2011. BEST FOR GUESTS. 39 azure blue

photo by Ellin Bandmann

Here's a late contribution to the BEST FOR GUESTS series. And it's a special one.
Tobias may be known for being part of Irene and Laurel Music but the highlight of his career is definitely his new solo project called Azure Blue.
By now, you already know that his debut album Rule of Thirds got into 2nd place in my list of best albums of 2011. It couldn't be different: in a year where electronic music often seemed overly produced, Tobias delivered an electro pop album like no other, shifting the landscape and turning oceans into skies.
Songs like 'Long Way Down' - with melodies that remind me of Sarah Records - and 'Chesil Beach' a calm, yet powerful and profound love song are meant to live forever.
Dreamy, oceanic, pop as good as pop can be and blue.

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Here's Tobias' lists featuring international and swedish albums and songs, videos, shows and movies.

INTERNATIONAL ALBUMS
FRANK OCEAN NOSTALGIA, ULTRA
JOHN MAUS WE MUST BECOME THE PITILESS CENSORS OF OURSELVES
DESTROYER KAPUTT
WU LYF GO TELL FIRE TO THE MOUNTAIN
M83 HURRY UP, WE'RE DREAMING
RUSTIE GLASS SWORDS
NICOLAS JAAR SPACE IS ONLY NOISE
DRAKE TAKE CARE
KUEDO SEVERANT
ONEOTHRIX POINT NEVER REPLICA
JEREMY JAY DREAM DIARY
KURT VILE SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO
CRAFT SPELLS IDLE LABOR
WASHED OUT WITHIN AND WITHOUT
HIGH PLACES ORIGINAL COLOURS
LIL WAYNE THE CARTER IV
THE WEEKEND HOUSE OF BALLOONS
CHAD VALLEY EQUATORIAL ULTRAVOX
ARCADE FIRE THE SUBURBS
WILD FLAG S/T
COLD CAVE CHERISH THE LIGHT YEARS
JAMES BLAKE S/T
THE WAR ON DRUGS SLAVE AMBIENT
GIL SCOTT HERON & JAMIE XX WE'RE NEW HERE
SPACE DIMENSION CONTROLLER THE PATHWAY TO TIRAQUAON 6
FLORENCE + THE MACHINE CEREMONIALS
FORD & LOPATIN CHANNEL PRESSURE
GIANNI ROSSI STAR VEHICLE (THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE)
TYLER, THE CREATOR GOBLIN
CUT COPY ZONOSCOPE
ZOLA JESUS CONATUS
HOLY GHOST! S/T
TORO Y MOI UNDERNEATH THE PINE
METRONOMY THE ENGLISH RIVERA
SIMIAN GHOST LOVELORN
SBTRKT S/T
THEOPHILUS LONDON TIMEZ ARE WEIRD THESE DAYS
SWEDISH ALBUMS
THE SOUND OF ARROWS VOYAGE
JONATHAN JOHANSSON KLAGOMUREN
KORALLREVEN AN ALBUM BY KORALLREVEN
ALEXIS WEAK TILL MINNE AV
THE AMAZING GENTLE STREAM
ROFFE RUFF BARRABAS
LONEY DEAR HALL MUSIC
MATTIAS ALKBERG ANARKIST
LO-FI-FNK THE LAST SUMMER
FLOWERS IN THE AIR S/T
ACID HOUSE KINGS MUSIC SOUNDS BETTER WITH YOU
ALF VI VILLE FöRäNDRA VÅR TID MEN DEN FöräNDRADE OSS
INTERNATIONAL SONGS
POOLSIDE DO YOU BELIEVE
JOHN MAUS BELIEVER
DESTROYER KAPUTT
LANA DEL REY VIDEO GAMES
M83 MIDNIGHT CITY
FRANK OCEAN SWIM GOOD
TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS GARDEN
GIL SCOTT HERON & JAMIE XX I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU
ZOO KID OUT GETTING RIBS
WU LYF WE BROS
BEYONCE I MISS YOU
LIGHT ASYLUM A CERTAIN PERSON
KURT VILE JESUS FEVER 192
THEOPHILUS LONDON WHY EVEN TRY?
JACQUES GREENE ANOTHER GIRL
COLD CAVE CONFETTI
RADIOHEAD LOTUS FLOWER
MOUNT KIMBIE CARBONATED
LIL WAYNE SHE WILL
KING KRULE THE NOOSE OF JAH CITY
FRIENDS FRIEND CRUSH
NEON INDIAN POLISH GIRL
TORO Y MOI STILL SOUND
PATRICK WOLF TOGETHER
METRONOMY THE BAY
SWEDISH SONGS
JONATHAN JOHANSSON STOCKHOLM
AIR FRANCE IT FEELS GOOD TO BE AROUND YOU
THE SOUND OF ARROWS NOVA
PEARL FICTION THE RUBY FEVER
DANTE RUNNERS
DET VACKA LIVET VILJAN (DAN LISSVIK REMIX)
PACIFIC UNSPOKEN (ANORAAK REMIX)
AMANDA MAIR DOUBT
KARL X JOHAN FANTASIES
DUVCHI TURTLEDUVS
ALEXIS WEAK TILL MINNE AV
KORALLREVEN HONEY MINE
PALPITATION IN FIVE YEARS (NIVA REMIX)
LYKKE LI I FOLLOW RIVERS (THE MAGICIAN REMIX)
NIVA DIRTY WATER
ROFFE RUFF FARVäL
LABYRINT ORTENS FAVORITER
SKANSROS FELIX
MONTY ALDRIG
ALF INGA TUNGA SKYAR #2
FLOWERS IN THE AIR TELL ME
AUTISTERNA SOV
BIG FOX CUT YOU OUT
HELL ON WHEELS BABY
BEST MUSIC VIDEOS
PAUL MCCARTNEY BLUE SAY (dir. Jack McCoy)

THE SOUND OF ARROWS NOVA (dir. Mattia Erik Johansson)

DESTROYER KAPUTT (dir. Dawn Garcia)

BEST LIVE SHOWS
PRINCE WAY OUT WEST
THE ARCADE FIRE POPAGANDA
MORRISEY HULTSFREDSFESTIVALEN
HENRIK BERGGREN PEACE & LOVE
DOOM HULTSFREDSFESTIVALEN
STAR SLINGER HULTSFREDSFESTIVALEN
A-TRAK HULTSFREDSFESTIVALEN
JEREMY JAY STRAND
KURT VILE STRAND
FANNY STRAND
THE AMAZING LILLA HOTELLBAREN
CRAFT SPELLS DEBASER SLUSSEN
GIRL UNIT SLAKTHUSET
KORALLREVEN STRAND
WATCH OUT FOR THESE SWEDES 2012!
FANNY (Hybris)
NOONIE BAO (Hybris)
AMANDA MAIR (Labrador)
BEST FILMS
WINTER'S BONE DEBRA GRANIK
THREE TOM TYKWER
BLACK SWAN DARREN ARONOFSKY
MELANCHOLIA LARS VON TRIER
LET ME IN MATT REEVES
THE TRIP MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM
DRIVE NICOLAS WINDING REFN
BRIGHTON ROCK ROWAN JOFFE
BRIDESMAIDS PAUL FEIG

INTERVIEW 51. azure blue

For a long time, I hear people saying that we know more about the space than about the oceans. That always seemed odd to me since I can touch the ocean with my feet. As I grew older and smarter (?) I started to understand the reasons why’s that. Perhaps for the same reason – or infinite others – some people have this connection – maybe bond is a better word – with the salty water that surrounds us.

And maybe the idea of grandness is better understood with the ocean since the grandness of the space is too abstract to our little minds to understand.

From the deep ocean comes Tobias Isaksson. Actually Tobias comes from Sweden and Azure Blue – his electronic project – comes from the ocean. A dreamy and crystalline ocean with gentle  and warm tides. 

Tobias is no stranger to music fans, since he was part of Irene and Laurel Music. 

"If Laurel Music was the sound of a lost first love and Irene was the impossible dream of endless summer, Azure Blue is the night after the day after. "

Rule of Thirds is the name of his debut album and it'll be released next Wednesday (November 23) via Hybris. "The Catcher in The Rye" is the first single.

The Catcher in the Rye by Azure Blue

Here's our interview. Tobias talks about his love for the ocean, his debut album, pre-release anxieties and perfect pop songs.

keep reading...

SOUNDCLOUD azure blue. the shore

AZURE BLUE ~THE SHORE (single) (Labrador, 2011)

As we mentioned before, the debut album of Azure Blue only comes out in September, but Tobias Isaksson (the guy behind the project) just released - for limited time, apparently - a preview of one of his favourite songs of the album.
"The label probably doesn't approve of this but I just got the mastered album and I can't resist previewing one of my favorite songs... it took a lot of job and effort in the studio but I love the final result..."

  The Shore sneak preview not a single but epic stuff by Azure Blue

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the catcher in the rye

Azure Blue ~ The Catcher In the Rye (single) (Hybris, 2011)


Azure Blue is Tobias Isaksson from Sweden. This is his brand new project, and here, he's embarking into an electronic dream through romance and longing. In case you're wondering, yes, he's the guy from Laurel Music and Irene, two bands that made history in the swedish indiepop scene and got worldwide recognition, releasing albums through Sweden's beloved Labrador.
Beautiful electronics and vocals creating, somehow, a perfect song for daydreaming, reflection, infatuation and lazyly dancing by yourself.

"If Laurel Music was the sound of a lost first love and Irene was the impossible dream of endless summer, Azure Blue is the night after the day after. It's the summary and the reflections of the future at once." Enough said.

'The Catcher in the Rye' is the first single of his debut record called 'Rule of Thirds', out in September through Hybris.

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