The Mary Onettes; Music From Scandinavia Vol. 1

I've been listening to a lot of Swedish indie pop recently, mostly from the Labrador label, and all I keep thinking is "Why isn't American music this good?" Many of the bands on Labrador are a perfect blend of pop, alternative, and shoegaze, sometimes even 60s doo wop and Motown. I stumbled upon this band called The Mary Onettes, they're sound is very unique of other bands on the label because it's much darker, yet pop as all get out. They vaguely remind me of Editors but with more of an 80s influence. There are many other great bands on the label, and elsewhere in Sweden, but I'll go into that later. This'll be the first installment of my Music from Scandinavia sub-series, starting.... now! For now here's a few selections from their self-titled album.

The Mary Onettes – s/t (Labrador)

01 Pleasure songs
02 Lost
03 Void
04 The Laughter
05 Slow
06 The Companion
07 Explosions
08 Henry
09 Under the guillotine
10 Still

Broken Social Scene "Feel Good Lost"

My favorite Canadian import, Broken Social Scene, is one of those bands that I've loved for years and keep coming back to time and time again. But I am pissed at myself for not going back any further than their 2002 landmark lp You Forget It In People until now. Now don't get me wrong I love that album dearly, but a year prior to releasing this opus they released their debut; Feel Good Lost and I can't believe it's the same band! Ambient overtones, texture-providing beats (both electronic and acoustic), atmospheric samples of hustle and bustle streets, and.... no vocals?! Well hardly anyway.

One would think that a band such as BSS with roughly 16 members and hot commodities such as (Leslie) Feist and Kevin Drew would dare not to release an instrumental debut. However, who even knows what their line-up was like back in 2001. This is not your average urban outfitters shoppers' Broken Social Scene. To me it makes more sense as to why their indie pop gems are so damn good in the first place. There's a genius behind this band, but which of the million members is it? It boggles my mind just to wonder how they get through one band practice smoothly.

Without any further ado, here are 2 of my personal favorite, more ambient tracks from Feel Good Lost, and of course a zip of the full album. Enjoy!

01 I Slept With Bonhomme At The CBC
02 Guilty Cubicles
03 Love And Mathematics
04 Passport Radio
05 Alive In '85
06 Prison Province
07 Blues For Uncle Gibb
08 Stomach Song
09 Mossbraker
10 Feel Good Lost
11 Last Place
12 Cranley's Gonna Make It

full album zip – 79.9 mb | download here