School, Sweet School! and Joanna Törnros (DJ set)!

SCHOOL, SWEET SCHOOL



SSS is described as follows by a former fictional member of krashen:

Honestly, I think it is a disaster. You shouldn't call it a band, really. You can hardly call it a duo even. It is still just this guy playing the same chords over and over again and hoping that something will happen. Just like it was before. And this other member, Lobster Girl, I never quite figured what she really does, what function she fills. If any. I don't really “get” her. On the other hand, I don't really “get” any of them. On the yet another hand, I think their “Bladen Brinner”-record is amazing, a masterpiece.

School, Sweet School will make this rare appearance during Sunday's event at Southside Cavern.



For the event on Thursday, there is now a second DJ confirmed: we'll see (er, hear?) a debut set from Joanna Törnros, who is otherwise doing various great things in The Paper Merchants, We.the Pigs and Little Big Adventure/s! I've noticed her having ace taste in music and it'll be exciting to hear what she comes up with.



There's also some other great news when it comes to the DJ line up: Silja from Librarians Wanted will join David and select tunes for us - so, two thirds of this ace London night is represented!

Kuryakin join Library Tapes and Woodchucker for venue-changed Thursday! (plus some sad news)

KURYAKIN



Since it was announced that Friday Bridge were going to play at Wednesday's pre-party instead, I've worked pretty hard to secure that Thursday at Southside would still be an equally fantastic evening, and I'm very happy to announce that Kuryakin are able to join in! Since 2003, Petter Gjöres and Johan Norberg have created minimalistic, sometimes danceable but most of all always beautiful songs - much to the delight of an audience that simply appreciate delicious tunes, quite consequently made with a less is more state of mind. Their debut-EP "Still here" was put out by Shelflife, and last year, their full-length album "A new day" came out on Fastcut. If you were that certain The Embassy are surely the most elegant Swedish pop duo there is, you might just have to think again.



***

Sadly, Yo Amoeba will not be able to play at this festival, due to personal reasons.
Hopefully, we can do something together in the future!

There is work in progress concerning the Sunday. Stay tuned.

King Kong pre-party: Tiger Tape, Friday Bridge (venue change!) and Klubb Trubbel + Cosy Den (dj sets)!

TIGER TAPE



You know the story by now: Moofish Catfish, who were a very fine four-piece already at that point with two brilliant cdr releases on Cosy Recordings and many memorable concerts, changed their name and re-loaded to fire even harder in our direction. Tiger Tape's full-length album, I woke up in Hökarängen, came out last year and is one of the best Swedish albums I own. They've also got plenty of new tunes that are absolutely amazing - those of us who saw them at the mini-festival Pop Culture in Norrköping this spring got to hear a few of them. And this has also meant that they're feeling a little more comfy about playing MC tunes again... Altogether, they're is surely one of the best indie rock bands to have come out of this country in recent years. At the pre-party for Cosy Den 2011, they're making their first appearance at King Kong.



They will be joined by FRIDAY BRIDGE.

And - both yours truly and the lovely Klubb Trubbel will provide dj sets for you!

This takes place at Mosebacke Etablissemang, a very nice space in central Stockholm.

As you understand by now, there's been a change concerning venues (and schedule).
Thursday's event will take place at the Southside Cavern, not at Landet.
Library Tapes and Woodchucker will still play on the Thursday, along with Stefan Zachrisson's dj set. There may be another act or two announced for that evening as this has created a little more room in the schedule. Please check back for further news!

Stefan Zachrisson (DJ set) and Haningealliansen!

HANINGEALLIANSEN



Haningealliansen first came to life a couple of months before 2010's Cosy Den festival. It could be described as a music collective featuring Haninge bands who somehow can fit under the category "The sound of young Lötkärr" and who get together to play songs they've made, together, and so far exclusively for this festival. In 2010, Haningealliansen consisted of Johan Hedberg, Indoor Face, Jap Adaptors, Lilla Gubben, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Chloë and Springfactory. We still don't know what will happen this time around, but reliable sources have hinted that even more people will be involved, and that things may clear up a little after Monday's first band rehearsal for the year - so this post will be updated a little. I suspected that with the endless back catalogue that this lot have, it would not have to be the slightest repetitive to have them playing two years in a row. Thus, I am very happy that they also liked the idea of doing this again.







STEFAN ZACHRISSON was the editor of influental Swedish fanzine Benno, and has since that been involved in the excellent label and magazine Friendly Noise. Amongst lots of other things. Stefan's presence in Swedish independent music has been constant for decades, and he will play some of his fave tunes during Thursday's event at Landet.

Oh, and a change in the schedule too: please note that Simon G will play on the FRIDAY instead of the Saturday.

Maybe Sucks and Paddington Distortion Combo!

PADDINGTON DISTORTION COMBO



Paddington Distortion Combo is one of just a handful acts that have played at Cosy Den a handful times or more. The first time I heard PDC music was in 2001. I went to a tiny gig set up by Osaka vs Tokyo, not knowing anything about Carl Olsson apart from the fact that he played in the Bear Quartet and with Fireside. I went from that concert with a cdr, and forced Mats Jonsson who was DJ-ing nearby to play "The sun is down and the sky is grey" so I could hear it again before I went home. Ten years on, I'm still very much in love. This time around, it'll be a bit reposeful, just him and a piano and some new songs (since Carl became a father he hasn't really found the time to go down to the basement and his synthesizers much - good thing he has a piano in the living-room). But then again, that's his initial thought. You never know what's going to happen when you're off to see PDC.




MAYBE SUCKS



Although Myspace is defunct and dying, it's quite ridiculous that maybe sucks has just two "friends" on there. Or perhaps it's intentional. maybe sucks is a young, fresh, new, exiting duo that consists of Josefine and Veronica, two residents (from those two last quite anonymous train stops before one reaches Haninge - Skogås and Trångsund) who have an appetite for noisy yet delicate and melodious lo-fi pop. Although they only have one and a half recorded songs to present us, reliable sources ensures an incredible repertoire and a live performance as honest and amazing as anything. Also, rumours are that they're soon to release their debut EP with help from our good friends at Sippin Productions. So be there, hopefully get to grab a fresh copy, get your mind blown and remember where you saw them first. Maybe does indeed suck.

Yo Amoeba and Bearsuit (UK)!

BEARSUIT (UK)



Bearsuit probably one of my favourite bands over the last decade. This five-piece from Norwich, England has given us classic singles like "Hey Charlie hey Chuck", "Itsoku got married", "More soul than Wigan Casino" and "Foxy boxer" over the years. This spring, Bearsuit released their fourth full-length album (and the first one since 2007), and on "The phantom forest" they're as instant, dancy and quirky as ever. This will be the band's only gig in Sweden this time around, and their first since 2004's concert at Emmaboda. Black Flag may still hold the title as the band who've been closest to actually blow off the roof at Gula Villan, but Henry Rollins (dancing or not) is sure in trouble now Bearsuit are heading for Haninge.





YO AMOEBA



Behind the name Yo Amoeba is Therese Holm from Gothenburg. Under this alias and inspired by the likes of Sonic Youth and Cranes, she creates drone-ish songs that often are pretty frightening. Good thing they're beautiful as well. Yo Amoeba's seven inch EP, "Assault and battery", is released this summer and hopefully we can all get our hands on it in connection with her gig at this festival. I had no idea when I contacted her, but the EP consists of sounds and noises that Therese recorded while she was taken under compulsory care in 2006, but managed to hide a field recorder and guitar cables in her jacket to avoid seizure. Yo Amoeba has been around for nearly a decade, and it's about time she played at Cosy Den.

Librarians Wanted (DJ set) and Models Inc.!

MODELS INC.



Models Inc. is probably easiest described as a lo-fi and antitwee collective that includes, but is by no means not limited to, Cosy Den favourites such as JSSFRK and Kindergarten Kisses and also School, Sweet School, Feliz Felix and The Dub-Liner. They have released two EP's ("The Jesusfreak Sings the Kountry Klassix" and "Foke EP") and the full-length album "Season’s Greetings". You never quite know what's going to happen when you get involved with this lot, but considering the ammount of brilliant tunes that they have under their belt, you can at least know that what they're coming up with is certainly worth paying attention to. This live performance will be a pretty rare one, so make sure you don't miss it.




David from London-based indie club night Librarians Wanted will DJ during one of the festival nights! Librarians Wanted have quoted the visits to the Cosy Den festival as one of their influences, so if you're in London, you should know where it's a good idea to go.

Ticket info and preliminary schedule!

Here's the ticket info for Cosy Den 2011!

Buying tickets in advance is required for Friday and Saturday at Gula Villan in Haninge.

***

If you know you're coming, please buy your tickets for Friday and Saturday (Friday costs 80 SEK, Saturday costs 150 SEK you do not need to buy in advance for the other three days) ASAP so I get room in the budget for even more stuff great stuff!

Send the money:

* PayPal account thirdfloorfireescapeview@gmail.com - be sure to include name/s of ticket holders.

* 8327-99947356052 (Swedbank) - please mark your transfer with "CD11" and your initials ("CD11 MJ"). Also, send an e-mail to cosyden2011 (at) gmail.com.

I need your full name and let me know you've send the cash. Your name will then be on the list at the door. You can also book for your friends, but if you do, you'll obviously need to send their names as well.
Thanks!

PS. In case of a genuine force majeure you will obviously get your money back. DS.

***

This post will be updated once the tickets start to run out.
The TBA's below are being replaced with ace live acts and DJ's quite rapidly at the moment, two more of those will probably be announced later today or during the Monday! But for now, this is what it all will (vaguely) look like:

Wednesday the 3rd, at Södra Bar together with Club King Kong: TBA + TBA + DJ's
Entrance: free!

Thursday the 4th, at Landet: Friday Bridge + Library Tapes + Woodchucker + DJ set by Stefan (Benno, Friendly Noise, Lava)
Entrance: 60 SEK

Friday the 5th at Gula Villan: Faster, Glenn! + Bristlemouth + Jordens Otur + Models Inc. + Maybe Sucks + Simon G + DJ set by David (Librarians Wanted, UK)
Entrance: 80 SEK (pre-booking required)

Saturday the 6th at Gula Villan: Haiku Salut (UK) + Iiris Viljanen Trio + Mats Wikström + We.the Pigs + James Ausfahrt + Bearsuit (UK) + Paddington Distortion Combo + Haningealliansen + DJ set by Ellinor (de Montevert)
Entrance: 150 SEK (pre-booking required)

Sunday the 7th at TBA: Supertuff + Yo Amoeba + TBA + TBA + DJ's
Entrance: voluntary!

Jordens Otur and James Ausfahrt!

JAMES AUSFAHRT



Åke Strömer, AKA James Ausfahrt, calls himself a jazz musician - but is really into making upbeat pop ballads more than anything. James Ausfarth knows more than three chords, is by some people considered to be the best athlete in the history of sport, and sometimes plays saxophone with people like Love Is All, Still Flyin' and Crystal Stilts. His breakthrough came in 2007 with the record ”Party for the arty people/Arty for the party people”, an album inspired by Julie Ruin, The Breeders and Atari Teenage Riot - and his new album, "I don't think we should be friends", was released this week! Gothenburg-based globetrotter James Ausfahrt (anding in Sweden on the Friday, just coming back from playing at the Ladybug Transistor release party and other activities, and will get in the car right away) is one of the best live acts in the country. Not probably - definitely.




JORDENS OTUR



An embryo for what was to become Jordens Otur arose a cold and grey day in November when Stefan (from Munnen and Diskodrift) and Max (from Famnen and Pissduva) sat in their apartment in Stockholm suburb Bredäng and looked out the window. Their song "En grå dag" became the starting point for their new project. They'd had a longing for quite a while to make punk music together, and Jordens Otur felt like the perfect name to do it under. After a cancelled rehearsal with Famnen, they met up in their premises and started playing tunes, Stefan on guitar and Max on drums. It didn't take long until the duo realized they needed to make the music more dynamic, and Karin (Stalking Marcel) took over the drum sticks and left Max in charge of the bass and general soundscape stuff. The result is noisy, rhythmic and melodic pop punk. Jordens Otur made their live debut at Cosy Den a while ago, on a two day notice and with only three songs ready for the concert format - leaving the crowd wanting lots more.

The tickets for Friday and Saturday at Gula Villan in Haninge are being released tomorrow!

Friday Bridge and Mats Wikström!

MATS WIKSTRÖM


Mats Wikström is 56 years old and from Luleå, who is an artist in several ways. Carl Olsson helped recording some songs two years ago. They’re a bit like hearing an older, more heterosexual and much more rural Stephin Merritt. It’s distinctly honest and heartfelt. Austere but still rather elegant tunes about the wish to somehow belong and how to go about if you’re stuck in town out of money for a bus ticket home. When in New York, Mats recorded a few more songs with videos for them, that you can hear and see here. For Cosy Den 2011, he's put a live band together: Carl Olsson (The Bear Quartet, Paddington DC, Paper, Fireside), Peter Nuottaniemi (The Bear Quartet, Container of Love), Christian Ramirez (Park Hotell, Mattias Alkberg & Nerverna) - and Mats himself, obviously. It's very likely to be special, I'd say.




FRIDAY BRIDGE


One could suggest that the utterly brilliant electronica duo Friday Bridge are slowly but surely becoming a bit of a house band at Cosy Den. In the spring of 2008, they helped bringing Fosca to Landet, and opened for them together with Little Big Adventure - and at the first festival two years ago, Ylva and Niklas played a very elegant and partly acoustic set at Lasse i Parken. Their debut, Intricacy, was named "the best pop album made in Sweden for more than twenty years" by Digfi and enormously acclaimed by nearly everyone. On the following Bite my tounge, Sonic Magazine said "it's been a long time since I heard such stunning sounds in an album". Friday Bridge's response when I asked if they wanted to play the festival again this year included hints that the band is currently moving in a more filmic and dreamy direction. Sounds exciting to me - especially as this is looking to be the first Friday Bridge gig for quite a while!

(Click the sleeve below to hear the latest released song: Just lies, from last summer.)

Faster, Glenn! and Simon G!

FASTER, GLENN!


Faster, Glenn! sort of rose out of the ashes after the epic twee trash punk The Faintest Ideas (previously known as The Javelins) disbanded a few years ago. Christoffer Lärkner is singing his heart out in a pretty cheerful band with horns and stuff nowadays, but don't be fooled by the suspenders they've got - the songs are still desperate and brilliant stories from the block! When I asked him to send some info about the other members and their projects, he was pleased to say the least, when letting me know their bands (F'låt Nevråt! Kafkas Kollaboratörer! Dolly Blackheart!... and various northern soul outfits) are all pretty unknown and also quite weirdly named.




SIMON G


The jack-of-all-trades and frankly unique Simon G, as in Gärdenfors, was one half of Las Palmas, Cosy Den favourites and legendary hip hop duo that were one of the first bands to play in the Gothenburg apartment and came back to the club night several times. Simon is also a cartoonist and has put out four critically acclaimed albums. A couple of years ago, he also debuted as host for a show on ZTV about candy packaging, flipper and cartoons. Musically, he's formed a new duo with Frej Larsson from Slagsmålsklubben and Maskinen - Far och Son. In 2010, it was time for his solo album. As one would expect, it's full of great stuff and few future classics. Simon played a few tunes when I had my 30th birthday party recently, and I was quite relieved when my parents left just minutes before he was on. I'm sure you can happily handle him, though.



(Two more acts will be announced very soon!)

Library Tapes and Woodchucker!

WOODCHUCKER


Woodchucker is Jonatan Nästesjö, 21, from Jönköping but now resident in Lund. He released his debut album Leaves never leave in 2007, and was thereafter named artist of the year on prestigious music site Digfi. Since then, he's put out several ep:s and albums, full of suggestive ambient, piano and string loops recorded in old tape recorders. Woodchucker's music osscilates between fragmentary electronica, sober monotonia and sound art. I'm not sure what Jonatan is going to be up to in August and he probably doesn't know himself, but it's been very beautiful each time I've seen him live.


LIBRARY TAPES


Library Tapes is David Venngren, 29, from Gävle but now resident in Eskilstuna (to continue with the theme). He likes ice hockey and Gossip Girl, but most of all, he enjoys creating fantastic music that you're sure to already be familiar with if you're into dreamy, classic-inspired ambient. David has released many critically acclaimed albums (on labels like Kning Disk and Home Normal) over the last five years, been compared to Erik Satie and Efterklang, and has also toured in Europe, Japan and the US. At the moment, he's getting ready for a couple of gigs in England. Live, it's mostly about live samples with piano and strings, video art in the background and general bliss.

de Montevert (DJ set) and Bristlemouth!

BRISTLEMOUTH

I do realize it's a bit daft to use the word "young" in a text about a band I would like regardless, but to me it's pretty refreshing to have discovered a little scene that's so vibrant and never seems to cease spitting out great distorted indie rock. Jakob is in the process of writing new ace songs at the moment, and played some of these together with the band's new bassist Tora in the living-room yesterday. Anton plays guitar, too. You can - and will - download the new Bristlemouth demo here (from Sippin, one of the most productive and interesting labels in Sweden at the moment)!




Oh, and Ellinor of de Montevert will play some records at the festival!


There will be two more acts released tomorrow!

(Er, I just made an entire website in English, so it's a bit silly to keep this blog in Swedish.
About We.the Pigs, Supertuff, Haiku Salut and Iiris Viljanen Trio - about whom I've already written in a language you may not understand - you'll just have to live with it. Click and listen.)

Club King Kong pre-party!

I'm glad to announce that there will be a pre-party together with (and at) Club King Kong this year as well! This will take place on Wednesday the 3rd of August, i.e. the day before.

There will also be two more artists/bands released this weekend!

Haiku Salut och Iiris Viljanen Trio!

HAIKU SALUT (UK)

Kommer ni ihåg The Deirdres? Ja, hur skulle ni inte kunna komma ihåg dem? Sedan deras lilla Sverigeturné för några år sedan blir vårt land aldrig mer riktigt sig likt. Delar av bandet flyttade till andra sidan jorden och ett par andra fina akter föddes ur den Matlock Bathska myllan. Ett av dessa är Haiku Salut, som utgörs Gemma, Sophie och Louise samt nämner Spice Girls och Detektivbyrån som sina huvudinfluenser. Låtarna är instrumentala och låter lite som soundtracket till en knasig fransk komedi.




IIRIS VILJANEN TRIO

Iiris Viljanen från Finland har bott i Sverige ett tag nu så jag avstår från bondfångerimanövern att skriva (FI). Om du sett Cats on fire live de senaste åren är chansen stor att du hört Iiris köra och spela elpiano, men även om det också är hennes rätta element så är detta hennes egna. Tillsammans med resten av sin trio skapar hon elegant jazzpop med texter på engelska och ibland på finska om det otacksamma med att vara väderpresentatör, och om att man inte ska lämna sin kompis i sticket.

Supertuff och We.the Pigs!

(In English below.)

Den allt mer årliga Cosy Den-festivalen tycks år 2011 äga rum första veckan i augusti. Detta kan dock komma att ändras till veckan efter, beroende på vad som passar bäst för långväga musikanter. Blir det andra veckan i augusti innebär det samma vecka som det där Way Out West (ska tydligen vara lite som Sweden Rock fast latteindie), men jag litar på att ni fortsätter gå med mig på den lysande stigen oavsett det...ta. I alla händelser är två fina akter redan klara och därmed är det ju på sin plats med en sån häringa eventsida! Runt 20-25 framträdanden bör det bli totalt. Önska gärna band om ni vill.




Supertuff

Bakom detta namn döljer sig Magnus Sätterström som tidigare spelat på Cosy Den-festivalen med The Paper Merchants och Little Big Adventure. Supertuff gör låtar på svenska som bl.a. handlar om den nazist i Sverige som har mest makt (Jan Björklund), varghets och att allt ofrånkomligen går mot sitt slut. De minimalistiska arrangemangen ekar ibland av Franke och Vaselines men Supertuff är ännu skevare än så. Den högst succébetonade livedebuten begicks tidigare i januari och snart kommer en fullängdsskiva.






We.the Pigs

Ärligt talat är det sällan nuförtiden som jag hör något för första gången och älskar det och tvingar folk jag känner att lyssna och tjatar om att bandet måste spela live och till på köpet hyssj-hyssjar som en annan thönt för att vara säker på att få ordna den första konserten. We.the Pigs från Malmö och Stockholm drev mig till ett högst 19-årigt beteende och jag trivs med det. Helt fantastiska dängor som t.ex. inte gjort bort sig på någon Lush-skiva. Observera dock att de flesta av låtarna på länken nedan är ofärdiga, men de räckte bra för att We.the Pigs skulle bli den allra första akt som blev klar.




The apparently annual Cosy Den festival will this year take place the first week of August. But don't book your flights *just* yet - if it looks to suit bands better with the week after, this may change. I hope to confirm this 100% very soon, though. Information about the artists in a language you can understand will be available pretty soon, too. Until then, just click and listen, I know you'll like what you hear! Oh, and all suggestions concerning the line-up will be considered, as long as they're not reuinions.

Let's leave nothing to chance.


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