Marie Key "Lys finale" (2022)

Lys finale

release date: Feb. 11, 2022

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]

producer: Bremer / McCoy

label: Sony Music - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Vinter" - 2. "Tænk" - 5. "Lys finale" (4 / 5) - 6. "Stille måne" - 7. "Verden" - 10. "Festen"

6th studio album by Marie Key following the album Marie Key (2020) saw Key in an attempt to take up the success from her first three solo albums with producer Andreas 'Maskinen' Sommer, and although the album produced a small single hit with "True Love", the album wasn't part of top-40.

Lys finale is easily her most quiet album to date. It's produced by contemporary Danish jazz-duo Bremer / McCoy (bassist Jonathan Bremer and pianist Morten McCoy), and all tracks are co-composed and arranged by the duo, and the end-result is far from the art pop and synthpop-fused predecessors. Stylewise, this might go as indie pop with a strong touch of jazz pop, and most tracks have near minimalist arrangements where bass and a delicate keyboard often are only instruments backing Key's vocal, which is accentuated strongly.

A first listen had me think it was daring and far from expected but I quickly found it a quite strong release. It's not filled with hit material or sing-a-long choruses, and it's primarily the most stripped down songs that work the best - and it's Key's delicate narration that really lifts the album, which then also calls for a native audience, as all songs are in Danish.

This is imho, Key's second best album to date and thus highly recommended.

[ Berlingske 5 / 6, Politiken 3 / 6 stars ]

Elvis Costello "North" (2003)

North
release date: Sep. 23, 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Elvis Costello and Kevin Killen
label: Deutsche Grammophon - nationality: England, UK

18th studio album by Elvis Costello following 1½ year after When I Was Cruel is more of a solo album than most of any all his studio releases. Despite having what seems as a full orchestra of strings and brass musicians supporting him and also appearances by all of The Imposters: Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, and Davey Faragher, the album comes out as a quiet and very ballad-like collection of vocal jazz compositions. Also, the majority of the song titles reveal an album with full attention on love ballads. Apparently, the album both reflects Costello's broken relationship with Cait O'Riordan as well as his newfound love with Canadian pianist and jazz vocalist Diana Krall, whom he married Dec. 2003.

The album bonds nicely with his two collaboration projects, the live album Deep Dead Blue (1995) with Bill Frisell as well as Painted From Memory (1998) with Burt Bacharach - and mostly with the latter by also having a full orchestra as backing band. Having said that, it's not an album that reflects his splendid ability to arrange and compose music - it's really like stretching his hands out to Krall and stating: "You know, I did all that but I can also make really soft vocal jazz and jazz pop music - really much like you do!", which some critics noted by referring to the style as closer to what Krall normally released than was the case with Mr. Costello.

Best thing here is the songwriting.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Lisa Ekdahl "More of the Good" (2018)

More of the Good
release date: Nov. 9, 2018
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Mathias Blomdahl
label: Sony Music - nationality: Sweden

10th studio album by Lisa Ekdahl released a 1½ years following När alla vägar leder hem. All songs are written and composed entirely by Ekdahl herself and all songs are with English lyrics. Perhaps the has released this new album also to satisfy her relatively broad international fans coming from English-speaking countries and also more traditional latin jazz-associated countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy).
You may prefer her native Swedish songs, but you can't reject that she's a fine vocalist and interpreter of contemporary easy listening and latin jazz, which is what this album contains most of all. I'm not a huge fan of her English lyrics but it really is one of her better attempts with English songs. It does, however, sound much like a huge conglomerate of previously released material and there are no new surprises under the hood. But if you like what works, this is a solid release of well-established themes.

Lisa Ekdahl "När alla vägar leder hem" (2017)

När alla vägar leder hem
release date: Feb. 17, 2017
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Mathias Blomdahl & Lisa Ekdahl
label: Sony Music - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "När alla vägar leder hem" - 4. "Famna jorden" - 6. "Välkommen morgon" - 7. "Jorden runt solen" - 9. "Lite svikt i steget" - 10. "Amelia" - 12. "Om bare du" - 15. "Sol vind & vatten"

9th studio album (11th counting her two collaboration albums with Peter Nordahl Trio) by Lisa Ekdahl shows her in a more polished, mainstream pop with full orchestrated arrangements. It's still with some jazz pop sensation, yet the overall style is somewhere in-between a singer / songwriter universe of folk pop and parts of sheer pop.
Tracks #1-9 are labelled "När alla vägar leder hem" - implying these songs are her new album compositions, and tracks #10-16 are labelled "Tolkningar 'Så mycket bättre' " - all cover-versions as the subtitle suggests. On vinyl, the album is released as a double with the last seven tracks as the second record.
It's far from bad, and finally show us Ekdahl back with Swedish lyrics in the way she initially started out, and which has been put aside for some time. Some reviewers have observed that the album marks return to her original roots, and I do concede to that, although the main difference is that this one also contains broader arrangements; however, it's really nice to hear her back in her native tongue again continuing the Swedish singer / songwriter folk pop tradition.
Imho, the album is her third best overall.
[ Gaffa.dk 5 / 6 stars ]

Lisa Ekdahl "Look to Your Own Heart" (2014)

Look to Your Own Heart
release date: Oct. 23, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Mathias Blomdahl & Tobias Fröberg
label: Jive/Epic / Sony Music - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Heavenly Shower" - 2. "Happiness Is Brief" - 7. "Look to Your Own Heart" - 8. "Moving On"

8th studio album by Lisa Ekdahl released 7½ years after Give Me That Knowing Smile. Before this she released the live album At the Olympia, Paris (2011) (commonly sold as a 2-disc album with a cd and a dvd). Quite often a new studio album from Ekdahl also means a new mix of styles, and in that way this is no different, although, it's a mix of musical styles she has tried out before. It's not entirely singer / songwriter nor folk, nor is it vocal jazz but all these genres are present with the addition of standards, jazz pop, and bossa nova. It's like the ultimate mix of all the styles she has released albums in over the years. All tracks are written and composed by Ekdahl herself but many tracks are with a strong influence from latin jazz and something that sounds as Ekdahl standards with the addition of big band arrangements.
It's all very sweet and quiet but not really close to great. I think, she should keep away from latin styles - somehow it doesn't suit her voice, and the album also lacks memorable compositions.

Outkast "Speakerboxxx / The Love Below" (2003)

Speakerboxxx / The Love Below
release date: Sep. 23, 2003
format: 2 cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: André 3000, Big Boi [Outkast]
label: Arista - nationality: USA

Track highlights: Disc 1: 2. "Ghetto Musick" - 5. "The Way You Move" (feat. Sleepy Brown) - 9. "Church" - 13. "Knowing" - 16. "Reset" (feat. Khujo & Cee Lo Green) - - Disc 2: 4. "Happy Valentine's Day" - 5. "Spread" - 7. "Prototype" - 9. "Hey Ya!" (5 / 5) - 10. "Roses"

5th studio album by Outkast originally released by LaFace Records is like the predecessor Stankonia a release where André 3000 [André Benjamin] and Big Boi [Antwan Patton] has taken increasingly more control. The album is the band's most ambitious to date - released as a double disc cd with two hours and 14 mins. playing time. Unable to agree on which musical shape or direction to settle for led the duo to the decision to release two albums as one, where André and Big Boi would have the final say for their own disc on the double release. Big Boi is credited as songwriter on the majority of the songs on disc 1, labelled "Speakerboxxx", and André 3000 as songwriter on the songs on disc 2, "The Love Below".
The "Speakerboxxx" disc is the genre-wise most hip hop-styled collection and perhaps the disc where Outkast sounds the most like themselves keeping to known ingredients and continuing from where the left on Stankonia, although, with Outkast you know they explore and incorporate a great deal. They also use a lot of sampling, which is done very nicely. On "The Love Below" they thread on new territories, experiment and expand the genre further than before by implementing jazz and funk. André 3000 takes the band into the discotheque, and with songs like "Hey Ya!" and "Roses" they enter the charts everywhere, but it's also the most diverse and most experimental disc on the album.
The album is the band's best-selling album to date topping the US Billboard 200 list but also selling Diamond (which is 10 x Platinum; the album actually sold 11 x Platinum in the US alone: more than 11 million copies), and it received wide-spread acclaim and won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year; and it's enlisted on numerous best of lists, including "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" as the second by the band.
The album was my first with the band, and for some time, I thought of it as their best, but after becoming familiar with their earlier albums and style, I think of it as a fine but rather peculiar and difficult great achievement.
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Blender, The Guardian 5 / 5, NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Bryan Ferry "Boys and Girls" (1985)

Boys and Girls
release date: Jun. 3, 1985
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: Rhett Davies & Bryan Ferry
label: EG Records / Polydor K.K. - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sensation" - 2. "Slave to Love" (5 / 5) - 3. "Don't Stop the Dance" (4 / 5) - 5. "Windswept" - 7. "Valentine" - 8. "Stone Woman"

6th studio album by Bryan Ferry follows seven years after The Bride Stripped Bare (1978), and here Ferry has paired up with Rhett Davies as the album producers. All tracks except one (track #3 by Bryan Ferry and Rhett Davies) are exclusively credited Ferry.

Stylistically, Ferry moves further up the 'art pop' alley and makes his so far boldest 'sophisti-pop' album with strong bonds to the final Roxy Music album Avalon (1982), which also featured Rhett Davies as co-producer.

The album was met by critical acclaim and topped the charts in several countries including the UK, as Ferry's only solo album, and it's also his only Platinum-selling album in the UK. The album spawned three singles: tracks #2, 3 and 5, peaking at #10, #21 and #46 respectively on the UK singles chart.

I recall buying the album upon its release at a time when I found it a bit too smooth; however, over the years I have returned to it and basically find it his best solo album to date. Also, in retrospect the album simply stands out as a cornerstone in modern sound production.

Highly recommendable.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Japanese CD cover

Bo Kaspers Orkester "Du borde tycka om mig" (2012)

Du borde tycka om mig
release date: Oct. 31, 2012
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Christian Walz (1-4, 7, 8, 10); Bo Kaspers Orkester (5, 6, 9)
label: Columbia / Sony Music Entertainment - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Festen" - 2. "Världens ände" (4 / 5) (live) - 3. "Längre upp i bergen" (4 / 5) - 5. "Utan dig" (4 / 5) - 7. "Vilket år" - 8. "Jag är vacker ikväll" - 9. "Mitt rätta jag" - 10. "Kom" (4 / 5)

10th studio album by Bo Kaspers Orkester is the 10th studio album in 20 years. The album has generally been met with positive reviews, and it appears to be one of the band's stylistic changes. I still find it a bit difficult to digest as a Bo Kaspers Orkester release but the production is pretty fine just like the total picture. Some tracks are mere jazz pop compositions but the majority of tracks are smooth, laid back music, which has references to lounge but not in the way the band has played with that style before and on its earliest albums. Instead, this is a modern version of lounge, which is more in family with synth-pop - a genre BKO never has excelled in. Without coping they play in a way that makes me think of The Killers on their most recent albums and two other great Scandinavian bands, the Danish band Love Shop and the greatest band in Sweden as well as all Nordic countries: Kent. It's not bad, not at all. I'm just not really ready to embrace it as great, but it seems like one of the band's better studio releases.

<  show lyrics >

~ ~ ~
"Utan dig"

"Utan dig, utan dig
Är det jag har framför mig
Tar ett steg utan att veta
Utan dig famlar jag
Än en gång, än en dag
Ensam kvar ska jag leta
Jag ångrar ingenting
Jag skulle göra det igen
Sakta vandra hem
Och börja där vi var
En gång för länge sen
Med tiden som fanns kvar
Och om jag vetat då
Vad som skulle hända sen...
Jag skulle göra det igen

Utan dig är jag fri
Vandra bort, inget bli
Somna om, släppa taget
Dom frågar hur det går
Om jag vill hitta nå'n att håll om
Att livet är så stort
De skulle glömma och förstå
För tiden går så fort
Jag älskade henne då
Och jag älskar henne än
Jag skulle göra det igen

Jag ångrar ingenting
Jag skulle göra det igen
Jag skulle göra det igen
Och börja där vi var
En gång för länge sen
Jag skulle göra det igen
Men om jag vetat då
Vad som skulle hända sen
Jag skulle göra det igen
Jag skulle göra det igen
Utan dig
Utan dig
Utan dig"

~ ~ ~

Sting "... All This Time" (2001) (live)

... All This Time (live)
release date: Nov. 20, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Sting, Kipper [Mark Eldridge]
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Fragile" - 4. "All This Time" - 8. "When We Dance" - 10. "Roxanne" - 15. "Shape of My Heart" - 16. "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You"

Live album recorded at [Sting's] "Villa Il Palagio", Tuscany, Italy, Sep. 11, 2001. The concert was planned for a small audience from Sting's fan club and for live broadcast (which was cancelled), and it was carried out in spite of the tragic events that took place during the day of 9/11 2001.
Like his first live album it's a collection of songs from the heydays of The Police blended with his best known solo compositions, but here in a much less orchestrated and electric version, which really suits the songs nicely. The album was also released as a concert film.
I like the fact that the all songs have been rearranged to an intimate live performance, but other than that, I don't think the music by Sting is extremely well-suited as live recordings in general, and the long time span from compositions with The Police, though his jazz-era to more pop / rock-founded compositions makes the whole thing a bit of a mixed bag, really.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Lars H.U.G. "Save Me From This Rock 'n' Roll" (2003)

Save Me From This Rock 'n' Roll
release date: 2003
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,88]
producer: Lars H.U.G. / Nikolaj Foss (exec. pro.)
label: EMI-Medley - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Pray" - 2. "Dream Boy" - 3. "Save Me From This Rock 'n' Roll" - 11. "Till the End of the World"

6th studio album by Lars H.U.G co-produced by Peter Juul Kristensen and with Oli Poulsen as assistant producer. The album is H.U.G.'s first studio album in 7 years and stylistically, it's like a continued journey focusing on harmonic jazz pop like his previous album from '96.
I bought the album on its release date without having heard one single track from it, and I also remember my immediate disappointment as feeling that the album was without anything other than half-mediocre vocal pop harmonies.
Imho, Save Me From This Rock 'n' Roll is no less than his least interesting album, and except from the review in Gaffa (see below) it was also met by harsh and negative reviews and after a few months, H.U.G. announced that this album would be his very last - though, he also stated that before...
The front cover art is made by Lars H.U.G.
[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

Lars H.U.G. "Kiss & Hug From a Happy Boy" (1996)

Kiss & Hug From a Happy Boy
release date: May 5, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Peter Mark & Lars Hugh Uno Grammy (aka Lars H.U.G.)
label: EMI-Medley - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Thanksgiving Man" - 2. "Love Against Sex" - 3. "Backwards" - 5. "Waterfall" - 6. "Happy Boy" - 8. "Colorfull Love"

5th studio album by Lars H.U.G. released four years after his most recent studio album, Blidt over dig is a more subdued ballad-like pop album with a distinct jazz influence only containing compositions by H.U.G. himself. The backing band on the album is called Once Around the Park consisting of Rune Funch on guitars, Anders Christensen on bass, Nikolaj Torp on Hammond Organ and piano, and with Michael Finding on drums.
I believe, it's H.U.G.'s first album without both Hilmer Hassig and Finn Verwohlt in any parts involving the album making. The track "Backwards" feature a duet with Swedish vocalist Lisa Ekdahl. Best faring single from the album is the single "Waterfall". The album is not bad, but I have always felt that it lacks really strong songs.
The album was generally met by positive reviews but after the album, H.U.G. retired from music. He now wanted to dedicate his life fully to his artistic role as a painter. Actually, I recall him stating that he believed his career in music was over with.

Sting "You Still Touch Me" (12'') (1996) (single)

You Still Touch Me, single
release date: Apr. 30, 1996
format: digital
[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Hugh Padgham, Sting, Simon Osborne, Neil Dorfsman
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "You Still Touch Me" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Lullaby to an Anxious Child" - 3. "The Pirate's Bride" - 4. "Twenty-five to Midnight" (3,5 / 5)

Maxi single by Sting is a 4 track release where the ordinary cd single comes in various releases with different second tracks. Stylistically, the three first tracks are all slow piano-founded compositions drawing on jazz influences, whereas track #4 is an uptempo pop / rock composition with r&b and some blues influence, which may also be heard on the title track.

Tindersticks "The Something Rain" (2012)

The Something Rain
release date: Feb. 21, 2012
format: vinyl (LuckyDog10LP) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,94]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: Lucky Dog / City Slang - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Chocolate" - 2. "Show Me Everything" - 3. "This Fire of Autumn" (4 / 5) - 4. "A Night so Still" - 5. "Slippin' Shoes" - 6. "Medicine" - 7. "Frozen" (4,5 / 5) - 8. "Come Inside" - 9. "Goodbye Joe"

reviewed Mar. 16, 2012

9th studio album by Tindersticks released on Lucky Dog and City Slang shows the band continuing on the new paths that they sought out on the predecessor Falling Down a Mountain (Jan. 2010). Since then, new guitarist David Kitt has already left again, which now leave us with a more permanent quintet containing the three original members Staples, Fraser, Boulter, and the two newest members: Dan McKinna and Earl Harvin.

Finally, the band in its new configuration has succeeded in producing really well-crafted new material! It's not because they have been really poor, nor boring. It has only taken the band a few years after reorganising to establish a new favourable dynamic. At times the band has seemed as if stuck to a formula, trying hard to come up with new ideas without really being able to evolve artistically, and they have occasionally sounded like a mere copy of themselves. It has left a taste of something unsatisfying about their albums, although I have rediscovered their releases from 2003-10 and have had the pleasure to admit that they actually were better than my initial assumption had told me. 'They were so thoroughly original, so why did they stop making fascinating music?' was my thoughts after acquiring Waiting for the Moon in 2003, and the same sensation crept in with the two successive albums. There was like nothing... cool about these releases and an absence of a 'wow' experience! They then released the 5-CD box set, the massive Claire Denis Film Scores 1996-2009 album (2011), which is a bit of a demanding collected work of film music for Claire Denis. The best parts are Nénette et Boni and Trouble Every Day. As soundtracks, they all suffer from being made as accompaning material to something visual that is absent, and it may be a challenging experience listening through the music to films you haven't seen. The individual works also have a common ambient element, which does not always go hand in hand with Tindersticks - but that's just an opinion.

The Something Rain expands the band's repertoire in the most positive sense. It combines Tindersticks, as you have come to know them: the sophisticated and lighter grey-blue chamber pop, Stuart Staples' crooning, melancholic and deep vocals and then 'The Something' else: the embrace and inclusion of a strong bond to jazz.

It's the rediscovery of the aesthetically beautiful with a completely new fully formed jazz atmosphere, which is combined with the band's foremost qualities and in this way they open up to a music that simply tastes surprisingly new. And it's not just old wine in new bottles, but... Tindersticks vintage. Imho, this is one of the best releases of 2012.

Stuart Staples & Suzanne Osborne's
joint book-project "Singing Skies"

The front-cover is an excerpt from the joint book-project "Singing Skies" [review] consisting of song lyrics by Staples and screen printings by his wife, Suzanne Osborne [link], who made the series "A year in small paintings - Skies, Sep. 2010 - Sep. 2011".

Ben Watt "Hendra" (2014)

Hendra
release date: Apr. 14, 2014
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,26]
producer: Ewan Pearson
label: Unmade Road - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Hendra" - 2. "Forget" (live) - 3. "Spring" (4 / 5) - 6. "The Gun" - 8. "The Levels" (live) - 10. "The Heart Is a Mirror"

2nd solo studio album by Ben Watt released on his own label Unmade Road. Ben usually releases new material as part of Everything but the Girl together with his wife Tracey Thorn, and this is his only solo album in more than 30 years following his solo debut North Marine Drive (1983). The album comes out more or less simultaneously with his autobiography "Patient" - the story of how he was struck by a rare but serious decease, which had him hospitalised for a long period of time in the early 90s - and appears to be named after his recently deceased older sister's cottage, which bore the name, meaning 'home' in old Cornish. So, that also makes the album a hommage to his sister.
The music is like a return to the initial style of EBTG, which means sophisti-pop, jangle pop, and jazz pop. Add to that an element of singer / songwriter, which makes me think of Aztec Camera / Roddy Frame or Prefab Sprout. This is primarily acoustic driven music apart from collaboration artist Bernard Butler's background and laid-back electric jazz guitar. It's nice, quiet, and pretty neat - I like it, it's good. It doesn't stir up anything or anyone, and the music sounds like fine background noise at the hip cafe featuring a mature audience chatting quietly while sipping the latte before returning homeward. The single "Spring" is the strongest highlight of the album.

Tindersticks "Falling Down a Mountain" (2010)

Falling Down a Mountain
release date: Jan. 25, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Stuart A. Staples
label: 4AD Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Falling Down a Mountain" - 2. "Keep You Beautiful" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Harmony Around My Table" - 5. "She Rode Me Down" - 7. "Black Smoke" - 9. "Factory Girls"

8th studio album by Tindersticks close to two years after The Hungry Saw (Apr. 2008) is the band's first and only studio album on 4AD Records. The band is now officially back as a sextet after having been reduced to a trio for a short period from 2006 to 2008 with Stuart Staples, Neil Fraser, and David Boulter from the original line-up. Here the three are now joined by the three new members: guitarist David Kitt, bassist Dan McKinna, who also played with the trio on the band's 2008 album as additional studio musician, and American drummer Earl Harvin [officiel trailer].

The band now continues a stronger experimental style, and the album has a distinct influence from jazz, which is to be more pronounced on subsequent albums.

Falling Down a Mountain received a better reception than its predecessor, The Hungry Saw, but in 2010, although, back in 2010, I saw it as just another slightly boring and uninspiring album from a band I had previously been much more excited about. However, I also admit to having changed my attitude towards the album, which a few years later I came to see in a somewhat more positive light than my original verdict told me. Best track here is undoubtedly "Keep You Beautiful", although other tracks are worth knowing. A slightly original tone and a more laid-back jazz feel hovers on top of the entire album, which may be seen as a new and welcome move as opposed to the more compact arrangements with grandiose orchestral strings that you'll notice on the band's previous albums.

The album cover is an excerpt from a painting by Stuart Staples' wife, Suzanne Osborne.

[ allmusic.com, Mojo, Uncut 4 / 5, Spin, Drowned in Sound 3, 5 / 5 stars ]

The Cardigans "Life" (1995)

Life
release date: Mar. 1, 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Tore Johansson
label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden

Tracklist: 1. "Carnival" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Gordon's Gardenparty" - 3. "Daddy's Car" (live) - 4. "Pikebubbles" - 5. "Tomorrow" - 6. "Beautiful One" - 7. "Travelling With Charley" - 8. "Fine" - 9. "Sunday Circus Song" - 10. "Hey! Get Out of My Way" - 11. "Closing Time"

2nd studio album by The Cardigans. This release annoyed me a bit for many years because it included several tracks from the debut album. But the thing is, it comes in at least three versions with the same cover and released almost at the same time. Only recently, I managed to get hold of the original Swedish album edition, which is without any tracks from the debut, which makes sense. The international (UK, French, Canadian) release on the other hand has five tracks from Emmerdale, and that was unfortunately the most common release very soon outside Sweden. Another version was released in the US with a different track list but also featuring five tracks from the debut. Anyway, the best tracks on the original Swedish release are "Carnival", "Daddy's Car", "Pikebubbles" (omitted on the international editions), and "Tomorrow".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

1995 Favourite releases: 1. Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill - 2. The Cardigans Life - 3. The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Cardigans "Emmerdale" (1994)

Emmerdale [debut]
release date: Feb. 18, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: Tore Johansson
label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden

Tracklist: 1. "Sick & Tired" (4 / 5) (live on MTV) - 2. "Black Letter Day" - 3. "In the Afternoon" - 4. "Over the Water" - 5. "After All..." - 6. "Cloudy Sky" - 7. "Our Space" - 8. "Rise & Shine" (5 / 5) - 9. "Celia Inside" - 10. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" - 11. "Seems Hard" - 12. "Last Song"

Studio album debut by The Cardigans originally released in Sweden on Trampolene Records - the first in a long series of albums produced by Tore Johansson - is a new introduction to great modern, classic pop music with bonds to baroque pop of the late '60s.
Aside from great original songs like "Sick & Tired", "In the Afternoon", "Over the Water", "After All...", "Cloudy Sky", and the best track "Rise & Shine", it also contains a very original and fine cover version of the Black Sabbath classic "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath".
I may not have entirely loved the album from day one. I remember, listening to it thinking it was quite all right, a bit too innocently naïve, I mean, my favourites at the time was music in the alt. rock genre like Sugar, Bob Mould, Psyched Up Janis, R.E.M. and Brittish rave electronica phenonomen, The Prodigy, so yes, this was somewhat slower and... not really rock or electrified enough BUT I still liked it. A few years later, I realised that loved it. This is one of their absolute best alongside the two following albums. It's also their defining moment when they played lounge pop, by some referred to as 'blue-eyed' pop or twee-pop, but with a certain jazz feel to it. Later on it became too britpop and pop / rock-inspired loosing the band's unique style and sound, imho.
But this is pure gold.

Bo Kaspers Orkester "New Orleans" (2010)

New Orleans
release date: Oct. 18, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,34]
producer: Bo Kaspers Orkester
label: Columbia / Sony - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 2. "Låt mig komma in" - 4. "Ännu en dag" - 5. "Tiden läker ingenting" (4 / 5) - 6. "En sländas andetag" - 7. "Stället som jag kommer från" - 9. "Vad vi än gör"

9th studio album by Bo Kaspers Orkester is almost as usual produced by the band and released through Columbia Records / Sony Music Entertainment. The album was recorded in New Orleans and is characterized by American folk pop influences intertwined with americana, jazz pop, rhythm & blues - a bit like on their best album Vilka tror vi att vi är (2003), and although, I don't find it as great as that, I find it more than just fine. Compared to the band's previous three albums, this is quieter, more delicate, and more... 'naked'. The songs are not over-produced with strings, horns and other fine arrangements but appear as more simple songs with fewer instruments. The album reached #1 on the Swedish album chart list.

Bo Kaspers Orkester "8" (2008)

8
release date: Sep. 24, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Bo Kaspers Orkester
label: Columbia / Sony - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Stunder som den här" - 2. "Innan allt försvinner" - 7. "Det blir bättre sen" - 8. "Människor är djur" - 10. "Tack för konserten (din jävel)"

8th studio album by Bo Kaspers Orkester. The title refers to both year and album number. The music is a bit of a return to a more jazz pop universe than the two (fine) previous studio albums. I've always found this a bit of a dull album. Apparently, the track "Tack för konserten (din jävel)" is a tribute song to Swedish singer / songwriter Håkon Hellström whom Bo Sundström had just witnessed at a concert and then felt urged to write this song. The album is okay but not really recommendable. I just don't find obvious great tracks here. Several songs sound as older compositions by the band or are just too much alike other tracks on the album. The album reached number #2 on the Swedish album chart list.

Bo Kaspers Orkester "Hund" (2006)

Hund
release date: Sep. 20, 2006
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,55]
producer: Bo Kaspers Orkester
label: Sony / Columbia - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Hund" - 2. "En man du tyckte om" (4 / 5) - 3. "I samma bil" (live) - 5. "Leende med kniv" - 6. "En dag att bli kär på" (4 / 5) - 7. "Som du - som jag" - 11. "Den enda som ser"

7th studio album release by the Bo Kasper Orkester marks a change of sound after the wonderful Vilka tror vi att vi är (2003), which I consider the band's best album ever. The sound is not only the sophisticated jazz pop but it's also a more raw and clean pop / rock release with some blues rock or rhythm and blues elements. The best tracks, however, still has a more subtle and soft folk pop and jazz pop style, which really suits this band the best. The track "I samma bil" is a funny and happy-go-lucky pop track, which was released as a rather successful single, but the best track is "En dag att bli kär på". The album contains some great tracks but the overall impression is an album that points in so many directions that it's not very homogeneous and may require many attempts listening to it as a whole. I like it - it's good. Hund is probably the second best selling album in the Nordic countries as it was ranked 11 on the Danish album charts, 6 on both the Finnish and Norwegian lists, and it reached #1 in Sweden, just like the 2003 album release.