The Radio Dept.

The Radio Dept's last LP Pet Grief further cemented their delicate pop sounds, built with the tools of 80's pop (haunting keyboads, drum machines, echo pedals), as their sound. "Freddie and the Trojan Horse," from their upcoming June EP, doesn't mess with their formula, but it does turn up the tempo and the urgency.

Original Post 11/17/2004: Like religious conversion or political persuasion, music can be very personal. Isn't that why we like it? So rather than a cold, third-person blip about The Radio Dept., allow me to share something personal, which is that I just love The Radio Dept. Love. My longstanding record for the most times I've listened to a song in a row is Joe Jackson's "Got the Time," clocking in at 48 consecutive listens. But, at the rate I'm going, The Radio Dept.'s "Pulling Our Weight" is going to overtake that before the night is over.

Freddie and the Trojan Horse [MP3, 6MB, 256kbps]

Older downloads:
Why Won't You Talk About It? [MP3, 2.6MB, 112kbps]
Pulling Our Weight [MP3, 3.8MB, 160kbps]
Against the Tide [MP3, 4.1MB, 128kbps]

http://www.labrador.se
http://www.shelflife.com
http://www.xlrecordings.com

The Sound of Arrows

I just felt it in the air. It's a warm fuzzy feeling in that glob of fat my skull houses, otherwise known as a brain. This warm fuzzy feeling reminds me to check in on the label that consistently provides me with warm fuzzy music: Labrador. They just signed a Stockholm duo, The Sound of Arrows, who dress as if they're living on a polygamist ranch in Texas and sound like The Avalanches mixing Placebo. I look forward to hearing more from these pleasantly pastel pals when their 9-song EP is out in May.

Danger [MP3, 8.1MB, 256kbps]

www.labrador.se
www.thesoundofarrows.com

[ingenting]

File under: Better Late Than Never. [ingenting] may mean "nothing" in their native tongue of Swedish, but this wonderful single, a favorite of mine since Labrador offered it for free, oh, about 11 months ago (see first sentence), is anything but. The post-punk guitar, the keyboard-driven simple melody, the disco bass, and the crisp drumming are awfully catchy and do not deserve to be horded by me any longer.

Punkdrömmar [MP3, 3.0MB, 128kbps]

www.labrador.se
www.nadazipp.se

Club 8

I feel a special numerical affinity for Club 8. The number eight holds a particular significance with me, a significance that I don't believe I've shared outright with our readership, which is surprising, even to me, because I'm quite obnoxious with it in person. Put it this way, I probably would've been much better at math if we worked off a base eight system. OK, I'll put it another way: I wouldn't get very far hitchhiking. Here, you'd better just have a look (Taken, probably ten years ago, by Mr. Lifto backstage at a Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. No it hasn't been Photoshopped.). Now that we've established I'm a member of Club 8, onto the music at hand (pun not intended, seriously)...

Club 8 is the Swedish boy-girl duo of Johan AngergÃ¥rd and Karolina Komstedt, homemaking music since 1995. Incessantly smooth and gorgeous, both the singing and playing, Club 8 has toyed with different takes on their cozy pop sound: '60s folk, trip-hop, and bossa nova. It's been five years since the last Club 8 album due to the fact that both Johan AngergÃ¥rd and Komstedt also play in Acid House Kings, not to mention AngergÃ¥rd's work with The Legends. Their new album, The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming, promises to balance sunshine ("Heaven") and melancholia ("Jesus, Walk With Me"—a quiet rebuttal to Sam Harris et al). In a word, stunning.

Heaven [MP3, 4.2MB, 192kbps]
Jesus, Walk With Me [MP3, 4.3MB, 192kbps]
Spring Came, Rain Fell [MP3, 3.0MB, 160kbps]
What Shall We Do Next? [MP3, 3.6MB, 192kbps]

www.labrador.se
www.club-8.org

Irene

White Christmas in Sweden? When would it not be a white Christmas in Sweden? Guess that's why Labrador Records' Christmas present to us is the wishfully-titled "Christmas on the Beach" from pop masters Irene. I say pop masters since Irene's songs display pop from every decade since the 60's, no doubt honed and perfected on many a white Christmas Day while dreaming of warmer climes...

Christmas on the Beach [MP3, 1.9MB, 128kbps]

www.labrador.se

The Mary Onettes

Sam, Clay and I bicker constantly about who's gonna post the latest treat from Sweden's ever-so-sweet Labrador Records. Thanks to Jason over at Mystery and Misery (and newly Minimal) I've won this round. The Mary Onettes not only have a playful '80s era air about their name, they've also captured the artful earnestness of the decade's music. "Lost" devos open with a driving drum beat that leads into a jangly, New Order guitar riff and A Flock of Seagulls keyboard flourish. On paper it sounds like a disaster, but to the ear it's pure, um, music. They drop things down a few notches on "What's So Strange?" an acoustic-y, track bordering on gentle, psychedelic XTC. Next time your parents complain that "They just don't make music like they used to!" give 'em a dose of The Mary Onettes.

Lost [MP3, 2.6MB, 160kbps]
Void [MP3, 6.3MB, 256kbps]
What's So Strange? [MP3, 2.3MB, 96kbps]

www.labrador.se
www.themaryonettes.net

Pelle Carlberg

A Swedish boy and his guitar. Former leader of the Swedish band Edson, Pelle Carlberg, is out on his own now, finding his way in the big world and singing about it all with warm, personal, and calmly infectious pop.

Riverbank [MP3, 3.5MB, 160kbps]
Go to Hell, Miss Rydell [MP3, 5.1MB, 192kbps]

www.labrador.se

Loveninjas

Swedish. Pop. Labrador Records. Silly. Dark. A concept. Songs about a Japanese female assasin. Thrilling costumes. Songs about murder and sex. Not really a band. Genius.

Meet Me Here [MP3, 5.0MB, 192kbps]
Keep Your Love [MP3, 4.1MB, 160kbps]

www.labrador.se
www.loveninjas.com

Acid House Kings

How about a blissful pop treat this last Sunday of summer? I know, it's not technically, but come on, once September rolls around, summer's over. Anyway, Acid House Kings (featuring members of Club 8 and The Legends) create amazingly pure pop songs and invite us all along for the fun: lyrics and instrumental MP3s are available online and you can add your own vocals to the mix and perhaps be included on a forthcoming EP. Swedish music hasn't been this fun since ABBA!

Sunday Morning [MP3, 3.7MB, 160kbps]
This Heart Is a Stone [MP3, 4.1MB, 192kbps]
Do What You Wanna Do [MP3, 4.3MB, 192kbps]
This and That [MP3, 3.0MB, 160kbps]

www.labrador.se
www.icyicy.com/acidhousekings