úterý 30. listopadu 2010

It could be clear as ice to see

In one distant land shrouded by myths lived in the isolated place called Ochrasy two related souls. 
Their life was devoted to music. To the music that comes to them as a gift from a God. 
To the music that they can hear as a whisper of the tree leaves,
that they can see as a flash of light on the water, 
that flows like a chatter of the wind and that was all around them. 
Their music comes right from Ochrasy.
From the world of dreams, from the world where everything was possible.
In the real life the Two lived like a normal mortals and they were giving their music to the world 
well known as Mando Diao.
If you´ll listen to their music carefully, their tons can carry you far away from reality
to the world of Ochrasy.
And it´s worth it, trust me. 


pátek 26. listopadu 2010

I wanna love you but I´m growing old

Přenos Mtv Unplugged na Německé radiové stanici: 28. 11. 20:00 dasding.de...klik


Mando pááárty ve Stockholmu!!! 

Kdy: 3. Prosinec 2010, 20:00
Kde: Klubb Gloria, Salongen F12 Fredsgatan 12, Stockholm
Co:  DVD Above And Beyond bude poprvé promítáno!!!!

čtvrtek 25. listopadu 2010

I’m just not a very material person

Interview: Björn Dixgård (škoda že Gustaf je nějak nepřitomný při celé propagaci...)

Chartbreaker with a Lidl guitar

He knows how to write masterpieces pleasant to your ears: the Swede Björn Dixgard. The singer and guitar player of Mando Diao tells in the interview to FR about his idol Ray Davies from The Kinks

Mr. Dixgard, Mando Diao is now considered as the most successful Swedish rock export. Before you, artists like ABBA, Neneh Cheery, her brother Eagle Eye and Roxette made international career. Where does this Swedish talent for hits come from?

Music was always very important in Swedish families. When you look at old Swedish family photos of the 19  century, you’ll always find a violin or a guitar somewhere. This is definitely connected with the natural environment:  the darkness  in  Sweden  and how you can drive  it away…

Writing music pleasant to one’s ears is clearly easy for you.

I really don’t have to strain myself too much for that. I write all the time. Thus, it doesn’t look now like we’ll run out of the ideas for the next Mando Diao record.

You’ve played your hits for an unplugged show and made an album of that for the first time. Is this your version of the Greatest Hits collection?

For me it’s not a Greatest Hits album. I don’t like this notion either because it sounds like a name of a record which will come out when we’re already dead. Some time there will be something like  that  but  not now.  Because  I  think  that  for  two-three  years  we’ve  been  going  greatly songwriting-wise. It feels that we as a band are at our highest point.

At the same time you reject the pompous rock’n’roll style. Instead of appearing in pictures from parties and in stretch-limousines you gladly hang out with people like Ray Davies of The Kinks who was a guest of your unplugged album.

By the way a very friendly, polite man – exactly how you’d imagine a British gentleman. The Kinks are a very important influence for us, we admire Davies as a songwriter – not only for his songs of the 60ies. So his name came up quickly when we were considering whom we’d like to have at the unplugged thing. We recorded his song “Victoria” and sent him the demo. This was our first contact.

What was his reaction?

He said: “Okay I’ll be there if you’ll also participate in my new album”. Two hands wash each other.

You’ve been for a long time rock stars yourselves, with shouting girls in the first rows. Will you disclose to us a typical rock star purchase that you’ve made in the recent years?

This is difficult. I’ve bought a summer house in the country near Stockholm. Does that count?

A lot of Swedes have that.

I can’t offer you more, sorry. Maybe our bass player… He turned into a real champagne lover with years and knows a lot about the matter. As to me – it may sound clichéd though – I’m just not a very material person. 

 
And what about your instruments? It sounds like you wouldn’t use a guitar newer than 40 years old on principle.

We don’t exaggerate it. Did our debut album Bring ‘Em In sounded like a quite lousy small garage band? We recorded it on a simple recently made digital recorder. The songs actually appeared in the garage, in the parents’ house of our former keyboarder, Daniel Haglund. And you can hear that too. My guitar was brand-new, I had bought it in the shop, a kind of wedish Lidl for hobby equipment and musical instruments. At that time everyone would ask us what kind of old equipment we’d been using, and it was just the cheapest. When a band says that they can only make good music with old vintage  instruments   am amazed. An expensive guitar doesn’t make a good song after all.

Is it actually true that you say in Sweden: who achieves nothing here, goes to Germany?

I don’t wanna sign under that statement. In general Swedes like Germany. Presently a lot move to Berlin. And these are not losers if you ask me but   lot of good musicians. Among them several friends of mine, who like the art-friendly atmosphere in Berlin.

You yourself live in Stockholm, but keep loyalty to your hometown Borlänge. You may even get an honour award of the city soon.

True, from the city council, for the cultural input of the band in the city. Before there was Mando Diao, there was really nothing. Presently there are several good bands and clubs too, where they can perform, plus a cool festival: Peace and Love, where we play every year, kind of a “home band”. Today it’s the biggest  festival  in  Sweden.  If  somebody had told  me  when I  was  a teenager, what would happen in Borlänge concerning rock, I’d have laughed my head off.

I´m much wiser now, that´s how we walk


Review z Rakouského časopisu Kurier:

CD of the week


Unusually sensitive without the electric sound

The songs of Mando Diao on their unplugged album “Above And Beyond” express melancholy and intensity.

How do you want to follow up the success of Dance With Somebody? Probably the emails which Mando Diao frontman (oh...frontman??) Björn Dixgård received from his label at the beginning of the year were written in a more diplomatic way. The message was clear nevertheless:  with their fifth album Give Me Fire and the super-hit Dance With Somebody the Swedish band had reached the top of the charts. What can be next?

“An unplugged album”, was Björn´s answer. “In April MTV had invited us to record a show, and we agreed at once”, says Dixgård in the interview to KURIER. “This gave us some time to work calmly on our next album, but at the same time it was an artistic challenge.” A challenge that Mando Diao handled brilliantly – although until now their sound was based on sharp electric guitar swishing. Most of the songs on Above and Beyond gain on expression and atmosphere in the acoustic interpretation.

Fragile: Although – or exactly because – the voices of Dixgård and his partner in songwriting Gustaf Norén sound rough and fragile, the songs suddenly reveal a sensitive and melancholic character that until now seemed to be overlapped by the drive of the beats. Thus a soft intro turns the dance hymn Long Before Rock´n´Roll into a statement of longing, until in refrain it swings thrillingly with percussions and piano. And indeed goose bumps crawl over your back when the two of them call out “shivers down my spine” in the stirring blues High Heels, recorded as duet with the amazingly sensual Juliette Lewis.

“As we have written all songs on guitar or piano, the rearranging for acoustic versions was really very easy”, explains Dixgård. “The more amazing it was to see what kind of metamorphosis of character some songs were going through. As in Dance With Somebody we’ve often slowed down the tempo at the beginning. And so you suddenly can hear the beautiful melodies, and also the lyrics are better perceived. And at the end we speed up again – so you get the best of two worlds.”

Charm: The sound of “Above And Beyond”, which is also available as a limited edition with 24 songs, is not always perfect.(????????!!!!! WHAT???) But it’s exactly these flaws that make the CD so charming. This is quality according to the old school formula: simple instruments + people who love to play them = pure feeling.

 

středa 24. listopadu 2010

God I love this clapping crowd!


CD 1:  
1. Long before Rock´n´roll
2. Sheepdog
3. Losing my mind
4. Chet Baker (Lana del Rey)
5. Gloria
6. Song for Aberdeen
7. All my senses
8. Dance with Somebody
9. High Heels (feat. Juliette Lewis)
10. Down in the past (Daniel Haglund)
11. How we walk
12. No more tears


CD2:
13. You can´t steal my love
14. Ochrasy
15. The New Boy
16. Ringing bells
17. Mean Street (feat. Our clapping hands :-) )
18. Your lover´s nerve
19. Mr. Moon
20. Hail your sunny days
21. Victoria (Mr. Ray Davies)
22. Bleecker street
23. If I don´t live today, then I might be here tomorrow
24. God Knows



Special Guesst : KLAUS VOORMAN


pondělí 22. listopadu 2010

And talk about the time we had together

 28 YEARS OF SOLITUDE: MATT WIGNALL BLOG
 
So Vern and I have packed it up again, and headed to Stockholm, Sweden to once and for all finish filming the documentary that was started 3 summers ago when I, the humble Mando Diao photographer/art director, was commissioned with the task of filming a "making of" album documentary.  The album documentary quickly turned into something much bigger as the album hit number 1 across Europe, and then finally, took the band all the way to MTV unplugged.  As it happens, MTV in Europe plays music videos, and has a thing called MTV unplugged.  Strangely it's not just girls without jobs, making out with each other in hot tubs, with douche bag white trash onlookers.  MTV, in Europe, as it was in America, is an honor to perform, and can quickly have a profound affect on an artists career.  We were brought here to document this unplugged concert, and the lead up to what will become the high point of our documentary, and perhaps the high point of Mando Diao's career.  Slated to appear are Ray Davies, of the Kinks, and Juliette Lewis, of... well, Juliette Lewis.   Here is a couple snap shots of the band from some of the documentary scenes.  This film has turned into something very special.  I will post some notes on this shortly, once the ideas are sorted out in my head.


" This is Björn and the..." "...Gustaf."


´ Sounds like you don´t know my name, all the time you do that...´
´ The older I get the more I become like that...to forget things. Especially your name.´



neděle 21. listopadu 2010

When in doubt, Fuck the world

That incredible feeling. I was there. I stood on the stage with Mando Diao. I was really there.
I´m losing my mind. For so long. And without any possibility to get it back.
It was so clear. I knew it in that moment in Berlin, 2. September 2010, just a few meters from my dream. I´m losing my mind without any doubts. And there´s no way out, no way back. But as far as it´s Ochrasy I get lost I don´t mind. No reason for fear.

Because in that moment it was clear that life is worth living. Just for moments like this one. It was clear that nobody else could fill my heart and soul so completely.

The moment of absolute certainty that They are the best band I´ve ever known, that They are the only ones who love so much what they do, that They are the only ones who could make my madness more bearable to live with it. Essence of pure perfection.
The feeling which froze you, took you, stole you and carried you far away from doubts.
The feeling which makes life easier.
Did it really happen? The reality doesn´t exist, so who cares?

Ochrasy which flows throught my vains like blood, which shows me that there´s no reason to give up, that I´m not alone and that moments like this do exist. Moments of pure life.
Like that moment in Berlin. I was alive. Thank you.

středa 17. listopadu 2010

You left me standing in the rain

Mandos se chystají hrát exkluzivní koncert v Německu na festivalu Rock am Ring/Rock im Park. Koncert má být Unplugged a má být v Německu jediný. No uvidíme:)
Více info na oficiálních stránkách http://www.rock-am-ring.com/

S novým albem ´Above and Beyond´ se dostali na 1.místo v ITUNES Rakouska a na 2.místo ITUNES v Německu.

Záznam z rozhovoru na švédském rádiu P3 POPULÄR je možné si poslechnout zde: ...klik... (ve švédštině:) )

Mandos na Mtv home s Down in the past.. Odkaz zde...

Mandos s Dance with Somebody na SAT1 ...tady...:)

pondělí 15. listopadu 2010

I’m gonna lock my heart and throw away the keys

I´ve been losing my mind...for so long

Další novinky spojené s vydáním nového CD ´Above and Beyond´...(které sice u nás dnes vyšlo, ale zřejmě ne tak zcela...opět se na mě v CD-shopu dívali jako na blázna, když jsem vyslovila své přání...ale však já se zeptám zase zítra:-) )

Mando Diao online na švédském rádiu P3 Populär (16.11.10:00 hod) ...Odkaz zde...


I´ve never doubted you

 

I love you fans...You know I do!

 Mtv Unplugged se objevilo na YouTube...zatím jen ta část koncertu, která byla přenášena 11.11. na Mtv...

Part 1


úterý 9. listopadu 2010

We had the same goals, and the same emotions... but now our chemistry is even stronger






Är du med Björn?

Přenos Mtv Unplugged na Radiobob.de: 10.11.2010......zde...
Přenos Mtv Unplugged na Dasding.de: 28.11.2010 ...Odkaz zde...
Nový single z Mtv Unplugged Ray Davis a Mando Diao: Victoria ...ke stáhnutí ZDE

A to hlavní: 15. Listopadu CD ´Above and Beyond´ vychází u nás!!!!



And we never cut the hope 'Cause we never cut the rope

(...obzvlášť ´Cut the rope´ stojí za to!!!)

Until you know you´ll have to wait until tomorrow

Dne 12. Listopadu bude mít Mando Diao Signing Session v Berlíně na Alexander platz a to od 17:30-18:30...
(...aneb jak je důležité žít v Německu a nebo alespoň Německy umět...pokud máte rádi MD...)

...my love´s with you´til the end


Along with the northern light




Destination somewhere between

“England is hell”: Mando Diao and their Unplugged-Album 


Together with all sort of big celebrities like The Kinks leader Ray Davies, the Swedes are waiting for the release of their unplugged album and are as stubborn as usual: “We listen to the feedback from the fans. But we don’t listen to people who make money on us”.

Mando Diao allowed to invite themselves to one of the unplugged sessions by MTV. The Swedes use the possibility to play a refreshed mix of hits and more rare songs in alternative arrangements. How does one get prepared to that? “We’ve been asked that often but there is no good answer”, says bass player Carl-Johan Fogelklou in the interview with APA in Vienna. “It simply happened. We haven’t thought through anything special, just played the songs. The result came out to be something special”.
The album “MTV Unplugged: Above And Beyond” (Universal) is released on November 12 and gives a good overview of the career of the Swedes. Along with the popular items, Mando Diao play the b-sides and songs unreleased until now. No one wanted to release an acoustic “Greatest Hits”. “When you have only hits on a record, the dynamic is lost”, explains Fogelklou. “We have learned that you have to experiment more between the radio songs”.

“It happened”

 

The task didn’t seem difficult to the band at all. “We have played acoustic and electric sets our entire life”, says singer and guitar player Björn Hans-Erik Dixgård. The unplugged versions have emerged from sessions before the recording. “In creative art you don’t give it a big though what you’re doing right now. It just happens”.
Besides others, Mando Diao received support for their MTV performance from Klaus Voormann, designer and team-member of the Beatles. Dixgård: “Some times back Carl wanted to have his bass painted by Klaus. And he got it. Then we invited him to concerts and became friends. It was obivious to ask him”. So Voormann prvided illustrations for the evening. Another participant was Juliette Lewis (“an idea of the record company”) as well as Ray Davies of The Kinks. “We were thinking which established colleagues we’d like to work with. Davies was in the top five”, says Fogelklou. A US newcomer Lana Del Ray lent her vocals for the jazz item “Chet Baker”. “She had this voice of the Marilyn Monroe type. As sugar”, says Dixgård admiringly. 

“Touring in England is scary”

 

In general Mando Diao feel very comfortable with their status in the moment, revealed both musicians in the conversation. Despite the pressure of waiting, it is easier for them to work now than earlier. “Because we have more control. We have the necessary experience in the studio”, said Fogelklou. And his friend added: “The heart and soul of Mando Diao is in all our albums. But the first albums were a war until we could accomplish all our ideas”. “We listen to the feedback from the fans. But we don’t listen to people who make money on us”.
In many European countries the band is among top acts. In Great Britain on the opposite, very little is known about Mando Diao. “We will never make it in England”, says Fogelklou, “because we don’t want to go there any more. The country is hell. Touring in England is scary – everything is dirty, the food is bad, people are wicked. The south is ok, the rest of the country is scary”. Dixgård adds: “There is good culture coming from England, the tea tastes good but touring and music industry is the worst ever”.