Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Kent
02. Jens Lekman
03. Håkan Hellström
04. Markus Krunegård
05. Hello Saferide
06. Loney, Dear
07. Kings of Convenience
08. Lake Heartbeat
09. The Bear Quartet
10. Bon Iver
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Hello Saferide will be heading to Spain in November perform as a duo together with Andrea Kellerman aka Firefox AK as part of the Fikasound Voces Femininas festival tour. Dates:
11/18 - Fotomatón Bar, Madrid
11/19 - Teatro Principal, Orense
11/21 - Auditorio Caixanova, Vigo
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. The Bear Quartet
02. Kings of Convenience
03. Håkan Hellström
04. Taken By Trees
05. JJ
06. Lake Heartbeat
07. Hello Saferide
08. Markus Krunegård
09. Kent
10. The Tough Alliance
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
I'm about to head out for a three-day jaunt into eastern Oregon to watch some of the world's smartest dogs compete, but before I go, let me cover a few things:
1. Tomorrow night It's a Trap! Clubnights at Debaser Malmö celebrates it's 2-year anniversary (!!!) with a show featuring the excellent acts Pixie Carnation and Rolf Fabian & the Industry of Cool. Download a sample from the former here. I'm sure it's going to be a great time, so head on down! DJs will be playing tunes and hanging out 'till 3.
2. The new CD from "Reader's companion" alums The First Miles is here and ready for purchase. I've also posted the opening number for download below to further entice you.
3. There's a bunch of new feature content worth reading -- new reviews (finally!) of Hello Saferide (live) and Golden Kanine plus an interview with Múm.
4. And don't forget to check out our new netrelease from Hearts No Static! Five tracks of quality ambient rock for free download!
See you next week!
The First Miles - In town
Hello SaferideI'd waited several years for Annika Norlin and her bandmates to finally make their way to Germany and yet I really didn't know what to expect. Or rather, the show made me realize what I had been expecting by the surprises it gave me. I guess it was Annika's performance as a singer that stood out most -- she came across as a very strong and powerful storyteller, not as the tender or vulnerable songwriter some of her work portrays her to be. I'm not taking the cliché (and sexist) perspective here that "female songwriters have to be gracious creatures": It was her music and not her gender that had me expecting something slightly different. The whole evening came to contain more audience-directed performance than self-referential authenticity -- very refreshing from a pop-cultural point of view -- with Annika not singing, but more likely declaiming the lyrics, when without instrument often with erratic hand or head movements somewhat reminiscent of Anders Wendin (Moneybrother). I've always found Annika's songs to share similarities with short stories, especially in their careful plot construction with turning points and punchlines placed at the end of songs. In a way, Annika staged this affinity to fictional prose very well in her performance: While evidently telling other people's stories and not hers, she did so in a very captivating and engaging way. Especially the duets "Overall" (with album producer Andreas Mattson) and "Long lost penpal" (with Andrea "Firefox AK" Kellerman) reminded me of Stars' Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan acting and interpreting songs rather than just singing them. I believe that it was exactly this enthusiasm which Annika and her five bandmates presented their songs that really won over the crowd in Berlin's well-filled Magnet Club. In the case of Stars, the short-story'ness of their songs has gotten a bit old with time, but Annika was clever enough to throw in more personal, quieter moments like the beautiful "I wonder who is like this one" or the atmospheric encore-closer "Arjeplog" that allowed listeners to connect with her performance on a more emotional level. Now that Annika has proven to be an extremely skillful, conceptually working lyricist and performer well-versed in the art of pop culture, I'm curious to see where she'll go next.
- Arnulf Köhncke
Razzia Records will be releasing volume two of their "There's a Razzia going on" compilation series on October 7 and here's the tracklist:
01. Hello Saferide - I fold
02. Joel Alme - You remember the goodtimes but the goodtimes don't remember you
03. David Sandström Overdrive - Song is holy
04. Theodor Jensen - BAPADA
05. I Are Droid - With lowered arms
06. Konie - I'm just another boy
07. Dundertåget - Låt mej va
08. Jonna Lee - Violent Playground
09. They live by night - Ctr+Alt+Del My Heart (Fredrick Carlsson Remix)
10. Säkert! - Min hemstad (Wannadies cover)
11. Maia Hirasawa - Because of you
In addition to the 40th anniversary concert mentioned earlier, MNW is also releasing a book and 4CD collection for their birthday called "Ljud från Waxholm" featuring interviews, rare pictures, 250 album covers and 68 tracks from the label's history. As they say themselves, "från Björn Afzelius till Ebba Forsberg." The release date is October 14. And that's not all- they will also apparently be doing a few special anniversary reissues from their 70s back-catalogue and have also put together a tribute comp entitled "Retur Waxholm" featuring current artists covering classic MNW songs. That one comes out October 7 and here's the tracklist:
01. Kajsa Grytt - Gunga bergets topp (Babylon Blues)
02. Kjell Höglund - Men bara om min älskade väntar (Nationalteatern/Bob Dylan)
03. Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide/Säkert!) - Jag vill inte suddas ut (Sånger om kvinnor)
04. Johan Johansson - Vårdsjuk blågul fanblues (Smutsiga Hundarna)
05. Stefan Sundström & Fjodor - Tvivelaktig kurtis (Gunder Hägg)
06. Pernilla Andersson - Huvudet högt (Eldkvarn)
07. Plura - I hajars djupa vatten (Blå Tåget)
08. Sanna Carlstedt - Vem kan man lita på? (Hoola Bandola Band)
09. Jonas Kullhammar - Badidoom (Archimedes Badkar)
10. Asha Ali - Kärlek (Röda Bönor)
11. De Lyckliga Kompisarna - Törnrosa (Marie Selander)
12. Toni Holgersson - Kort vals till min älskade (Peter LeMarc)
13. Love Antell - Samma vindar samma dofter (Contact)
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Håkan Hellström
02. Jens Lekman
03. Anna Ternheim
04. Fireside
05. The Big Pink
06. Loney, Dear
07. Mew
08. Hello Saferide
09. Bon Iver
10. The xx
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Mew
02. The Bear Quartet
03. Hello Saferide
04. Frida Hyvönen
05. Anna Ternheim
06. Håkan Hellström
07. Grizzly Bear
08. The Big Pink
09. Yo La Tengo
10. Taken By Trees
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. The Bear Quartet
02. Frida Hyvönen
03. Detektivbyrån
04. Sally Shapiro
05. El Perro del Mar
06. Hello Saferide
07. Jenny Wilson
08. Fever Ray
09. The Big Pink
10. Timo Räisänen
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Hello Saferide's excellent "More modern short stories..." album is released in Germany today so, as promised, she'll be heading down for a few shows:
09/24 - Magnet, Berlin
09/25 - Atomic Cafe, München
09/26 - Reeperbahnfestival, Hamburg
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show sirius XMU:
01. Existensminimum - Mirrors
02. TALK 1
03. Solander - Prayer to God
04. Volcanic Places - Goo
05. Zacke - Spela mig på radion (feat. Movits!)
06. TALK 2
07. Hello Saferide - Arjeplog
08. Kristofer Åström - When her eyes turn blue
09. Superfamily - Let's go dancing
10. Barra Head - Undermine
11. TALK 3
12. Pixie Carnation - Little sister
13. The Bear Quartet - I was a weapon
14. Mangrove - Pieces of our yesterday
15. TALK 4
16. Emmon - Lips on fire
17. Eric Ramsey - Enlightened neurotics
18. Håkan Hellström - För en lång tid
19. TALK 5
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Hello Saferide's latest fantastic album "More modern short stories..." is getting a German release this fall so there's now a new Deutsch website (with free mp3 giveaway): http://www.hellosaferide.de/
Expect tourdates in that part of the world to be announced soon.
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Bob Hund
02. Håkan Hellström
03. Mew
04. The Soundtrack of Our Lives
05. The Radio Dept.
06. Moneybrother
07. Deportees
08. Britta Persson
09. Broder Daniel
10. Hello Saferide
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Hello Saferide
02. Håkan Hellström
03. Tiger Lou
04. A Camp
05. The Legends
06. Jenny Wilson
07. Jens Lekman
08. Shout Out Louds
09. The Fine Arts Showcase
10. Fleet Foxes
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
