Nya Vågen #3

Aloha from a sunny Gothenburg. Usually, a lot of good music gets released this time of year and ’09 is no exception.

Not too long ago, Sincerely Yours (SY – home of acts such as Air France, Jonas Game etc) presented a new act called JJ. Not much is known about them but their first release, ‘JJ No°1′, consists of two great tracks to get spring started with beautiful vocals and a Saint Etienne kind of feel.

About a week ago, not long after releasing ‘JJ N°’ 1, SY surprised us by introducing another new artist, Avner. This time with Swedish lyrics. Avner is really something else – a truly interesting man. The first single is called ‘Bed För Mig’ (Pray For Me), a stunning track to say the least. I remember reading about him some months ago while he was still unsigned, and thinking to myself: “I hope someone understands this guy and sign him real quick”. And someone did, thank god.

A label not as well known, and certainly smaller than, SY is Mad For It. Having released a lot of great stuff such as Parker Lewis and Hammarin & Robin they are one of the most interesting new labels in Sweden.

They recently released two great tracks by the somewhat mysterious Xplo-Sean called ‘Believe Me’ and ‘Outbreak’. Two nice instrumental tracks. It’s dark, it’s breezy, it’s great. I also recommend Xplo-Seans first single, ‘Lambada’, which is a massive hit, and not to be missed.

And oh, check out Parker Lewis as well. He will soon release a single called ‘Bash The Cynicals’ with a brand new song as B-side. It’s too good not to look up. Listen to ‘Hjältar’ (Heroes), a track available in both Swedish and English.

OK, moving on…

Nottee is a ridiculously talented lass from Stockholm. She’s got some hype in Sweden that’ll hopefully catch on everywhere else soon enough. The two tracks on her Myspace, ‘Control’ and ‘Young Modern Life’, are incredible. If The Embassy and Stevie Nicks would ever have a child, it’d probably sound something like this.

Stockholm is also home of The Morning Paper, the world’s most modern shoegaze band. Just listen to their latest track ‘What We Wish’ and you’ll quickly understand. So beautiful, it’s haunting. Do me, and yourself, a favor and look them up.

Another kind of shoegazy band is Sail A Whale, who sound really promising but their Myspace is frustratingly empty. There is a video though. A lovely piece by the ever-so-talented Sebastian Rozenberg, who has made a lot of great vids. If we all group together and write some emails to Sail A Whale, we should be able to force them to put up some songs on their page.

An artist that has worked with Rozenberg is Jenny Westerlund, also known as Patience Worth. They make dreamy electronic music, that’s melancholic and mesmerizing in its simplicity. Visit her myspace and listen to ‘Fierce Announcements’. The other track, ‘Wentworth’, is a cover of a song with the same name by Stockholm indie band Twig. The singer in Twig sounds an awful lot like Edwyn Collins, which is no bad thing of course.

All these bands are part of a new, quite refreshing, indie scene in Stockholm. Come to think of it, all the best new Swedish music is from Stockholm. It hasn’t been like that in a long time.

Ok, I’d love to stay and chat but the spring is calling my name and the cheap Swedish beer is not going to drink itself. Ciao!