MP3: Nordpolen - "När Mitt Blod Pumpar I Dej"

Nordpolen is back with a new single titled "När Mitt Blod Pumpar I Dej" via Sincerely Yours. "När Mitt Blod Pumpar I Dej" is Nordpolen's first release since his debut LP På Nordpolen was released back in 2008. Give it a listen below.

MP3: Torches - "Sky Blue & Ivory" (Shells remix)

A few weeks back I posted the debut single from London's Torches, "Sky Blue & Ivory", which is set to be released on July 23 via Fractions of One. Last night a remix of "Sky Blue & Ivory" by Shells, aka Khald Rafique, was released. The remix doesn't have much in common with the original soundwise, but it's all there. Give it a listen, plus grab an mp3, below.

Watch: Best Coast - "The Only Place" (official video)

Best Coast released their sophomore album The Only Place last month via Wichita Recordings and today they unveiled the video for the first single, and title track, of the record. If you've listened to the track you probably know that word "fun" is thrown around a lot, and the video sort of embodies that. Watch it below.

Listen: The See See - "Sweet Hands"

There's nothing wrong with being unoriginal as long as you do it well, and on their new single London-based psychedelic garage act The See See do it really well. They recently released their second album Fountayne Mountain via Dell'Orso/Great Pop Supplement and now they've released a second 7" from the album for "Sweet Hands", a very nice little piece of late '60s psychedelia. The 7" is out now via Rank Records and also feature a cover of Gene Clark's "Silver Raven" as the b-side. Check out "Sweet Hands" below.

Listen: Superchunk - "This Summer"

The American indie rockers Superchunk just released a stand-alone 7" single on Merge (which was founded by Superchunk members Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance). The single is titled "This Summer" and it's just what you'd expect from a Superchunk single with that title; catchy, energetic, affecting and above all very good. Check it out below.

Way Out West confirm I Break Horses

Since announcing Bobby Womack and Best Coast in mid-May Way Out West have been pretty quiet, until today that is as they confirmed that I Break Horses will be playing at the festival area in Slottskogen.

Watch: First Aid Kit - "Diamonds & Rust" (Joan Baez cover) (PSL Session)

The Swedish sister-duo First Aid Kit released their excellent The Lion's Roar in January this year, and on the single "Emmylou" they referenced both Emmylou Harris and June Carter Cash. In this new session for PSL they perform a track by another '60s-'70s icon; namely Joan Baez's "Diamonds & Rust" - and they turn in an absolutely wonderful performance. The video was filmed at the English Church in Stockholm by Petter Thermaenius for PSL/SVT.

Full album stream: Peaking Lights - Lucifer

Last year Peaking Lights released the excellent 936 and next week they're releasing their third LP Lucifer via Mexican Summer/Weird World Record Co. Lucifer is perhaps a bit more accessible than 936 was, but it's just as good.

Listen: Levek - "Black Mold Grow"

David Levesque or Levek as he's calling himself is set to release his debut LP via Lefse Records on September 25. The record is called Look A Little Closer and last week the first single from the album was unveiled; "Black Mold Grow", which sounds like a mix of 1970s soul and folk. Give it a listen below.

MP3: Erika Spring - "Hidden"

Au Revoir Simone's frontwoman Erika Spring, real name Erika Forster, is set to release her self-titled debut solo EP on July 10 via the ever-impressive Cascine. Erika Spring will include five tracks and yesterday "Hidden" was shared as a first taste - and it should definitely get you excited. Give it a listen and/or grab an mp3 of it below.

Watch: Moonface with Siinai - "Faraway Lightning" (official video)

Moonface's latest record With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery, on which the Finnish band Siinai acts as his backing band, was released in April via Jagjaguwar and yesterday the video for album highlight "Faraway Lightning" was released. The video was made by Marsha Balaeva and features "intricate hand-made puppets and stop-motion animation" - it's quite amazing. Watch it below.

Download: Joey Bada$$ - 1999 [mixtape]

First of all, I really wish rappers - or really just everyone - would stop using dollar signs in their names. It just doesn't look good. Secondly, there's some really good rappers using dollar signs in their name; we're already familiar with Curren$y and A$AP Rocky for example, and here's a new one. Joey Bada$$ is only seventeen years old but musically he's firmly rooted in the mid-'90s - just around the time he was born - and he's great at it. He recently released his debut mixtape, 1999, and it's a must-listen for any hip-hop fan.

MP3: Sic Alps - "Glyphs"

The San Franciscan garage rock act Sic Alps are set to return on September 11 with their fourth studio album Sic Alps, out via Drag City. Yesterday they unveiled the first single from the album; "Glyphs", which is somewhat more complex than what we're used to, featuring string arrangements from Joanna Newsom collaborator Ryan Francesconi. Check out "Glyphs" and the tracklist for Sic Alps below.

Listen: Wild Nothing - "Shadow"

Wild Nothing, aka Jack Tatum, released his debut LP Gemini in 2010 and on August 27 he returns with the follow-up Nocturne via his new label Bella Union. Wild Nothing unveiled the first single from Nocturne today as well; the gorgeous "Shadow", which you can stream below. "Shadow" will be properly released as a 7" single on August 6. Listen to "Shadow" and check out the album tracklist below.

Listen: The Fresh & Onlys - "Yes Or No"

San Franciscan psychedelic garage poppers The Fresh & Onlys are back with a new record titled Long Slow Dance, due on September 4 via Mexican Summer in the US and on September 3 via Souterrain Transmissions in Europe. Yesterday the first track from Long Slow Dance was unveiled; the single "Yes Or No" which was released yesterday on 7" vinyl with the b-side "Take Back The Night". Check out the extremely catchy "Yes Or No" below.

Watch: Ty Segall - "You Make The Sun Fry" (Drag City Limits Session)

In connection with Ty Segall announcing a new North American tour for this fall he also unveiled a new session video featuring him and his band performing "You Make The Sun Fry", from last year's Goodbye Bread. The session is part of the record label Drag City's new video series Drag City Limits and features the band performing in the Drag City cellar. Watch it below and check out Segall's full tour dates here.

Guest Post: Markus Hulthén #1

Today we've got a new little feature on the blog called "Guest Post", and the title pretty much says it all - it's a guest post from Markus Hulthén. Markus Hulthén is a musician from Stockholm, active both as half of the organ-duo Mackaper and under his own name. Below we've got Markus' first round of recommendations, this one firmly based in the 1970s. Check back for more.

Interview: The Henry Clay People

One of my favourite bands of the past two years have been The Henry Clay People from L.A. I first discovered them in 2010 with the release of their third record Somewhere On The Golden Coast - still a favourite of mine - and last year they release an excellent 15-minute long EP titled This Is A Desert. In two weeks (on June 26) the band is set to release their brand new full-length album Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives via TBD Records.

If you haven't heard anything from the band already now is the time to change that - being with the title track and "Hide" from the new record and then pick up the record on release - it'll be well worth it. Henry Clay People frontman Joey Siara was kind enough to talk with us about the new record, his influences and their live show prior to the release of the LP.

MP3: Echo Lake - "Wild Peace"

Last month we posted the video for Echo Lake's "Even The Blind", which is taken from their upcoming debut LP Wild Peace (out via No Pain In Pop on June 25 in the UK and via Slumberland Records on June 26 in the US). Now the band have unveiled another track from the record; the beautiful title track "Wild Peace".

Listen: Museum Of Bellas Artes - "Dead Silence"

Last week we posted the new single from Museum Of Bella Artes; "Bear Cubs" and today we've got its b-side "Dead Silence". The "Bear Cubs"/"Dead Silence" 7" will be released tomorrow via Force Majeure. Give "Dead Silence" a listen below, as premiered by Ja Ja Ja.

Listen: Crushed Beaks - "Grim"

Crushed Beaks released their excellent debut single "Close-Ups"/"Sun Dogs" last year and now they're back with a brand new stand-alone single titled "Grim". "Grim" is a short and sweet little garage rock gem and it'll be released digitally next week via Paint It Black but you can stream it here, right now.

Watch: Dante - "Won't Go" (INGRID Session)

If you've been reading this blog for awhile it should come as no surprise that we're big fans of Dante and especially his Adele-sampling "Won't Go". "Won't Go" was released in December last year and it's been in pretty much daily rotation since, even if it won't appear on Dante's upcoming debut full-length due to legal reasons. Below we've got a great session video of Dante with band performing "Won't Go" live in studio for the Swedish label INGRID (which was started by Lykke Li, Peter Bjorn and John, Miike Snow among others), directed by Ted Malmros.

Stockholm gig guide: June 11-June 17

Well, last week we ended up with no gig guide as there's really not that many gigs going on due to the Euro 2012 championship in football (soccer for your American readers), festival season (the Hultsfred festival is the coming weekend) and well, I'm sure there's some other reason as well. This week we've only got two proper gigs really; both on Thursday. Besides those there's DJ-sets from ceo and jj at Debaser Slussen on Saturday at Adventure Of's release party.