Loading

Tag archives for Stockholm

Welcome, to you and me both.

25 comments

So, hey, welcome, to you and me both. I am Lisa and I shall be your guide to Swedish music for an unknown amount of time to come.

I should be something of an authority on Swedish music, really – seeing how I am Swedish and make music.

And yet with each passing day I run into more and more British, American, Canadian, French and Indonesian people who know a lot more on the subject than I do. (We call them swedophiles – and so do they I think?!)

It’s like Swedish music has become a genre all in itself. A way of life almost. At least a seal of approval to a lot of people.

If it’s Swedish it’s good.

So, having said all that it is on somewhat shaky legs I take on this daunting task…

To ease into things I’ll start by digging where I stand. Which is with my own band, The Concretes, and this little well-timed fact: We play a show in Stockholm on Saturday. The first in a while and also the perfect opportunity for me to tell you about three Swedish acts and one music venue…

The venue is Slakthuset (tube-station Globen) which is brand new and, judging by bookings thus far, a name worth remembering.

Its opening also follows the current trend of venues and clubs thinking outside the box – if the box is inner-city Stockholm and outside it is the suburbs.

To name but a few there is also Pluto, Kruthuset, Lilla Ukraina, Färgfabriken, Restaurang Landet and (yes to be fair, on the edge of town but still) Under Bron/Trädgården, all of them popular venues (or club nights) offering a variety of clubs, DJs and live sets on a regular basis.

Anyways, also playing live on Saturday is Den Svenska Björnstammen, an electronic pop group from Norrköping.

DJing are well-known Swedish music journalist Fredrik Strage, and (at least one half of) much blog-loved balearic duo Korallreven – the love child of another Swedish music journalist, Marcus Joons, and Daniel Tjäder, member of one of Sweden’s very finest, The Radio Dept.

And on top of all this, Saturday is also Walpurgis (Valborg in Swedish) night, but if you’re unfamiliar with this tradition I am afraid I have to leave it up to a differently themed blog to fill you in on that.

 So, I might see you this weekend or I’ll see you here again very shortly.

Happy Walpurgis and please treat yourselves to some music.

xx

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqcitAWwzbA

Korallreven remix This Is Head‘s’ 0007 (to download the song go here)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnk76m2QeZk

My band’s latest video, directed by Jamie Harley


Lisa Milberg

April 27, 2011

The iconoclastic Ikons

13 comments


I met the psychedelic and cerebral band Ikons, signed on the great label Service (Jens Lekman, The Embassy, The Whitest Boy Alive,…), last september for the Stockholm issue of the french but itinerant magazine I Heart…
Before their show at Debaser Slussen the 7 band members from Göteborg (6 musicians and a videast) allowed me a tidy shooting. I should say “very tidy” especially when you know that shooting more than 3 buddies together usually turns into a beautiful mess!
Few hours after that, they were on stage performing songs from their first eponymous album.
Songs made of electronic and organic waves. Foggy and raw guitar motifs, rough drums and rounded bass. All this wrapped in sparkling arrangements.
Ikons are pretty promising. And regarding how much pictures come to your mind while listening to their music, their name finds all its meaning!

Julien Bourgeois

December 13, 2010

In Långholmen with Rebekka Karijord

101 comments

Långholmen is a quite special place in Stockholm, an island almost without any house and covered by woods and stones.
Rebekka Karijord took me there because it’s where she is used to run and having walks.
We walked throught paths to a platform above water. Then we could see the sun setting on Väster bridge.
By the way, Rebekka told me a secret. This is where Swedes go for a naked nightswimming.
I know, it’s supposed to be a secret… and it’s sometimes important to left stories unsaid, and keep it as myths and legends. So, forget you ever knew something about it.

Listen to “Swedish Music Landscapes” playlist in the music room

Julien Bourgeois

November 19, 2010

Anna Järvinen’s wishes

24 comments

I met Anna Järvinen on a sunny sunday morning of september.
She hesitated between Högalid and Katarina churches. Both beautiful churches in Södermalm. She finally chose Katarina for its courtyard. People can chill out there on benches under the sun.
First thing you notice when you meet Anna is her gentleness and… shyness.
Something that you can hear in her voice in her songs. But you can also hear that Anna fights against herself and reveals something like a conviced strenght. This is Anna’s music for me. A shy and conviced strenght.
After a while she confided me that she have three dreams. One of them is to play in Paris. And her wish will be granted very soon as she will play on december the 1st at the ÅÄÖ swedish music festival in Paris! (by the way you can chek out the programme of this great festival!)
And by superstition I won’t tell you what her two remaining whishes are…!

Listen to “Swedish Music Landscapes” playlist in the music room

Julien Bourgeois

November 12, 2010

A swim with Peter, Björn & John ?

10 comments

When Peter, Björn & John gave me an appointment in front of Liljeholmsbadet, baths near Hornstull station in Stockholm, I first thought it was just a meeting point. Then I was doubtful… Should I bring a bathing trunk (that I do not have)?… Will my cameras like water?… No, that must be just the meeting point, right?
And sorry to disapoint you but, it wasn’t for a swim. But I have to admit that I could love the idea.
So I met them here. Near from the venue called Strand. We talked a bit. The trio was mixing the last songs of their next album. That I’m waiting impatiently. And we walked.
The neighborhood is wonderful, the landscape changes every two steps, passing from seashores to bridges, from harbor to sand and woods.
A pleasure for a photographer.

Listen to “Swedish Music Landscapes” playlist in the music room

Julien Bourgeois

November 9, 2010