the two best renditions of their short but sweet career: The Rolling Stone's "Shine A Light" and The Stooges' "No Fun". Like on their self-titled debut once again we are treated to an exercise in simplicity, Martin on piano and Mattias on vocals, but the instrumentation gets fleshed out a wee bit as well, Martin added organ, glockenspiel, and horn arrangements, while Mattias added harmonica, melodica, and guitar.

David Fridlund
Amaterasu
Adrian-029
CD UNAVAILABLE, will be released in expanded form in early 2005

MP3 download "April & May"

One of my favorite albums of the year didn't arrive until this week! An 11th hour entry, "Amaterasu" is the debut album from David Fridlund, namesake and frontman for Swedish guitar-and-piano pop powerhouse David & The Citizens.

To let you know this isn’t merely David Fridlund’s solo album the first song is illuminated with the voice of highly-regarded vocalist and David’s long-time partner Sara Culler. She leads the way for the first verse before David joins her and this initial offering really sets the tone for the rest of the album. In fact many of the songs on "Amaterasu" are lovely piano-driven duets and when the twosome aren’t riding tandem you can almost always hear Sara filling harmonies in behind David’s lead. And it is a lovely thing indeed, the two of them, their deep connections and convictions on display in a way that makes them seems like your closest friends and confidantes.

A video? It is entirely possible that my overwhelming love for this album is in part due to the rapturous video for the first single “April & May”. I’ll admit I don’t get the chance to see many music videos (like maybe five a year) and therefore don’t have much to compare to, but this one featuring David at his piano and Sara standing by his side with a bouquet of harmonies totally enchanted me. Hopefully you too…
"April & May" VIDEO

From the folks that know David best, Adrian Recordings.

THE HELLACOPTERS
Strikes Like Lightning
Pysch Out/Universal
CD $12.00

Sound sample: "Turn The Wrong Key"

ROCK! Do you feel the need for speed? Thee Mighty Hellacopters celebrate ten years of balls out rock-n-roll with this whiplash-inducing six-song import-only mini-album. Six all news songs that recall the finest moments of Bad Company, Cheap Trick, and Deep Purple, at about twice the speed. Those hairy hoary garage purists who poo-poo the Hellacopters glossier, higher-fi new rock-n-roll assault need to chill out and let the G-forces work their magic. Imagine your favorite muscle car with a wraparound coat of chrome and you are getting close to the sleek and savage juggernaut awaiting within. About the only thing I could add to this feverish cock-rock romp would be…you guessed it, more cowbell!

MELPO MENE
Holes
Imperial-022
CD $13.50

Sound sample: "Holes"

POP! A tenderly twee, lavish and idyllic pop album from one-man-band Melpo Mene. Blithe and breathy soft-pop loaded with acoustic charms and a sweetly sighing soft-pop Elliott Smith vibe, courtesy Melpo man Erik Mattiasson's winsome vocal and locked-behind-the-bedroom-door agoraphobic orchestrations, where the individual instruments aren't blended together as much as each sound rendered with exquisite perversely intimate clarity (a mild twist of exotica). Brought to you by Imperial Recordings, home to Jose Gonzalez and Eskju Divine. For fans of Elliott Smith, Bell & Sebastian, Simon & Garfunkel, Kings of Convenience, Eric Metronome, etc.

PETER BJORN AND JOHN
" Teen Love"
Planekonomi-011
CD5 $3.25

"Teen Love" MP3

We got a sweet, better-than-expected price on the single, "Teen Love", released just prior to the album, which feature a cover of The Concretes' classic "Teen Love", the PB+J original "Fortune Favoures The Brave", and now that I have it in hand I can assure you that the song "Silly Girl" which rounds out the EP is indeed a cover of the Television Personalities tune.

THE CHRYSLER
"Blue Gold EP"
Flora&Fauna-013
CD5 $7.00

"Blue Gold" MP3

This 3-song EP is the follow-up to The Chrysler's drop-dead-gorgeous (and equally spooky) debut album, "Failures & Sparks", which is likely to be my album of the year. Taken from the upcoming "Brighter Chrysler" full-length (due 2005) "Blue Gold" is a late-summer-sun-soaked two-lane shuffle complete with brass band and surf choir, where the trio really gets their "Smile" on, Brian Wilson style. Exclusive b-sides include the truly jaunty "Dear Dad", a twilight country rock tale, and "Showcase Scenario" (a Moder Jords Massiva cover), here stripped down to its bitter, witty bones, a plucked guitar and luminous voices. The Chrysler plays placid and sometimes playful campfire country with a weird and wonderful pop twist, enjoyable on so many levels.

Various
"It's A Trap! Reader's Companion Volume One"
It'sATrap-002
CD $5.50

Sound sample: CDOASS "Speak To Me"

When the most esteemed source for Scandinavian music news in the world (www.itsatrap.com) drops a compilation, and an inexpensive collection at that, I reckon we all better snap it up and see what's what. While this is a surefire way to catch an earful of previously championed acts like Thirdimension, Jose Gonzalez, David & The Citizens, Isolation Years, KVLR, and Peter Bjorn & John, there's much more at stake here… Prepare top be astounded by the lush, moody pop of The Lionheart Brothers and a duet by Fireside fellow Kristofer Astrom and Swedish chanteuse Britta Persson. If you are a fan of Gang Of 4 and The Liars' one great song, "Mister You're On Fire Mister", you will fucking flip your wig for Sweden's next-big-thing-in-the-making, a band named CDOASS. Perhaps it will be Desert Planet's arcade game theme synth-punkery that catches your ear. Or the balls-out Nuggetsy psych-rock of Norway's WE. It could be the heartrending throb of Carpet People's "A Road Leading Into The Sun" that will start those tears a-flowing… Also includes frighteningly special tracks from Filled, Fun, Koma, Waver, and Jim Stark as well. There aren't many people in the US more immersed in Scandinavian music than I am, but I have to say It's A Trap! honcho Avi Roig is way ahead of the curve here, and this collection reflects it.

Various
"La La Love You Pixies! A Tribute"
Dusseldorf Records
CD $13.50

sound sample: Hell On Wheels "Holiday Song"

What's not to like about a Pixies Tribute??? A heapin' helping of Swedish pop and rock combos (and a couple artists from the US of A as well) pay tribute to one of the most influential bands of the last twenty years, recently reunited, The Pixies! Highlight here is Hell On Wheels' spooked-out and haunting "Holiday Song", but expect the unexpected all around. Also features Doktor Kosmos "Distance Equals Rate Times Time", Mattias Alkberg BD (The Bear Quartet vocalist's solo combo) "Here Comes Your Man", Laakso "Bone Machine", David Fridlund (David & The Citizens) and Sara Culler "Wave of Mutilation", Quit Your Dayjob "Broken Face", Radius (U.S./Zmrzlina side project) "Bird Dream Of The Olympus Mons", Hamell On Trial (U.S.) "Monkey Gone To Heaven", Nathan Larson (ex-Shudder To Think) "Velouria", It's A Trick It's A Trick (members of First Floor Power and Pluxus) "The Happening", Hello Goodbye "Gigantic", and Doktor Cosmos reprises "Distance Equals Rate Times Time" to close the CD. Throughout all the nifty (re)arrangements, token taken liberties, and nefarious poetic licenses what gets magnified is the fact that The Pixies were an awesome awesome band and wrote songs of enduring grace, otherworldly strangeness and peculiar power. We'll see if The Pixies, now reformed, can live up to their legacy in their current incarnation.

FRANKE
" Optimismens Han"
(Service-008)
CD $13.50

sound samples: Franke-"Jag Alskar Dig" / Franke-"Aldrig Forsta"

Mysterious Goteborg outfit Franke's debut is a slab of melodic and messiantic gloom-n-zoom goth-pop and thunderous rock & roll. A surreal suite of echoing catharsis and languid ambience, these ten songs are like "Teenage Riot", "How Soon Is Now", "Love Will Tear Us Apart", and "Just Like Honey", distilled to their most primal essences and reverse-engineered in Franke's native Swedish... Think Jesus & Mary Chain, Joy Division, The Pop Group, Morrissey, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Singapore Sling, Godspeed You! Black Emperor… "Optimismens Han" was produced by former Union Carbide Production/Soundtrack of Our Lives guitarist Bjorn Olsson. Equal parts sultry massiveness and claustrophobic tension, Franke and Bjorn's murky dub-scape manifestations echo with minor keys and major angst. Released in late 2003 Franke’s debut was nominated for Best Pop/Rock Album by The Swedish Manifest Awards (along with Concretes, The Knife, Hell On Wheels, and Radio Dept.) and Best Pop Album by P3 Gold Awards, in similarly good company. Since then, mysteriously and tragically, the band has moe-or-less disappeared. So righteous and dead set against selling out that the more-than-modest success of their debut drove them underground it is said. Here's hoping we hear more from Franke's subterranean lair sometimes soon.

BLISSFUL
"Greatest"
(AWestSideFabrication-085)
CD $8.25

Northern Sweden pop outfit Blissful released a few records with esteemed Swedish imprint A West Side Fabrication (The Bear Quartet's label) between 1994 and 1996. Three varied and distinctive albums (along with an EPs and a few singles) spanning nimble soulful rave-ups, effervescent jazz pop, and moments of Motorpsycho-delic prog-fancy populating their 8-song debut "Greatest", to the high-octane like-The-Smiths-at-full-throttle, Wedding Present-styled pop of their second album "The Blissful Orchestra", to the Cinerama-meets-Style Council mid-tempo dance-pop anthems found on their third and final full-length "Vitamins". For those of you who have allowed me to badger you into enjoying The Bear Quartet, I reckon there are myriad similarities between the bands. Especially enchanting (and mysterious) is a touch of freestyle exotica indulged by both bands. Not-so-mysteriously Bear Quartet keyboardist Calle Olsson played in both bands during Blissful's short but prolific career… Coincidence?

So far the band's "Greatest" is my favorite. Not a "best of" but Blissful's debut, this 8-song album released in 1994 is a batch of stylish, peppy Housemartins-esque soul-pop with striking vocals and that walks a tightrope of frisky jazz and slinky mid-nineties guitar rock, with the occasional splash of gushing pinknoise and lovely guitar and keyboards tapestries. And prone to flights of proggy surrealism at the drop of a woolly cap, like an angsty Motorpsycho! Think Phoenix but faster.

Released in 1995, the rowdy singalongs populating the band's second album, "The Blissful Orchestra" romps along like The Smiths and Harper Lee (there is a serious Sarah, Subway, Matinee vibe going on here) fleshed out with the folk-punk shamble of bands like The Pogues and The Mekons. Fans of The Bear Quartet and The Wedding Present will find much to admire as well, and the songs even get a little sub-tropical, with a real swanky exotica thing going on, like David Gedge's current combo Cinerama.

The band's third-and-final album, "Vitamins", was released in 1996 and found the band following in the footsteps of their fellow countrymen Kent I reckon, with an exploratory swagger, sublime dance-pop grooves, and plenty of frosty synth atmospheres. Grandiose arrangements with the tempos reined in and the hit factor dialed up pretty high. Song after song of sassy jazz genuflection and soul pop heartache, glossy and uber-glitzy like The Style Council, Cinerama, Pulp.

MAZARINE STREET
"Thirteen Reasons To Believe"
(Fine Tone Recordings)
CD $13.50

Back in the mid-nineties legendary Gothenburg imprint Fine Tone Recordings was created more-or-less created to ensure upstart rockers Mazarine Street had a label (Fine Tone also released Silverbullit's first album). A Stockholm band with a "Gothenburg Sound" (Stooges, MC5, Union Carbide Productions, Silverbullit), Mazarine Street's 1997 album "Thirteen Reasons to Believe" was a tour-de-force of electrified garage-gospel, guttering glam rock, streetfighting soul-pop, sleazy blues primitivism, and dangerously sinful rock-n-roll elegance. Inspired by the Gothenburg sound, garage-rock godfathers The Nomads, Motown and the 70s underground movement of several continents Mazarine Street created music for a raging drunk and a stoned squalor, music for fans of "The Gothenburg Sound", The Velvets, Sly Stone, The Afghan Whigs, The Gories and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. "Thirteen Reasons to Believe" features guest appearances from Bjorn Olsson (The Soundtrack of Our Lives) and Simon Ohlsson (Silverbullit/Citizen Bird). A massive record, which very well could be the blueprint for current Scandinavian acts like Division Of Laura Lee, Flaming Sideburns, Very Ape, and yes, even The Hives. Mazarine Street is still kicking out the jams, classic rock style, and I hear we're due for some new recordings shortly and if the recent single was any indication, they remain on-target.

ESKJU DIVINE
"Darkness All Around EP"
(Imperial Recordings)
CD5 $7.00

Otherworldly debut EP from Norrköping, Sweden trio Eskju Divine (pronounced "S, Q, divine"). An ethereal power-trio who have chosen to forgo guitars, relying merely on piano, bass and drums. That said you will not believe the heights of anthemic grandeur and lush bombast the band ascends to, an incredible dynamic, guitars would just get in the way! Mainman Gustaf Spetz is Elton John on ecstasy, rendering huge sonic murals from his synth and piano, swaddling his voice in tumultuous harmonies, while the rhythm section of Daniel Åsander and Kristian Karlsson hammer away furiously, a tweaked dub thunder to Gustaf's melodic keys and vocal downpour. Imagine the icy harmonies, epic orchestral enchantment, and tribal crescendos of Sigur Ros, Radiohead, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Grandiose without apology, Eskju Divine wrap their monumental tunes in the gauzy yet sober theatrics of the most epic, expansive eighties British outfits, channeling a penchant for beautiful, riveting anthems in the spirit of U2, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Simple Minds. These could very well be four of the best songs we've heard this year from Sweden, crossing so many boundaries with such magnificent aplomb. Imperial Recordings is home to Jose Gonzalez and Melpo Mene, this label can do no wrong!

BRODER DANIEL
"Broder Daniel Forever"
(Dolores Recordings)
CD $13.50

Six years on “Broder Daniel Forever” easily ranks among the most important albums released in Sweden. This Gothenburg band defined a time and a place for an entire generation of Scandinavians. “Broder Daniel Forever” is Sweden’s “The Queen Is Dead”, it is their “Psychocandy”, it is their “What’s The Story Morning Glory”, their “Loveless”, and their “Nevermind”. Bubblegum pop tricked out with a million Marshall halfstacks, urgent voices and heroic harmonies, crucial riffs and bombastic rhythms and reverb twirled to Spectoresque levels…and then there’s charismatic pixie-punk frontman Henrik Berggren, equal parts Syd Barrett’s inner elf and Bono’s leprechaun. "“Maybe Broder Daniel's strongest impression on the public mind is the singe Henrik Berggren’s star-spangled face. But merging the outsider perspective of the Smiths with a frantic energy and simple lyrics, Few bands had the same influence on the Swedish indie scene in the mid-'90s… Broder Daniel's image was very much built on teenage angst and hopeless naïve love, expressed in simple repetitive lyrics with Berggren saying in interview after interview that he only wants someone to take care of him….” (All Music Guide Bio) What is astounding is how very hard this band is rocking behind Henrik's melodramatic angst and all the teen dream harmonies. I reckon you haven’t heard many songs as sonically massive and reverberiffically plush as “Whirlwind”, "Underground" and "I'll be gone". This trio of stadium-size goth-popsongs also appeared in director Lukas Moodysson’s highly regarded 1998 coming-of-age flick “Fucking Åmål” (released on DVD in the U.S. under the more marquee-friendly title “Show Me Love”, go rent it, it’s wonderful). The film was a huge success, the biggest Swedish movie of the nineties, and helped rocket Broder Daniel to stardom in Scandinavia.

MOTORPSYCHO 'It's A Love Cult' CD $13.25
Überwagner Or A Billion Bubbles In My Mind · Neverland

Swaggering, soulful rock, jazzy pop, nimble prog, and acid-drizzled psychedelic from Terrastock faves, Motorpsycho (named after a Russ Meyer film), a superpowerful power trio from Trondheim, Norway. Yet another amazing Scandinavian band who have been around for more than a decade and release an album every year or so. Rather essential for a band of this magnitude, latitude, and um, progitude. Can influences as diverse as The Zombies and Zeppelin, Love and Queens Of The Stoneage, The Green Pajamas and The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, The Beach Boys and The Allman Brothers coexist? Why Yes…hohoho…they can. It’s what Motorpsycho is all about. Furthermore, to compare and contrast a few of my favorite bands, riddle me this: If The Soundtrack Of Our Lives are the classic rock resurrectionists of Scandinavia, and The Bear Quartet Sweden’s fierce and fey proto-pop overlords, then are Norway’s Motorpsycho not their hippy, trippy, California-meets-Krautrock cousins? And fans of TSOOL and The BQ might often find recent recordings by Motorpsycho orbiting somewhere in between… Except on the prog rock front where Motorpsycho and Pluto have a lot in common. Far out!

A kaleidoscopic set of songs released in 2002, their most recent masterpiece, ‘It’s A Love Cult’, opens with the motorik Neu! pulse of “Uberwagner, or a Billion Bubbles In my Mind”, an awe-inspiring neo-kosmiche space-rock sojourn. Once your brain is billion bubbled you can lie there, paralyzed by joy, and enjoy the rest of the album. The jazzist pop of “The Otherness”, the anthemic ass-shaking of “Neverland” and the highwire no-net tension of “Serpentine”. So good, you’ll be picking up the pieces of your mynd, your heart, and your soul for weeks, and you’ll need some more Motorpsycho to glue it all back together. I love it… Reviewers love them too:

“Their yearly waxings still manage to encapsulate their dazzling spectrum of psych rock sound: West Coast pop, Sonic Youth, post-Rubber Soul Beatles, Blue Afternoon-era Tim Buckley, all ages of Floyd. While there’s plenty of history here, it’s always re-envisaged by fresh eyes… Motorpsycho have got the musical chops, they’ve got a brilliant, bizarre way with songcraft (think Super Furries) all they require is your attention.” [MOJO]…

“Weighty eclecticism from hyperactive Norse rockers. You could no more get a handle on Norway’s Motorpsycho than you could a runaway trainthey veer from quirky psychedelia (“Neverland”) and fey folk misery (“Circles”) to Flaming Lips-style Barnum & Bailey art rock (“Überwagner Or A Billion Bubbles In My Mind”). [NME]…

“Trondheim [Norway]’s beloved psychedelic-pop trio mirror Soundtrack Of Our Lives’ baroque intentions, but softened with ‘70s West Coast dreaminess and ‘60s bubblegum zippiness. Less kaftan rock, then, more a grown-up Supergrass. Even their retro shapes (Neverland is the song the Austin Powers soundtracks forgot) rip along fine, while Custer’s Last Stand sweetens their thrashier origins. A jazzy, sun-fried This Otherness, however, is where Motorpsycho come into their own…not groundbreaking, but galvanising all the same.” [Q Magazine]…