Swede Rock

Hi Y'all.

Been awhile since I've posted. I've been drinking heavily of late and generally lacking ambition. Like a pendulum my creativity waxes and wanes as the gravity of life pulls me in different directions.

Anyhow I've been reading a lot of 5-10-15-20's over at pitchfork and it's an interesting analysis of how the musical progression of people's tastes has gone forward. It seems like most people were influenced by the tastes of a parent/brother which helped shape their musical purchases. I can remember for me there were a few things my parents played that I actually liked when I was young: quintessential Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, Eric Clapton (especially the acoustic version of Layla) and for some reason Marc Cohn. At that age you are really limited to what is played for you (well, in the late 80's/early 90's anyway) so choosing those musicians was like having moons over my hammy at Denny's - you would rather have a different selection but you make the best of what you've got.

By the time I was 9 or 10 I realized music was something that I really was into but didn't understand how to source good content. At that age most your friends are still listening to Fred Penner and Raffi and could really give two shits about what is playing on the radio. I knew that mom and pops record collection wasn't going to suffice though and that I needed to go buy my own music.

I remember going into the Music World (now defunct) near my house to buy a couple tapes. At this point I really couldn't tell you how I made my selection but the two tapes I ended coming out with were Live (Throwing Copper) and Salt-N-Pepa (Very Necessary). There must have been some sort of in store advertising involved that tilted my young mind because in 1994 that's about as dichotomous a purchase as they come. I remember the store clerk commenting on how great Throwing Copper was as he rang it up and then just looking bewildered at this little white kid from Canadiana buying a female fronted hip hop album to go along with it.

Regardless, multiple walkman listens to Lightning Crashes and Shoop confirmed that music was something I wanted to learn more about. Prior to having the effects of peer groups veer me towards alt rock at the age of 11 (which I still love) there were a few more ill informed tape purchases. Somewhere along the way I remember picking up Michael Jackson's Dangerous which was great. Even if he was coming down from his 80's heights the tape was still fantastic and easily accessible to me. Every kid born in the 80's needed a Michael Jackson album to really get into and this was mine.

 I remember also picking up a Bon Jovi tape in that timeframe. They had all the storefront advertising at the HMV in Winnipeg so I thought they must be amazing. I must have realized that Bon Jovi was in fact not good prior to listening to it though because I can't remember that tape at all (note: we are talking 90's Bon Jovi here. I'm always game for an 80's Jon Bon power ballad).

Anyways, prior to heading down the Alt path of the mid 90's (Smashing Pumpkins, Bush-X (only in Canada), Stone Temple Pilots, Garbage, Nirvana. I think I also ended up with some Collective Soul (+), Soul Asylum (-), and Megadeth (+/-) from a contract with those shysters over at Columbia House) I made one other major tape purchase - Ace of Base. Catchy as it was, the album The Sign was one of the biggest sellers of the 90's with over 20 million units moved so the fact that someone bought it isn't overly surprising. What it has been though is a precursor to my on going love affair with Swedish music that continues to this day.

In the late 90's there seems to have been a lull in Swedish music (on this continent anyways) as it kept on the pop-y course set by Abba and Ace of Base. The only other notable Swedish band I can remember from that era is the Cardigans, who would be predominantly viewed as a one hit wonder in North America for "Lovefool" (I haven't listened to much of their catalog but they seem like they may be in reality more like Blur, who only had mainstream success on one song but actually had great depth to their sound). Also, like most Swedish women, their lead singer was smoking hot which is a megaplus.

In the 2000's though the country somehow turned into Austin East - a musical enclave that churned out amazing music a rate far greater than it's population. The decade started out with bands like The Hives, Division of Laura Lee, The Sounds, Caesars and The (International) Noise Consipiracy making headways around the globe with a typically more garage/punk rock sound. There was a transition in the middle of the decade as indie rock became popular bringing a more diverse sound from the country. This lead to a wide array of bands gaining indie popularity including Peter, Bjorn and John, Mando Diao, Dungen, Shout Out Louds,  and Jose Gonzalez. The last couple years though have seen a shift to a more electronic/keyboard based sound as bands like Lykke Li and The Knife have risen to prominence. This all while the metal roots of the country (which I know sweet fuck all about, except these beauts) continued to do its thing.

Anyhow, this meandering story is all a preamble to the Swedish band Little Dragon I heard on the interwebs last night. The first single off their new album Ritual Union is the catchy as shit Night Light which has been on repeat ever since I heard it. With Yukimi Nagano on vocals the music reminds me of a more melodic version of Caribou mixed with Metronomy (sorry Dan Snaith, you're still good). Heavy percussion and synth noises vaguely reminiscent of 8-bit gaming add to the allure of the sound.

The song Ritual Union utilizes the same percussion driven style with the keyboard providing a subtler backing than in Night Light. Where a band like Metronomy can get more synth heavy and use that as the driving force, Little Dragon downplays the electro portion of their sound. This allows both Nagano and the percussion portion of the band to take a larger role in the band. This leads to a very listenable hard/soft dynamic in the sound of the band.

Ultimately I'll leave it to you to explore the band further but the initial "toe in the water" seems promising.

Until the pendulum hits the upswing again,

David