Watch: First Aid Kit - "In The Hears Of Men", "Emmylou" & "The Lion's Roar" (live on Swedish TV 28/1-2012)

The past 24 hours have been unusually good when it comes to live performances on Swedish tv with The Tallest Man On Earth last night and First Aid Kit this morning. The folk pop duo guested TV4's morning show Nyhetsmorgon for an interview and to perform three tracks, all from their new album The Lion's Roar - which incidentally is the number one album in Sweden the past week. Watch all three performances below, and if you understand Swedish you can watch the interview here and here.

Watch: The Tarantula Waltz - "Erase The Space" (live)

I've previously posted two session videos of tracks from The Tarantula Waltz's upcoming third record and here's a third track, although this is from a live show but again filmed by Jonas Jacob Svensson. This one's for the track "Erase The Space" and it was recorded last night when The Tarantula Waltz opened for Hederos & Hellberg at Södra Teatern in Stockholm.

Watch: The Tallest Man On Earth - "Dancing In The Moonlight" & "En Fattig Trubadur" (live on Swedish TV 27/1-2012)

Last night The Tallest Man On Earth guested on of Sweden's most popular TV shows, På Spåret, to perform two tracks and, as is the rule on that show, he performed two covers; one of Thin Lizzy's "Dancing In The Moonlight (It's Caught Me In Its Spotlight)" and one of Swedish singer-songwriter Cornelis Vreeswijk's "En Fattig Trubadur".

Listen: Solen - "Mörkt Ljus"

The Swedish indie rock act Solen (that'd be "The Sun" in English) released a great little EP last year and they've now recorded what will become their debut LP, although no title or release date has been set. Solen hails from Gävle (a town a few hours north of Stockholm and their music is best described as indie rock with Swedish lyrics with Yuck, Fanzine and Kurt Vile being obvious reference points and whenever their record is finally released they're sure to be getting a lot attention.

You can listen to a first track from their upcoming solo debut below; it's called "Mörkt Ljus" and it's very good - just like the rest of the album. If you don't feel like waiting for the full-length you can always head over to their Soundcloud page and listen to the EP I mentioned earlier.

Watch: La Sera - "Please Be My Third Eye" (official video)

A couple of weeks ago I posted La Sera's "Please Be My Third Eye", the first single from her upcoming second lp Sees The Light, and a few days ago she released a video for it as well. For those of you who don't know; La Sera is the solo project of Vivian Girls' Katy Goodman and Sees The Light will be released on March 24 via Hardly Art. Watch the Vice Cooler-directed video for "Please Be My Third Eye" below.

MP3: Tennis Bafra - "Halal Haircut"

Tennis Bafra is a indie/noise rock band from Uppsala, Sweden in the vein of Sonic Youth and they're set to release their debut record Abulia Jubilee on February 6 via Nomethod Records. Last night they released a new track from the album called "Halal Haircut" and if you're a fan of this type of music you're sure to enjoy this. Listen to and/or download it using the Soundcloud player below.

Watch: The War On Drugs - "Brothers" (official video)

The War On Drugs' Slave Ambient was one of my favourite records of last year and today they released the video for "Brothers", one of the strongest tracks on the album. The video is very good and something as unusual as a music video that kept my attention all the way through, so give it a watch below.

MP3: White Fence - "It Will Never Be" (Edit)

Earlier today Pitchfork posted a brand new track from White Fence, aka Tim Presley of Darker My Love and The Strange Boys, titled "It Will Never Be" (Edit) and as he released one of my favourite garage rock records last year in ...Is Growing Faith I naturally had high expectations.

I've got no reason to complain; "It Will Never Be" is very good and even more exciting Pitchfork revealed that White Fence will be releasing two new records this year, or rather one record released in two installments. The record will be called Family Perfume and Vol. 1 will be released via Woodsist on April 3.

Listen: Donovan Quinn - "Night Shift"

Yesterday I posted "Shadow On The Stone" from Donovan Quinn's upcoming record Honky Tonk Medusa and today I've got another track from the record for you; "Night Shift". While "Shadow On The Stone" was a fine slice of the psychedelic folk you'd expect from Donovan Quinn "Night Shift" changes it up a bit with the focus on the "psych" part. Quite good though. Give it a listen below.

MP3: Poor Moon - "People In Her Mind"

(Now) former Fleet Foxes drummer J. Tillman will be releasing a new record on May 1 under the name Father John Misty, and it's not entirely unlikely that we'll see some more solo work from singer-songwriter Robin Pecknold as well. Something that we'll definitely be getting is an EP from another Fleet Foxes side-project called Poor Moon, who'll be releasing their debut EP Illusion on March 27 via Sub Pop.

Listen: Jonathan Johansson - "Stockholm" (Azure Blue remix)

Last year Jonathan Johansson released his acclaimed album Klagomuren via Hybris, and Azure Blue (aka Tobias Isaksson) released his acclaimed debut record Rule of Thirds, also on Hybris. One of the singles from Klagomuren is "Stockholm" - that's the capital of Sweden if you didn't know that - and Azure Blue has now made a pretty great remix of the track, which premiered on the Swedish radio Musikguiden i P3 med Jenny Seth a few days ago. Give it a listen below.

Watch: Porcelain Raft - "Unless You Speak From Your Heart" (official video)

Porcelain Raft, aka Mauro Remiddi, released his debut record Strange Weekend via Secretly Canadian earlier this week and today he unveiled a video for his single "Unless You Speak From Your Heart". The video was directed by Remiddi himself and shot in New York, and it's really good. Watch it below.

MP3: Damien Jurado - "Museum of Flight"

Damien Jurado's new album Maraqopa is set to be released on February 21 via Secretly Canadian, but today Secretly Canadian decided to share a second mp3 from the album in the form of "Museum of Flight" - plus, perhaps more importantly, the pre-orders for the album went live and all pre-orders include an instant digital download of the album. So it's pretty much out now.

Listen: The Men - "Open Your Heart"

The Brooklyn-based group The Men are a new group for me but they've been active for a couple of years. On March 6 they'll be releasing their new record Open Your Heart on Sacred Bones and they've released a first track from the album in the form of the album's title track; "Open Your Heart".

Mostly it makes me think of a mix between '80s punk-influenced indie rock such as early Replacements and poppy punk of the kind that the Buzzcocks and The Exploding Hearts perfected. It's awesome. Colour me excited for the full-length.

MP3: Donovan Quinn - "Shadow On The Stone"

I had completely missed the fact that the folk singer-songwriter Donovan Quinn is releasing a new album on February 14 titled Honky Tonk Medusa via Northern Spy Records, but as it turns out he is and in early January his label shared a first teaser from the album in the form of "Shadow On The Stone". It's quite likely that you aren't familiar with Donovan Quinn, but perhaps you've heard of the excellent folk duo The Skygreen Leopards who released a couple of really good records on Jagjaguwar in the mid-'00s?

Well, Donovan Quinn was half of that duo and since then he's been working on his solo career with both a solo record and two record with his backing group The 13th Month, the second of those being the excellent Your Wicked Man which was released via Soft Abuse in 2010 and turned me into a fan. Honky Tonk Medusa is listed as a solo record but it features most of The 13th Month as well, including Jason Quever aka Sub Pop recording artist Papercuts.

Watch: Wilco - "Whole Love" & "Dawned On Me" (live on Conan 23/1-2012)

Last year Wilco released their surprisingly good album The Whole Love - their best since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in my opinion - and last night they stopped by Conan O'Brien's show to perform two tracks from it. The band performed the almost-title-track "Whole Love" on air and they also did "Dawned On Me" as a web exclusive. Watch both performances below.

Live: Cymbals Eat Guitars at Debaser Slussen, Stockholm 2012.01.18

words by Johan Alm / photos by Louise Strandendahl

MP3: Francis - "Traktor" (Simian Ghost remix)

In December I posted "Traktor", the first single from Francis' upcoming EP This Must Be Blood which will be released via Strangers Candy on February 27, and the single was finally properly released today. As the b-side the band chose to use a brand new remix of "Traktor" by Simian Ghost, it's quite good but as with most remixes it's not as good as the original.

MP3: Lucero - "Sometimes"

Unlike Delta Spirit Lucero haven't chosen a new and poppier direction for their new record but it's just as good anyway; Lucero have released the first track from their upcoming record Women & Work and it's pretty much what you'd expect from Lucero these days. The track is called "Sometimes" and it's really quite good, with singer-songwriter Ben Nichols doing exactly what he does best. Give it a listen and/or download it below.

Watch: First Aid Kit - "The Lion's Roar" (live at P3 Guld, Swedish TV)

The past Saturday the P3 Guld award show took place in Gothenburg, Sweden and First Aid Kit was one of the musical guests, performing "The Lion's Roar" - the title track from their new record. Seems like they're everywhere right now... Watch the performance below, it's very good - especially for an award show - but the sound mix isn't that great.

Watch: Samling - "Stackars Lilla Värsting" (official video)

Back in September I posted the video for Samling's "Dra Täcket Över Huvudet" and since then they've been busy releasing their excellent debut record När Mullret Dövar Våra Öron Blir Vi Rädda and touring in the Nordic countries. Despite this they've had the time to make a video for the track "Stackars Lilla Värsting" from that same album, directed by Mats Udd, and you can watch it below. If you're unfamiliar with Samling - which is likely if you isn't Scandnavian - you should still definitely give it a listen, especially if you happen to be a fun of Dungen or psychedelic rock in general.

MP3: Delta Spirit - "California"

In early December Delta Spirit announced the release of their self-titled third album for March 13 and now they've premiered a first track from it called "California". "California" is certainly something of a new direction for the formerly folky and americana-ish Delta Spirit as it's far poppier and dance-friendly, something that is sure to disappoint a some of their fans but actually works pretty well. Download it in exchange for an email address below.

Watch: Chuck Prophet - "White Night, Big City" (official video)

I've previously posted "Castro Halloween" and "Temple Beautiful" from Chuck Prophet's upcoming album Temple Beautiful and now we've got a third track in the form of "White Night, Big City". "White Night, Big City" is a tribute to Harvey Milk, the San Francisco politician who was murdered in 1978, and the video for it features historical footage of Milk himself. For some reason the track kinda reminds of Johnny Thunders (that's very positive for those of you unfamiliar with Thunders), watch the video for it below.

MP3: The Mary Onettes - "Love’s Taking Strange Ways"

The Swedish indie act The Mary Onettes are set to release a new EP on February 28 consisting of four tracks, two produced by Dan Lissvik of Studio, and today the first single from the EP premiered on The Line of Best Fit. It's the EP's opening track "Love’s Taking Strange Ways" (one of the two produced by Lissvik) and it's quite amazing, less '80s post-punk than their previous work but certainly in the same area. Just give it a listen below, and don't forget to download an mp3 of it as well - you'll want it on your iPod.

Watch: Team Me - "Show Me" (official video)

Back in July last year my friend Angela did an introductory post on the Norwegian act Team Me and now I've finally caught up on them. Team Me are releasing their debut record To The Treetops! on February 24 in Europe and March 5 in the UK and US via Propeller Recordings (it's already out in Norway) and they've recently released the video for the single "Show Me". It's just a fantastic tune. Watch the video below.