Me and Ville Ahonen

Minä ja Ville Ahonen is an indie pop band from Helsinki. All their lyrics are in finish and I don't understand a single thing, but who cares? The music is great!

I'm curious about this band. I guess the foreign language makes it a bit of a mystery to me. But with a little help from a friend of mine I've managed to get some translations. Ville Ahonen is the front figure of the band, and Minä ja Ville Ahonen therefor means "Me and Ville Ahonen".

The song title, Ennen kuin kuolen, means "Before I die". And the lyrics continues with something like "...I intend to live".

I am trying to get an interview with the band to find out more. So if you like what you hear and want to know more about the band, stay tuned! For now, just enjoy some good music and passionate dancing in some simple black and white footage.

Bob the Dog

When I first got the idea for this blog I wanted to make an entry called "Bob the Dog", mainly because, well it sounds funny. In reality bob hund (hund = dog) is clearly the band that has meant the most to me during my teenage years. And still they are one of my favourite bands of all time. They are totally incapable of doing a bad concert (yes, really), and I have seen them live so many times I have stopped counting many years ago.

Bob hund is an indie rock band from the south of Sweden. Their early music was sometimes really chaotic, like in this song, Istället för musik förvirring (Instead of music, confusion).




Today their music is a lot more sophisticated with extremely beautiful, poetic lyrics. Their front figure, Thomas Öberg, is also their lyricist. He has a way of playing with the Swedish language that is both intelligent, political and most of all funny. Just listen to these lyrics (translated by me):

Flowers like you only grows on burning ships.
You are the cleanest fish born in poisoned water.
(Blommor på brinnande fartyg, 2009) 

Bob hunds' music videos (there are only a few) are just as weird and funny as their lyrics and live shows. The video of Festen är över (The Party is Over) is particularly well made and is so typical of their humour.




Bob hund actually had a short carrier in England back in 2003-2005 as their English alter ego Bergman Rock, but they never really made it in Sweden. It's just not the same thing. We want the real deal!




This is probably not the last time you'll hear about bob hund, I can promise you that.

bob hund on Facebook
bob hund on Instagram

An introduction to the nordic melancholy pop

It's something about the nordic popular music that makes it stand out from the otherwise UK/US dominant music you hear on the radio. It's something melancholic about it. Sometimes even a bit eery. Even though at first glance it may sound upbeat, it really isn't. Just listen to the chorus of ABBAs' Dancing Queen, and then compare it to Robyns Dancing On My Own. Do you see what I mean?

This is my first entry at The Nordic Flipside and I want to start by introducing you to some of my favourite nordic acts right now.

First up is Saturday, Monday featuring the beautiful voice of Julia Spada in the song The Ocean. This amazing video is shot at Öland, a small island on the Swedish east coast.

Second up is one of the hottest bands right now on the Swedish underground music scene - Kite! The song is called True Colours, and no, it's not a cover on the Cindy Lauper song. I'm gonna see them live later on in the spring, so maybe there will be a review on the concert.

And last, but certainly not least is Veto, a Danish band I discovered on the Roskilde Music Festival 2011. I was surprised that I hadn't heard them before. They are absolutely fantastic!

Be sure to follow this page on Facebook. This is just the beginning. Stay tuned!