Vapen och ammunition

Vapen och ammunition

I've spent the night listening to the wonderful album, "Vapen och ammunition" by the Swedish pop/rock band, Kent. Given the news events of the last few days, it's interesting that "Vapen och ammunition" translates as "Weapons and ammunition". Perhaps subconsciously, it was an album that I was drawn to because of the title, though more likely, it's simply because it's a good album which I like very much, and which has become a firm favourite over the last decade. I first discovered it through … [Read more...]

Melodifestivalen 2012 #4

Gina Dirawi with Danny Saucedo

Over the last few days I've been gripped by the "controversy" in the Swedish newspapers about one of the artists who could represent Sweden at this year's Eurovision Song Contest. At the centre of the controversy is the song, "Mirakel" by Björn Ranelid, a sixty-something former football player, and academic, who is one of Sweden's best known authors. As I mentioned last week, I quite like the song which is a kind of rap/dance number. It's certainly not a conventional pop song, but I think … [Read more...]

Melodifestivalen 2012 #3

Björn Ranelid feat. Sara Li

If you have any familiarity with Melodifestivalen - the Swedish finals leading to the Eurovision Song Contest - you're probably aware of Eric Saade who represented Sweden last year. His song, "Popular" was a good song, performed well, though it was criticsed by some for being too derivative of of Boney M's "Rasputin" and a 1980s Swedish hit by Lili och Suzi. The previous year, Eric had also entered Melodifestivalen with the song, "Manboy", a song which incidentally had nothing to do with that … [Read more...]

MaggioFest

Veronica Maggio, Snook, Petter - Inga problem

I don't know why exactly, but for the last few days I've found myself a little addicted to the music of Veronica Maggio. Almost exclusively, I've been listening to her albums, "Och vinnaren är..." and "Satan i gatan". She's a Swedish pop/soul singer I first discovered in 2008 thanks to her song, "Måndagsbarn" ("Monday's Child"). I loved the innocence of the video clip. I loved the clarity of her vocal. And I loved the fact that she sang in Swedish. Even for domestic consumption, a lot … [Read more...]

Ola är jättebra!

ola

Today I would like to introduce you to my favourite Swedish pop star at the moment, Ola Svensson. I first discovered his work when he was an entrant in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish finals leading to the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2008. I thought the song, Love in Stereo was "okay". A few months later I saw him perform live at Stockholm Pride and, again, I thought he was "okay". He went from being "okay" to pretty fantastic when, two years later, he entered Melodifestivalen with the … [Read more...]

Benny Anderssons Orkester @ Skansen

Benny Anderssons Orkesters

"We have a problem. We are a dance band, and the people need room to dance" was how Benny Andersson began the Benny Anderssons Orkester performance at Stockholm's Skansen. Clearly, he was referring to the large number of people who had rushed to the very front of the stage as soon as they were able. In the midst, I'm sure, there were a bunch of ABBA fans who were there to see the former ABBA-member still performing on stage, aged 65. Meanwhile, I was standing in the nearby queue to get a … [Read more...]

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