Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Swedish singer José González interviewed by CNN

Music, Swedish Life: September 10th, 2010 by DL

Following on the heels of CNN’s interview with Swedish singer Robyn earlier this week, the cable news channel turned its attention to Gothenburg native José González, who, despite his Argentinian origins, revealed he feels Swedish first and foremost.

Dolph Lundgren vs. Unicorn

Film, Marketing, Media, Miscellaneous, Music, Offbeat, Swedish Life, Technology: September 10th, 2010 by VT

These were uploaded on Thursday:

Dolph Lundgren grills a unicorn

Dolph Lundgren loses his head

Just in case you missed it the first time, here’s Lundgren’s rendition of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” at Melodifestivalen in February.

Robyn waxes poetic on Sweden in CNN interview

Miscellaneous, Music, Swedish Life: September 9th, 2010 by VT

Swedish singer Robyn appeared on CNN on to talk about her love for Sweden and how the country inspires her music.

The magic of Google Analytics

Business, Health, Marketing, Media, Miscellaneous, Music, Newsbites, Offbeat, Society, Swedish Life, Technology: July 23rd, 2010 by VT

Sometimes older articles on The Local find new life weeks, months or even years after they are initially published when they are picked up by external sites.

Recent examples of this are a sudden spike in traffic of 8,000 readers on June 16th to Swedish parents keep 2-year-old’s gender secret, initially published nearly a year earlier on June 23rd, thanks to a pickup on i am bored.

More recently, on July 8th, Cracked.com cited our article Black Cobra gang steals selection of small cakes from March in a roundup of 5 bizarre real-life gangs, sending 4,700 readers our way to read about their exploits that merited the mention (they came in 3rd).

This week alone, we’ve seen a significant spike on Artists lose out as fans stop burning CDs and Cerebral palsy fraudster gets 3 years in jail thanks to Fark and Swedish women vote to keep their tops on thanks to reddit.

How can we narrow down the dates, numbers and sources of the traffic coming to our site? Google Analytics. We could spend hours tooling around to see where people are coming from to our site, but we would never get any work done.

We love to see where our stories end up on the Internet, so please feel free to share any articles (old or new) that amuse or enrage you from our site (using the buttons at the bottom of each story or elsewhere). And don’t forget to check out our new and improved Facebook page.

“Secret” free gig at Debaser on Wednesday

Miscellaneous, Music: June 30th, 2010 by VT

Christian Love may not be instantly recognizable, but perhaps the name of his father Mike Love’s band might ring a bell.

The Beach Boys are celebrating their 50th anniversary as a band next year. There has been speculation that founding members Brian Wilson and Al Jardine would reunite with the band ahead of the 2011-12 tour season, both among fans and in the media.

Christian is in Sweden right now, both with his band 5 Alarm, which is performing for free at Stockholm’s Debaser Slussen tonight with Japandroids at 8pm, as well as for the Beach Boys’ four dates in Sweden this weekend and later next month.

In a statement on the Beach Boys’ website from June 22nd, Mike Love wrote, “The Beach Boys continue to tour approximately 150 shows a year in multiple countries. At this time there are no plans for my cousin Brian to rejoin the tour.

“…We have had some discussions of writing and possibly recording together, but nothing has been planned. I, as I’m sure he is, am proud and honored that The Beach Boys music has endured these 50 years, but felt the need to clarify that there are no current ‘reunion’ tour plans.”

The major surviving Beach Boys have not performed together since September 1996, but reunited for a public appearance four years ago for the 40th anniversary of the album Pet Sounds.

The current touring lineup includes Mike Love and Bruce Johnston, who joined in 1965, as well as Christian on rhythm guitar. On this leg of their summer season, they will perform at three concerts in Sweden this week before departing for a festival in Spain and return to Västerås the following weekend.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he told The Local. “The concerts will be really good. The shows were very energetic.”

Christian last played in Sweden around the same time last year, both in central Sweden’s Töreboda and northern Sweden’s Piteå. On Tuesday, Christian learned of some Swedish ancestry among the Wilsons and Loves dating back to 1870s through some distant relatives. Christian also has Danish roots.

Ahead of the Beach Boys tour, 5 Alarm, which began 16 years ago, will perform at Debaser. The name was coined by the wife of the drummer, who is also a fireman. In firefighting parlance, a five alarm denotes that five engine companies have been called to respond to an incident.

Unlike his father’s band, Christian’s describes sound as reggae/pop-rock, but the band is firmly rooted to its member’s southern California origins. The band’s first album, Dancing with the Sun, released one and a half years ago, is available on iTunes.

Basketball is another passion in the Love family. Mike Love’s younger brother, Stan Love, was an NBA player, as is his son Kevin. Stan Love was employed as a full-time bodyguard and assistant to Wilson in the mid-1970s and 1980s and filed a petition to be appointed as his conservator in 1990.

As to whether he watches Kevin play in person, “I tried to see him play at UCLA,” Christian told The Local. “I can see him play on TV. It’s too far to see a home game,” as Kevin plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Touring is clearly a family affair, with Mike Love’s wife and Christian younger sister joining them for their Sweden dates. Having already done some sightseeing and “walking around” on Tuesday, they are ready for their upcoming shows.

There may also be a special surprise appearance at 5 Alive’s free gig. As it turns out, Matt Volsky, brother of The Local’s Dana Wikström and current Stockholm resident, is a (former) member of the band.

Beach Boys 2010 Swedish Tour

Thursday: Kungälv, Bohus fästning
Friday: Karlstad, Mariebergsskogen
Saturday: Målilla, G&B Arena
July 10: Västerås, Power Big Meet

Sweden on the brink of Eurovision war

Media, Music, National, Opinion, Politics, Swedish Life: March 18th, 2009 by PO

Everybody panic! The Local has inadvertently sparked what the Swedish press is referring to as the ‘Tingeling Crisis’.

Now as crises go, it’s hardly Cuba or the Berlin Blockade. But in a land such as Sweden, gripped with Eurovision fever, revelations that the Russians were less than pleased with an interval song and dance number at the Melodifestivalen final have quickly spread far and wide.

It started innocently enough: communist whores with red stars on their panties, rampant Russian gangsters, wild Cossack dancers and a bear on a chain… what could possibly go wrong?

“We do not react to eccentricity by some lunatics whose Russophobia should place them in an asylum rather than on Globen’s stage,” the embassy told The Local on Monday morning.

Oh, that.

Regional tabloid giant Aftonbladet led the charge with a front page splash and the rest of the Swedish papers soon followed.

Like political voting patterns at the Eurovision, the situation soon spiraled out of control:

State broadcaster SVT sent a bouquet of flowers to the Russian embassy as a gesture of goodwill. The embassy responded that, as far as it was concerned, the danger had passed and Euro-harmony could prevail.

Expressen said SVT was foolish to have apologised.

The state broadcaster said it never really had apologised and the retraction was retracted.

The comedian behind the skit said he might have to rethink a planned Trans-Siberian railroad trip this summer .

The Social Democrats’ foreign policy spokesman said the Swedish foreign ministry should stand up for freedom of expression.

Even Vladimir Lenin was dusted off and dragged into the debate.

Furthermore, the finer points of Russian sensibilities and Swedish humour have been discussed at length on television and radio talk shows.

The upshot: Nuclear war has been averted for now. But never again must we allow such a frightening array of outdated clichés to threaten our peace and security.

—

In case you missed it, here’s the clip that almost pushed us to the brink:

Veronica Maggio – The videos

Music: September 24th, 2008 by PO

Check out The Local’s interview with soulful Swede Veronica Maggio.

Stopp

Måndags barn

Nöjd

Lykke Li – Swedish talent on tour

Music: March 6th, 2008 by PO

She may be just 21, but Lykke Li has already established herself as a talent to watch. This weekend she’s in Gothenburg and Malmö before continuing on her nationwide tour and beyond.

Here’s her recent hit single, Little Bit:

Swedish Idol runner-up – Amanda Jenssen

Music, Swedish Life: December 7th, 2007 by PO

Amanda Jenssen lost the final of Idol 2007 by a whisker. Here are the three songs she performed in the final…

… and an earlier performance of Baby Can I Hold You Tonight.

Should she have won? Or was Marie Picasso a worthy victor? Or maybe the competition should be scrapped, never to return?

Swedish Idol winner – Marie Picasso

Music, Swedish Life: December 7th, 2007 by PO

Marie Picasso wins Idol 2007. The first song she performed in the final was All By Myself:

And here is an earlier performance of her second song, I’ll Be There:

Was the Swedish viewing public right to give her the nod? Should Amanda have won? Or is the whole thing a pile of steaming garbage?

Dapper singer spreads his charms

Music: October 16th, 2007 by PO

Gothenburg singer-songwriter Jens Lekman has just released his second album, Night falls over Kortedala.

Swede Jens Lekman is of the old school. You just know that he would come to dinner in a neatly pressed suit, hair even more neatly arranged and a clean handkerchief in the pocket, for emergencies.

Having admired his threads, the Sydney Morning Herald goes on to rave about the music.

Robyn goes to Oz

Music: September 10th, 2007 by PO

Here’s a profile of Swedish singer Robyn on a website so Australian it even uses the term “daggy”:

She’s made the perfect pop song – the type that makes you want to singalong, makes you want to dance, definitely gives you the shivers, and if you’ve just broken up with someone – well, god help you.

ABBA taken aback by wild reputation

Music: September 7th, 2007 by PO

ABBA are reported to have been “horrified” when they first arrived in the United States and were expected to indulge in a wild rock’n'roll lifestyle á la Jagger and Richards.

Guitarist Mats Ronander, who toured with the group that was famous in Europe for its clean lifestyle, said that the ‘Dancing Queen’ hitmakers were surprised to be invited to a huge bash with drinks and pretty girls.

“When we landed in America for our tour, the record company there thought we would be like the Rolling Stones. They staged this huge party for everyone with loads of pretty girls and plenty of booze laid on,” Contactmusic quoted Ronander, as saying.

Ronander continues:

“Abba were horrified. It just wasn’t them. They didn’t know how to react. We were boring Swedes when we toured. There was no sex and drugs,” he added.

The secret of Swedish poptasticality revealed

Music: August 17th, 2007 by PR

John Harris, writing in UK paper The Guardian, pays tribute to the glory of Swedish pop music. And, indeed, Sweden in general:

It’s great there: taxes are sky-high, but everyone is happy, and they’re so brimming with Nordic genius that they invented flat-pack furniture, Ericsson mobiles and Saab cars… Sweden is as close to heaven on earth as humanity is ever to likely to get…

Bu back to the music. Harris’s gushfest seems to have been prompted by an encounter with Peter, Bjorn and John and he reminisces about “a strange three days” he spent in 2002 trying to pin down “the mysterious reason why talented people from this dark and cold European country had so bucked pop’s Anglo-American imperialism”.

The secret formula may have something to do with booze, he concludes.

It’s Friday… let’s get dronk!

Britney Spears begs Swedish teens for help with songwriting?

Music: August 1st, 2007 by PO

Things are going really well for Swedish pop duo Lucky Twice with their hit single Lucky causing a major splash on YouTube.

But might The Sun be overstating their influence just a tad?

BRITNEY SPEARS bombarded two Swedish teenagers with calls begging them to help pen her comeback album — and got turned down.

Dance duo LUCKY TWICE — aka 16-year-olds SOFIE LARSSON and HANNAH REYNOLD — got more than a dozen messages from the troubled star.

But the girls are busy promoting their new album Young & Clever following the success of first single Lucky across Europe — and gave Brit the brush off.

A record company spokeswoman told The Local that the story contained more than just a trace of exaggeration.

It was her management team who called. They just called a couple of times to see if the Lucky Twice team would be interested in getting involved on Britney’s new album. They were really just trying to set up an initial discussion.

The girls themselves were in fact left out of the loop entirely.

The girls are massive Britney fans and we delayed telling them that an approach had been made. We had to say no because things are just too manic now with Lucky Twice about to arrive in the UK and release the single.

They were pretty gutted when they were eventually told, but they were obviously very flattered too.

ABBA: Adult listening

Music: June 19th, 2007 by PO

Pitchfork has a listen to the adult nature of ABBA’s lyrics.

ABBA’s adultness, or darkness, is mostly strictly optional. In the same way as their characters lead well-ordered lives while suffering the occasional regret and pang of anxiety, ABBA never let their existential worries get in the way of their day job: writing immediately fabulous pop music.

Pop group’s success ‘has a backside’

Music: June 13th, 2007 by PO

Well, they may have meant ‘downside’ rather than ‘backside’ but Swedish kids are going crazy for German pop sensation Tokio Hotel.

They just released their first record in Sweden last week. But already now the Tokio Hotel hysteria is total.
“The fans throw used underwear at us” lead vocalist Bill Kaulitz says.

The four boys in the band were met by around 1,500 hysterical fans when they arrived at Bengans record store in Stockholm on Wednesday.

There was plenty of sweat, tears and sheer panic on display. And that was just the security guards. Aftonbladet was there.