In 2009, the radio show Ström gave an assignment to Swedish artists that make electronic music.; to make an interpretation of a song that they really do not like, sometimes even hate. The purpose was some sort of musical regression therapy. By making a cover of a song they dislike and make it into their own, the artists could get in touch with their musical origin, the place in their soul where the creativitiy is coming from. And by doing so, get a deeper understanding of themselves as humans -- and as artists. The influential songs are easy to point out, and easy to cover, but the hated ones can be shameful and hard to confront. Sometimes those can partly explain why the artist sound the way he or she does.
Ström is a radio show on National Swedish radio that presents the most innovative and interesting electronic music that can be found. The show also presents a musical project every year. The first season 2006, Ström asked Swedish electronica producers to remix the sounds of Swedish domestic birds. The project was an homage to the ornithologist, the bird geek, with many similarities with the electronic music geek. But the project was also a celebration of the classic radio ”Veckans Pausfågel/The Bird Of The Week-intermission” that was closed down after more than 40 years on the radio. In 2007 Ström presented new music for national grief. A suggestion of specially made music to be played on the radio and on TV if Sweden is struck by a national disaster. Like the murder of Prime Minister Olof Palme or when the ship Estonia went down with almost 900 passangers aboard, most of them Swedes. In 2008 Ström asked Swedish artists and producers to make music to be sent out in space. And the 12 unique tracks that were not primarily meant for human ears, but for the ones in solar systems far away, was sent out from Esrange, the space station in the very north of Sweden. The project was a collaboration with the Swedish Space Corporation and Swedish Radio.
Tracklist:
Fever Ray – Here Before (Vashti Bunyan)
Roos -- Polly (Nirvana)
Andreas Tilliander – Dub that she wants/All That She Wants (Ace Of Base)
Familjen -- Mine Øyne De Ska Se (Lis Sørensen)
Little Jinder – Femme Fatale (Velvet Underground)
Cilihili & DaBook – Orinoco Flow (Enya)
Ebb – Trash (Suede)
Trig – Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice)
Lisa Nordström – LIke To Get To Know You Well (Howard Jones)
Håkan Lidbo – Born In The USA (Bruce Springsteen)
Alf Tumble – Klubbland (Håkan Hellström)
Vaerelsen -- Diska!/Washing Up (Tomas Andersson)
Den Finska Nikotintanten – 122 Hours Of Fear (The Screamers)
Roll The Dice – Motorcycle Emptiness (Manic Street Preachers)
Video:
Andreas Tilliander – Dub that she wants (Ace Of Base) Håkan Lidbo – Born In The USA (Bruce Springsteen)
Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer, Van Rivers, Subliminal Kid) had a problem with Vashti Bunyans folk-pop song ”Here Before”. They thought it was arranged in a predictable way, with traditional instruments sounding quite natural, like they always do in folk music.. Natural can be quite provoking. After making a cover of this song they found out that it’s very beautiful. And the symmetric build-up with one verse for each one of Vashti’s children, is actually very Fever Ray-like. www.feverray.com
Roos (Christina Roos) had a poster of Nirvana in her room when she grew up. With the lyrics from ”Polly” written all over the poster. She red those self-destructive lyrics thousands of times. When she later started writing songs on her own, the lyrics from Polly was there, deep inside of her. By making a cover of the song she learned more about why she writes songs the way she does. And she could remember, and feel sympathy for the person she was as a teenager. www.myspace.com/roosgbg
Andreas Tilliander did a cover of one of the biggest Swedish music exports ever. This song is almost as well-known as IKEA and meatballs -- and Andreas has always hated it. He did a psyched-out dub remix in traditional Lee Scratch Perry style and found out that any song can be interesting if produced in a suitable way. And he realized that his hate for this song helped him to focus on what he really wanted to do; experimental and electronic music. www.repeatle.com
Familjen (Johan Karlsson) did a cover of a Danish song that was a big in the late 80s. It was very much a mainstream hit and not very cool at all. When Johan grew up it was very uncool to like Lis Sørensen. After he had finished his cover version, he realized that his version of ”Mine Øyne De Ska Se” sounded like most Familjen tracks. Bouncy beats, fuzzy synths and very strong melodies -- and maybe not so cool at all. http://www.detsnurrariminskalle.com/
Litte Jinder (Josefin Jinder) is the daughter of Sweden’s most well-known folk music artist. But she doesn’t play any musical instrument, except synthesizer and her laptop. When she listens to music she is flickering through mp3s and give each song about 3 seconds before she decides to keep it -- or to throw it away. One of the songs she threw away was by one of the most infuental and respected artists in pop; Velevet Undergound -- and the song ”Femme Fatal”. When she did the cover she learned that it can be good to listen more carefully. www.myspace.com/littlejinder
Cilihili and DaBook (Cecilia Nordlund and Patrik Book) made a cover of a song that many people hate, but also many hold as their all time favourite. The lyrics is total nonsense and the production is annoyingly simple, with way too much reverb on everything. When they made Enya’s ”Orinoco Flow” into their own song, they found out that the lyrics worked well as cut-up electro disco and when adding the lyrical twist ”Sail the pain away” the cover of their most hated song turned into a really good track. www.cilihili.com, www.myspace.com/dabookcopenhagen
Ebb (Engelbrekt Berg) didn’t like the loud and rock-ish attitude of Brett Anderson and Suede’s ”Trash”. He had had a bit too much of the 90s indie kind of music after playing in bands that never really made it. When he decided to go solo, to write his own songs, the songs became much more careful and dynamic. More electronica than indie. Then, when. he did a cover of this 90s indie icon, he found a beautiful song, the way it was originally ment to sound. According to Ebb www.ebbmusic.com
Trig (Marco Manieri and Simon Brunndahl) always improvise when they make music. Partly because their instruments, two Roland System 100 modular synths, are very difficult to handle. And there is no way to store a sound. They decided to make a cover of the silliest song they could come up with: ”Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice, one of the least credible rappers in the World.. Who still claims to be credible, though he had made numerous sell-out songs. By covering the song that made hip-hop white and commercial, Trig could better understand why they want to stick to their vintage equipment that safely keeps them from being commercial. www.myspace.com/trigsweden
Lisa Nordström is one half of the electronica duo Midaircondo and when they make music they always improvise with acoustic instrument and electronics. Lisa did a cover of a song that was big hit on the radio when she was young and suffered from a broken heart. The song was like a olfactory memory and she felt uncomfortable every time she heard it. When she recorded this song, but only the parts of the lyrics that she could remember, she came back to this period of time. And she could better understand herself and who she is today. www.myspace.com/nordstromlisa
Håkan Lidbo did a cover of a song that, when it was released, everyone was supposed to love. Everyone adored Bruce Springsteen’s working class image and story-telling lyrics. Except Håkan. He thinks ”Born In The USA” is the most un-funky song ever written. His version turned out fragmented, playful and funky. He remembered who he was when ”Born In The USA” was released and understood that this song helped him making the most important choice of his life; to be a musician. But musically as far away as possible from Bruce Springsteen. www.hakanlidbo.com
Alf Tumble hates indie pop and people that sing out of tune. When Håkan Hellström’s ”Klubbland” was a summer hit, it was on the radio all the time. And Alf had to leave the room. Alf is always well-dressed and his music is always stylished and clean, not like ”Klubbland”. He is also annoyed that Håkan Hellström has been given the epithet Samba King of Sweden because he uses those rhythms in his music. Alf is a collector of Latin Music and is almost a living ecyclopaedia of Samba. He knows how it’s supposed to sound. Not like Håkan Hellström. When he did a cover of a song and an artist he disliked, he could better understand his obsession with order. And he actually came to like Håkan Hellström. www.myspace.com/alftumble
Vaerelsen (Tomas Andersson and Jaqcues C) is a new project where Tomas and Jaqcues improvise for hours, looking for the oddest and ugliest sounds and the most crippled beats. Tomas Anderson had a huge club hit called ”Washing Up” and it made him into an established international DJ. But after that success he has failed to make a follow-up. He makes music totally on intuition and when his record label wanted another ”Washing Up” he got creatively stuck. His new project Vaerelsen chose to make a cover of Tomas own song and they did and lovingly massacre. They killed Tomas demon, his stigmated song, and now he can move on with his music. www.myspace.com/vaerelsen
Den Finska Nikotintanten (Robert Jonson, Marcus Törncrantz, Johan Skugge, guest vocals by Nix Vahlberg) made a cover of a song that Robert had been trying to get hold of for more than 25 years. A song that was never released, it was only played live. When they finally found a recording of”122 hours of fear” by The Screamers, it was a great song but it had the most terrible sound of all pop instruments; the Farfisa organ. Robert hates the Farfisa. Even thought they made a cover of this cult-song and thereby put it on a record for the first time, he still hates the sound of the Farfisa. www.myspace.com/denfinskanikotintanten
Roll The Dice (Peder Mannerfelt and Malcolm Pardon) made an interpretation of ”Motorcycle Emptiness” by Manic Street Preachers. Originally a straight up rock song from 1992. Malcolm played in a band that was touring with MSP some years before Riche James Edwards of MSP killed himself. They made this cover version and realized the impact the 90s had on their music today. And why they nowadays want to make their music minimal, melancholic, emotional – and electronic. http://www.myspace.com/rollthedicesthlm