best for guests. johan angergård (labrador recs)

Johan Angergård is the founder of swedish sweetheart label Labrador Records. Apart from that, he's the mastermind behind The Legends; part of Acid House Kings; half of boy-girl pop act Club 8 and half of electronic duo Pallers.
His prolific work is also known for the wide range of styles, mixtures and combinations of musical genres and references... giving to each of his bands a very unique aesthetic.

Next April, a new album from Club 8 called Above The City will be released.

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"... here's my Best Songs of 2012 list. Labrador bands excluded and only one song per artist:

1. Dusted All comes down

2. Generationals Lucky numbers

3. Beachwood Sparks Forget the song

4. Jessie Ware Wildest Moments

5. A Place to Bury Strangers I Lost You

6. Crystal Castles Plague

7. Lightships Sweetness In Her Spark

8. The XX Missing

9. Perfume Genius Normal song

10. Love Dance Bergen, Again

11. Chvrches The Mother We Share

12. Beth Jeans Houghton and the Hooves of Destiny Dodecahedron

13. Brandy So sick

14. Vince Clark & Ane Brun Fly On The Windscreen

15. Jim Ruiz Set Allison

16. Chromatics Back From the Grave

17. Solange Losing You

18. Lana del Rey Ride

19. Diiv Human

20. The Raveonettes Bad Ghosts

2011. BEST FOR GUESTS. 12 johan angergård (labrador records)

photo by Henrik Mårtensson

You cannot speak about the swedish take over of indiepop music in the late 90's - early 2000's and its assimilation throughout the rest of the world without mentioning Johan.
He's not only the head of Labrador Records - probably Sweden's most beloved label - but also part of several bands and projects : The Acid House Kings, Club 8, The Legends and (most recently) Pallers.
What's most admirable about Johan's musical career is the unsettling and ever changing aesthetic of his projects. Yes,
every project has its own identity. For example, you expect The Acid House Kings' music to be indiepop or The Legends to flirt with electronic sounds. But it's clear that he doesn't rely on ready-to-use formulas. He's not afraid of experiment, try new things and shift directions...

labrador  the acid house kings  club 8  the legends  pallers


"Here's a list of 1 hour of songs (23 songs, one song per artist) of 2011. I excluded my bands and all bands on Labrador - it would look very different otherwise:)

1. COMET GAIN SHE HAD DAYDREAMS
2. AUSTRA BEAT AND THE PULSE
3. PEAKING LIGHTS ALL THE SUN THAT SHINES
4. LYKKE LI LOVE OUT OF LUST
5. LANA DEL REY VIDEO GAMES
6. PJ HARVEY ON BATTLESHIP HILL
7. CRAFT SPELLS THE FOG ROSE HIGH
8. THURSTON MOORE BENEDICTION
9. BRITNEY SPEARS TILL THE WORLD ENDS
10. LALEH JUST NU
11. RUSSIAN RED BRAVE SOLDIER
12.  JAY-Z AND KANYE WEST MURDER TO EXCELLENCE
13. BLOOD ORANGE SUTPHIN BOULEVARD
14. THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART BELONG
15. R.E.M. WE ALL GO BACK TO WHERE WE BELONG
16. YOUNG GALAXY PHANTOMS
17. ANDERS PERSSON OCH CARL SMITH MICKE
18. ANE BRUN DO YOU REMEMBER?
19. PAT JORDACHE SALT ON THE FIELDS
20. CASS MCCOMBS WIT'S END
21. HERE WE GO MAGIC HANDS IN THE SKY
22. GORILLAZ DETROIT
23. KURT VILE BABY'S ARMS

You can listen to Johan's list here.

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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come rain, come sunshine

Pallers ~ Come Rain, Come Sunshine (single) (Labrador, 2011)

Apart from The Legends, The Acid House Kings and Club 8, Johan Angergård also makes "dance music for the lazy, the blazers and for the slightly depressed" with Henrik Mårtenson.
Back in 2008, Humdrum ep gave to the world a first taste of the electronic laziness from the duo, leaving a good impression and listeners around the world wanting more. It's almost common knowledge that Johan seems to be a master when the subject is the creation of infectious pop songs (it doesn't matter if using beats or drilling guitars).
Last year, the single 'The Kiss' was released casting some happy glows on their sound.
And now, with their debut album 'The Sea Of Memories' being released next September, 27th, 'Come Rain, Come Sunshine' comes out as the first single.

Spinner premiered the single yesterday with some words from Johan:
"This is the first song we ever wrote and one of the last we finished for the album.It's possibly a bit more pop than our average song... It's starts off rather mysteriously and then keeps building to a massive chorus and on to a electro-percussive jam.
The lyrical theme starts by wondering if we'd choose to live again if we had the chance...'

Just adding, the song is beautiful: dreamy, trippy and dizzy.

Come Rain, Come Sunshine


download

You can also download their previous singles:

Humdrum (from Humdrum ep, 2008)

The Kiss (single, 2010)

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the new improved hypocrisy

the radio dept. ~ the new improved hyprocisy (labrador records, 2010)

this is probably the subject of the day on music pages and blogs around the world: the new the radio dept. song criticising the current right-wing swedish government.
the press release from labrador says:

"the new improved hypocrisy" is the radio dept.'s second distinct political song. the first one, "freddie and the trojan horse", from 2008 was '...about the untruthfulness of the swedish right-wing government and how the leading party seized power by portraying itself as supportive of the workers' (the radio dept.).

for those not really into the swedish political scene - like myself - i did a little research and here's my quick overview about the situation:the elections will be held next sunday and nearly 7 million swedes will vote. as the last polls show, nothing is decided since the government coalition (formed by the moderate party, the center party, the liberal people's party and the christian democrats) is only 1.2% ahead of the red-greens coalition, the main opposition bloc (formed by the social democrats, the left party and the green party). political analysts say that anything can happen and the result is unpredictable.

so, you know how it works: click on the image and you'll have the song. really good song, by the way!

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sambassadeur's days (preview from upcoming album)

sambassadeur ~ days (new album preview) (labrador records, 2010)

sambassadeur was the band that made me fall in love with labrador records... after almost 3 years, their new album is set to be released next january and labrador already gave us a beautiful gift in form of a less than three minutes song (probably the first single)...
'days' is a song with that sambassadeur aesthetic that we'll never get tired to love and beautiful (delightful!) orchestrations...
ps: feel free to play it again and again.

sambassadeur - days

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over and over

the legends ~ over and over (labrador, 2009)

johan angergård comes back with another full-lenght and another twist on his musical career. the characteristic poppy-catchy melodies are still there but now they are almost like a bonus that's made of broken amplifiers and mixing of distorted synths ...
johan had been through some hard times."in the spring of 2008 i had a desperate urge to distract me from myself. i needed noise. the first song i wrote for the album was a blast of distortion and feedback about the wonders of tryptizol,” says johan, about track 'seconds away'. 'seconds away' was release as a single, in november, and was described as 'the noisiest pop song to ever come out of sweden'.
the album starts dark and smoothly, brighter feelings appear between the despair and (almost) state of dementia.
the noise is used as a sound therapy, making johan forget about his angst. "it’s like someone drilling a hole in your head. in a pleasant way that is.”
but there's also moments of acoustic guitars and relieve of pain like in 'jump' and lazy beats like in the beautiful and melancholic 'heartbeats' where he sings "...our heart is beating with the rhythm on the dance track/ i'm ready for a heart attack".
noise therapy highly recommended!



01. you won
02. seconds away
03. always the same
04. monday to saturday
05. heartbeats
06. dancefloor
07. turn away
08. recife
09. over and over
10. jump
11. something strange will happen
12. touch
13. over and over (remix by pallers)

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dare

the mary onettes ~ dare (preview) (labrador, 2009)
release date: april, 29

after the south ambulance album, here's another release of labrador. dare is set to be released on april, 29 after their acclaimed full lenght debut in 2007. the ep will have three songs and now you can listen two of them just to warm up until you get your hands on your copy...
on their blog, philip wrote about the period between releasing the previous album and creating new songs:
"... a long time has gone by since the latest release. a lot of work has been done, but a lot of work was actually just a waste of time.
last summer i basically lost every song i've ever recorded with the mary onettes. my hard-drive with all my music was stolen in my car one fine afternoon in stockholm, the very same fine afternoon we came home from our us tour, the very same day i was feeling thrilled to come home and start the process of finishing our new album. of course i had made a backup copy on my computer at home. but for some reason a power failure in the building made that hard drive
collapse to. unbelievable. i was speechless for days.
the only thing i felt was right at that moment was to take a break.
...
i went to my hometown a lot. as a matter of fact i keep coming back to that stupid city all the time. most of all because our families live there but also because i always find the right inspiration there.
...
'dare' was written and partly recorded in a little studio in my hometown (jönköping) that belongs to a good friend of mine. we used
real strings for the song which we recorded in a small church nearby our hometown.
the other two tracks 'kicks' and 'god knows i had plans' are pretty much leftovers we've never recorded before. i think it's nice we could use them on this ep."

after all the pain and suffering it's time to enjoy and rejoice (even if the songs are a bit sad)...

01. dare
02. kicks
03. god knows i had plans.

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south ambulance

south ambulance ~ south ambulance (labrador, 2005)

south ambulance is a stockholm band formed in late 2003 that combines the best of swedish pop to brilliant effect. They take the woozy guitar overload the radio dept. and mix it the happy c86-inspired pop of so many swedish bands, making this debut a must-hear.
"if television personalities had been melancholic swedes who released records on creation in the early 90's they might have sounded something like south ambulance. it's energetic, happy-sad and most infectious". (perfect description taken from their myspace)
we can hear echoes of my bloody valentine and its dense guitars in songs like 'take them out' and 'done undone'; their pop sensibility in 'worry satellite' and its shalala harmonies...
the best track of the album is 'die 5times times5'. a song with addictive melodies and bittersweet lyrics 'your girlfriend looks like shit and I know you’re aware of it' with a killing end with claps and guitar hooks.
after 4 years, it seems that 2009 will see the release of their fifth ep. so far i heard four songs and it's more melodic (if that would be possible) and the awesome guitar layers are back! here's a song from the upcoming ep #5 called davy crockett.
and here's one of the most addictive songs ever: hanging in a tie.

here's the video for die 5times times5





01. take them out
02. die 5times times5
03. brunswick bed
04. saturdays for sad excuses
05. done undone
06. echo #5
07. the ballad of duncan boyle
08. crack & burst
09. worry satellite
10. crack up
11. imaginary bottled reply to disbeliever

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m.a.g.i.c.

the sound of arrows ~ m.a.g.i.c. (labrador records, 2009)

a few day ago i posted the first release of stefan and oskar. at the time i also posted a video/preview of the new single that gives the name to the album 'm.a.g.i.c.'
well, fortunaly the m.a.g.i.c was just released (last wednesday, 28)!
a six track technicolor pop extravaganza! the album contains 2 new songs: the a-ma-zing 'm.a.g.i.c.' with its child chorus and a 'the neverending story' mood and 'smalltown lullaby', a dreamy song that finishes the album.
the middle of the album is populated by 4 remixes, just like their first release, danger!.
and just like in danger!, ice cream shout remix is a must listening with its acoustic, organic and grand orchestra instruments.
happy music to dance while dreaming or dream while dancing... it's up to you.

(their first full lenght was going to be released in april and would be called 'puzzles and wonders' but its release was postponed to august or september...)



01. m.a.g.i.c.
02. m.a.g.i.c. (cof cof remix)
03. m.a.g.i.c. (let's get invisible remix)
04. m.a.g.i.c. (curtis vodka remix)
05. m.a.g.i.c. (ice cream shout remix)
06. smalltown lullaby

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5-spårs

johan hedberg ~ 5-spårs ep (labrador records, 2007)

johan is one half of suburban kids with biblical names, an essential act to understand swedish music scene, and this 5-tracks ep was made during his downtime from the duo.
here you'll find straight to the point pop songs made with beats, horns, cut and paste samples and the baritone voice of johan.
all began when he bought a new computer... he decided to take on a new approach: while in suburban kids there's a lot of re-recording and editing here on his solo project he would just make music with "fast production and no turning back".of course you'll find the sounds from skwbn but there's more lo-fi synths...
the whole album is sang in swedish but from this line "hurra for hritag fest och ol" (‘hooray for friday and for beer’)* we can securely say that hedberg still has a way with words.
twelve minutes of positivity and summery vibes!
* thanks ro!




01. nygubbe4
02. var dig själv
03. norrtälje
04. grammisgalan
05. galeria

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danger!

the sound of arrows ~ danger! (labrador, 2008)

this is one of the latest releases from labrador and contains, probably, the catchiest song of 2008. oskar gullstrand and stefan storm are really young boys that just passed their 20s coming from - as said by some people - one of the most boring towns in sweden: gävle.
they really got serious into making music when, in 2006, they decided to make a christmas song using a child chorus audio from a video they found on youtube. the song never made it for the christmas because when it was finished it was around june of 2007.
but the time spent creating their christmas song was extremely positive because they discovered how the sound of arrows would sound. after that they started making experimentations with samplers, harps, strings and the rest can be known by listening this awesome heavenly-pop-synth-eletro-9-track-gem...
they say that their music is from pop heaven. and in fact, with 'danger!' you'll dance like you were flying towards the bluest sky and singing to the top of your lungs 'maybe you're in danger and you don't even know it. the world is a dangerous place but you won't admit it'.
songs like 'winding road' and 'a very sad song' sound more intimate, calm and with an ethereal mood, resembling acts from the balearic movement like air france and boat club.
there's also 4 remixes for 'danger!'... highlights to the pet shop boy-esque remix by mr pedro and the cute acoustic by ice cream shout.





01. intro
02. danger!
03. a very sad song
04. winding roads
05. danger! (cotton crew remix)
06. danger! (mr pedro remix)
07. danger! (panache remix)
08. danger! (ice cream shout version)
09. outro

soon, the sound of arrows will be releasing its second album... here's an official video/preview of the (also) addictive 'm.a.g.i.c':



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seconds away

the legends ~ seconds away ep (labrador, 2008)

here's a 3 track ep to keep us busy wondering what johan angergård will bring to us on his next album.
he already gave us an electronic album, a rock album and now it's time for the heavy distortions and tons of noises! but with the great, addictive pop vein from the previous releases we already know.
there's also a remix by pallers whose debut 12''ep is available on labrador!
in johan's words:
”i need noise now, so this new single sounds like someone drilling a whole in your head. in a pleasant way that is. it’s called “seconds away” and is about the wonders of tryptizol. the b-side, “over and over” is actually one of those sad love songs I had promised myself never to write again."



01. seconds away
02. over and over
03. over and over (remix by pallers)

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