Anyone who grew attached to Shallow Grave, the gorgeous debut record from The Tallest Man On Earth (aka Kristian Matsson), has been waiting patiently for a new full length from the supremely talented Swedish singer-songwriter. And with the release of his follow-up, The Wild Hunt, scheduled for April 12th, the three year wait is nearly over. The new record finds Matsson growing bolder and more expressive, both lyrically and musically. But when you have such an impeccable combination of insightful words and penetrating music as Matsson does, there is really no need to reinvent the wheel at this point. Fans of his first album will most assuredly take great pleasure in The Wild Hunt, an album that will not only galvanize his dedicated supporters, but should appeal to a whole new audience drawn to the purity and honesty of his music.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to ask Kristian some questions about how the recording process for the new album was affected by his changing record labels, how recording in the countryside influences his writing, and he shockingly reveals, once and for all, that Bob Dylan is actually his dad. He shares just enough to give his fans a glimpse into what inspires him, while still maintaining the mystique that has intrigued us all from the beginning. But in the end, it’s his splendid music that ultimately speaks to us, so look out for The Wild Hunt on April 12th. Continue Reading

When it comes to pumping out great electronica, Iceland have pretty much got it covered. Yet whilst the majority of artists to emerge from the world’s electronic capital are somewhat weird and wonderful experimentalists (think Sigur Ros and Bjork), FM Belfast have gone more mainstream and acknowledged the dirty western influence in their infectiously synth-ridden music.

It seems they have finally realised their selfish ways and decided to release their album in the UK as well as Iceland, and boy am I glad they have. How To Make Friends is 36 minutes of original, down-tempo electro that proves you don’t have to record a disgruntled goat playing the keyboard to make original electro. Continue Reading

By the time Christabelle’s velvety voice emerges from the cacophony at the beginning of Lindstrøm & Christabelle’s Real Life Is No Cool with the question “What should we do?” you really are prepared to hear anything in response. And, over the course of this sprawling, imaginative album, what Hans-Peter Lindstrøm gives us is a fresh sonic collage of styles and sounds that serves as both a nod to his influences and his pioneering past, as well as a complete change in direction for the Norwegian producer.

Gone are the dense, arduous 20+ minute tracks of his recent releases, replaced here with clean, compact dance numbers that still maintain the soulful inventiveness that Lindstrøm is known for. It helps that he sounds invigorated by working with longtime collaborator, and fellow Norwegian, Christabelle, whose vocal range and simmering passion shines through on every track. Their inherent comfort level allows them both to feel free to experiment with futuristic ideas, but also to be secure enough to rework and cultivate a classic, vintage sound (including two songs, ‘Music in My Mind’ and ‘Let’s Practice,’ that were initially released in the middle of the last decade, when Christabelle was known as Solale). As a result, Real Life Is No Cool has a thoroughly modern spirit while still managing to coalesce decades of dance music into one fluid statement. Continue Reading

An album with 12 songs, each lasting under four minutes. That’s what a decent Swedish pop album is made of. But even if the music of Kommun is pop, the band doesn’t seem to be that popular yet. 100 friends on Myspace and 73 fans in Facebook reveal that we aren’t talking about stadium sized band here. The members of Kommun seem to be better known from their other projects Siberia, Hospitalet and Vapnet, still after giving out their debut album in the end of the last year in Sweden.

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A couple of months back, at a seemingly ordinary night at The Social (TLOBF’s official drinking den), I was struck by one of the most almighty sounds I’d heard all year. The sheer power and intensity of the music flooding out of the bulging PA was literally doubling me over. So much so, that even now – I hanker after the feeling that seeing Joensuu 1685 in the flesh gave me. The song in question, which gave me such gratifying chills was their 10 minute psychedelic workout of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”. Motorik bass, relentless drumming and swathes of feedback – it was hypnotic and so intense that re-living it now through these words makes me a little short of breath.

Thank fuck then, that cooler-than-thou London independent Fitzrovian Phonographic are releasing a version of  ”I’m On Fire” (albeit a watered down but still essential 5 minute edit) on limited edition 7″ white vinyl on Monday. For those unfamiliar with Joensuu 1685, the band is formed of two brothers Mikko and Markus Joensuu and (of same name but not a relative) Risto Joensuu. If you love A Place To Bury Strangers, Spiritualized, My Bloody Valentine and XTMTR-era Primal Scream then I urge you to investigate further. There’s some fine bands drawing on similar influences of course, but rarely will you hear it crafted with such precision.

The 7” release will be available from Rough Trade & Piccadilly from Monday 18th January and will come with a download code for the two vinyl tracks (‘I’m On Fire’ and b-side ‘Perfect Grace’) plus an extra 3rd track ‘Nothingness’ to complete the EP. The vinyl is extremely limited at 333 copies, make sure you pick one up!

Joensuu 1685 will be over to play a handful of shows in London, Manchester & Glasgow. The great news is that they’ll be back at The Social on the release date with support from Chapter Sweetheart & Oh Ruin. Essential – DO NOT MISS!

January
18 – The Social, London
20 – The Ruby Lounge, Manchester
21 – The Captain’s Rest, Glasgow

mp3:> Joensuu 1685: “I’m On Fire”

Buy the 7″ from Rough Trade

The Swede shall inherit the Earth. Seemingly on a mission to make the rest of the world kneel before their musical prowess, Sweden is home to many of TLOBF’s favourite recording artists. Concieved as an album of “small islands in different shapes and forms where every song is like a record of it’s very own”, Islands is the second full-length to be released by Jönköping based The Mary Onettes.

Set for release via the self-proclaimed “world’s finest purveyor of pop music” Labrador on February 1st, the album is grandiose and dreamy. I fired off some questions about it and the rest of the bands endeavours to frontman Philip Ekström. Continue Reading

Self proclaimed as “the world’s finest purveyor of indie pop” Labrador Records rarely take a step wrong in their releases. Sambassadeur, one of their most loved acts (along with Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and The Mary Onettes) are back with their first single since 2007’s ‘Final Say’, which just so happens to be one of the greatest pop songs of the 21st Century (my words not theirs. If you don’t believe me, download the mp3 at the bottom of this post!).

‘Days’ does not disappoint one iota. Admittedly, there’s no real progression sound -wise from their last album Migration – the band opting to use the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” approach. Which is no bad thing, because if Sambassadeur know one thing it’s how to write a bloody great big pop hook. Download ‘Days’ and the aforementioned ‘Final Say’ below. Investigate the rest of the bands generous back catalogue here.

If you like what you hear of Sambassadeur, you’ll more than likely revel in the rest of Labrador’s stunning roster of acts. Head over here to download a whole bunch of free mp3’s.

Labrador Records are set for a very busy start to 2010 with highly anticipated releases from Suburban Kids With Biblical Names (May), The Radio Dept. (February) and Club 8 (April 2010).

mp3:> Sambassadeur: ‘Final Say’
mp3:> Sambassadeur: ‘Days’

Since The Line Of Best Fit first launched as a tiny blogspot site back in 2006, we’ve always been great supporters of up and coming Nordic music. Not a week goes by without us harping on about a new emerging talent from the Scandinavian regions. Which is why we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that we’ve been picked as an official partner in the brand new London Club Night “Ja Ja Ja”. A monthly event held at The Lexington which will showcase some of the finest talent Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland has to offer. The Line Of Best Fit will be the nights official online partner, whilst Clash Magazine has been chosen as print partner.

The launch night (curated by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens) will take place on Thursday November 19th at The Lexington, Kings Cross and feature sets from TV Off (Finland), I Was A King (Norway), Kira Kira (Iceland) and Francis (Sweden). Here’s the back story surrounding the club night, told by the creators themselves. Continue Reading

Kudos to Chris from Gorilla vs. Bear for introducing me to these guys. A bunch of seven friends from Dalarnas län, Sweden who met at a summer camp when they were 14 (that might/might not be them above). Taking their moniker from the place they first hooked up where “the nights went on forever and we thought we would never get old” Summer Camp make music that perfectly captures that simple memory. Lo-fi, hazy dream pop that is utterly beguilling. Swear to God, I’ve just played their Heathers sampling ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ ten times straight and as soon as I finish writing this, I’ll probably go back for another sitting. Hopelessly romantic and full of wide eyed wonder – this is SUMMER CAMP folks. Remember their name.

Oh, and according to Transparent Blog, the guys are now living over here in London. I’m-a-gonna hunt them down and give them all a big hug.

Check out two more songs, ‘Why Don’t You Stay’ and ‘Ghost Train’ over on their MySpace page whilst downloading ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ below.

mp3:> Summer Camp: ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’

Few things in this world are sure, but when it comes to Danish duo Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo you can guarantee an album that offers up the kind of distorted and fuzzy retro bubblegum pop that is best appreciated at full volume.

In and Out of Control is The Raveonettes fourth studio album and second after leaving the confines of major label for Fierce Panda/Vice and is quite possibly their poppiest effort to date although there is still an element of previous effort Lust Lust Lust’s aural assault. True to their style it is a mish mash of 50s and 60s psychedelic pop rock that unabashedly channels favourites The Velvet Underground. Never scared of bluntly referencing their influence, album opener ‘Bang’ is highly reminiscent of the Warhol born phenomenon. Foo’s pixie-like vocals exude Nico’s coolness as the bubblegum songstress distorted vocals when coupled with the hard-edged electric guitar and doses of pure noise capture a retro vibe unlike any other. Of course, using buzzwords like ‘bop’ certainly do help. So yes, it’s a somewhat clichéd obvious, throw-away melody but its optimistic rhythm is absurdly catchy. Continue Reading

A quick heads up about a rather wonderful new Danish band about to make their debut UK appearance next week. The band in question are called Bodebrixen and make the kind of irresistible saccharine twee-pop that can only ever be associated with the Scandinavia. To be fair, they sound Swedish. I generally find Danish pop music to be a smidgen darker and more self aware than their neighboring nation Sweden, but this is just balls out good fun and is more than worthy of your attention. Fans of I’m From Barcelona, Sound Of Arrows, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Tupelo Honeys then you might have just found your new favourite band.

Bodebrixen will be playing Old Blue Last in London’s East End on 22nd September. Go and catch them if you can.

mp3:> Bodebrixen: ‘Deadman’

It’s just struck me that First Aid Kit will be the first musical act I’ve reviewed the members of which are all younger than me. From just outside of Stockholm, sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg (born in 1990 and 1993, respectively) comprise a folk-pop duo of quite significant youth. How often is it that we feel compelled to mention a performer’s age, after all?

Originally released in Sweden in early 2008, this debut EP Drunken Trees is one of the band’s two main claims to fame, the other being their cover of Fleet Foxes’ ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’ which, personally, I can’t help but think has a success far out of scale with its rather meagre quality. As evidenced by this re-release, though, we can happily say that Drunken Trees itself, a fairly-generous-for-an-EP collection of seven songs comprising 25 minutes, is far superior to that ambitious cover. Continue Reading

Icelandic singer Hafdis Huld is quite taken with the plush environs of Farringdon’s Slaughtered Lamb pub. “Yeah, I played here once before, it’s cosy. It’s not every venue you get to lie on a… what do you call them, like a half-sofa?” She screws up her face in anticipation of the phrase, blue eyes twinkling. A chaise lounge? “Yes! Most places don’t have one, but here if you wanna lie on a Shwais Lonnj, you can do so.” She chews the words up as they come out, delighting in the sounds.

Hafdis is an expert at small talk. She could talk the hind legs off an elephant, and makes no bones about it. “Yeah when I was young I didn’t talk at all, and then one day I did, and my mum and dad were so happy, but they didn’t realise that from then on I’d never stop.”

Our conversation is riddled with references to childhood. Hafdis is somewhat infamous for being an enthusiastic exponent of Iceland’s “Krútt” generation – that is, seeing the world through a childlike filter. Literally translated, Krutt means “cute”, although in this sense any naiveté comes with a knowing gleam in the eye. But Hafdis has her doubts. “I don’t know if I fit with Krútt,” she says, “it’s all big jumpers and flat shoes, and I like my heels and glitter and dresses too much. And I have no bearded men in my band, they are all very clean shaven. I mean, we do experiment with sounds and have lots of interesting instruments and toys, but it also very pop. Maybe treading that line is good.” Continue Reading

Bands stealing older bands styles doesn’t matter when the stealing is done so well. Poseurs copy, the real deal steals. Sad Day For Puppets blah blah blah. Blah. Which is to say they steal a bunch of older styles mash ‘em together and come up with Unknown Colors, except, as I’ve just been saying, these colours are known. They are catchy pop couched in distorted guitar and thick bass, Dinosaur Jr., The Posies, bands that the Labrador label’s bands love, dream pop, C86. They juggle all those balls, and then let them drop. Because, look there, they make pretty patterns and colours when they are all bouncing together in a group like that. This 5 piece are from Sweden. Sweden. Sweden. Sweden. I mean, where else? Sweden. Continue Reading

To call an album Crossing the Rubicon seems like a very deliberate move by The Sounds. In retrospect though, it’s a fitting one for this third album by Swedish pop rock band The Sounds – this is an album which often seems to be themed around making bold steps, about overcoming the past and defiantly moving forward. It has a strident, confident feel to it, demonstrated by the sound and especially title of the opening track ‘No One Sleeps While I’m Awake’. Largely, this is pounding but accessible rock, with fairly heavy doses of synthesiser bathing Maja Ivarsson’s vocals. She is always the dominating force here – the songs are often built around her slightly odd but satisfying voice, and aside from her no other components ever really stand out. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the actual instrumentation on the album as such, it’s just that it’s rarely, if ever, inspiring. Continue Reading