Presenting Sweden's Newest Cultural Export, Movits!
Written: Aug 04 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: wildly eclectic with a seemingly limitless energy
Cons: the foreign elements can keep listeners put off by such things at a distance
The Bottom Line: a unique and entertaining fusion of all things swing with modern elements of the hip hop scene
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| DrFaustus's Full Review: Äppelknyckarjazz by Movits! |
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Evening at the Improv. We've got some real funny stuff for you tonight, and we’d like to start off with something based on some audience suggestions. First of all, can anyone give us a profession?
I think I heard hip-hop artist from the gentleman over there. Next we need someone to suggest a nationality...
Swedish? Is that what you said? Alright. Finally someone needs to come up with a location. How about you over in the back...
I think I heard "1940's jazz club." Okay, lemmie get this straight. Hip hop artists from Sweden in a 1940's jazz club... That's just too ridiculous. It'll never work. You people are idiots. Just go home.
The idea of Swedish hip hop group playing music inspired by the jazz giants of the World War II era may sound like something straight out of bad improv comedy, it's no laughing matter for Movits!, Scandanavia's newest and arguably most eclectic musical export.
The group's debut album, Äppelknyckarjazz, can be a little daunting for American audiences. The track listing is peppered with umlauts and other diacritical marks, and each song is sung entirely in Swedish (save for the occasional reference to pop cultural icons that include James Dean, Benny Goodman, Errol Flynn, Rolling Stone magazine, and even Roger Moore and Tom Jones). Don't be daunted by the very foreign feelin of Äppelknyckarjazz, though. Movits! are clearly having a lot of fun with their music (much more so than the black metal acts that make up the brunt of Sweden's other musical exports), and there's no need to have any idea what they're singing about to get caught up in that fun.
The Movits! sound pops with a live energy due mainly to their instrumentation and arrangements. On many of the tracks, a full drum kit, heavy on the tom-toms, helps to bridge the generational gap between heavy hip hop beats and classic swing band swagger (think of the drum beat behind Louis Prima's Sing, Sing, Sing to get the right feel). Other songs trade in the booming bombast for the softer sound of snare drum brushes and round out the rhythms with some gypsy guitar in the spirit of Django Reinhardt. And throughout every song, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, accordion, and other swing instruments add an authentically retro lounge vibe to the arrangements. And of course, Movits! is at least partially hip hop, so the vocal flow can't be overlooked. I can't speak for the actual lyrical content on any of the songs, but the flow of the quick-fire delivery has a solid nerdy-cool vibe to it, and there are more than a few call-and-response moments that invite singing along in your best approximation of the Swedish language.
What could easily have ended up as a one-note novelty actually ends up as a richly varied treat for listeners. There's the syncopated tom-tom rhythms of the album's opener Ta På Dig Dansskorna, the languid saxophone reminiscent of John Coltrane's My Favorite Things on A-Kasse Blues, the lopsided 5/4 rhythms of Epistel n:o 1 that echo Dave Brubek's Take Five, the swampy banjo and harmonica funk of Tom Jones, the hipster cool vibe of Stig Iväg Jack del II that hearkens back to the charm of Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher, the gypsy-style klezmer stomp of Vals På Vinkelgräng, and the Benny Goodman/Louis Prima style dance music of Swing för Hyresgästförening, to mention a few. There's something for everyone with an appreciation for a fine retro sound.
Movits! is one of the truly unique musical acts out there these days. They're a genuine delight in these days of generic cookie-cutter acts. If I had to name a similar sounding act that more people might know of, I'd have to go with Soul Coughing, who needle-dropped samples of old Andrews Sisters songs and other swing era tunes into their music, but the tendency that Movits! has of opting for in-studio musicians rather than sampling of vintage records give the band a much more organic, much more live feel.
We'll always think of Volvo and Ikea when we think of Swedish imports, not to mention ABBA when it comes time to think of the musical side of the equation. Movits! will probably remain too much of a niche act to ever reach those same levels of cultural awareness, but that certainly doesn't make them any less enjoyable of a listen.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
DrFaustus
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 in Music |
 - Top 500 |
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Location: the Lake Michigan shoreline
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I can't help being a big fan of the esoteric and the obscure
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