Sundance Channel

Robyn Documentary

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:41:10 +0000

Robyn, the prolific and innovative Swedish pop singer, is the subject of a new hour-long documentary. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the life and professional evolution of a child star to an iconic force. It is in four parts – click through to the next part after each part ends.

Welcome to the Treehouse

Perrin Drumm — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:24:02 +0000

The idea for the Treehotel was born when Kent Lindvall, the owner, and three friends went on a fishing trip in Russia. One night, as they drank vodka around a campfire, Kent brought up the idea to his friends, who all happened to be architects. They embraced the idea immediately. Soon after, the group was walking through the woods in Harads, a small village in Northern Sweden. As they scouted for possible locations, it was important to find places where they wouldn't need to cut down any trees to make room. "We made small paths that fit in perfectly with the forest without taking anything out, so when you come up here it's absolutely untouched nature," Kent explains.

Harvesting human body heat in Sweden

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:00:40 +0000

Ever noticed how warm it gets when you're in a closed-in space with a lot of people? Yeah, could be anxiety from claustrophobia... but, more likely, you're noticing how much heat our bodies give off in the course of normal events. It turns out that heat can be harvested with century-old technology... and create significant energy savings.

Robyn’s Indestructible

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:42:25 +0000

Robyn, the Swedish pop star I obsess over, is set to release her third and final album of 2010, Body Talk Volume 3, in November. To gear up for the release and yet another American tour she’s just released the video for lead-off single “Indestructible.” It’s a sexy affair featuring couples making out while she [...]

Celebrating Bjork

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 22:07:20 +0000

Bjork and Ennio Morricone received the 2010 Polar Music Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf earlier this month. The award is not just recognition but also comes with some cash, 1 million kronor ($136,000). Bjork sat in the audience looking like a glam doll. The highlight of the evening were the three musical performances honoring the Icelandic songstress. Swede Robyn tackled the opus "Hyperballad." Ane Brun did a convincing reading of "Jóga" and "Human Behaviour" was reinvented by Wildbirds & Peacedrums.

Röyksopp’s Senior

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:22:07 +0000

Royksopp - The Drug (Official video) from EMINOchannel on Vimeo.

Röyksopp's album Junior, from last year, was one of the top albums of 2009. Featuring the lead singer from The Knife and Robyn, it was a Scandinavian disco stomper. A mere year later the boys are back with the companion album to Junior, titled Senior. It's trippy and moody and streaming live right now on Hype Machine.

Robyn’s “Hang With Me”

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:02:05 +0000

Robyn – Hang With Me official video from Robyn on Vimeo. My love obsession with Robyn continues. Next week I see the Swedish pop star onstage in a double billed show with Kelis. These two women have crafted the best electronic albums of the past few years. Eat your heart out Gaga. And the prolific [...]

Ancient dildo dug up

Em and Lo — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:00:30 +0000

We've come a long way, baby. Check out this penis-shaped....shall we call it a "tool"? It was just unearthed in Sweden during an archeological excavation by the country's National Heritage Board. Carved out of antler bone and probably dating back to sometime between 4000 to 6000 B.C., the dildo-like object measures 4-inches long without much, um, girth (which makes sense since people were a lot smaller back then). The scientists aren't saying definitively what it was used for, but we know what you're thinking: it was probably a tool for chipping flint, or better yet, a back massager to relieve stress.

Robyn, X3

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:21:43 +0000

Robyn will probably never break the US again. She did once, more than a decade ago, when she was packaged as a Scandinavian Britney-wannabe. But then she broke out on her own. Lost her baby fat. Got weirder. And embraced electronic music.

The Knife’s opera about Darwin. Really?

Bradford Shellhammer — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:31:59 +0000

The Knife, that freaky electro-duo from Sweden consisting of brother and sister Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer, has just released the soundtrack to their opera written about Darwin Tomorrow, in a Year. A Swedish electronic opera about evolution may seem strange to some, but for these guys it seems pretty natural. Their music has always embraced weirdness and oddities. This just seems a natural, um, evolution.

ABBAWORLD!

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:15:38 +0000

I sometimes wonder, "why am I American?" In the political landscape of today others may feel this same way. But, really, how could I come from the land that has shunned the greatest artists of our time? I'm talking about ABBA. Every other civilized nation of taste (Sweden, England) eat, sleep, breathe the perfect pop prince and princesses. Their lack of respect in the USA makes me want to protest. Scream from the rafters. Pick fights with all you Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West loving Americans. How could you not get it? Well, there is a place for people like me to escape. Recently opened in London is ABBAWORLD, the first, and only, ABBA theme park in the world.

ABBA gets some respect

Bradford Shellhammer — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:57:44 +0000

The bands Rolling Stone review and write about are predominantly men, except for the obligatory cover stories on pop starlets showing their tits. Rock radio almost entirely turns its back on female singers. And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame typically inducts only men. Rock and Roll is a sexist world. And gays love [...]

This Must Be It: Röyksopp’s odd new video

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:10:43 +0000

It is no secret that I adore Swedish electro-pop. I have since I first discovered ABBA. Then Roxette. Neneh Cherry. Robyn. And of course Röyksopp. Last month I posted a link to a free download for “This Must Be It,” their new single featuring the vocals of Karin Dreijer Andersson. The video for that song [...]

Free music download: Röyksopp

Bradford Shellhammer — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:56:47 +0000

Röyksopp's current album features many collaborations. Their most recent single, "The Girl and The Robot," pitted the duo against ice princess Robyn. That single's video is brilliant and can be seen below.

Rediscovering Neneh Cherry

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:44:48 +0000

Andreas Kleerup's just released eponymous album is remarkable. He out-Röyksopps Röyksopp on the release, which features haunting and bubbling synths and those emotional, yet detached, Swedish ingénue voices: Robyn, Titiyo, and, surprisingly, Neneh Cherry.

How hetero?

Bradford Shellhammer — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:09:20 +0000

Those sassy Swedes throwing Stockholm Pride have created a way to test just how heterosexual you are by scanning your Twitter posts for obvious gay terms. The results are quite funny. For example, if you search my Twitter account, youngbradford, the results come back pretty obvious: 1% hetero! Though I think I am even less. [...]