All Change: Sweden

Hi! As of August time I will hopefully be studying for a year in Lund, Sweden! A massive change for me, made especially different as I will be learning the language from scratch. Luckily I am English (or maybe not so) and they teach in my mother tongue, aswell as having the fact that most other students will be close to fluent. I can maintain the stereotype of lazy english students who put no effort into foreign languages. Hooray for us! But anyway in my excitement, I thought I'd have an e-celebration of this event by blogging a few cool songs by Swedes.

Wildbirds & Peacebirds - Doubt/Hope



Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats



I am aware this is a very popular song already, but it doesn't stop this video and performance being breathtaking! So yeah, I like music from adverts.

Loney, Dear - I Fought the Battle of Trinidad & Tobago



Here I have quite obviously endulged in a emotional 'Lost In Translation' style video, but y'know, I can assure you I don't cry myself to sleep every night.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Where do my Bluebirds Fly



Check out the sunset shots in this video, well arty...and quite nice.

The Knife - Silent Shout



Hope you enjoy these videos and you can expect more posts very soon. I have alot of catching up to do. *sigh*

(p.s. If anyone wants any mp3's to try, just add a comment and I'll link to them in the comments)

Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Heartcore (2007)

I picked this record up at Jumbo Records in Leeds, on recommendation and have had it over a month now. So now, I have chosen to write about it, finally! That, and the fact that I'm back from university and unemployed. But, I digress.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums are a Swedish two-piece, semi-rooted in the blues, but to describe them that simply would be an injustice. Mariam Wallentin's vocal is anything but ordinary, and often verges on that of The Knife before veering off into the weird and wonderful. The instrumentation is heavily rhythmic and can differ from simple percussion to heavy drum passages, all by drummer/vocalist Andreas Werlin. Any other instruments are electronic but these are sparse and only feature on a few tracks.



The start of the album is so sparse you almost wonder in anticipation at some explosion of sound, but eventually you can begin to appreciate the simplicity of those first few tracks. My personal favourites are in the middle of the album, the jumpy "Doubt/Hope" with its danceable drum beat and the atmospheric synth's of "The Battle In Water". In truth though, this really is something truly different and that is saying something in an age of music where that word is so difficult to use. It may be a tough listen at first, but persevere with this duo and you will be rewarded.

Wildbirds and Peacedrums - "Doubt/Hope"

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