How could I miss this!? I blame it on becoming a father and not having enough time to keep up with all the fantastic albums being released :)Anyways, if you don't know The Swell Season then you really should check them out! The duo consists of Glen Hansard, singer of the Irish rock band The Frames, and Markéta Irglová who is an actress and musician. The couple became internationally famous for their roles in the fantastic movie Once and subsequently won an Oscar for best original song.Their new album Strict Joy was released back in October, and except for having a wicked album cover, it sounds really good. Here is a mix with two tracks from the new album, plus a collection of previous stuff they have done. I hope you will enjoy it.Watch a trailer for the new album here.Listen to Strict Joy on Read More

The Swell Season – Strict Joy

Here are my favourite songs of 2009:Tracklisting:1 Bricks And Mortar /Editors 2 Only If You Run /Julian Plenti 3 My Will Is Good /Port O'Brien 4 Two Weeks /Grizzly Bear 5 It Don't Move Me /Peter Bjorn and John 6 Daniel /Bat for Lashes 7 11th Dimension /Julian Casablancas 8 Hard Times /Patrick Wolf 9 Young Adult Friction /The Pains of Being Pure At Heart 10 Songbird /Theodor Jensen 11 Airport Surroundings /Loney Dear 12 I'll Fight /Wilco 13 Cornerstone /Arctic Monkeys 14 One More Chance /Bloc Party 15 Feel It All Around /Washed Out 16 Deadbeat Summer /Neon Indian 17 Collapsing At Your Doorstep /Air France 18 Perfection as a Hipster /God Help the Girl 19 French Navy /Camera Obscura 20 Bicycle /Memory Tapes 21 Seven /Fever Ray 22 Kiss my name /Antony & the Johnsons 23 Every Path /Alela Diane 24 Gimme Sympathy (Acoustic) /Metric 25 Bluish /Animal CollectiveHead over to 8tracks.com and create your own mix - don't forget to share a link! :) Read More

Favourite Tracks of 2009

Update 30/5: You can find photos from this concert here: my photos, voss and Readheadwalking, all on Flickr.After his debut on Irish soil in Whelans in December last year, the Swedish king of Indie pop, Jens Lekman, is returning to Dublin, this time with full band to play the Village venue on Sunday 25 May. Having seen him on stage twice, once with and once without the band, I cannot say which one I preferred more. Alone on stage he is the centre of attention and plays more on his charm and witty style which really pulls in the crowd throughout the show. But with the band there is whole other show on offer; he is then able to take on songs which are not possible to perform alone with nothing but a guitar and a sampling box. Did I forget to mention that his band consists of almost entirely female musicians?I took this picture of Jens playing on the parking lot outside Inkonst in Malmö, SwedenPart of Jens' appeal is his humble appearance and friendly approach. I will see him again live at ATP in two weeks, before his gig in Dublin. At the end of his last concert in Dublin he told the crowd that he was permanently moving to Melbourne and would probably stop playing for a while, so I'm pretty happy to catch him as long as he is around this part of the world. Do not miss it!Read More

Jens Lekman Back In Dublin

Last night Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova received an Oscar for best original song for “Falling Slowly” from the movie Once. I couldn't care less for the rest of the ceremony, but this award and their acceptance speech is no doubt the highlight of the show and their sincerity and humbleness is nothing but moving: "Once" winning Best Original Song OscarI watched the movie last year for the first time and received the DVD as a birthday gift on Saturday; I can't stress how much I love this movie and can't wait to watch it over and over again. Set in Dublin, the movie is a must for all film and music lovers. Read More

Oscar For Once

I will dedicate my first post on this blog to the second annual Swedish Festival – Totally Swedish Festival – which takes place next week (26 Feb – 2 March) here in Dublin. There will be a mix of music, art, film and food on offer across several venues in the city. I really enjoyed last year's festival and went to see a few gigs in the Village where the highlights were Salem Al Fakir and the unforgettable I’m From Barcelona! This year's music line-up consists of two big names: Sahara Hotnights and Weeping Willows, as well as two upcoming names: Jonna Lee and Love Is All.Personally I find Love Is All most interesting in the line-up, but if I was asked to choose the line-up (which I honestly think I should have been...) then I would fly the following bands to Dublin and let them do their thing for the Irish Indie crowd: Marit Bergman Jens Lekman wrote: "My friend Marit is the best dressed woman in Sweden. This may seem insignificant to some but it is a welcome addition to the whole picture and her music. It's as if she's always dressed up to attend a wedding, funeral, birthday party or any kind of ceremonial celebration of life, loss and love." [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLcBPB-PFpQ[/youtube] Billie The Vision And The Dancers Billie the Vision and the Dancers haven't just played in standard clubs in Sweden. They have also toured at high schools and made a series of gigs at prison institutions around Stockholm. The entirety ...Read More

Swedish Music Festival in Dublin