We wish we had found this earlier, but well, it’s difficult when you live twelve time zones away from Stockholm! In any case, we’re glad Swedish duo Karl X Johan’s “Flames”, a superbly beautiful track released year, is finally on our radar. It’s one of the best mergers of orchestral samples we’ve heard melded with beats. Plus, the samples help to give a really epic sweep to director Gustav Johansson’s video clip—a very up close and personal look at an intimate evening. (You fill in the rest.) No wonder it’s nominated for this year’s Swedish Grammy for Best Music Video. Enjoy!
 

Tags: Karl X Johan, Sweden

A few weeks ago, I came across this clip from Sweden for Jonathan Johansson – Spring 2011. I immediately thought it was for a new Swedish fashion label that I hadn’t heard of before… something perhaps along the lines of J. Lindeberg. But it turned out that the fashion-forward clip was actually a promo for the upcoming album of Swedish singer/songwriter Jonathan Johansson, who is actually quite talented. His debut En hand i himlen is bright and breezy with a glorious dash of 80s pop (just think A-ha). And to his credit, Mr. Johansson does do quite a nifty cover of Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (see below). While the Pacific Ocean is a bit far from Stockholm, there could always be a lithe, golden-skinned skinned Swedish HPU co-ed who’d be impressed by a tidbit of Scandianvian pop culture and offer a personalized translation.




A fashionable promo…

Tears for Fears, Swedish style…
Alla vill ha hela världen by HYBRIS

Tags: 80s, J. Lindeberg, Jonathan Johansson, Sweden

San Francisco-based shoegaze act Tamaryn has swept us away with their first full-length studio release The Waves. Think of it as a Mazzy Star redux but with more drive and rhythm. To get a better idea, check out the single “Love Fade”, a sweeping post-rock romance in a wash of guitars. [Free download link courtesy of RCRD LBL below.]

Tags: shoegaze, Tamaryn, The Waves

I’m not the kind of person who would get choked up from watching a music video, but Maisey Rika’s “Reconnect” moved me. It’s a sublime combination of music, lyrics, and vision. Things from Aotearoa/New Zealand tend to hit a particular chord for me. The clip for “Reconnect” reminds me of Tiki Taane’s “Tangaroa” in how the ancestral past never disappears. Instead, it’s always present… you just need to look at things from a slightly different angle for all those from ages past to reappear.

LISTEN NOW

“Reconnect” is off Maisey Rika’s self-titled debut EP, now available on  iTunes.  She has since followed up with the gorgeous Tohu.

Tags: Aotearoa, Maisley Rika, Māori, New Zealand, Reconnect, Tohu

So our trip into the moana nui continues… We’re currently digging the track “Hiro’a” off Ma’ohi rock band Manahune’s fifth studio album Tapu. The guitar riffs and the battle cry chorus are especially tight. Unfortunately, the album is not out on iTunes yet. We’re crossing our fingers for a quick release so we can avoid international shipping.

Tags: French Polynesia, Hiro'a, ma'ohi, Manahune, Tahiti

We are totally digging this live clip from our favorite pa’umotu rock band, Tikahiri. It was shot during the band’s multimedia, laser-injected spectacular that rocked La Maison de la Culture – Te Fare Tauhiti Nui in Tahiti this past spring.  We think of it as a foreshadowing good things to come – namely, a kick-ass concert in Hawai’i nei in 2011. (And guess who is helping?)

P.S. In case you were wondering about the name of the song. It’s called “Penetration”, off Tikahiri’s latest album Merahi Kerekere, or Black Angel – now available on iTunes

Tags: Merahi Kerekere, rock, Tahiti, Tikahiri

In keep with the South Asian theme of yesterday, we just discovered this sweet track from Apache Indian (he’s not Native American) entitled “Om Numah Shivaya”.  Produced a few years backs, it combines reggae and the sacred mantra of Shiva, “Om Namah Shivaya”. (Yes, the song name is spelled differently.) Not only is the song haunting, but the lyrics carry a message appropriate for the vehicle. But instead of posting them here, you can let them speak for themselves.

Tags: Apache Indian, mantra, Om Namah Shivaya, Om Numah Shivaya, reggae, Shiva

Back in my college days on the East Coast, I always had Talvin Singh’s compilation Anokha: Soundz of the Asian Underground playing in the background. It was one of those discs that heralded the arrival of the Asian sound into electronica and the greater mainstream music consciousness. Just think it would only be one year later that Madonna ended up worshipping “the guru’s lotus feet” on Ray of Light’s “Shanti/Ashtangi” produced by William Orbit. (On a digressive note, I recently realized that her VMA performance of “Shanti” – - was probably the first time any thing in Sanskrit was broadcasted on MTV. Unfortunately, though replete with bharata natyam dancers and projections of Hindu deities, the performance was vocally far from Ms. Ciccone’s best.)

In any case, more than a decade had passed since I originally chilled out to Mr. Singh’s fine selections brewing organic Chai in college housing when I ended up coming across the original clip for Mr. Singh’s “Jaan”. Directed by Mr. Rob Howard, “Jaan” feels likes a step back into a recent but far different time. (One more digression: is this how people feel when they look back at the sixties?) One thing for certain is that “Jaan” is certifiably one tripped out video: lots of soft-focus close ups of a statue of Buddha merging with Mr. Singh’s eyes, then long haired women in flowing fabrics, and finally feeding of farm animals. I think this would be a textbook example of what could be called an impressionistic non-narrative. Perhaps, knowledge of Hindi (I hope I’m not making a linguistic faux-pas) would help understand the context, but at least the vast intellectual storehosue of the Internet has left me with no answers.

Here is Mr. Singh’s in more recent times in a stunning tabla performance entitled “Devotion”. I can’t help but think that Hawai’i is in need of more tabla-injected dance parties.

Tags: electronica, Jaan, Madonna, tabla, Talvin Singh

Yes, we’re feeling Washed Out, and that’s not a bad thing.

Washed Out is a one-man ensemble by up-and-coming musician Ernest Green, who hails from Georgia. (Yes, we wouldn’t have thought Southern boys like electronics, but we’re glad  to be proven wrong.)   This track “Feel It All Around” is a perfect soundtrack for hot summer weather and cooling off in the water… or with liquid refreshments. The appropriately directed clip was produced by Fiction.

DETAILS

“Feel It All Around” is off Washed Out’s Life of Lesiure EP now available on iTunes and Amazon.

Mr. Green has quite a groovy photo blog along with a MySpace music page, which features the great non-EP track “You and I,” replete with old-school but tastefully subtle Madonna sample. We spotted other current fav, Toro Y Moi, who we’ve been listening to on our blip.fm station.

Tags: electronica, Ernest Green, Washed Out

We’re currently loving “Future Days (Getting High)” by Brit duo electronic duo Society. The clip is a veritable venture in altered states directed by fashion photographer Pierre Debuschere. Belgian actor Jey Crisfar – best known for his work with Canadian director Bruce LaBruce (no commentary here) – plays the starring role here, either dancing or running by the forest, torches in hand. (Your interpretation is as good as ours.)

LISTEN MORE

“Future Days” is off Society’s 4-track EP The Rules of Attraction, currently available on iTunes and Amazon.

Tags: Future Days, Jey Crisfar, Pierre Desbuchere, Society