Sweden - Stim

“...and the tunes are
100 percent pop”
Frida Hyvönen
myspace.com/fridahyvonen
A charismatic and expressive pianistcum-singer
from Robertsfors in northern
Sweden. Frida Hyvönen has been
likened to Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell,
even though she herself has never
been comfortable with these references.
Contracted to Secretely Canadian
in the USA and to The Concretes’s
company Licking Fingers in Europe.
Toured the USA with Jens Lekman.
I’m From Barcelona
myspace.com/imfrombarcelona
The little town of Jönköping is known
for two things: The Cardigans and its
nonconformist churches. Jönköpingbased
I’m From Barcelona combines
both. With its 29 members, most of
whom are in the chorus, they are like
an ecstatic church choir, but the attitude
and the tunes are 100 per cent
pop. The band has attracted much public
and critical attention abroad, particularly
in England. Contracted overseas
to Mute.
The (International) Noise
Conspiracy
myspace.com/internationalnoiseconspiracy
Singer Dennis Lyxzén started in Refused,
one of the world’s most influential
hardcore bands. The title of
their swansong, The Shape Of Punk
To Come, proved prophetic. Dennis
Lyxzén’s other band, The (International)
Noise Conspiracy, has been
taken underwing by Rick Rubin. The
band’s latest two albums were recorded
by Rick Rubin in Los Angeles.
Jens Lekman
Jenslekman.com
Singer-poet-songwriter from Göteborg
who let the whole world into his
kitchen. Jens Lekman combines sunshine
melodies with beats borrowed
from African soul music and American
soul music with lyrics on everything
from, to quote a review on Popmatters.
com, “eating bananas at 7-11, Jehovah’s
Witnesses interrupting birthday parties,
breakups at protest rallies, and
cosy houses in the dead of the Scandinavian
winter”.
José González
myspace.com/josegonzalez
Since releasing his debut album Veneer
in 2003, José González has been
on a non-stop world tour. Everyone
from punks to Hollywood stars have
found themselves enchanted by the
Gothenberger’s almost whispering
music, which has featured in several
TV series, including The OC and Friday
Night Lights. And who could ha ve
missed the advert for Sony Bravia, in
which 250,000 colourful balls bounce
down a street in San Francisco to the
strains of his rendering of The Knife’s
Heartbeats?
Katzen Kapell
myspace.com/katzenkapell
With accordion and fiddle upfront,
veterans Katzen Kapell play music
that’s just as evocative of Argentina and
Eastern Europe as it is of their Swedish
homeland. It says something that
one of the band’s most well-known
songs is called Bukarest. The band lists
amongst its diverse influences Astor
Piazzolla, Kurt Weill and film-score
legends Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann.
Toured the USA in the autumn
of 2007.
Kent
myspace.com/kentsweden
The biggest rock bank in Sweden this
past decade. After attempting an international
breakthrough by producing
bilingual versions of two of their
albums, Isola (1997) and Hagnesta Hill
(1999), Kent has dropped the English
and has gone back to singing exclusively
in Swedish. Ironically, this has made
the band more interesting overseas.
Swedish Kent encapsulates the national
character and landscape in the same
way as Sigur Rós captures the spirit of
Iceland. Their music is a combination
of Nordic melancholy, modern electronics
and timeless melodies. In the
autumn of 2007, the American TFT
label launched a reissue of all of Kent’s
Swedish language albums.
The Knife
myspace.com/theknife
The unique electronic brother-andsister
duo of Karin Dreijer Andersson
and Olof Dreijer, who always perform
behind masks. Ultramodern production,
with influences of everything
from Eurotechno to southern state
hip hop, combined with expressive
vocals reminiscent of Siouxsie & The
Banshees and Kate Bush. The Knife’s
Göteborg neighbour, José González,
recorded an acoustic version of the
duo’s Heartbeats.
Little Dragon
myspace.com/yourlittledragon
Singer Yukimi Nagano was first noticed
as the guest performer with the
critically acclaimed Swedish new jazz
duo Koop. With Little Dragon she has
formed her own fine-tuned combo that
navigates between soul, jazz, and oriental
music. The rhythmic palate they
use to paint their moods has earned
them comparisons with Bristol outfit
Portishead. Little Dragon have also
played with José González.
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