Sum 41

Lena, my German exchange partner, showed me this awesome band, after gasping that I had never heard of the Canadian rockers who have sold over 40 million records worldwide. Formed in 1996, it consists of Deryck Whibley, Tom Thacker, Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz. We listened to it on the bus back from town on Saturday, and I fell in love immediately...

♫ 'With Me' - Sum 41

...yes, it's got subs because I wanted the official video, but hopefully this one won't block off Apple users :D

♫ 'Dear Father' - Sum 41 <3 a beautiful song about the father Deryck never had...

Travis

Yes, I'm alive!! But I've been so busy, honestly! My German Exchange Partner is round, and she has such a similar taste in music to me :) Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Green Day, Snow Patrol... but here's a different, as promised INDIE-ROCK band called Travis. My dad got their CD out for me; he thought I might enjoy it.

'Flowers In The Window' - Travis

'Sing' - Travis

'All I Want To Do Is Rock' - Travis

Taken by Trees and Idiot Wind - Sounds From Sweden IV

With First Aid Kit, I found Idiot Wind. How? I looked up their tour. Obviously. Unfortunately they're not coming anywhere near me, but the concerts they DO play in the UK are accompanied by an artist called Idiot Wind. So, me being me, I looked into it.

Amanda (Idiot Wind) and
Khristian Matsson (Tallest Man)

Amanda Bergman, the piano singer-songwriter from Sweden who is Idiot Wind, has also been previously known as Jaw Lesson and Hajen. She has worked on a soundtrack for a feature film with The Tallest Man On Earth, another Swedish artist who I'm not going to do as we have to move on from Sweden, or I'll be blogging about them forever! The two of them live a quiet life together in the countryside, and support each other in the music industry.


'Canary Bird' - Idiot Wind

I love this song - it's beautiful. Slow, meaningful and shiver-inducing. Here's one from her past work as Jaw Lesson: 'Scapegoat':

I really like Idiot Wind actually... despite her slightly obscure name...
As said before, I won't be doing The Tallest Man On Earth, though-I'd-love-to-and-might-do-later-but-not-now, because I need to move on to some indie-rock as we haven't had that in ages! But before we do, let's take a look at Taken By Trees, our final Swedish artist.

Taken By Trees is artist Victoria Bergsman's latest project, after leaving as singer of The Concretes in 2006. I first came across them when a friend showed me their cover of Guns 'n' Roses 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. The simplistic piano accompaniment gives the song a whole new feel. Have a listen:

'Sweet Child O' Mine' - Taken By Trees (Guns 'n' Roses)

Next is another one of her songs, in her sad, soft style, but this time with guitar replacing the role of the piano in Sweet Child O' Mine. It's quite short, but beautiful.

'Only Yesterday' - Taken By Trees

...and that wraps up Sounds From Sweden. Enjoyed it? Maybe I'll do Iceland next... ---HT---

Frida Hyvönen and The Tiny - Sounds From Sweden III

Sorry I've been offline for a while - school started again, and I think that gives me all the excuses in the world!

As promised, here is the third installment' in Sounds From Sweden: Frida Hyvönen and The Tiny. Let's start with Frida...

Born in 1977, Swedish singer-songwriter Frida Hyvönen has been touring the US, Scandinavia and Europe with her piano since 2004. Here's the first one I heard by her, and probably my favourite. It's a cute, quirky little song.

'Birds' - Frida Hyvönen

I really love the next video, where she builds a piano in a forest - how can you not find that awesome? 

'The Modern' - Frida Hyvönen

Frida is someone I like to listen to when I'm in a cheerful springy mood :D I think her personality of music sounds a little bit like a small bird hopping around!

Next up we have The Tiny. The trio star pianist and vocalist Ellekari Larsson, cellist Leo Svensson, and upright bassist Johan Berthling. Their music is influenced by all kinds of music, ranging from classical to jazz, to goth to pop, and their music is reminiscent of Björk and Kate Bush. I can definitely hear some Kate Bush in this one:

'Last Weekend' - The Tiny

I love that song. I'm not even going to post another song, because I think that is enough to encourage those who enjoyed it to look into The Tinys (The Tinies?). Because that's what this blog is about: it's not just showing you a few new songs, it's trying to encourage you to look into new bands and I'm just starting you off and suggesting places for you to look. So please do :D ---HT---

Taxi Taxi! - Sounds From Sweden II

This came up on my Grooveshark radio, and I love it. I'm in a Swedish part of Grooveshark, with it throwing First Aid Kit, Frida Hyvönen, The Tiny, Idiot Wind Taxi Taxi! and Taken By Trees, all of which I'm doing a post for. Pack you bags: we're heading to beautiful Sweden... Taxi Taxi! Will you take us there?

(Okay, sorry for the rubbish pun. This is not a pantomime. I shall now make it up to you by proceeding with brilliant music.)

So who are Taxi Taxi!? (Everything I write with their name in it ending the sentance sounds really optimistic - like Twitter notification emails! Sorry - not a panto.)  To answer that, twin sisters Miriam Eriksson Berhan and Johanna Eriksson Berhan who make up the indie duo became known on the basis of just two demos, made puclic via the internet. And they're awesome.

'More Childish Than In A Long Time' - Taxi Taxi!

Oh, and for you that don't like this sort of music, but prefer rock, don't worry, I shall be posting some fine rock after my Sounds From Sweden posts. But for now, please try and enjoy it, because I love these songs.

Next up: 'All I Think Of' - Taxi Taxi!

I find that song slightly freaky... very touching though. If you enjoyed Taxi Taxi! you can check out another song by them, 'Old Big Trees', which is a bit happier, here. Next I'll be doing Frida Hyvönen and The Tiny as a 2-in-1 post. ---HT---

How to find music?

In this time, listening to Capital FM will not find you anything new or original. Even some of their fans complain that they're playing the same thing over and over again. So unless you know of a good indie station or something (and if you do, PLEASE give me a yell!), that rules out the radio.

YouTube? It's hard to go anywhere on YouTube in this 'Day And Age' (like my Killers album quote?) without the frankly scary face of Niki Minaj jumping out in the sidebar... but there is what many people (although yes, I'm sorry to admit mainly hipsters) call the 'good side of YouTube'. I call it this because it's where you can go and look at the sidebar, and there will be songs you have never heard of. You will want to click on every song and EXPLORE! (Note: some hipsters call it the 'good side of YouTube' because it hasn't got many views; some people count the quality of music by the popularity, which is utter rubbish in my opinion. Yes, it's nice to know a band nobody else does, but there are some amazing well-known bands!) However it's quite hard to get there (it took me a good half an hour of clicking the first time) but it's a great journey through music, and well worth it when you get there. I would reccomend bookmarking a link from there so you can zip straight to the obscure and the brilliant. So YouTube: yes.

I favour using streaming sites, especially Grooveshark. Yes, I know about Spotify, and yes, I reccomend using it as you can discover lots of new artists there, but I enjoy Grooveshark more. I love lining up the songs on the bottom to play in Grooveshark, so it's really clear to see what the radio feature will throw at you. Of course, both Spotify and Grooveshark have radio features. Like a real radio station, you never know what tracks they will line up next — but unlike real radio stations, you can skip tracks as many times as you wish if they aren’t to your fancy (and there aren’t any annoying DJs interrupting the flow). On Grooveshark, you can either cleat your waiting list and select a channel, or simply switch the radio tab on, and when you get to the end of your chosen songs, it will play songs similar to your taste, but just different enough so you can explore. I found some great artists that way. 

Finally, I use last.fm to check out any new artists I find. As well as a bio from Wikipedia, they have the top listens, photos, and a similar artists feature. You can type in your favourite artist and see what comes out - you may just find something amazing! 

Enjoy exploring ---HT---

First Aid Kit - Sounds From Sweden

Swedish sisters Johana and Klara Söderberg make up Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit, whom I discovered recently. Taking influence from the one and only Fleet Foxes, who will also appear here, they begun composing in 2007, and their 2008 YouTube cover of Fleet Foxes' 'Tiger Mountain Peasant Song', which you can view here, both original and their cover, spread across the internet. Their life turned around when Fleet Foxes performed the song with them at a concert in The Netherlands! 

This is 'The Lion's Roar' - First Aid Kit
The amazingly haunting music video is here, and unofficial is below.

'Wolf' - First Aid Kit (fan video)

Quite a neat fan video. I especially love the (current) top comment:
So glad bands (people), Like First Aid Kit stick to an era when music was meant to feel things you cant discribe and think about things that have nothing to do with whats going on in the world. Music to me is a place inside, a sanctuary only music can reach. A mind set were no one can get to me. And they reached it
-CancerChristChest

So there's First Aid Kit, soaring straight up to be one of my favourite folk bands... their music reminds me a little of medieval times - as presented in their music video, which looks a little like Lord Of The Rings! Coming up soon is Idiot Wind, Daughter, Taxi Taxi! and Fleet Foxes! If you're interested or have a similar music taste to me, or may just enjoy reading this blog, you can subscribe by email and get notifications every time I post, or if you have a Blogger account, go to your home and add this blog to your following list. Thank you world, peace out! ---HT---