Totally Scandinavianolous!

OK, it's not a word, I know...

My trendier-than-thou brother was in Hong Kong recently and dropped me some tunes, including some by Swedish band Peter, Bjorn and John. They hit up some nice n' funky indie-pop tunes, if not a little melancholic. Check out the pop-art stylised video for their catchy song "Young Folks" here. Oh, and they have a super "far out" psychedelic party in the video as well!



It brought back good memories of Scandinavian bands, particularly the excellent punk/hardcore label Burning Heart Records and classic bands such as Starmarket and Randy coming from Sweden. Meanwhile, The (International )Noise Conspiracy (above right), also from Sweden, are having their 2007 release produced by legend Rick Rubin (think Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash to name a few) and are set for pretty big things... and they played in Hong Kong back in the day as well! Check out their anthem Capitalism stole my virginity.


Just to get away from rock for second, Norwegian electronic singer songwriters Royksopp have been a big hit over the last few years. The duo, Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge, compose soulful electronica with a strong organic feeling.

See their interesting Poor Leno video, about a imprisoned cute little bear-like creature (above) trying to find freedom. It's in a similar vein to another Norwegian duo, Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe, who as the Kings of Convenience are a little more on the acoustic side, but have done plenty of electronic collaborations, particularly illustrated by the excellent Erlend Øye DJ Kicks compilation.

And their I'd rather dance with you video is quite cute and funny! Check out Erlend Øye as he tries to show ballerinas some dance moves



Unfortunately, this girl is not very impressed!