Do it:

Rebecca & Fiona – “Bullets”

Rebecca & Fiona – “Bullets (House Edit)”

Get “Bullets” on iTunes

Visit Rebecca & Fiona at their site or Facebook

So into this new Syket song.  It’s 90s shoegaze from an airtight time capsule.  Syket’s from northern Sweden but could easily pass for a Manchester band.  “Let It Heal” is the first single from their new EP Fish Band which features a remix mastered by Studio‘s Dan Lissvik.

Syket – “Let It Heal”

Visit Syket on MySpace or Facebook

Get Fish Band on Amazon, Rough Trade (vinyl) or Nickars (vinyl)

Want a new song from an earthier, darker Lykke Li?  I’m using “earthy” to mean that Nina sings with a lower register, a warmer tone, and without the Lolita affectation.  The production of “Play the World” easily falls into the Youth Novels milieu but doesn’t feel dated, perhaps because it keeps the percussion of the former but swirls around more haunting vocals around it.

Nina Kinert wrote and produced this track.  So many female soloists rely on collaborators for production – and then people seem to dispense credit too freely for overall direction their way because it’s assumed girls go pop, and poppers work magic with collaborators.  I do see a fundamental difference between the driver and the passenger seats.  Not that you can’t make important contributions as a passenger, but srsly, there’s at most one clutch pedal per car.

Or it might be simpler.  Persona alone can’t anchor music reviews, so sometimes imaginative scenarios are constructed to explain charisma/attraction.  I’d much rather read that someone’s into the music because they want to chill with the band, but that’s not happening.

My bias, btw, is melody/composition.  I will absolutely like something more if it’s composed compellingly, as opposed to produced uniquely or performed deftly.  cf any of my Swedish hip hop posts.

Nina Kinert – “Play the World”

Nina is also Swedish and also based in Stockholm.  Here’s the video to an earlier single, “Combat Lover” –

Visit Nina Kinert on her official site, Facebook, or MySpace

Get “Play the World” on Klicktrack

Their second single “London” mixes a bit of trip hopped mod accompaniment with minimal arrangements, with a catchy, hummable melody you’d expect from Stockholm.

Little Majorette put out an EP this spring and are now working on a debut album.

Little Majorette – “London”

Little Majorette – “Bite the Bullet (Le Prix Remix)”

Visit Little Majorette on MySpace

Remix via Discobelle

Freur – “Doot Doot”

Get it at Amazon or iTunes

Here’s a track for the stupid fun I’m planning for the weekend.  Hope you have a similar agenda!

St. John’s Dance is like a Swedish hip hop supergroup consisting of Stor, Adam Tensta, Eboi & Dida.  Check it out if you’re into Madskillz and Maskinen.

St. John’s Dance – “The Plot”

St. John’s Dance – “The Plot (Swiss Chriss RMX)”

Get The Plot EP at iTunes

Remix via Deftjams

Adrian Lux – “Teenage Crime”

Stockholm-based Adrian Lux broke out in Sweden with the dream house singles “Strawberry” and “Can’t Sleep.”  He’s now signed to Ultra – and is ridiculously good looking – so I’m expecting more buzz for his next releases.

Visit Adrian Lux on MySpace

Get the Teenage Crime EP at Beatport or iTunes

ceo – “Come With Me”

Order White Magic via Modular

Get “Come With Me” at iTunes

I love Brit pop from Sweden.  Bye Bye Bicycle’s “Northpole” sounds somewhere between The Smiths and New Order – shit, I bet that would have been the most clichéd way to describe bands around that time had there been blogging then.  “Northpole” resides in the upbeat, catchy area of that overlap.  This single comes from their debut album Compass, out on Bonjour Recordings.

Bye Bye Bicycle – “Northpole”

Visit Bye Bye Bicycle on their site or MySpace

Get Northpole at iTunes or Amazon

I listen to party music and praised indie alike, and I enjoy Familjen’s pairing of big hooks with experimental instrumentation.  I really think pure indie-ists punish artists for good songwriting or at least overrate music with lazy songwriting.  Maybe that + thumping beats earn Familjen the undeserved demerits.  I don’t love every track on Mänsklighten, but the top tracks definitely make the album worthwhile.  “ridiculously goofy and saccharine” it is not.

The images are a collaboration between photographer Erik Wåhlström and the design studio Bergen.

Here’s another track from Mänskligheten.  More album art below.

Familjen – Viggo

Get Mänskligheten at Amazon or iTunes
Visit Familjen at its site or on MySpace