Photo: Press Image Teddybears Studio Photo: Press Image Photo: Press Image Photo: Press Image Timbuktu The Tough Alliance Photo: Press Image 10 | Hit Facts <strong>Sweden</strong>
“...a one man The Mamas & The Papas” 21st century’s club scene. The song Be Mine was spread on music blogs the world over in 2006. In August 2007 she took With Every Heartbeat to no. 1 in the British singles charts. Sahara Hotnights Four young women from Robertsfors in northern <strong>Sweden</strong> who have been playing together since the age of eleven. Since their album debut in 1997, the band has grown from strength to strength. Since having been compared to The Runaways they have taken the step towards more mature and playful pop with references to Stevie Nicks, ABBA and Bryan Ferry. All Sahara Hotnights’s albums have gone gold in <strong>Sweden</strong>. Shout Out Louds myspace.com/shoutoutlouds An indie-pop group from Stockholm that has played live on both the David Letterman and Jay Leno show. Rolling Stone has described the band’s sound as “neo new-wave integrated with Alt- Country and adrenaline-filled Strokes guitars”. Many have even drawn parallels with The Cure’s more poppy side. Ted Malmros in Shout Out Louds directed the MTV award-winning video for Peter, Bjorn And John’s Young Folks. Studio myspace.com/sstudio One of Studio’s songs, Life’s A Beach, took its name from a Factory Record’s compilation dance album. The legacy of the Manchester scene and its relationship with dance music rematerialises in this duo from Göteborg’s arty circles. Studio takes pop from Hacienda via Ibiza to 21st century <strong>Sweden</strong>, and has been acclaimed for its remixes for bands like Shout Out Louds and Love Is All. Sugarplum Fairy myspace.com/sugarplumfairyborlange Victor and Carl Norén in Sugarplum Fairy are the younger brothers of Gustaf Norén in Mando Diao. The Norén brothers all grew up with the Beatles and the Stones, but are also influenced by Oasis and by the attitude and sense of nowness of hip hop. While Mando Diao has become best known for its upbeat style, Sugarplum Fairy has found greatest success with epic ballads. Taken by Trees myspace.com/takenbytreesmusic A one-woman project by Victoria Bergsman, artist from Stockholm and former singer in The Concretes. To date, Victoria Bergsman’s voice is most familiar as the other half of the duet in Peter, Bjorn And John’s world hit Young Folks. Her debut album as a solo artist has also been produced by the trio’s Björn Yttling. Taken By Trees has a contract with English Rough Trade. Teddybears myspace.com/teddybears US magazine Paper said of the Teddybears that “they write punk songs. With dance beats. And it works”. Teddybears started life as a hardcore band in Stockholm, but had their breakthrough with their eclectic blend of club and street music. Iggy Pop features on their Punkrocker. Jocke Åhlund is also in the garage band Caesars. His brother, Klas Åhlund, is a producer, who can list Robyn as one of his artists. Timbuktu myspace.com/timbuktuonline Jason Diakité, born in 1975, grew up in Lund in southern <strong>Sweden</strong> with American parents. His father’s family has its roots in Timbuktu, Mali – hence his stage name. Many rappers in <strong>Sweden</strong> perform in English, but the most respected and popular rap in Swedish. After a string of hit albums from the 2000s, Timbuktu has made a name as <strong>Sweden</strong>’s leading rapper. Tobias Fröberg myspace.com/tobiasfroberg A critic for the English Word Magazine wrote of singer-songwriter Tobias Fröberg’ second album: “I’m honestly starting to think it might be one of the greatest records ever made”. An American magazine has described his California-inspired sound as “a one man The Mamas & The Papas”. Alan Mc- Gee (Oasis) has said: “Tobias Fröberg is Scandinavia’s next superstar”. The Tough Alliance myspace.com/toughalliance For one shot, The Tough Alliance posed holding baseball bats. This was enough to fix the media image of the duo as soul-loving football hooligans. On their albums, The Tough Alliance have played the Northern Soul classic Mine Was Real and rapper 50 Cents’s Many Men. Their own work is pure digital dance music with refrains so simple they could have been composed by Liverpool’s Kop. Hit Facts <strong>Sweden</strong> | 11
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