lifeiscarbon®

Swedish Blondie

Whilst we primarily write about up and coming Scandinavian bands or at least one’s that are little know internationally, we do occasionally like to write about acts that have stood the test of time (as we did in the case of Kent). Fear not, we’re not likely to be writing about ABBA or A-Ha any time soon. It’s time to confess that we’ve listened a lot to The Cardigans in the last 10 years and followed their progress from bright 90’s pop-tunes with indie leanings to their current darker more complex rock ballads. If anything the The Cardigans have gone from strength to strength as evidenced by their last album, Super Extra Gravity, which was released to much critical acclaim. Take a listen to a track from it below.

The Cardigans - Nina Persson (vocals), Peter Svensson (Guitar), Bengt Lagerberg (Drums), Magnus Sveningsson (Bass) and Lasse Johansson (Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar) - originally formed as a band in 1992 in the town of Jönköping, Sweden. A classic tale of a band that lived together and recorded their first demo in a garage........

Harmonious Sound Of Noise

Next week sees the launch of the debut album by Death By Kite, an alternative and somewhat raw sounding rock band from Copenhagen. Their music is a distinctive mix of popish melodies, alternative harmonies and noise…. lots of it… as they walk a tightrope between cold war punk, noiserock and indie.

Bjørn Alexander Gøtzsche Lange (Vocals, Guitars), Sidsel Marie Hermansen (Bass, Vocals) and Kristian Kimer (Drums, Vocals) met in Autumn 2003, but it wasn’t until mid-2004 that they started playing together on a regular basis. Since they came from fairly different musical backgrounds and genres, it took some time for them to find a sound that suited all of them. Ultimately it was these differences that turned out to be the strength of their music. Music in which you will find references to bands such as Sonic Youth, Placebo, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Interpol, Joy Division etc. All combined into a unique sound, that sets this band apart from most other Danish acts.

carboncollective™: Guðmundur Óli Pálmason

It’s time for the next part of carboncollective™, the series in which we are showcasing the work of some of the best Flickr photographers from Scandinavia. We’ve hand picked some of the more interesting photographers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in order to show you a selection of their work. In our opinion, the photographers we've selected demonstrate a strong sense of Scandinavian aesthetics in their work and, as a collective, their photography spans a broad range of styles and subject matter.

Our fifth photographer is Guðmundur Óli Pálmason (born 1978) from Reykjavík in Iceland. Strongly influenced by the vast landscape of Iceland and his love of dark music, Guðmundur’s photographs are like stills from a rediscovered black and white movie. The deliberate imperfections of his shots only add to the heightened sense of atmosphere and seem to add a layer of melancholy to all of his images. Take a look at selection of his work in the carboncollective™ V gallery.

Danish Ambient Space Rock

Danish ambient space-rock band Windermere has existed for a little over six years in its current line-up but it took the band a convoluted ten-year history prior to that to come together properly.

Windermere is actually the combination of two former bands each with their own distinct approach towards progressive music. One, Maroc Seven, was based on the tradition of the British indie scene whilst the other, Windermere, was a dark triphop-like ensemble. When the two bands joined forces in 2001 it created a unique mix of the different genres and formed the distinctive sound of the Windermere we know today.

To create that sound the band members have resorted to a rather unique approach to playing their respective instruments. Kim Oxlund (Lead Guitar & Synths) oftrn combines effects from keyboards and sequencing machines with the warm and dusty sound of an old tube amplifier. Hans Kjelstrup (Lead Guitar) and Jakob Skjoldborg (Vocals & Bass Guitar) sometimes use bows on their strings (much like Sigur Ros) to evoke a more ambient atmosphere in the music. Thomas Schultz-Hansen plays the drums, not with power and restlessness, but with a laid back stylistic approach that matches Windermere’s soundscapes.

Rehti Love Monochrome

Kurki by Mika Tolvanen

Rehti is a group of young designers attempting to bring fresh Finnish design to an international audience. The designers within the group are linked together by their desire to create honest and simple objects. Rather appropriately, Rehti is finnish work that means ‘an honest way of working and acting’.

Mikko Laakkonen, Sami Laine, Aleksi Penttilä, Ilkka Ruutu, Mika Tolvanen and Jari-Petri Voutilainen work work as freelance designers both as individuals and as a members of the group.

We love the simplicity of their designs and are put in mind of the beautiful objects created by our Japanese favorites Plus Minus Zero. Take a look at a selection of Rehti’s designs below.

Norwegian Frost

Norwegian electropop duo Frost make melodic pop songs about changing the world backed by tasteful electronic sounds - more often than not touched by the all-embracing hand of techno, electro or modern disco. Last week Frost released Love! Revolution!, their third album and this time the music leans more towards upbeat space-pop with catchy songs wrapped in a hard-hitting yet dubby production.

Frost was initially formed in 1997 in Tromsø, Northern Norway, by singer/writer Aggie Peterson and Norwegian Dub Disco entrepreneur DJ Rune Lindbæk. Together with the assistance of Torbjørn Brundtland (now of Röyksopp) in addition to a few other hired hands, they produced the album Bedsit Theories in 1998. The album did well in Norway, and the single Clouds across the moon - a cover version of the Rah Band classic - received heavy rotation on MTV in the summer of '98.

In 1999 Aggie and Rune released the single Endless Love, with remixes by Röyksopp and Illumination/Chilluminati – of which Per Martinsen (also of Mental Overdrive), was one half. This saw the beginning of a long collaboration between Aggie and Per, and in 2001 they released the album Melodica together. Since then the pair have collaborated as Frost.

van Deurs Love Black

Here in Scandinavia the snow has melted, the days are already long and in the last few days it’s been too bright to wander around without wearing sunglasses (unless one enjoys having a blinding headache). Now that Spring has properly arrived, we’ll soon have to change from all black to all white clothing, but there’s just enough time to introduce you to a few more dark Nordic fashion designers that love black.

The first of whom is Susanne Beskow, the designer behind van Deurs, another of our favorite Swedish fashion labels. The collection is a direct continuation of Susanne’s final exam work for Beckmans School of Design from which she graduated in 1992 and after which she immediately launched the new brand. Sadly, the van Deurs label was discontinued from 1995 whilst Susanne was employed as a designer for another fashion house but luckily the brand was restarted in February 2006.

van Deurs stands for simplicity and self expression. Susanne’s design process always starts with the fabric, especially the feel of it, after which the pleating process adds different qualities and textures. She loves to work with classical fabrics such as tweed and feels that pleats give the eye the first impression of something other than the original fabric. Take a look at selection of images below and judge for yourself.