01. Buying an old school and moving out in the country again and running a really cool café there this summer with some friends. Lots of work but definitely worth it.
http://www.hablingbo.com/

02. Releasing SKRIET's (Isak from Pascal's side project) debut album. A subdued and dark album which fit my autumn mood perfectly.
http://www.myspace.com/skrietsthlm

03. A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding head. Great album I only which the vocals were a little bit higher, but great none the less.
http://www.aplacetoburystrangers.com/

04. Tap Tap - On my way. Maybe not as perfect as their debut album but great anyway. Maybe it's just that the surprise factor of hearing them for the first time isn't as big this time. I think it will grow on me though.
http://www.myspace.com/taptapmusic

05. Pascal - Orkanen närmar sig (The hurricane is approaching). Technically this won't be released until January 2010 [however] since we have been working with it since July it has made a big impact in me this year. Pascal's best and heaviest album so far. Really great stuff!
http://www.kyssmig.com/

06. Brian Eno & David Byrne - Everything that happens will happen today. Maybe I'm getting old but I really enjoyed this quite mellow album from two of my favorite artists. Nice to see them working together again. It's not as close to being as good as "My life in the bush of ghosts" (which is one of my favorite records) but very enjoyable anyway.
http://www.everythingthathappens.com/

07. Antennas album ("Feeling feline tonight") making great success in Austria and topping their indie charts for week. Also the band having a successful tour in Europe following the album.

08. Bat For Lashes - Two suns. An album filled with gauzy vintage synths and odes to teenage love . It's bravely backward-looking and weirdly prescient at the same time. If only all pop could be this good.
http://www.batforlashes.com/

09. Existensminimum - OK boys. Magnus returned with a synth driven pure pop album and I just love it to pieces.
http://www.existensminimum.com/

10. The Bear Quartet - 89. I never been a huge fan of The Bear Quartet but this album is so fucking good I just couldn't stop listening to it.
http://www.thebearquartet.com/

---------------------------
Daggan runs the label Novoton and is one of the founders of Klicktrack. Next year he is looking forward to releasing new albums by Pascal, Paper, Norma and Antennas.
http://www.novoton.se/
http://www.klicktrack.com/

So with a rather large grain of salt, let me present to you It's a Trap's 2008 top albums of the year.
- Avi Roig

10. Siena Root - Far from the sun (Transubstans)
Graveyard and Witchcraft get all the acclaim, but Siena Root is the better band.

09. Nitad - Ibland kan man inte hindras sig själv (Kranium/Deranged)
Fucked Up, another band who put out one of 2008's best releases ("The chemistry of commmon life"), have moved far beyond the realms of hardcore. Nitad have stepped up to take their place.

08. Park Hotell - Free for friends (Ultra Radio Records/BD Pop)
I can't stand Morissey, yet somehow some Swedish acts are able to take his influence and turn it into something wonderful. If only more indiepop bands were as good as Park Hotell.

07. Katzenjammer - Le pop (Propeller Recordings)
I fully expected Detektivbyrån to be my favorite folk-crossover act, but these ladies from Norway snuck in ahead of them.

06. Hello Saferide - More modern short stories from Hello Saferide (Razzia)
Even better than I hoped. The perfect follow-up to the first album.

05. Johan Heltne - Vetenskapliga bevis för att Jesus lever (Raffaella)
A beautiful and beguiling album. So weird and mysterious, so absolutely entrancing.

04. Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy (NONS)
Of all the bands on my list, these ladies are the only ones to truly create something new and unique sounding. Sweden's most consistently underrated and underappreciated band.

03. Haust - Ride the relapse (Fysisk Format)
If there's a more pissed-off, evil sounding album in 2008, I haven't heard it.

02. Lukestar - Lake Toba (Phone Me Records)
A full year later and I still love this album just as much when it first came out.

01. The Goner - H-Trilogy: Hind hand, Hallartrallar, Haven (Svarta Markaden)
I realize it's pretty lame to put a series of limited cult releases at #1, yet no other artist this year has intrigued me as much as The Goner. "Hind hand" blew me away when I first heard it, the following two were even better.

Jonas Appelqvist

10. Wildbirds & Peacedrums - The Snake (Caprice Records)
This headstrong indie duo got me convinced at a festival gig this summer. And when I heard "The snake" for the first time I was hooked. It's that good.

09. Frida Hyvönen - Silence is wild (Licking Fingers)
Frida goes from strength to strength and with this album she has established her status as one of the finest songwriters in Sweden right now. Don't believe me? I dare you, listen to "Dirty dancing" and you'll know what I'm talking about.

08. Paper - An object (Novoton)
A homage to Suicide, Joy Division and monotonous kraut rock. The mix between The Bear Quartet and Audionom is a win-win. Literally.

07. Satyricon - The age of Nero (Roadrunner)
With massive walls of sound this Norwegian old school combo decided to continue to piss off black metal fans that claim they're not "true" anymore. Hell, when it sounds this good, I couldn't care less.

06. David Sandström Overdrive - Pigs lose (Razzia)
David Sandström and Oskar Sandlund went into the studio and came out with an astounding album only surpassed by early career move Refused.

05. Lack - Saturate every atom (Play/Rec)
2008 turned out to be the year of resignation for Lack. At least they got to resign at the peak of their career; "Saturate every atom" is proof of that.

04. Britta Persson - Kill Hollywood me (Amigo)
Britta released this album with a somewhat secluded approach and it was received with open arms by almost everyone. Sounds contradictory? It's not, just pure genius.

03. Cult of Luna - Eternal kingdom (Earache)
It just goes to show, these guys don't know how to fail. Top notch!

02. Division of Laura Lee - Violence is timeless (I Made This)
Göteborg's finest spent three years in the studio. The result, Fugazi-esque punk rock, shows that it was worth the wait.

01. Lukestar - Lake Toba (Phone Me Records)
Indie rock at its best - edgy, melodic and, at the same time, raw and hard hitting as hell! The number one spot was, even in January, Lukestar's spot all along.

Matt Giordano

06. Vapnet - Döda fallet (Hybris)
Their track record has been making consistently good albums, and this is not an exception.

05. Robert Svensson - Young punk are on the never-never (Nomethod)
A fantastic pop album that has me looking even more forward to the next Mixtapes and Cellmates record.

04. The Kid - Transient blood (Hybris)
On their second album, The Kid has transformed themselves into brooding pop masters.

03. Paavoharju - Laulu laakson kukista (Fonal)
A beautiful, cold, meandering album. Not only does this album sound natural, it sounds symbiotic with nature.

02. Markus Krunegård - Markusevangeliet (V2/Universal)
He's made classic albums with Laakso, and a great Hets album. Now Markus is a bonafide solo artist, and, with this maintains that he's one of the best songwriters around.

01. Juvelen - 1 (Hybris)
One of my most anticipated of the year. Ten songs, ten potential singles, yet one cohesive pop statement. Juvelen is here to stay.

Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

10. Division of Laura Lee - Violence is timeless (I Made This)
This is a total gut decision. Part of me is not okay with this result, but enough of me is perfectly alright ousting at least five other contenders to make room for this dirty, energetic album in my top 10. Despite giving this album only an 8, it has survived in far better standing than a few 9s from this year. "LAX" has been on quite a few of the mixtapes I've made for friends over the past few months, and DoLL launched my brother and I across America this summer... I couldn't imagine 2008 without "Violence is timeless".

09. Robert Svensson - Young punks are on the never-never (Nomethod)
Mr. Svensson lost considerable ground on this list, especially compared to the first draft I worked up a few weeks ago. Still, even at number nine, "Young punks are on the never-never" made it. A wonderful debut solo album from Mixtapes & Cellmates' vocalist, marking the beginning of what is sure to be a fine career.

08. Park Hotell - Free for friends (Ultra Radio/BD Pop)
This top 10 list is populated with a lot of debut records. "Free for friends" is definitely one that I had been waiting for, and it didn't let me down. It's a perfect autumn record: tracts of introspection still fuelled by the reckless hope of summer days.

07. Kiki Pau - Let's rock (Pyramid/Johanna Kustannus)
While I was completely surprised by "Book of Norma", I at least knew who Norma were. Kiki Pau are my favorite surprise this year. Their style of indie rock is confident well beyond their years, harkening back to "Meat is murder"-era Smiths, contemporary NYC garage, The Clash ... and any album with a song titled "Bukowski" (with the lyric: "Steinbeck made me want to get drunk") gets my vote.

06. Convoj - Exceptionnel (Wonderland)
This latecomer also forced me to reconstruct my list. It was all about complete, too. Oh well. Convoj's "Exceptionnel" is a brilliant record, more than deserving of a top 10 spot.

05. Håkan Hellström - För sent för edelweiss (Dolores)
If it weren't for all the summer memories I attach to "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust", Hellström's effort would be in fourth place. The fact that this album is in fifth place is a testament to the creative forces at work in Northern Europe. When I first heard this record, I was pretty sure it would be in my top three albums of the year. How wonderful it is to be so wrong. "För sent för edelweiss" has become my favorite Håkan Hellström album, just edging out "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg".

04. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (XL Recordings/EMI)
The fact that Sigur Rós took risks on this album when they could have skirted by with "Takk pt. II" impresses me. It may not be their finest album, but it's fun, kinetic, and lush; everything we expect from the Icelanders, and yet something quite different, too.

03. Tiger Lou - A partial print (Startracks)
I struggled a little with "A partial print" at first, but it eventually won out. As I wrote in my review, the album is "a collage, a collection of images, all of them darkly beautiful extensions of the emotional landscape of "The loyal", but the connections between these impressions can take some time to present themselves, but they will, and then "A partial print" comes fully into being."

02. Markus Krunegård - Markusevangeliet (V2/Universal)
While I gave "A partial print" higher marks, "Markusevangeliet" has been a valued companion of mine since April -- and there's something to be said about resilience. I said back then that I thought Laakso frontman Markus Krunegård had possibly crafted the best record of the year... and, although I might have proven myself wrong, his accomplishment is by far one of the best solo records in recent memory.

01. Norma - Book of Norma (Novoton)
In a damned impressive year for Scandinavian music, my top prize goes to "Book of Norma". It's been a while since I have been as taken aback by a record as I was with Norma's latest effort, the first album I have ever given a 10 to here on It's A Trap! Just an absolutely brilliant album.

Arnulf Koehncke

10. Ane Brun - Changing of the seasons (DetErMine)
Someone wrote somewhere how well recorded this album is -- I can't help but agree. The songs are good too and it's actually the first Ane Brun record that I can really relate to.

09. Audrey - The fierce and the longing (Tenderversion)
Honestly, this record sounds a lot like their last one. That's a good thing in Audrey's case -- I think it's really rare that a band is this well defined regarding both songwriting and sound-aesthetics.

08. Fredrik - Na na ni (Jezebel)
It surprises me how much I still like this record. I didn't think it would be such a grower -- guess I was wrong.

07. Snöleoparden - Snöleoparden (Rump)
I just like the whole of-the-cuff playfulness and complexity that this record embodies. I dare anyone to listen to the daycare-singalong second track and not smile.

06. Hello Saferide - More modern short stories from Hello Saferide (Razzia)
If you'd asked me in the beginning of the year, I'd probably have predicted this album to top my year-end list. Well, it hasn't completely gotten me hooked yet, though I totally agree with all the praise for Annika's development. And "Lund" has already become a personal favorite of mine.

05. Bobby and Blumm - Everybody loves... (Morr Music)
This record is just so playful -- there's so much to discover in F.S. Blumm's guitar work and Ella's charming voice. It makes me wish I could see them live again.

04. V. Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble - Do nothing 'til you hear from me (iDEAL)
Another great record, though it needs patience and concentration to really enjoy it as a whole. It's just great how it builds up all this tension with its drones and suspense curves only to then release the listener with a soothing return to tonality in the next to last track.

03. The Radio Dept. - Freddie and the Trojan Horse (Labrador)
Too bad their album was delayed until next year. This EP showed such potential with all its Prefab Sprout'ish moments and melodies. And it even delivered some nostalgia to me as a long-time fan when I listen to the hidden track's distortion and overdrive.

02. Vapnet - Döda fallet (Hybris)
It's amazing: This record is such an instant classic that I almost didn't think of it as a 2008-release. And doesn't that already say all there is to say?

01. Auton - Anywhere out of this world (Structures Sonores)
This record is just so good (which is why my review of it is just so overdue). Incredibly virtuosic yet never overbearing musicians that shift from straight-out jazz to drone to post-rock to Satie-like piano moments with such casualness and grace. My Scandinavian record of the year. Go to the label website now and order copies to give away as christmas presents ;-)

Nancy Baym

10. Don't I wish I could put something here. Like the Caesars. What a bummer that record was.

09. Mikko Singh - Uskotko että siellä on kukkia? (self-released)
An almost-entirely instrumental record that's somewhere between pop and new age, equally well suited to a massage or mellow downtime at home. Very pretty with some nice elements of fun.

08. Violent Years - s/t (Playground)
A fine contribution to the southern gothic alt country genre with many outstanding moments and at least one truly great song.

07. Kusowsky - Något speciellt (self-released)
Kusowsy are so unabashedly singalong guitar pop that I feel a little guilty enjoying them, but everytime a song from this EP showed up on shuffle this year I found myself stopping to smile.

06. The Social Services - It's nothing personal, it's national security (Stereo Test Kit)
Only 1/3 Scandinavian, but she's the singer so she gets extra credit. It's a smart, eclectic, cynical, funny, and loose indie pop album.

05. Tiger Lou - A partial print (Startracks)
I really wanted to love this record, but don't. As background music its dark, hypnotic and self-contradictory sound is stunningly close to perfect, but on close listening its repetitiveness becomes abrasive in ways I don't think were intended.

04. Markus Krunegård - Markusevangeliet (V2/Universal)
On his solo record, Krunegård avoids most of Laakso's glam excesses to deliver a powerful and rich electronically-driven yet organic and seductive sonic environment.

03. Vapnet - Döda fallet (Hybris)
They don't stray too far from the distinctive, poppy, and borderline corny sound of their previous recordings on this one, but that's a good thing because they are one of the most calming make-you-happy bands going today. I highly recommend this as a soundtrack for either hanging out on a warm beach or cleaning house, cooking, and other mundane chores of daily life.

01. Madrugada - s/t (Virgin/EMI)
Faced with the sudden death of their guitarist and an album 80% completed, Madrugada did the right thing by finishing it up. Even without the tragic back story, it's a powerful and mature rock album that I am still listening to regularly almost a year after its release.

01. Detektivbyrån - Wermland (Danarkia)
In a very disappointing musical year, this instrumental genre-collapsing folk album based on accordion and glockenspiel was the one extraordinary surprise. Everyone I've played it for ran out and got it immediately. You should too.

Simon Tagestam

10. Nordpolen - s/t (Sincerely Yours)

09. Joel Alme - A master of ceremonies (Sincerely Yours)

08. Envelopes - Here comes the wind (Brille)

07. Håkan Hellström - För sent för edelweiss (Dolores)

06. Markus Krunegård - Markusevangeliet (V2/Universal)

05. Love Is All - A hundred things keep me up at night (What's Your Rupture?)

04. Afasi & Filthy - Fläcken (P.O.P.E.)

03. Frida Hyvönen - Silence is wild (Licking Fingers)

02. Moto Boy - s/t (Songs I Wish I Had Written)

01. Vapnet - Döda fallet (Hybris)

02. Woven Hand - Ten stones
http://www.myspace.com/wovenhand
I've been a fan of Woven Hand since day one and I know that some older fans didn't like this album, but I love it. I like that there is a little more rawness and energy. It's a great album.

03. Norma - Book Of Norma
http://www.klicktrack.com/novoton/releases/norma/book-of-norma
Another one of my bands and what a debut album they made. They mix ambient, Kraut, noise, electronica, indie often with a strict, repetitive bass/drum pattern and a magnificent, wide and almost hypnotic sound. This is rich, panoramic music with a warmth that you don't hear often from other bands trying to do something in this genre. German Kraut is one obvious thing, but also the spacerock of Spiritualized and Spacemen3 comes to mind. Newer references may be Silverbullit, 120 Days, Serena Maneesh and The Lionheart Brothers. Check out the review here at It's a Trap! and you'll get how good it is.

04. Clinic - Do it
http://www.clinicvoot.org/
Britain's finest psych rock combo return with a great summer album which I listen to almost exclusively the whole summer, and still do. "Corpus Christi now you miss me."

05. Ultravox - Ultravox!, Ha! Ha! Ha!, Systems of romance
http://www.metamatic.com/

05. Gary Numan - Replicas
http://www.numan.co.uk/
Every year I seem to have a trip down the memory lane and this year it was both Ultravox three first albums with John Foxx (don't care much for the ones with Midge Ure though). Still fucking brilliant. Enough said. I also listened a lot to a almost perfect album by Gary Numan - Replicas. Check them all out, it's well worth it.

06. Montys Loco - Farewell Mr. Happy
http://www.klicktrack.com/klicktrack/releases/montys-loco/farewell-mr-happy-2
Montys Loco are back with their forth album recorded in Namibia and Sweden. It explores organic sounds and electronic atmospheres created by Marie Eklund, Monty's guitarist and producer. PJ Harvey meets Suicide and Neubauten!

07. Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
http://www.myspace.com/spiritualized
"Songs in A&E" is a return to fantastic form by Spirtualized. All of Jason Pierce's fascinations of the past years appear here in a beautiful way. I'm always pleased to see old favourites release great albums.

08. Holiday For Strings - Upcoming second album
http://www.myspace.com/holidayforstrings
So it's not out yet but I got a CD with some of the new tracks which I absolutely loved. It's going to be a great album. Head over to their MySpace page and listen to them.

09. Glasvegas - Glasvegas
http://www.glasvegas.net/
I haven't really had time to get into it properly because I am always a little sceptic to bands that are hyped this much. However good music is good music even if it is being hyped, sometime it's hyped because it's good. I am sure this will be listened to a lot the next couple of months.

10. Fatboy - In my bones
http://www.klicktrack.com/klicktrack/releases/fatboy/in-my-bones
And to end the list a little bit of Rockabilly from Sweden. Fatboy's second album is truly genuine. Something with a feel for history, but that is fashionably out of date. A combo that looks like it sounds, that isn't afraid to laugh in the face of expectation.

---------------------------
Daggan runs the label Novoton and is one of the founders of Klicktrack. Next year he is looking forward to release new albums by Antennas, Existensminimum and Pascal as well as a side project by Isak from Pascal.
www.novoton.se
www.klicktrack.com

"Book of Norma" is overwhelming and disconcerting, yet it is precisely in this difficulty that Norma best profess their talents. No band attempting to provide a facile listening experience would start a record with "S.A.M", a track that starts off as though its been recorded from the backstage room of a club. Even in the most simple, driving moments of "S.A.M" or "Waste", there is a fullness that most bands lack - in "S.A.M" this comes from the dark amplitude of the production and in the bridging of Krautrock with indie rock; in "Waste", Norma separate themselves through attitude and approach alone, taking what could almost be a track from Tiger Lou's "The loyal" and saturating it with a dysphoria present not only in the song's pacing, but in the detached lyrics. "Book of Norma" is brilliant, be it in the near freak out of "Evelyn", the unsettlingly fast/slow pacing of "You go, we follow", or in the beautiful closer "Empty hands" which is only made more remarkable through Andrea Kellerman's (of Firefox AK) backing vocals. I've never given full marks to a band before, nor do I hesitate to do so with this - "Book of Norma" is the record to beat in 2008.]]> Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800 reviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/24619 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/24619 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/24619#comments Norma's forthcoming album "Book of Norma" is streaming at Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Norma/Book%2Bof%2BNorma

01. Suis La Lune - Förmögenhet
02. TALK 1
03. Dmitry Fyodorov - Leisure
04. M:40 - Konfrontation
05. Cola Freaks - Ingenting set
06. TALK 2
07. Sort Sol - Boy/Girl
08. Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
09. Fy Fan - Arbetslos inte dum i huvdet
10. TALK 3
11. Those Dancing Days - Home sweet home
12. Viktor Sjöberg - Bostadsrätt
13. Frivolvol - And the youth of a nation sang
14. Jesper Norda - Tomorrow you'll be forgiven but tonight you will have your teeth knocked out
15. TALK 4
16. Norma - Waste
17. Häkan Lidbo - Mental hardcore
18. Celestial - Crystal heights
19. TALK 5
20. Mattias Alkberg BD - Här är ditt liv
21. Smalltown - The music
22. Audionom - Han gar och fiskar
23. Nitad - Rädslan
24. TALK 6
25. Broder Daniel - Underground

My show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday at the same time, but is pre-empted next week (10/12) by a Beck special.

Tap Tap - Lanzafame
A truly superb album. I hear Bowie, Velvet Underground, Talking Heads in here and I love it.
http://www.myspace.com/taptapmusic

Wolf People - EP
A psych-rock treat
http://www.myspace.com/wolfpeople

Pascal - Galgberget (upcoming album)
Heavier and more noisy then ever. Don't miss this one.
http://www.myspace.com/raukenroll

The Wolfgang Press - Bird wood cage
An oldie from 1988 which I rediscovered and listened to a lot this year. It was great back then and I see now why I loved it so much, and still do.
http://www.4ad.com/thewolfgangpress/releases/birdwoodcage-0/

Pet Politics - When I get old (track)
A great artist and I really have to do something with him now.
http://www.myspace.com/petpoliticstheband

Norma - 1 (EP)
A perfect mixture of ambient, kraut, noise, electronica, indie
http://www.myspace.com/theamazingnorma

Dieter Schöön - Lablaza
A very original and cool album.
http://www.myspace.com/dieterschoon

Black Belt - Two minutes to midnight
A hard rocking epos. Just listen to the closing song "Midnight".
http://www.myspace.com/blackbeltspace

Hot Silk Pockets (band)
A recommended listen.
http://www.myspace.com/hotsilkpockets

Love Is A Burning Thing - Dancer on a chair (track)
A song that make me just want to jump around.
http://www.myspace.com/liabt

"Can't wait for"
Antennas', Paper's and Norma's upcoming albums. All due to be released this spring and from what I have heard all equally great in their own ways.

---------------------------

Daggan is the head of Novoton Records and also runs the mp3 download service Klicktrack.
www.novoton.se
www.klicktrack.com

]]> Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800 articles top10s http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20421 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20421 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20421#comments Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Soviac - I got the ribbah
02. TALK 1
03. Downstairs - Peephole city
04. Moonbabies - At the ballroom
05. Tar... Feathers - You are lucky to have nothing
06. TALK 2
07. Truckfighters - Atomic
08. Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Corny waltz
09. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
10. TALK 3
11. Norma - The dark
12. Karin Ström - Klaustrofobi
13. Vapnet - Tjernobyl
14. TALK 4
15. Montt Mardié - The windmill turns all the same
16. Motorpsycho - Hyena
17. Musti Laiton - Tämän iltainen
18. Holiday Fun Club - Hamburg in the night
19. TALK 5
20. Rigas - It's a shame
21. Repoman - Jawbone night
22. Iisole - The words
23. TALK 6
24. The Fine Arts Showcase - Modern love
25. Kasper Bjørke - Back & spine (Fidel Astro remix)
26. Promoe - Headache
27. TALK 7
28. Viola - Imaginary times
29. New Decade - While tonight still is
30. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
31. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Choking on teeth
32. TALK 8
33. Totalitär - Nej vi ska inte ha nåt
34. Him Kerosene - Whatever get you by
35. The Social Services - Up in arms
36. Jens Lekman - The opposite of hallelujah
37. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
38. TALK 9
39. Maia Hirasawa - And I found this boy
]]> Sun, 02 Dec 2007 15:49:25 -0800 news sirius http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20367 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20367 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20367#comments Today marks the premiere of a new column mini-series from Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson with a special focus on the Stockholm music scene. Episode #1's test subjects: Norma. Check it out: [click here]]]> Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:58:04 -0800 news sitenews interviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25733-stockholm-perspectives-1-norma http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25733-stockholm-perspectives-1-norma http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25733-stockholm-perspectives-1-norma#comments I spent years reading about definitive moments in people's lives, often sitting outside the window of my shared boarding house room, huddled with a book on the bit of roof that extended from under the aperture, smoking a cigarette, watching the light soften and fade as afternoon became evening, as daylight transitioned into twilight and eventually darkness. Already a distant and asocial young expatriate, consistently reading about these moments made me feel even more removed from the spontaneity and vehemence of life. I began to regard those profound, life-changing experiences as works of fiction, accompanying true love and happy endings in some dark masquerade which most of us would never be invited to.

In 2002, I took my first breath of Swedish air and moved into a beautiful villa just across from the Tunnelbana tracks in Kärrtorp. I remembering smiling widely as Ella and Judy Torkelsson helped me with my things across the Arlanda parking lot into their blue Volvo station wagon. It wasn't so much that I was so desperate as to accept any weak breeze as the winds of change, my last year in British boarding school is saturated with many of my most treasured moments, and I grew and matured quite a bit as my A-Levels loomed, came, and passed. There was a genuine moment as I exited the airport into that grey day, the first definitive moment I'd ever had.

Over the coming months, I fell progressively more in love with Sweden, Stockholm in particular. While Ella was in school, I would walk down to the center of Kärrtorp, take the train into T-Centralen, and walk along the water, through the cobbled streets of Gamla Stan, and the parks of Södermalm. I started to feel less like a stranger or a voyeur observing the city around me. As the year wore on, I started to make friends, many of whom I am still in frequent contact with today, and began the life that I am now thoroughly involved in.

People ask me what it is about Stockholm that left me feeling this way, and I've never been able to give them a satisfactory answer, not for myself anyways. It's like asking a true Yankees fan what it is about the Bronx Bombers that attracts their loyalty. There are obvious things you can point to - friends, a coffee shop, the public transportation, universal healthcare, etc. - but much of one's admiration and allegiance is wrapped up in wordless swells of sentiment, and excluding them seems to detract from the whole.

Having one of the more prolific and creative music scenes in the world (in many ways putting breath into those "wordless swells"), I thought I'd ask various musicians in Stockholm the same question that has been posed to me - namely, "What is it about Stockholm?", amongst other pressing inquiries.

The following is the first attempt to scratch below the surface, to paint various pictures of a multifaceted city in the music and words of some of Stockholm's most talented citizens. My thanks to Norma for being my first test subjects.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

How did Norma come about?

We're all kind of weird, in our different ways. I think that was what brought us together. Norma is all about us three. If you would exchange any of the members, the sound would be totally different. You could describe it as some sort of terrorbalance. We all have a lot of ideas going in different directions, but the result of the struggle is Norma.

Where in Stockholm do you guys rehearse? Where have you rehearsed in the past?

Right now, we actually don't have any place to rehearse. That is one of the biggest downsides of being a band in Stockholm, there are just no cheap dungeons for bands to evolve in. So for now, our apartment (Aron Sandell and Petter Bendelin's) will have to do. But you can't do live drums here, and if we continue like this, sooner or later our neighbours will come knockin'... In the past we've been in a couple of different shelters, but when your guitars start rusting and you have to do warm-up exercises for 30 minutes before you can play a song, you feel like there's just got to be a better way.

What inspirations are present on "1"?

Well, the songs that are on "1" all sprung out from sessions in a small shelter in Zinkensdamm in the summer of 2006. It was dark, humid, and kind of noisy because of the concrete walls. When we first came there, we didn't have an A-to-B plan of what we wanted to do, but because of the preconditions in the shelter, it was kind of hard for us to write proper 3 minute verse-chorus songs. So instead we ended up making 6-10 minute songs with non-traditional structures and few chords. You couldn't really tell if anyone changed chords anyway, so it was better to stick to as few as possible. Mentioning different bands as sources of inspiration is kind of boring, but everything from Pink Floyd and Neu! to Postal Service and Hot Chip inspired "1".

How much would you say living in Stockholm impacts you all as individuals and collectively as a band? Does Stockholm feel like home?

I think it impacts us a lot, both as a band and as individuals. Two of us are from the island Gotland which is a few hours by boat from Stockholm. There's a big difference in living on an island with 60,000 other people or in a city of almost 2,000,000. But I (Aron) would still say that I'm from Gotland and not Stockholm.

As for the band, I think it means a lot, too. Just look at the difference of bands coming from say Gothenburg compared with bands from Stockholm. A good thing about Stockholm is that everyone is really good at what they do, no matter if it's art, music, film or writing. So when people start to take notice of you here, you know that you've probably done something right.

Has Stockholm ever inspired a song - for good or ill?

"The storm" is a song inspired by life here, which of course is both good and bad.

Have any of you wanted to move away - and if so, where?

We've talked about moving to Germany because of the possibilities of getting ourselves a warehouse facility which is impossible here. Haven't made it there yet, but we'll see what the future holds.

What bars, coffee shops, dance nights, 'must see places', etc. would you recommend to a foreigner visiting Stockholm for a week or so?

I think all three of us would like to go out more, but there is little money and even less time, so none of us would be a great guide to Stockholm's club life. The classic, both as a concert venue and bar, is of course Debaser. All three of us have spent a lot of time there. Another favorite is Landet. Two of us used to live nearby. And AG, where we had the release party for "1", is cool. We mostly drink our coffee at home, or in the studio. And when it comes to must-sees, well Stockholm is more of a city that you have to experience by meeting people and hopefully learning where the greatest party of weekend is at.

Where do you guys typically hang out?

The new black is Kungsholmen, two of us just moved here. And then there's Söder, and the places I mentioned before.

On a Friday night, would you guys rather go out to bars/clubs, or to a house party?

We would rather go to our own house party than go out clubbing, because house parties tend to be more wild and you can play whatever music you feel like listening to. But, I mean, it's kind of tiring to clean up afterwards... So a little bit of both is a good recipe to a healthy and happy life.

What clubs have you played at in Stockholm? Which were your favorites and why?

Fritz's Corner, Ljummen i Gräset, Musik Scenario, and our release party. That's it. We've only made 4 appearances ever, if you don't count the ones a couple of years ago when we were experimenting a lot. My favorite was definitely Debaser, but all the gigs have been great. Norma live is awesome though, so hopefully we will hit the road soon.

The only show we ever did outside of Stockholm was on Gotland a couple of years ago; weird gig, we didn't have any finished songs, almost no lyrics, and the audience was really drunk... Did far better than you could expect under those circumstances.

Which bands inspired Norma? Are there any Stockholm-based bands that motivated you?

Our friends, Torpedo ( with Love Martinsen on synthesisers), Antennas and Existensminimum are all really great and huge sources of inspiration for us in many ways.

What does the future hold for Norma?

We're in the middle of recording our first album. Hopefully it will be released sometime this coming spring, and then following that there will probably be some kind of tour. We're improving every song we make, so we're already looking forward to making the next record, and then the next, and so on.

Norma is: Aron Sandell, Love Martinsen, and Petter Bendelin.

LINK: http://www.theamazingnorma.com/
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/theamazingnorma