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Member from early 80's post-punk band Cortex and grindcore combo Anti Cimex makes his solo LP debut.

Jean-Louis Huhta is already an established name on the Swedish underground music scene. "Halfway Between the World And Death", however, is his first solo album. It's a fascinating and suggestive album, filled with surprising elements. Ambient soundscapes are mixed with D,sseldorf-inspired rhythms and guitar loops to form a neopsychedelic musical brew. Song titles such as "Helvete" ("hell" in Swedish) and "Objects Are Sinister" imply that we are dealing with a dark album. And it's shades are indeed dark but not only so. A light is also present and some of the songs have a warm, almost soothing feeling.

Jean-Louis started his musical career in the early eighties as a member of the notorious post-punk band Cortex. Just as legendary, if not more so, was the Swedish grindcore band Anti Cimex, in which Jean-Louis played percussion between 1984 and 1987. Since then he has participated in various bands and more or less experimental (art-)projects. Together with Texas Instruments he created rhythm-based, industrial noise and as a member of the art collective Lucky People Center he found his way to the contemporary dance music. He has also tried his hand at funk and go-go music with The Stonefunkers.

Today Jean-Louis is involved in a bunch of different projects, among them the noise combo Audio Laboratory and the rock band Skull Defekts (soon to be signed to Tigerbeat 6). Under the name Brommage Dub he and prolific techno producer Jesper Dahlb 0/00ck deal with an unorthodox and dub-inspired form of techno. In the trio Ocsid (disco backwards) Jean-Louis plays "improvisational lounge music". The other two thirds of the trio are the artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Graham Lewis, former bass-player for Wire. During recent years Jean-Louis has also composed music for film, theatre and dance performances.

"Halfway Between the World And Death" is a laptop-based album, although it also includes some acoustic elements. In addition to guitars, accordion and a small Tibetan bell you can hear Jean-Louis own voice, like a ghost in the machine. Apart from that the album is completely instrumental. Jean-Louis has recorded and produced the album himself and he also plays all the instruments (except on the title track, which features artist colleague Johan Zetterquist on guitar). It is hard to label Jean-Louis Huhta's music. When the notorious underground filmmaker Bruce LaBruce heard a few songs from the forthcoming album he got so excited he immediately explained he wanted to use the music for a yet unmade melancholic gay zombie flick. That speaks for the intriguing qualities of "Halfway Between the World And Death".

30-second MP3 excerpts:

Exit
Marja-Lisa
Running Boy
Halfway Between The World And Death
Some Other Place
Assume Formlessness
For Conny
Each Day
Helvete
Suddenly There Is A Change
Furniture To Sit On Kitchens To Cook In Cars To Drive
Objects Are Sinister
Straight To You
Watching The Swells
Memories
Truth Is In The Sound

Idiot Kid blend sounds of folk, rock and blues but most of all their music is their very own. In the universe of Idiot Kid, the quiet and glistening are as vivid as the tempered and regretful. Linus voice is raspy and self-exposing, vulnerable. His guitar playing manages to stitch together the elements of finger picking, dreamy melodies and tearing chords with an aggressive and awaiting double bass, echoing pianos with a lonely trumpet, a harmonium or a mandolin.

The brilliant production of the Darkness in Our House is that of Johan Berthling (Tape, The Tiny etc.). His naked arrangements provide a dimension that is rare amongst produced pop albums of today. The soundscapes in the songs are built up with swirling frequencies and roars, making one aware that the songs have elements of an eno-esque sense of the importance of detail and entirety. The music/songs itself, reminds of such diverse names as Will Oldham and Colin Blunstone, Tindersticks and Vetiver. But there is always something else behind that, a je ne sais quoi that makes these references nothing more than just so. This is part of the uniqueness that is so striking about Idiot Kid.

Other contributors include Lars Skoglund (Laakso, Moneybrother), Ola Hultgren (Sound of Music, Loney Dear and Nicolai Dunger), Tomas Hallonsten (Tape, Exploding Costumer), the violinist Lisa Rydberg and Slottet's own soon-to-be superstar Jean-Louis Huhta.

30-second MP3 excerpts:

Darkness In Our House
Letting Go
Death Will Come
Go To Sleep
The Light Is What You Saw
Last Breath
All I'm Not
My Love
Wide Awake

The musicians involved in Santa Maria are some of the most creative and sharp Sweden has to offer. Johan Berthling, of the internationally acclaimed electronica act Tape, produced the album, in addition to playing bass, zither, guitar and keyboards. Berthling has also worked with artists like Nicolai Dunger, Tenniscoats and Bill Wells. On guitar, keyboard and vocals, Markus KrunegArd, the frontman of Laakso; on drums, another member of Laakso, Lars Skoglund, who also plays with Moneybrother, and is rightfully considered the greatest talent of the new Swedish generation. Also featured on the album are guest performers such as Ellekari Larsson (vocals) and Leo Svensson (vocals) of The Tiny; Eric Malmberg (organ) of Sagor & Swing fame; and Anna Maria Espinosa (vocals), and Sara Wilson (vocals).

• Debut solo album by Swedish singer/songwriter Maria Eriksson of the Concretes and Heikki
  
• A mix of brilliant pop tunes and intricate, deeply progressive pieces
  
• Features contributions from members of Tape, Laakso, Moneybrother, The Tiny, Sagor & Swing, and more

  30-second MP3 excerpts:

  Dogs
  Every Time
  Icestorm
  Pill
  LaLaLaLaLaaa
  Denise
  Face Blank
  Make Up
  Cuckoo
  Lay Down

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