As the weather starts to warm up, my heart goes out to all my friends living in cold places. So, in tribute to them, I’ve included a good number of bands that rock that come from “the cold lands”. It’s no new big news that Scandinavia has some of the best up and coming indie artists these days. So, another “big surprise” that there are a few bands from Norway and Sweden. Sorry Flint, nothing from Finland this time! *grins*

I’ve made this weeks Friday Fix a bit larger than usual, dedicated to help those folks coping with the cold still, in hopes to stave off their cabin fever a bit longer. Enjoy!

I Was A King – Norman Bleik (2009, Oslo, Norway) Fresh off their first, self titled full length, “I Was A King” brings us “Norman Bleik”. The interesting thing about this release is that it had some big names contribute to it; Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh), Sufjan Stevens, Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile), and Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor). Having only released one highly acclaimed EP in 2007, one has to wonder what other projects Frode Strømstad has been involved with musically to get such talent to contribute to his first album. The band hints strongly of influences from “Guided by Voices”, “Teenage Fanclub” and “My Bloody Valentine”, carving out their own unique jangle/shoegaze/noise pop niche in the indie music scene.

The Antlers – Two (2009, Brooklyn, New York) When Peter Silberman moved to Manhattan in the winter of 2006, he disappeared for a year and a half, staying locked up in his apartment, hiding away from friends, family, and most of the city. When Silberman emerged in the spring of 2007, he set out to explain his absence through a record that would take another year and a half to complete. Moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn, he spent most of his waking hours working on what was to become this album, “Hospice”, an elegy for his disappearance. Having released two other albums prior to this, both of those helped gain him some notoriety in the blogs. With the release of “Hospice” and some performances at SXSW, The Antlers are now far more in the ears of folks world round.

The Starfolk – Into the Clouds (2009, Minneapolis, Minnesota) I stumbled across The Starfolk, thanks to an awesome compilation called “Birdsongs, Beesongs” released for free by Eardrum Records. Lots of great songs were on this album, including this one. The band features members of Minneapolis indie pop mainstays “The Owls” and “The Hang Ups”, and are currently working on their debut LP, so this is about all you can find from them so far.

The Ballet – I Hate The War (2009, New York City, New York) This band definitely has a sense of humor about themselves, as is evident by both their myspace name (sissypopband), and website url (thepirateship.org). Both this song, and “In My Head” can be found for free on their website, and both are quite fantastic. Fun, poppy music tying in classical instruments always makes for music that I deeply enjoy, and “The Ballet” delivers. If you dig them, you can catch them at the New York City Popfest coming up in May.

My Teenage Stride – To Live And Die In The Airport Lounge (2007, Brooklyn, New York) I swear, the vocalist is the lead singer from “Dogs Die in Hot Cars”, but no..not even in the correct country. My Teenage Stride is currently in studios working on their fourth release, and have produced an EP and a few singles since this release, “Ears Like Golden Bats” was released in 2007. “My Teenage Stride” was started as a solo project of Jedediah Smith, and over the years, has had a shuffling set of members contributing to his works. Expect to see their new release sometime late this year.

Pants Yell! – Magenta and Green (2007, Boston, Massachusetts) Pants Yell! came into existence three years ago within the walls of a Boston art school. In their time together they’ve released a debut album, “Songs for Siblings”, a 7” single, appeared on numerous compilations, and have completed three East Coast Tours. Shows have been played with Islands, Jens Lekman and a slew of other artists. After releasing several homemade recordings, Pants Yell!’s debut album, was recorded in a 16-track analog studio and earned a wealth of enthusiastic notices from the indie music press in America and overseas.

Let’s Whisper – All Happy Endings (2009, Burlington, Vermont) Let’s Whisper is the sweet bedroom pop duo project of Colin Clary and Dana Kaplan of the Smittens. They write dreamy soft songs and have recorded a few songs that have appeared on compilations. This is no exception. I found this song on the “Birdsongs, Beesongs” compilation. They have only released an EP, “Make Me Smile” on the WeePOP! label but are currently at work on their first full-length album which will hopefully be completed this year.

The Golden Filter – Solid Gold (2009, New York, New York City) Perhaps better known for their remixes of such artists as “Peter Bjorn & John”, “Cut Copy” and “Little Boots”, “The Golden Filter” are also musicians quite capable of producing their own very awesome music. This relatively new band has been getting a lot of hype online as well as indie radio stations nationwide. Another SXSW band, they’ve gotten more exposure and are becoming more of a household electronica staple. You can find this song on their “Solid Gold” release.

Tags: I Was A King, Let's Whisper, My Teenage Stride, Pants Yell!, The Antlers, The Ballet, The Golden Filter, The Starfolk

This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 6:22 pm and is filed under Friday Fix, Song Ramble. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.