Tag: Sweden

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Simon On The Moon – Hooked

Somewhere between the creeping synths, accented drums and keys, and sultry vocals interjected with falsetto croons, Simon On The Moon‘s “Hooked” has me reveling even deeper into my current crush.

Impressively, this is Simon On The Moon‘s first song to be released, and was created wholly in his home in Sweden. I’m enamored by the richly layered instrumentals and vocals, and the way the song ebbs and flows, dipping in and out of varying genres. “Hooked” is a style in itself, and features a dash of nu-disco, a whiff of Sade-esque soul, and the catchiest guitar riffs you’ve heard all year. I’m really looking forward to more from Simon On The Moon; he’s set to have 2 EP releases this year.

And now I’m hooked…

When was the last time you had a crush? The type of crush that has you daydreaming, drifting in and out of engagement with the world around you. When she leaves your house, all you want is for her smell to linger; you’re eager to plan the next encounter. It’s new, it’s exciting. You’re grinning wide; she asks why, but there is simply no reason other than her presence. When you have a crush, you feel the wall around your heart, built by past disappointment and heartbreak, cracking slightly. You want to let that person ooze through, and you feed off those chemicals. As this song puts it, almost as if you’ve been drugged. This is a crush, with which the thought of something “serious” hasn’t tainted the innocence of what you’re currently enjoying. If only you could freeze these moments, before reality/timing/incompatibility enters the realm! Until then, revel with me.

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Music

Adam Tensta – My Cool (Al Azif Remix ft. Dr. Alban)

Due to some administrative confusion, my earlier post on Autograf’s “Gust of Wind” remix has been taken down…as the track was written up already yesterday! Ah, the pitfalls of an international remote team sharing a Dropbox account.

So in the interest of keeping all you EMPTers satiated with Sunday summer jams, I offer you this rare example of good dance rap. It’s very Euro, and I never heard a peep out of any of the artists after I initially discovered the track a few years back. But fuck if it isn’t the perfect soundtrack to a sunny day. I’m a major sucker for elated reggae vocals and happy-hardcore synth lines, and this little number has both in excess.

Regular readers know that I’m all about the summer jams, and I advise you to be on the lookout this week for my entry into EMPT’s nascent playlist series, “Les Auteurs.” It will be beachy.

Adam Tensta – My Cool (Al Azif Remix ft. Dr. Alban)

 

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Music

Little Dragon – Klapp Klapp

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It’s a known fact that we love Little Dragon. They may well be EMPT’s most posted artist. For good reason.

Yukimi Nagano, the group’s lead singer, is a force of nature. Her voice maintains its singular sound regardless of the sonic mayhem playing out in the background, and her octaval range brings excitement to songs that, with any other vocalist, would take a turn to the listless. Nagano is the constant, the bedrock of a band that has changed dramatically in sound and ambition since its earliest days.

Nagano, Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Källgren Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards) formed Little Dragon in high school, and released their first commercial single, “Twice”/”Test” nearly a decade later. Listen to “Twice.” It remains, for my money, their best song, a heart wrenching dive into the smoky heart of a stranger.

In the eight years since, Little Dragon has steadily climbed the ladder from underground club fodder to legitimate arena headliner. I’ve been lucky enough to see them live four times, most recently in November. They had a cold, outdoor crowd moving. Their shows bounce between friendly pop, experimental rythmics, noise rock and heavy dubstep. Yet they remain totally accessible to mainstream radio audiences and older generations. When 6th graders and 60 year olds both dig what you do, you’re doing something right.

“Klapp Klapp,” the lead single off their upcoming album “Nabuma Rubberband” (May 13, 2014) came out in mid February. It is a perfect benchmark of where the band stands today. Take the bassline, which flips back and forth between an acoustic jazz pluck and a heavy buzz saw. Or the aggressively repetitive snare track that fades to the background in the face of swelling strings and those classic Little Dragon organ stabs.

By the end, Nagano is autotune trilling like OG T-Pain, and it somehow fits. I cannot wait for the album to drop, because if “Klapp Klapp” is any barometer, it’s going to be a wild ride.

Little Dragon – Klapp Klapp

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Music

El Perro Del Mar – I Carry the Fire

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A few months ago, El Perro Del Mar released her fifth dazzling studio album Pale Fire. In fact, I wrote about the title track, and its effortless beauty and detailed construction. I Carry the Fire is another stunning work designed around varying levels of a sound experience. Sarah Assbring‘s delicate vocals, a stirring bass guitar riff, an ethereal choir – the result puts the listener directly at the center, spinning, attempting to find the source.

One slip with the ice on the ground
No need for nothing else
No sleep with my eyes on the ground
There was enough to believe in.”

The track has left me wondering of the album’s inspiration. After all, the Swede has been nominated for Best Album, Best Pop and Best Producer for the Swedish Grammys in February. Her work has evolved quite rapidly, and her nomination for Best Producer is clearly a result of her drive. I can’t help but wonder if she took any inspiration from Vladimir Nabokov‘s novel Pale Fire. As a bibliophile, I can only hope that Assbring took some vision from the author, if not some poetic flare. I’ll leave you with this excerpt from Nabokov’s Pale Fire and let you be the judge.

All colors made me happy: even gray.
My eyes were such that literally they
Took photographs. Whenever I’d permit,
Or, with a silent shiver, order it”

El Perro Del Mar – I Carry the Fire

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Music

Stay Ali – Emotional Day

So I’ve been running around putting this party together and getting the music ready so I haven’t had much time to write but I keep getting distracted by this song and had to post it. BÃ¥rd Ericson, Elias Smeds, and Johan Vati Grade aka Stay Ali are 19 year old’s from Sweden making electronic music with arrangements and versatility well beyond their years. Their sound is unidentifiable and their disrespect for genres is ruthless, one second they give you a nu-disco track, the next electro-dance, the next breakbeats, the next pop, electro-indie, you get the idea. In an industry full of old established names trying to stay relevant it’s exciting to hear our generation already making music of this quality, I can’t wait to see how good they’ll be in the years to come. I love the energy and free form these guys have, I’ll def be putting this into rotation tomorrow night, enjoy.

I checked you out for a week or two, we never talk but I know I like you. I’m watching you and your boyfriend Lance, is it over yet or do you wanna dance?”

Stay Ali – Emotional Day