I love Scandinavian Rock Bands — still

My love of Scandinavian bands, and those Nordic ingenues that generally front them is very well documented.

While Bjőrk marks the start back in 1992 I have to say that my absolute favorite perennial Scandinavian band is The Cardigans.. Actually they’re also one of my favorite bands ever, flat-out.

Their latest record Long Gone Before Daylight .

It is rumoured that this record marks an even more Bergman-esque, Dedman-approved, turns of darkness as compared to their previous record (which itself was moving to a Nordic winter of the soul), Gran Turismo.

..and let’s get what needs to be said out of the way. The singer, Nina Persson, is darkly-humored (once wishing that she would die by receiving a poison-laced candy bar from Ozzy Osbourne), daring (check out the video from “My Favourite Game”), and beautiful as an glacier.

The trouble with this latest album was that it was released only in Europe - to get the import was a meager $40.00.

I love The Cardigans, but a 40 dollar CD that’s not a double set or something is a bit rough…

But this month marks the American release (yay!).

To get a sample of some of their newest tunes you can check out a great live performance they did for “Morning Becomes Eclectic” on Santa Monica public radio.

It is awesome.

At KCRW, (who recently fired commentatrix Sandra Tsing Loh for pushing the FCC’s buttons with a rather, spicy bit of vernacular) you’ll be visiting the station that first gave home to Joe Frank’s beautiful, mental-psychedelic oddysseys.

Mike and I love this one especially. Regrettably the costs of operation have forced Joe to start requiring money to play these streams. Alas! This one is certainly worth it.

I would love it if Joe were to get his work into iTunes or audible.com.