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