Bedroom

More Spanish music from an artist I had the pleasure of catching live last weekend. This guy was on stage just before fårö-dokument.



For some reason I find everything about Bedroom adorable: His lo-fi modern folk/singer-songwriter music; his lyrics (all in English despite the occasional Spanish titles); his illustrations. And every now and then some of his friends help out.

The song below is currently my favorite off the Helado de pera cdr. Olga Àbalos, saxophone player in La Orquesta de la Muerte, is providing some additional vocals. I'd recommend a visit to MySpace to hear more ^^

Concurso de Cometas (kite contest)

fårö-dokument

I spent last weekend in Barcelona and took the opportunity to check out some Spanish bands. Here's one of them ^^



Named after an Ingemar Bergman movie, fårö-dokument first grabbed my attention with their Swedish name (meaning simply Fårö document). They make use of both female and male vocals for their songs in Spanish. The tag cloud on last.fm seems to agree that they're doing "slowcore", which was certainly a good description for their live sound. I don't really now what that means though, so on record I'd say they make some laidback pop ^^

Below is a song featured on both of their releases. The 2004 EP is available under a Creative Commons license from their website. To listen to some songs from their 2006 Roces EP, I'd suggest a visit to MySpace or last.fm ^^

Caligrafía

Don't Be A Stranger

Fest-i-valen is coming up in a couple of weeks and there's a lot of artists playing I haven't even heard of before. Out of those "new" artists that I've checked out so far, this group is my favorite ^^


Photo by Sofia Runarsdotter

Formed three years ago as a trio, Don't Be A Stranger is now a sixtet. They released their first EP, Ho Ho, on their own label in November and according to Headstomp an album is to be expected early this year. I'm not sure how to describe their music, but it must be some kind of pop. Semi-slow, semi-cheerful pop - I like it!

This song keeps popping up in my head. Visit their homepage to grab another track and drop by their MySpace to hear a couple of songs more.

Perfect Problem

Thirty something new tales from PL.PT

I'll return with a proper post on Tuesday, but for now - here's another post to check out from one of the blogs linked to the right ^^



Today, Music @ PL.PT announced the release of
Thirty something new tales. Featuring 36 artists from Poland and Portugal, this 2CD compilation has music from genres like "minimal electronic music to ambient pop, from funk to jazz, from post-punk to hip-hop, from hard beat electronica to acoustic songs." Check it out!

Hits In The Car

My new favorite music blog, Hits In The Car, made a post on Danish quartet Knoxville today. I liked all three songs, so if you haven't already I'd suggest you check it out ^^

Betty Goes A Go-Go

As you probably missed it: I made a post on The Banjo Consorsium on my mandolin banjo blog yesterday. Check it out for some nice, soft music ^^



Swedish band Betty Goes A Go-Go has been releasing music for a while now and they have a new album, Winter Comes Here Winter Begins Here, coming out this year. According to the band itself they offer "melancholic new wave/postpunk with great nerve, angstridden harmonies and mindtwisting electronic sounds". I can't say I like all of it (I don't think postpunk is a genre for me) but some of their "angstridden harmonies", and especially their "mindtwisting electronic sounds" are just beautiful.

The song below was the first to catch my attention. While quite uneven at first it gets really, really good towards the end. For more, check out their website and MySpace.

Antarctica [left click]

Ida Maria

Among the Swedish "pophopps" of 2007, as listed by DN I found a new Norwegian artist to keep my eyes on!



While currently residing in Sweden, Ida Maria originally hails from a tiny place in Norway. She makes happy, upbeat, energetic and catchy pop of the same kind that made me like her fellow countrymen Harmonica so much. Right now she and her band are recording an album with Timo Räisänen (one of my favorite Swedish artists - he too does happy, upbeat, energetic and catchy pop) and I'm pretty sure it'll be great!

Down below is the song featured on Pophopp 2007. Drop by NRK Urørt do download three songs more and visit Ida Maria's MySpace to listen to a fourth ^^

Louie [left click]

Tickles

Somehow I came across Japanese trio Tickles after some MySpace surfing in mid-December. I don't know much about them, but they make soft electronic music of the kind that invites you to just close your eyes and go someplace else.

Here's a song from their debut album, Cinema For Ears, released on madagascar in July 2006. Go there for a couple of samples more ^^

Humanize (sample)

The Year of The Mandolin Banjo

Back from the holidays I started another, probably more personal, blog yesterday: The Year of The Mandolin Banjo. Just in case anyone's interested...