sweden

8hands Featured Band: A Smile and a Ribbon

Alice — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:39:19 -0400

If you follow our blog, you must be aware of our Swedish obsession. It's not that we are all happy people, and it's not because all Swedish girls are blond and hot, it's simply because Swedish indie pop rocks!

So, after having fun with Suburban Kids with Biblical Names and Irene, crying with El Perro Del Mar, Dancing with I'm from Barcelona and feeling proud of Jens Lekman, I am thrilled to share with you my latest Swedish discovery: A Smile and a Ribbon.

A Smile and a Ribbon: "Oh, look! Graffiti! Let's take out the camera and act cool!"

A Smile and a Ribbon have actually been out there for a while and released their debut album last September, but I figured that if I only just heard of them, surely some of you haven't been exposed to their magic as well.

This great combo is made up of Rebecca Mehlman and Martin Lindqvist, who took Rebecca's misfortunes in love and made an album out of it. On their MySpace page, they describe themselves as the musical equivalent of a lemon pie and I couldn't agree more - their music is sweet and yummy with a twist of sourness.

Usually, we don't post live shows videos. but it's dedicated to Darren Hayman, and we L-O-V-E him.

If this description is not enough for you, I can also say that their album, "The Boy I Wish I Never Met", derives its influences from 50's girl bands and 90's twee and contains 10 awesome songs that will probably make you fall in love with Rebecca Mehlman.

So go ahead, enjoy another Swedish wonder and thank me later.

Download: A Smile and a Ribbon - The Boy I Wish I Never Met

Download: A Smile and a Ribbon - Pebbles

Download: A Smile and a Ribbon - Book Cover

8hands Video of the Week: Suburban Kids with Biblical Names

alon — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:34:39 -0400

Our video of the week spot is given to our favorite Swedish band, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, and their video to "Rent a wreck". Of course you know what that means… All of the superb 8hands alpha users will get the video straight into their 8hands. Sweet!

8hands Featured Interview: Suburban Kids with Biblical Names

alon — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 08:36:56 -0400

Even though we were sure they were mega-internet-geeks, Johan Hedberg changed our mind. Damn, SKWBN hardly even use their MySpace page. But what can we say? They are still one great band.

As our Swedish pop obsession refuses to go away, it's only obvious that we'll write about the finest of all the sweety-pie Swedish bands, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names. If you never heard that name before, we demand that you'll stop reading us and run or surf to get one of their releases.

So far these guys released two EPs (named #1 and # 2) and one LP (with the incredibly original name, #3) that came out in Sweden somewhere around 2005, and worldwide a year after that.

Because of songs like "Loop Duplicate My Heart", which contained lines like "I'm making out tonight with my computer" and "So many interesting effects / I wanna try / I wanna try them all on you", and because they are an indie act that reach a level of some popularity all over the world, us 8hands people were convinced that Suburban Kids with Biblical Names are the perfect band to interview in our music blog. But before all of those internet questions (that made us realize that not every indie musicians are virtual creatures), I must ask something that's been bothering me since I first heard the "Noodles" song.

What does "noodles are the smell of denial that you'll never grow old” mean?

"It's about being a poor student living on shitty noodles. Studying just because you're not mature enough to try and get a proper job. Like lots of people in Sweden does".

So I guess all this time you've been studying, cause it's been a while since #3. what have you really been up to?

"We've been up to a lot actually. I guess it's the same story you've heard about millions of bands. We released our record again in USA and England about a year after it was originally released in Sweden and did promotion and toured. We just came back from a small tour in Brazil. It was wonderful getting to see the world. Other than that we've been recording new songs since the end of 2005 or so and hoping that the time would come for them to see the light, but we both have busy schedules with work and studying which makes it very hard for us to get the time we would need to advance in the recordings".

"Loop Duplicate My Heart" could be an all-time geek anthem. How nerdy you really are?

"Not at all. We are cool guys, or might I say normal guys. None of us does anything nerdy except playing in bands and recording music".

Does that mean you are not as social networks active as I thought you are?

"We answer mails and comments and such and occasionally we upload music. That's it. I recently started using facebook. It's a community that makes it very hard for you to be alone".

As a band I assume you don't want to stay "alone". Do you think that networks like MySpace/imeem/Last.fm helped you achieve recognition?

"Probably. But we don't see that. We started out with the traditional stuff as our own webpage. Our fans are very polite".

Do you find new music online?

"I don't look for music that much but I hear a lot of interesting artists as i scrobble my way through MySpace and such".

What were your recent findings?

"Recently I listened to a Swedish band called Twig which sounded really good".

What is the worst album you've heard lately?

"Justin Timberlake's latest isn't that good".

What would you do if you had eight hands?

"Scare my girlfriend".

8hands Featured Song: Irene’s “By Your Side”

alon — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 10:43:45 -0400

Sometimes all you need is a good pop song. Sure, I’ve been accused one too often for liking the experimental underdogs, but sometimes you just want a catchy tune to make you all so fuzzy. Eddie Argos of Art Brut, which we mentioned in this blog before, described the mixed feeling of pop loving in the song “Pump Up The Volume”, when he sang “I know I shouldn't / is it so wrong? / to break from your kiss / to turn up a pop song”.

Of course, there are many indie-pop songs that will make me turn up the volume myself, but the past couple of days I have a specific song stuck in my head: Irene’s “By Your Side” (download it here).

Irene are Swedish – just like many other great pop acts (Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, Jens Lekman, I'm from Barcelona and more). They are just about to release their second album, “Long Gone Since Last Summer”, and the single “By Your Side” makes me think that this album is gonna make me a happy creature. Just like every good pop song, it’s a love story. It’s melodic, danceable, romantic & sweet. I love it!