Soundtrack to Week 39

WHY? - Strawberries

Brand new video from WHY´s album Mumps, etc.

Dark Time Sunshine - ANX

I have to start off with admiting that I never really been a big fan of Dark Time Sunshine. I have always loved Zavala's productions, but Onry Ozzborn to me has always been an overrated, and quite boring, emcee, and therefore I haven't bothered too much with their releases. Luckily enough, things change and finally it feels like Onry has stepped up his game and the result is that for the first time I'm pleased with a release from these guys. There are some true gems on ANX, and it's clear that they both have developed since their last outing. But with that being said, it's the instrumentals that are really doing it for me in the end.

Rating: 6/10

V/A - Grandpa Funnybook's Mix-Tapingly Arranged Rapping Song Album 2- Dyadic Dynamite!

Do you feel that there's a lack of hip hop in comics, or vice versa? Then look no further than to Grandpa Funnybook's Mix-Tapingly Arranged Rapping Song Album 2: Dyadic Dynamite! Apart from having an annoyingly long title, it's filled to the brim with cartoon geekiness served on top on hip hop beats. Artists such as Wordburglar, Ghettosocks, More or Les and The Garthim-Master really dives deep into their knowledge of comics and superheroes and bring out a fun album that gets you smiling. I'm not really sure however what the real point is of these 24 tracks apart from that,. Quite soon it feels like an overload of toungue in cheek and you kind of want other subject matters. But nevertheless, it's a fun and wellmade album that fills a void in the market for sure.

Rating: 5/10

Soundtrack to Week 38

otem rellik - Insects in the Living Room

Bra new video from otem rellik's upcoming album Blood Bone Piano.

Insects in the Living Room from otem rellik on Vimeo.

Besatree & Kserious - Eating Crow

Besatree & Kserious are completely new names to me, but new discoveries are always nice. Their album Eating Crow is a really pleasant listen. These guys sure know what they're doing, both lyrically and musically. I get a feeling of Kristoff Krane at times when I'm listening to the album, and that's a good thing. I also like the live music vibe of it all. There is really only one downside to this album, and it's a quite common problem nowadays. Albums are too long. As competent as Besatreee & Kserious are, they can't really make the album interesting for 18 tracks. After a while my attention drifts a bit, which is a shame. They deserve better than that, but at the same time I feel that they would have benefited by shortening the record to perhaps 10 tracks. But all in all a good listen, and I will keep track of these guys in the future.

Rating: 6/10

cars & trains - We Are All Fire (Intro)

First video from cars & trains new album We Are All Fire that dropped on Fake Four Inc. today.

Interview #22 - Michael Öhrnberg

My name is Jessika and I have the most pleasurable role of being Michael's friend. I don’t know much about the music he writes about, as some of you might have experienced, but I do know a thing or two about this man. So I thought it was time to give you all a glimpse of the man that gave words like epic, classic and head nodding a face. Hope you enjoy.

All for the Love of Music

In true beats, breaks & big smile spirit let’s begin with, could you please tell us a bit about yourself?  Upbringing?  School? Guilty pleasures?  Age?  Shoe size? Your choice really…

37 years old. Geek. Dr Pepper addict. Lazy. Bearded. Tattooed. Swedish. Record collector. Youngest brother. Elitist at times, amazing always.

What was your first love music wise and why? 

I think I fell deeply in love with music from day one. I don’t quite remember what the absolute first things I listened to was, but I do know that the two groups that I blame for this lifelong lunacy are Madness and Adam & The Ants. I think I was about 6 years old when I first got Absolutely on tape, and it started something inside of me. The same goes for when I first heard Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming around the same time. It was something that was special and unique to me, or so I felt, and that there was a whole world out there to be discovered that was completely different to the world around me.

Have you done any of your own music?  If so, what type and how did it all go?

Well, there have been a couple of occasions in my life.  The first time around I suffered through 3 years of playing the trumpet when I was around 10 years old.  Don’t ask me why, it was just one of those things that you were more or less expected to do back then. The second time was at the end of the 90’s when hip hop since a long time had sunk its teeth into me. Me and some friends back in my hometown started up a hip hop group called The Dungeon Crew, later known as Shufflas. We were like 7 emcees and one DJ and we rapped in English. I got bored however after a year or so and quit the group. Some years later, my friend MaaSen, who had been a part of Shufflas, had gone solo and become what I would guess was Sweden’s first openly gay rapper. He was recording a 7” for some label and wanted me to guest on one of the tracks, and so I did. It was the first, and only time, I ever rapped in Swedish. And apart from a few times on stage and some really terrible guest rap on some friends demo that’s been it.

Have you always stayed within the same genre of music or do you tend to explore and challenge your own personal taste?

I started off with listening to British pop ska and new wave as a kid, got into heavy metal as well as artists such as Depeche Mode and Howard Jones a few years later. Then Beastie Boys and LL CoolJ turned up and changed it all. Even though I listened to other forms of music all throughout my life, I think that from when I was about 13-14 until I was in my late 20s everything more or less revolved around hip hop in all its forms. Hip hop will always be the love of my life, even if I despise most of it that is produced, but I listen to all kinds of music today. Everything from sugar sweet indie pop to Norwegian death metal, from straight edge hardcore to electronica, from sad singer songwriters to politically conscious reggae. Throw in some Justin Timberlake and I think I more or less filled the whole spectrum.

I know that you have been writing a lot and you do like to express yourself in writing. Is this something you still do, and is it something you can share maybe? What inspires you in your writing? In what format do you generally write?

I think I’ve always written in some way or another. I wrote a lot of stories as a kid and loved creating my own worlds. I think that it’s something I have to do to stay sane. Most of what I write I do just for myself and its things that no one else will ever get to read. Apart from the blogs, I nowadays write a daily diary and from time to time poems. Poetry was something that I was heavily into a few years ago, and I even dabbled a bit with the weird world of poetry slam for a while.

Speaking about writing, why the blog? How did the idea come to life and why in English since you are a typical Svenne?

I started up a blog in Swedish back in 2006 under the name of Queen Elizabeth. It was meant to be a personal blog, but quite soon my interest in music and my need to tell everyone what is good or not took over, haha. After a while I changed the name to beats, breaks & big smiles and quite soon after that I switched to English. There were 2 reasons behind that change. The music that I mostly wrote about is a very small scene internationally and I knew that even fewer people in Sweden were interested. So I switched to English both because of that, but also because I wanted to challenge myself a bit. I wanted to try to keep my English alive, and to see if I can make my opinions understandable in another language.

What do you want to achieve with the blog and who do you want to reach out to with your thoughts?  I .e. who do you want to read your stuff?

Good question.  I would like to sound idealistic and say that I’m doing it for the sake of the culture, but it’s all about ego, haha. No, but seriously, the basic idea behind it is that it’s just a forum for me to share my own opinions about music and culture, and if anyone else reads it that’s just a bonus. But with time that has changed a bit, and I want to use the blog to help artists that necessarily don’t get the attention that I think that they deserve to get heard. But I’m also realistic and know that I write for very few people out there, and that I won’t exactly get rich and famous by doing it. One thing that I hadn’t really expected when I started this blog was all the amazing people that I have got to know all over the world, people that share the love for the same things and who I in many cases would consider friends even if I haven’t met them in real life.

Seems like you write about music from all over the world, what do you think Sweden has to offer when it comes to music? What is the music scene like in Sweden, do you think?

Sweden has always been a strong scene musically and there are always interesting names out there. If I look at what I personally listen to however you can probably fit them all on one hand. The live music scene however totally sucks. It’s a disgrace!

You have been travelling a bit lately and it gave you a taste for more, so I´ve heard. What was the reason in the first place that you decided you wanted to leave this beautiful, oblong country we like to call home?

Just being tired of this beautiful, oblong country, and its narrow-mindedness and lack of culture outlet I guess. There was also this wish to see something else.  I spent 4 months in Melbourne and loved it. It didn’t really work out, so I came back a few months ago. The goal now is to work and save up some money to go away again. Who knows where?

Which artist has stuck with you from day one and what is, in your opinion, the best piece of music ever written?

Oh, good question. I can’t pin point just one artist, but I can name some people that have stuck with me and inspired me in different ways: Chuck D, Beastie Boys, DJ Shadow, Paul Heaton, Henry Rollins, Refused, Massive Attack, Madness, Adam Ant and Morrissey. It’s however impossible to name the best piece of music ever written, but Endtroducing by DJ Shadow and Om Det Inte Händer Nåt Innan Imorgon Så Kommer Jag by David Sandström is among the finest out there if you ask me.

Being a music lover, what is the best place to find great music of today and any special favourites at the moment? Feel free to share links as well if you can.

I get it from the artists and the labels themselves, and from different blogs and forums online. I am a big downloader and I’m not ashamed of it, but I also pay for what I really like. However, I have never paid for a digital file so far in my life, and will hold out as long as I can. I want something physical if I’m to pay money for it. I guess I’m too much of a collector to settle for less. What I listen to at the moment, you all should know by now since you’re all following my blog like the Nazis followed the Jews, vigorously.

Let’s end it all like we started it, the way you usually do it: Any shout-outs?

I want to thank all the artists and readers for all the support. Sometimes you overwhelm me, and I’m grateful! Some people that need to be mentioned a bit extra is you Jessika, Kristian, jamesreindeer, babelfishh, Brzowski, Jen, Bokklubben, Julia LaDense, Mich and Evak. Expect great things in the future. It will be epic!

babelfishh - Howl Bender

If the recent 10" with oskar ohlson showed us a somewhat tamed babelfishh, this time around the beast gets unleashed. Whilst oskar might have been able to bring out the pop sensitivity in him, on his own he goes ballistic with anything that is dark, dirty and disturbing. Howl Bender is 30 minutes of pure filth and I love it. This man don't seem to be able to put a foot wrong at the moment. Very nice to see that he chose to include garage island that he first dropped as part of an interview I did with him. Your headphones might hate you, but buy this tape when it drops tomorrow on I had An Accident Records.

Rating: 7.5/10

Soundtrack to Week 37

Sinestetici - Concrete and Chrysanthemums

Hmm... What can I say about Sinestetici and her album Concrete and Chrysanthemums? She's a good singer and the songs are not that bad. I just can't seem to get overly excited about listening to trip hop in 2012. I used to love, and still do, the early albums from artists such as Massive Attack, Portishead as well as some of Björk's albums from the early 90's as well as the releases on Mo'Wax at that time. But to me, music has moved on since then and there's nothing interesting about that form of music today. It's developed into the elevator music of today. But with that being said, I don't want to trash this album. It's just not for me. Perhaps there's an audience out there for this, and I truly wish Sinestetici all the best in her career. But for me, it's time to listen to something else.

Rating: 4/10

Son of a Bricklayer & Andrew Felix - s/t

2 artists. 2 songs. 20 minutes of music. All good.

Danish beatmaker Son of a Bricklayer has once again blessed I had An Accident Records with some of his dirty, messed up beats. I guess some people can find his productions a bit too monotonous, but I like them. They are especially perfect in the headphones when I'm on my way somewhere. The same goes for Andrew Felix's more electronic music. It creates a good soundtrack to pieces of your everyday life. Perhaps it's not a tape that I will come back to time and time again, but for now it fits just fine in my collection.

Rating: 5.5/10

Soundtrack to Week 36

WHY? - Mumps, etc.

A lot of the discussions leading up to this new album from WHY? have been about whether or not Yoni Wolf is going to rap more on this one than on the previous ones. I know that I myself have been hoping to hear him rap more, but in the end the question is really unimportant. No matter what form he uses, he's still one of my all time favourite lyricists and just hearing him spread his poetry is good enough for me.

The important question should be, is Mumps, etc. a good album? Of course it is! These guys don't seem to be able to put a foot wrong, and this record is no different. I'm not sure if I think it's as good as their earlier releases, but usually they grow on me and with time Mumps, etc. is probably an album I will return to time and again. Favourite tracks so far include Thirst, Jonathan's Hope and Way High on Highway 13.

Rating: 7/10

Two Reviews of babelfishh & oskar ohlson - We'd Rather Not

Jessika's review: 

Since I don’t have much of underground hip hop experience nor knowledge, I will not go into a name dropping frenzy in order to state my opinion on this album. All I can, and need to, say is: This people, is really good shit!!!

Michael's review: 

There's quite a few alternative artists that have tried to combine underground hip hop with the sounds of indie pop. Most of them have failed miserably and ended up releasing stuff that just feels fake and badly constructed. On their record Pinky Swear back in 2009, babelfishh and oskar ohlson touched upon a good hybrid at times, but didn't really go there. 

But finally the perfect mix is here. We'd Rather Not has just the right elements of alternative leftfield hip hop and the most beautful and melodic pop. I could easily go through each and every track on this album to try to explain what's so good about it, but I won't. These two guys have made one of this year's best albums by far and I want the music to speak for itself. 

I do however want to give credit where it's due, and this album wouldn't be what it is without the amazing help from people like winterismyname, filkoe, mildew and the amazing knertz choir. Some really great musicians coming together to make a really great album.

Jessika's rating: 7.5/10
Michael's rating: 8/10

mattr. - Wasting My Life

I don't know if I want to call Wasting My Life a proper album. Most of the beats here are taken from the Little Eskimo Jesus album that will never see the light of day. And in that sense it feels a bit fragmented, like it misses vocals to go along with the melodies. But with that being said, I really like Wasting My Life a lot. mattr. is one of my absolute favourite producers out there, and few people can evoke such emotions with their music as he can. It's heartbreaking, touching and beautiful. People who know me well know how much I loved the first Little Eskimo Jesus record. But even if I'm a bit saddened that we won't get to see a follow up to it, I'm happy to at least get to enjoy the productions behind it. I now also have some really excellent music to look forward to in the future. mattr. is working on two projects that on paper is extremely promising. Rustwalker with Selfhelp and DJ Extend, and another one with Ancient Mith. Until then, go to his Bandcamp page and enjoy some excellent music.

Rating: 6.5/10

Graves33 - Waiting for Never

Brand new video from Graves33.

Soundtrack to Week 35