Pages tagged “peter bjorn and john”

Number 35 was a respectable showing for the Scandinavian triumvirate known as Peter, Bjorn and John. That was the numerical assessment that the Singin' Swedes (© Paste 2008)* received for Writer's Block, an album that featured the whistlingest tune of the millennium.

From one of the happiest countries in the world comes a rather melancholy album. Peter Morén sheds his two partners to bring a much more low key and acoustic sound than he did as part of the widely acclaimed Swedish indie trio Peter Bjorn and John. A product of more than two years' worth of recording and mixing in U.S. and Swedish apartments and studios, The Last Tycoon will come out April 8 on Quarterstick Records. When asked about the album's lyrics, Morén—the same lyricist of Peter Bjorn and John's breakout hit Writer’s Block—described it as “the usual lyrical psychobabble, but with a direct and honest approach.”

Morén is also set to play at the South By Southwest Festival in March and will tour several nearby cities.

Related links:
Peter Morén's MySpace
Paste: One third of Peter Bjorn and John goes solo
Paste: Peter Bjorn and John talk new instruments

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

It seems that everywhere you turn this year, you hear "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John - and our podcast is no exception. We brought you the song earlier this year, and now we have an interview with the whistler's themselves. You may remember a news item we brought you after ACL about PB&J's upcoming plans, but this time you can hear the interview for yourself.



We also featured Four to Watch artists, Simian Mobile Disco and Anat Cohen. To read more about both artists, check out their respective Four to Watch Articles: Four to Watch - Anat Cohen and Four to Watch - Simian Mobile Disco.

On top of that, we also had our first OurStage podcast winner, Moses Mayes. Make sure you check out OurStage, they've got a pretty cool site going.
Until next week...

Unless you have spent this year in a cave, you’ve heard a lot about Peter Bjorn and John. But if you happen to be one of those cave dwellers, tell me, how are you liking it down there? Is it dark? Musty? And have you at least scrawled some rudimentary paintings on the walls to spruce the place up?

If you live above ground, you’ve probably spent the last year whistling along to the breezy pop charms of Writer’s Block. Get ready to increase your Peter Bjorn and John love by 33% (or something), because Peter is going solo. Don’t worry, the Swedes are still happily playing together and preparing for their next album, but in the meantime, Peter Morén has made an album of his own called The Last Tycoon. No release date has been set, but expect to fall in love with the F. Scott Fitzgerald-referencing disc not too far in the future.

Before the band heads on a fall tour with the Besnard Lakes, Morén will be playing a show at New York City’s Joe’s Pub on November 19. You can head over to his MySpace page to listen to three songs. And even if you are reading this from the comfort of a cave, it may be worth coming out and seeing the light on November 19.

Peter Morén:

November
19 - New York, N.Y. @ Joe’s Pub

Peter Bjorn and John (with the Besnard Lakes):

November
23 - Houston, Texas @ Warehouse
24 - Dallas, Texas @ Palladium
25 - Tulsa, Okla. @ Cain's
26 - Kansas City, Mo. @ Madrid
27 - Indianapolis, Ind. @ Vogue
29 - Cleveland, Ohio @ Beachland Ballroom
30 - Louisville, Ky. @ Headliners

December
1 - Detroit, Mich. @ Majestic
2 - Cincinnati, Ohio @ Bogart's
3 - Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Mr. Smalls

Related links:
Peter Morén on MySpace.com
PeterBjornandJohn.com
Peter Bjorn and John on MySpace

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.

Currently playing a run of shows that will find them hitting various U.S. sites and a couple cities across the pond, Swedish popsters Peter Bjorn and John took a moment to relax and catch up with Paste's Jason Killingsworth at this previous weekend's Austin City Limits festival. Even though the band's current release Writer's Block is still winning over new fans (Pete Yorn took his turn covering PB&J's hit single "Young Folks" during his own ACL set), it turns out the guys already have another record in the can.

"We have recorded the new record," Peter Morén told us. "It's almost finished, but it's a bit of a secret. It's a special record."

"It's for special kids, made by special kids — us," John Eriksson continued. "It sounds like special kids playing on it."

Hmmm...apparently vague is the new vogue. So we twisted the tip of our long white beard, reclined slightly in our armchair, adjusted our specs and prompted the band to "talk more about 'special.'"

"We're doing an instrumental piece," Bjorn Yttling clarified. "It's a great record, but it's without vocals so we'll see what the people will think of it. We've always wanted to do that, and we thought this would be like the great time to do it when we actually have a career going — to kill it. Kill the career. Make an instrumental one that no one will play on the radio. We just wanted to do a record that we liked, and we wanted to do an instrumental one this time."

PB&J are in the mastering stage of this as-yet-untitled, career-ending record, with no release date set at this point. With details still so scant, Morén indulged us with some influences to try and attempt to describe the new record's sound.

"For this album we listened to lots of different stuff like Carribean, Brazilian, African, world music basically, and also like old soundtracks, and Langley School of Music Project," he said. "I think it was a British school in the '70s. The teacher learned the kids to play like 'Band on the Run,' and Elton John songs, like the hits of the day. But it sounds really weird when they play the arrangements, like kids playing. So we wanted to have that spirit, so that's why I play a bit of violin, Bjorn plays some saxophone. We can't really play those instruments, so it sounds like kids."

Special indeed, and hardly blue-light. Peter Bjorn and John play in San Francisco tonight at The Warfield, and the remaining dates of their tour can be found on the band's MySpace page.

Related Links:
PeterBjornAndJohn.com
YouTube: Peter Bjorn and John - "Young Folks"
1,000 Words: Peter Bjorn and John - Atlanta - Variety Playhouse - 9/12/07

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.

Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
Members [l-r]: Björn Yttling (bass, keyboards), Peter Morén (guitar, harmonica), John Eriksson (drums, percussion). (All sing)
Fun Fact: PB&J sing in English because “it's easier to write personal stuff when you don’t use your own language.”
Why They’re Worth Watching: The trio’s whirlwind tour of the States involved more high-profile gigs in a week than most groups get in a lifetime.
For Fans Of: The Jesus and Mary Chain, Camera Obscura, The Concretes

For Peter Björn and John’s maiden voyage to America, there were no gaps in the itinerary. Remarkably, the three Swedes knew exactly where to go, who to meet and what to pack. Then again, the journey was 16 years in the making. Of course, few bands plan on playing three sold-out shows, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic all in the same week, and even fewer exercise the patience necessary to realize such grandiose dreams. Fortunately, PB&J have a knack for aging their music to perfection.

As teens, Peter and Björn began writing songs together, but only with the addition of John eight years later did the collaboration bear any fruit. “We just didn’t get a deal,” Björn recalls. “We weren’t good enough.”

Since John’s arrival eight years ago, however, PB&J have released three albums, eight singles and three EPs, a prolific streak for a band that dubbed its latest record Writer’s Block. “We needed someone who was thinking like us, and we didn’t have that before,” Björn explains. “Now we have this kind of magic when we play.”

This magic Björn speaks of is a gorgeous blend of fuzzy textures and ’60s-throwback melodies that makes dancing more an imperative than an inclination. On buzzy, border-crossing single “Young Folks,” PB&J somehow combine bongos, maracas and a whistling refrain so infectious that you’ll wonder why more bands don’t just ditch the guitar and use their lips instead. “It’s a good single and a good song to listen to, but the amount of people that think that is incredible,” Björn says. “It was a huge surprise for us.”

With 16 years’ practice, his modesty sounds genuine as can be.