Detektivbyrån
french folk fusion // musette waltz
While I typically prize innovation in music, this music seems flatly derivative of another favorite artist of mine. And yet, I’m still completely floored by how good it is. If you’ve enjoyed the music of Amelie, you’ve consumed the unique arrangements of Yann Tiersen, who has a delicious repertoire that includes Good Bye Lenin and Les Retrouvailles, etc. Until now, I’d call his music starkly unique, but Detektivbyran’s recordings seem to mimic the instrumentation and style of his alluring recordings. Toy piano, glockenspiel and squeezebox sprinkle across the mad hatter’s workshop of sound. (Thx Christian! A lot!)Majestic yet innocent. Whimsically complex.
Detektivbyrån – E18
Detektivbyrån – Nattöppet
UPDATE 2007.11.25 ‘Nattöppet’ has been spotted in a new Sprint commercial. Woo!
This music nearly brought me to tears. Thanks again to my Swedish friend Christian for the introduction. And thanks to the band for making their best songs freely available as mp3s on their website.
Their music is available for purchase through their website. It costs about $14 (incl. shipping) for their EP, which is the most solid of their three very impressive recordings.
Favorite parts:
E18: The delicate synth climax that hits at 2:04 (though you have to hear the 40 second lead-in). Make this music louder than you think is necessary.
Nattoppet: The warm blanket of sound enveloping you at the two-minute mark. Comes right when you’ve been enjoying its vulnerability.
Off topic, but related to your most recent link on the right.
As someone who works in Congress, I can tell you that contacting your representative isn’t necessarily what you need to do. I promise your representative already knows about the issue, and also that they’re not getting a whole lot of letters from constituents saying “Stop Internet Radio!” There is no public movement disagreeing with you.
At this point, the biggest problem is actually the major internet radio companies. AOL, Yahoo, and other large internet broadcasters control the industry group that speaks for internet broadcasters. There are a variety of compromises on the table, but the industry group is not being very accommodating. Why is this? I can’t say for sure, but I’ve heard it said by people who usually know these things that AOL and the other majors are happy enough to wait until after the July royalty kick in date to negotiate. They have the money to weather a higher royalty environment, while many of their medium sized competitors don’t.
Essentially, by refusing to compromise or make good faith negotiations until the new royalty regime kicks in, conglomerated media has the ability to knock out most of their competition. They then weather the storm, work out a compromise, and boost their market share in the process. Because the smaller internet broadcasters are so much more fragmented, they can’t speak with a unified voice, and therefore are less likely to find a seat at the table.
So if you’re going to write anyone a letter, make it AOL. Not that they have any reason to listen.
Wow, Thanks Kerry!
It’s great to have your perspective and knowledge shared. Very interesting.
When DetektivbyrÃ¥n releases their full-length, be sure to give them another plug so ‘this guy’ can fork over the dough for some aural treats.
very nice!
good find Paul.
Wow. When I listened to this music some amazing emotions swelled inside me. Almost tearful. I haven’t fallen in love with a single group’s music in a long while. Thank you so much for sharing!
I am a big fan of Yann Tiersen’s music for Amelie but this just blew me away.
Their album is definitely on my list of albums to buy!
Thanks so so so much for sharing.
ps. You’re very right, you really do find my favourite music I’ve never heard!
I just stumbled onto your website today, and I think it might be literally the best thing I’ve ever discovered on the net. Just a moment later I glanced through your descriptions of the artists, and lo and behold, find one that in many wonderful ways resembles Yann Tiersen, an artist I’ve followed for years. Amazing. Thanks for creating this site and exposing listeners to such a wide array of music – though I know my bank account will suffer because of it. Heh.
For those still interested in this album, it is now available on iTunes. Just do a search for Hemvagen and you can get the whole thing for less than $7.