Sandy Mouche's Junk singles (I): Une histoire

”Back Home”
Lund Gig in Stadsparken

* Stadsparken i Lund 2005 · 05 · 28



First new single for an upcoming album
“Available for download, thanks to Junk Musik. Every living thing has a story.”

01. Une Histoire (Martinique)
02. Une Histoire Remix (Martinique, remixed by: JC)

According to Anders, from Junk Musik:

"We are proud to be able to release the new single from SANDY MOUCHE. It’s called “Une Histoire”. As always with Sandy Mouche, it’s a song you can not resist to love. And it’s in French!"

LJdM

Sandy Mouche 2005 Malmö Summer Gigs

* SheMusic Festival, Malmö 2005 · 07 · 01

* Junk Night (or JUNK EXTRAVAGAZA SHOW), Malmöfestivalen, Malmö 2005 · 08 · 20
http://www.junkmusik.com/index.php?s=sandy

P, C & C lay down some harmony (II): Christoffer Lundquist's Major & Minor Songs, Junk Extravaganza Show and Ed Harcourt

News from Junk Musik: the debut album of Christoffer Lundquist, a special concert last 20.08 ... and a related artist, Ed Harcourt.

According to Junk Musik, Christoffer Lundquist releases today his first digital EP, Major & Minor Songs, a 4-track solo EP. It will only be available for download, first on CDON and later also on iTunes Music Store.

Christoffer wrote, recorded and sang! these four new songs in his Aerosol Grey Machine Studio.

01. Happy New Year
02. I would fain fly
03. So let's talk
04. Take-out for one

A classic sound, with some sad ballad (So let's talk; I would fain fly), folk (Happy New Year), soul-blues (Take-out for one). I have listened to the snippets and I would fain fly is our favourite one. The style connects with Son of a Plumber's influences.

LJdM

Up early, leaving for Malmö and the JUNK EXTRAVAGAZA SHOW which is TODAY between 00-01 at Malmöfestivalen, Mölleplatsen. Before the show we were going to decide what we are going to release this autumn. The bands rehearsed yesterday. Among the bands performing, you will find Brainpool, Metrojets, Monkeystrikes, Florian Horwath, Justin Winokur, Sandy Mouche & some surprises… Dig this: seven bands packed in a small dressing room. Snacks, candles, beers, bag-in-box wine. Questions: where is Christoffer? Will people show up at 00.00? Roadies walk by: slowly. Stage Manager from Hell walks by: s-l-o-w-l-y: looking mean. Three hours until the show begins. Press fast forward – three hours later: seven bands enter the stage. Brainpool begin to play “Junk”, the other bands sit around a table behind David´s amplifier, two meters from Jens’ drums, having a beer and wine picnic on stage. Each band plays two songs, then go to the table. New David sings “Lazybird” playing guitar & a great song called “Monitors”playing keyboards. Sandy Mouche play their new single, “Une Histoire”, which you will find here on monday, for the first time live, and make an amazing performance of a song from their last album. Christoffer suddenly walks on stage, playing a melodica. It’s all cheers and laughter at the picnic table. Helena from Sandy Mouche is playing air drums. Cecilia from Monkeystrikes is taking photos and playing tambourine. Everyone else is clapping hands & shouting Ooooooooooooooooo at the bands playing. Back stage is no more. Back stage is now ON STAGE. Justin Winokur is looking exotic wearing his cowboy hat in Sweden, Magnus from Metro Jets is looking Macca-ish in flip flops & a suit. Florian Horwath gives the audience a taste of Berlin art rock, and the audience is one big smile. Suddenly the Stage Manager from Hell appears: looking mean – saying TEN MINUTES. Meaning: i will shut the PA down in ten minutes. I’m saying: We have three more songs. He’s saying: NINE MINUTES. He’s got a lot of tattoos. I dig the message. Magnus is running out on the stage, telling Jens & David that they have to play a shorter version of Florian’s last song. Monkeystrikes begin to play the moment Florian quits, I show Stage Manager from Hell three mobile phones: all three of them blinking 00:56. He frowns. Monkeystrikes kick into “You hate my beautiful love”, and all the other bands appear on stage, singing the chorus over and over. It’s a great moment. We pack all our stuff and walk through the park to the party. At 3.30 I´m sitting in a taxi, smiling. This was a great night. We will do it again. Thank you, world.

I’m listening to Ed Harcourt’s new album Elephant’s Graveyard, which I bought on iTunes Music Store yesterday. Ed Harcourt is a singer from Sussex, England. Elephant's Graveyard is a collection of what Ed on his own site calls “now deleted b-sides, a couple of magazine covermount tracks, the odd international album bonus track and - exclusively - four previously unreleased songs.”

I’m not really sure what “exclusively” means here (after all I payed for the album, so I might expect some songs to be unreleased/exclusive…) Anyway, Ed’s great as always. And he’s almost a Junkie too, since he recorded his last album at Christoffers studio. Some stuff from that session has finally found its place on the new record (and Christoffer can be heard doing a “deep mumbling” on one this year’s most strange songs).

Ed’s recordings has always reminded me of Dennis Wilson’s classic Pacific Ocean Blues, so it’s kind of funny to hear him connecting to the Wilson family by doing Brian Wilson’s “Still I Dream Of It”. Elephant’s Graveyard has got 28 songs, so it will last a while. It’s only available as download, an approach we, of course, support.

Anders Mildner

Junk Musik

The DollyCamp (I): Stockholm Pride 2005 - Dolly Partonkväll

Stockholm Pride is a festival for LGBT individuals held yearly in Stockholm. Since the start in 1998, Stockholm Pride has grown to be one of Stockholm's largest annual festivals, as well as the largest Pride celebration in Scandinavia. Each year Stockholm Pride attracts visitors from both Sweden and the rest of the world. During a whole week Stockholm Pride turns Stockholm into a free zone for the GLBT community, painting the city in the colors of the rainbow.

LJdM

Some of my favourite Swedish female singers were there and here are all three together on stage! From left to right: Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Robyn & Helena Josefsson (Sandy Mouche)

Saar (a.k.a. Sarah den Rara),
from Alkmaar, Netherlands

Dolly Partonkväll. At Pride Main Stage (Pridepark) with The Emmylous, featuring: Nina Persson (Cardigans), Robyn, Nico (The Mo), Magnus Tingsek (Tingsek) and Cecilia Nordlund (Monkeystrikes), Helena & Martinique Josefsson (Sandy Mouche), Lotta Wenglen, Sweet Mary and Christian Kjellvander. The Emmylous is an all girls, country band from Malmö, whose leader is Anna Carlsson.

The director Jessica Nettelbladt recorded at this concert some scenes for a documentary film (defined as a "roadmovie" though) called "Den långa resan till Dollywood". Nina Persson, Helena Josefsson and other female singers from Malmö sing and talk in the film about the influence of their idol Dolly Parton. It seems a long project too, so it could be shown in 2007 or 2008. According to the Swedish press, the song "Jolene", sung by Helena Josefsson and Nico (The Mo), was one of the brightest moments of the gig. All the artists played together Dolly's hit I will always love you. In fact, this is the second Dolly's tribute concert promoted by Gudrun Hauksdottir, after another one in Malmö in 2004.

LJdM

Pictures by Lotta Holmström (aka Araneida), SE

It was a great feeling singing at Stockholm Pride 2005!

Helena Josefsson - H.J.

Magnus Tingsek was one of the artists in Stockholm Pride 2005. Last June, we could see the release of debut album "Tingsek" from 26 year old Magnus Tingsek from Malmö, Sweden. In 1998, Helena Josefsson and Magnus were members of the forgotten band ewing.1. There have been rumblings from the Swedish indie sector about Magnus since he turned 20 when he got his first record deal with Ramblin Records in Lund - the neighbouring town of Malmö in the Swedish South. After having experienced first-hand the record industry's many ups and more downs over the last years - he has been working on his music - finely tuning a style that he can call his own. Like an adaptation of black and white soul music tinged with Magnus first love - Americana.

It all began in the town of Södra Sandby where Magnus and his brother Anders (long time member of Christian Kjellvander's touring band, Loosegoats) got access to the cellar at the local library. Here they sang harmonies to Depeche Mode tunes and inhaled every Beatles recording they got get their hands on. They turned the cellar into a makeshift studio and soon Magnus was playing drums, guitar, bass and was honing his voice in a wide array of local garage bands. As he got older he also mastered the pedal steel guitar with which he has toured with Kjellvander's band Loosegoats, EPs Trailerpark and local Helsingborg band "Ben" . One thing lead to another and soon he was in the US supporting Willie Nelson with Nelson's daughter Paula. In Sweden he also been touring with Sweden's leading rapper Timbuktu.

Listen to Tingsek on his his space. And watch the video of the single Egoflow, released today and directed by Erik Hjärpe (a.k.a. Voz Vibrante, a member of Damn!, The Martelli Tapes, and Krosusork).

LJdM

P, C & C lay down some harmony (I): the project starts taking shape and some Roxette fans do not want Helena as "the substitute"

Some fans of Roxette got really angry when they read what Swedish tabloid Expressen writes tod a y: "27 year old Helena Josefsson will replace Marie Fredriksson in a new international music project planned by Per Gessle" and "an album will be released this winter or next spring, and a tour is almost certain to follow". Accoding to TDR, nothing of the above has been confirmed and Helena just said to Expressen: “Yes, we’ve been in the studio recording some material, but I don’t want to talk about it at the moment.” Expressen mentions a “deeply involved” source and some Roxette's fans put the blame on Helena: for talking too much and for "replacing Marie" in Roxette.

LJdM wants to give its opinion too: no opinion is needed. It's already known that Per Gessle, Christoffer Lundquist and Clarence Öfwerman are working in the studio since December 2004. And it's not a surprise that Helena Josefss on is involved again after her great work in Mazarin and in two songs of Gyllene Tider's last album. Nobody speaks about a new Roxette without Marie Fredriksson, just some poor Roxette fans that really miss the band and want Per and Marie to come back together; maybe some of them can not understand why Marie released a new solo album in English last year instead a Roxette's one.

GöteborgsPosten (Gothenburg Daily) publishes a more interesting article with info about the forthcoming album. If the project will be a solo album, a new group name or what language will finally make the cut, Per doesn’t want to go into. However, he gladly mentions the wide spread of material they have recorded. “I have recorded so many different kinds of music, a musical testament if you will. Instrumentals, westerns, horny three-chord pieces, some green country, a nine-mi nute bubble gum pop medley, spiced with a falsetto blues. We’ll see where we land. Everything is very spontaneous, fun and exciting,” Per says to GP. Per estimates that they need another 30 studio days. When the album will be released is not yet determined, however, it does seem to be followed by a tour, Gessle seems eager: “Of course it would be great to meet my possible audience again!”.

According to Thomas Evensson, from TDR, "Helena Josefsson sings normally in the band Sandy M ouc he, but is known to the greater mass as the backup singer on Per’s successful album “Mazarin” and tour. The Daily Roxette has received a short statement from Per Gessle regarding Expressen’s article today: “It is not, and has neve r been, an option to replace Marie in what’s been called a ’new Roxette’. She is – of course – irreplaceable!!! I still hope, and believe, that there are great things in Roxette’s future.” Per continues to tell TDR that Helena’s involvement in his new solo album has been on the same level as with “Mazarin”."

LJdM

On account of Expressen’s strange article today, I will hereby give you some information regarding my current musical project.

I’ve been hyperactive in Christoffer Lundquist’s studio in Skåne off and on since December 2004 and recorded a whole bunch of songs both in Swedish and in English. Some make you dance, some make you smile, some are instrumentals while others have some lyrics in French. It’s very exciting and we have a very good time – eating and drinking well. The musicians I’ve been using are essentially the same as on ’Mazarin’; i.e., Clarence Öfwerman, Christoffer Lundqvist, Jens Jansson and Helena Josefsson. The album is recorded in stereo and is thought to be finished sometime this fall.

Not ever has it been my intention to try to create a ’new Roxette’, and Helena Josefsson is thus NOT IN THE CARDS as my “duo partner”. Helena’s and my voices go together like pancakes and jam. I still hope, and believe that Roxette will continue sometime in the future and I’m also of that opinion that Marie Fredriksson is IRREPLACEABLE!

As soon as I get closer to a finish of the above mentioned project, I promise to reveal both song titles, sleeve ideas and how we tuned our guitars. Until then, all the best from Jolly Halmstad.

Per Gessle

Per Gessle said the right things of course, and pronto. If Helena’s quotations in Expressen weren’t perverted by journalists, then he probably has to admit that her words were indeed susceptible to some renderings; she somehow made it sound as if it’d be more than backup involvement. And so I’d run the risk of saying that she wasn’t exaggerating - I have the feeling that Helena’s contribution on his new album is slightly more solid than it was on Mazarin. Which I find interesting and provoking, far from being out of place. She has that kind of voice and presence that go well with his solo style.

The fact that the TDR-inhabitants suddenly became restless and made their point straightly and airily has however signalized a direction of the “public opinion”; which Gessle needs quite much, I assume. (and if he’d go today to the nearest Ica, he’d sure have red piece of paper to sign)

I wouldn’t unhesitatingly plead for an English solo album though. Too much pressure on him and too many rather incontrollable elements when a Swedish personal album will be thrown out on the international market. It’s a bit scary and a bit exciting and the tension does him good, but well, doing it “his own way” is not really compatible with doing it for the whole world. Gessle is not Cohen, he doesn’t write poetry for being put on music, he writes pop music that fans expect to be “personal” in a different way. Writing personal AND international pop songs involves the strong belief that the world (still) has the same music taste as you have. But fortunatelly/unfortunatelly, this is rather doubtful. So, all in all, I suddenly became emotive.

Adela Toplean - A_T_ blog