Don’t Get Sentimental

As promised, this week’s Swedes are nothing at all like the previous two.  Possibly weirder, but completely different.  Enjoy.

The Knife is an electronic-pop, brother-sister duo that is apparently huge in Sweden.  According to Wikipedia, The Knife took home 5 “Swedish Grammies” in 2007, for their latest album, Silent Shout.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t know Sweden had its own Grammies, but as we’ve all been learning/will continue to learn over the next several Sundays, Sweden has no shortage of awesome music.

ANYWAY, The Knife’s music consists of a lot of mid-tempo electro-beats with piano and synth, and lead vocalist Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson (!) croons over the beats with an expressive, if suprisingly deep voice. Generally I’m not big into electo-synth type stuff, but this is some seriously catchy shit.

The Knife - Rock Classics

As a bonus, last week’s non-sentimental Swede, Jose Gonzalez, does a cool cover of “Heartbeats,” a Knife song.  Here they both are, for your side-by-side comparison and enjoyment.

The Knife - Heartbeats

Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats

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The following post, and ensuing feature, Swedish Sundays, is dedicated to my friend Nasco.  Ever since emigrating to the US, just under a decade ago, Nasco has served as a one-man good will ambassador for the great nation of Sweden.  Unfortunately, his taste in music has never evolved past CCR and the Eagles, so this feature is an attempt to reach out to him.

Over the past few months, I’ve come across a number of cool groups from Sweden.  For reasons that are beyond my comprehension, everyone’s favorite Scandinavian nation is a fertile bed of fresh indie music.  This first post is dedicated to a band with a decidedly un-Swedish name, I’m From Barcelona.

I’m From Barcelona is what you would get if you crossed Broken Social Scene with a barrel full of rainbows.  Which is to say, there’s a shit-ton of them and they’re really cheery.  The group in fact consists of 29 brightly colored Swedes, headed by founder and main singer-songwriter Emanuel Lundgren.  Seriously, I cannot stress enough how upbeat this music is.  If you’re ever in a bad mood, just throw on “We’re from Barcelona,” and you will instantly feel better.

I’m From Barcelona has one LP already out, Let Me Introduce My Friends, which I highly recommend, and their second LP, Who Killed Harry Houdini? drops October 14.  Enjoy.

I’m From Barcelona - We’re From Barcelona

I’m From Barcelona - Oversleeping

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