Photo: Moa Karlberg Club8 Photo: Press Image Ale Möller Band Photo: Jonas Linell Photo: Lindor Tidäng Photo: Press Image The Hives Dark Tranquillity Anna Ternheim | Hit Facts <strong>Sweden</strong>
“Thanks for saving rock’n’roll” Abalone Dots myspace.com/abalonedotsmusic ABBA’s Björn Ulveaus started as a folk musician in the little picturesque coastal town of Västervik. Now from the same town come Abalone Dots, four women who musically encapsulate their home tracts in much the same way as Dixie Chicks capture Texas or The Be Good Tanyas Canada. All four sing and play acoustic instruments, such as fiddle, dobro, mandolin and double bass. Ale Möller Band myspace.com/alemoller The term ‘world music’ has become too hackneyed and nebulous to say anything about the music itself, but when used to describe Ale Möller it takes on a very definite meaning. Along with fellow musicians hailing from Mexico, Senegal, Canada, Greece and northern <strong>Sweden</strong>, the Ale Möller Band makes folk music that belongs to nowhere and everywhere. Inquisitiveness and a faith in the potential of the musicians is what guides them. Anna Ternheim myspace.com/annaternheim Blonde singer-songwriter, known for her bittersweet melodies and increasingly experimental arrangements, who has quickly become one of the biggest and most acclaimed artists in <strong>Sweden</strong>. Rolling Stone gave her second album four stars, describing Anna Ternheim as a “wonderful artist”. Sell-out tours in many European countries. Caesars myspace.com/caesars New York Magazine has called the four-piecer Caesars’s garage rock, fronted by a furious Farfisa organ, “maddeningly infectious”. At home in <strong>Sweden</strong>, the band first appeared under the name Caesar’s Palace, but abbreviated it for legal reasons. Jerk It Out has featured in an advert for iPod and in over half a dozen Hollywood movies (Deuce Bigalow) and as many TV series (Entourage). Club 8 myspace.com/club8 With artists like The Radio Dept. and Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Labrador has made a name for itself as one of the world’s most influential indiepop labels. Club 8 is a duo comprising the company’s owner Johan Angergård (also of Acid House Kings and The Legends) and singer Karolina Komstedt. Over the years, Club 8 has taken its 60s-inspired sounds from bossa nova to more contemporary, melancholic pop. The Concretes myspace.com/theconcretes Homespun indie-pop from Stockholm with an eight-piece band fronted by three women: Lisa Milberg, Maria Eriksson and Victoria Bergsman. When Victoria Bergsman left to pursue a solo career as Taken By Trees, drummer Lisa Milberg, with her Nico-esque voice, took over the mic. Had their debut with an American recording company, and now run their own label, Licking Fingers. Dark Tranquillity myspace.com/dtofficial As Popmatters.com writes: “The Swedish melodic death metal scene of the 1990s had a huge impact on those who like their music with a crunch.” Dark Tranquillity are veterans in the genre and join their Swedish colleagues At The Gates and In Flames as pioneers in the more melodic side of death metal. Have eight albums and world tours under their belts. Dungen myspace.com/dungen Dungen is poly-instrumentalist Gustav Ejste’s nickname and the name of his band. The fact that Dungen sings in Swedish has not prevented them from making an international impact – on the contrary, the music speaks quite literally for itself. The album Ta det lugnt received rave reviews in the USA. With influences from the psychedelic era of the 60s and 70s, Dungen produces progressive rock for the 21st century. Hello Saferide myspace.com/saferide Singer-songwriter Annika Norlin performs under two different monikers: Säkert! when singing in Swedish and Hello Saferide when singing in English. Made a name for herself when she posted Highschool Stalker on the net. The song subsequently popped up everywhere, from clubs in England and blogs in Australia to Canadian radio. The song Long Lost Penpal was featured in the HBO series Big Love. The Hives myspace.com/thehives Following a Hives gig, Joe Strummer (1952-2002) went up to the band and said, “Thanks for saving rock’n’roll.” Borlänge’s The Hives, who are forever clad in black and white, have repeatedly been voted as the world’s best live band. In the early 2000s, after their breakthrough, the band made around 250 recordings a year. For their latest album, The Hives developed their adrenaline-packed garage rock with the help of, amongst others, hip hop producers Pharrell Williams and Timbaland. Hit Facts <strong>Sweden</strong> |
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