Don’t Get Sentimental

Our next Swede is another “Swedish Grammy” winner, and this just in: they’re not just called Swedish Grammies, but Grammis. Without Wikipedia, nobody would even know that their grammis are just like ours.

But I digress.  Hello Saferide is a Swedish act led by the above pictured Annika Norlin, and since Wikipedia doesn’t mention any of the other musicians on their English page, I don’t know who they are.  Because I don’t read Swedish.  And because this blog is now a Wikipedia blog with the occasional splash of music.

Hello Saferide is classified as twee pop, which means it’s more happy music, but (do not despair) it is not as happy as I’m From Barcelona.  Listen:

Hello Saferide - Anna

Also, several years before the artistic bankruptcy that is Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl,” Norlin released this gem with the chorus:

“Damn! I wish I was a lesbian
Damn! I wish I was a lesbian
Damn! I wish I was, and that you were, too
So I could fall in love with you”

Enjoy!

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I can’t have Marcelo making me look bad, so I too am posting this weekend.  We oughta find a Swedish song that uses a sample so we can streamline these two features, and I can stay in bed all day Sunday.

Alas, I am awake and this weeks Swede is Lykke Li.  She’s a 22 year old solo artist with one album, Youth Novels, which came out earlier this year.  Her music relies heavily on her voice, with minimalist backing percussion and the occasional horn/synth vamping.  Her voice moves over the beat to make the perfect soundtrack for a lazy Sunday, where it’s playing in the background and every now and then a song will jump out and grab your attention.

Anyway, she’s awesome, listen to some music:

Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance

Lykke Li - Little Bit

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On an unrelated note: I added google AdSense to the site way back when as kind of a pipe dream.  In the 3 and a half months it’s been active, this site has generated an impressive 4 (four) cents profit.  Keeping the dream alive!  Now, this is not surprising in and of itself; we have, after all, a very small niche market here.

But as I was reading Marcelo’s latest Saturday Morning Sample, I noticed that two of the three ads were targeted at suffers of ovarian cancer.  Now, I can see the wisdom in not getting overly sentimental about your ovarian cancer, but for the life of me I cannot fathom what it is about Ghostface that inspired this.

/confusion.

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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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Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to last Sunday’s Swedes, I’m From Barcelona (sample comment: “cancel this feature IMMEDIATELY”), I have no choice but to continue the feature.  Now, understandably, I’m From Barcelona can be a bit over-the-top, so perhaps I should’ve started off with something a bit more…palatable.

Jose González is, in fact, a Swede.  His hispanic name comes from his Argentinian heritage, but he was born and raised in Sweden.  And, like so many Swedish artists I’ll be writing about, he sings in English.  English: the international language of business and weird indie music.

González’s music is in some ways more of the same: it’s just a dude with a guitar, with some minimalist percussion.  González updates the formula with a rich sound that sounds, for lack of a better word, analog.  Nothing about this music sounds like it was run through GarageBand; his notes drip with a warmth and soulfulness that evokes a warm fire on a winter’s day.

Anyway, check out Jose González.  And for those of you who have liked neither Swedish Sunday, I can at least promise that each week will feature an artist that varies greatly from the previous week’s.  After all, we went from a 29-member group last week to just one man this week.  Stay tuned.

Jose Gonzalez - Lovestain

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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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