Swedish alternative pop artist The Legends (Johan Angergård) and Labrador Records owner releases his sixth album ‘Nightshift’ out 21 April. To celebrate he’s put together a playlist of his ‘Top Ten Swedish Music’ for us.Listen below.
Frida – I Know There’s Something Going On
‘Something going On’ is the first record I ever bought. Damn, I had great taste in music already as an 8-year-old! It¹s just ‘I Know There’s Something Going On’ (weird how they vary the album title and track title
just a little..) that is worth listening to, but that¹s worth listening to a lot so who cares?
I re-discovered this gem a few years ago and started buying old Phil Collins records as he produced it. Unfortunately, they sucked pretty bad. ‘In The Air Tonight’ not counting of course. That¹s pretty sweet.
Dr. Alban – No Coke
Who was first Dr Alban ‘No Coke’ or Saint Etienne ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Andrew Weatherall Remix)’? I don¹t know, but they’re pretty much the same and I love both. Dr Alban definitely has more memorable
lyrics though.
iamamiwhoami – fountain
The singer Jonna used to live in a room without windows at the Labrador office. The music she was doing before moving into the office was not good at all. And then eventually she records this amazing masterpiece!
How could I possibly not take credit for her current greatness!?
TM404 – 303/303/303/303/606
I must admit there’s not a lot current Swedish artists that interest me anymore (everything I’m involved obviously not counting), but when I heard this at Snickars Records, possibly my favorite record shop in Stockholm, I instantly loved it. I thought it was something old and obscure and really cool I had discovered and then he told me it was Andreas Tilliander’s TM404 project. I was kind of disappointed to hear that but then it was too late to turn back and unlike it.
The Knife – Silent Shout
It sounds just as amazing today as it did when it came out, even if I must have heard it a thousand times. I love how it keeps evolving throughout the song without loosing its subtlety and darkness.
Eggstone – Summer and Looking For a Job
I started buying Eggstone cassettes in 1989 before they had started releasing any records on the now defunct Snap! label. I remember writing comments about things like ‘I didn’t like when he sang too loud’ and things like that. As if they’d give a fuck about what a 15 year old indie nerd thought of their material! ‘Summer and Looking For a Job’ is their finest output ever if you ask me. It¹s rather special; they manage to be playful, sunny and fun and still sound pretty cool.
Kent – 400 slag
Kent is the biggest band in Sweden until they broke up last year. I was never much of a fan, but then they released an album called ‘Du jag döden’ (‘You and me death’) they became hard to resist for someone who has been living with death anxiety for 25 years.
Tommy Körberg – Judy, Min Vän
Just like everyone else I discovered it via Morrissey‘s pre-concert mixtapes.
Dolce – Säg nåt vanligt
There’s nothing that bores me more nowadays, than Swedish guitar music heavy with so-called social realism; simple everyday stories about how sorry we should feel for white Swedish middle-class dudes that are better off than 99,9% of the population in the world but still feel like poor outsiders. This is somewhat close to that genre in expression.. but not quite there and they manage to be pretty great.
http://bloggar.aftonbladet.se/musikbloggen/2016/12/premiar-sag-nat-vanligt-dolce-album/
Ebba Grön – We’re Only In It For The Drugs.
I was a punk rocker at the age of 9 and my favorite bands were The Exploited, Sex Pistols and this Swedish band, Ebba Grön.
Listen to the Legends new single ‘Cash’ below.
