mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
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m hederos m hellberg
M Hederos M Hellberg Released: 2000 Rating: 7/10 Track listing: 1. Pale Blue Eyes/ 2. Been Smoking Too Long/ 3. Soldiers Things/ 4. Guilty/ 5. Signed DC/ 6. She/ 7. Heaven Stood Still/ 8. You’re A Big Girl Now Martin Hederos and Martin Hellberg are two talented blokes from Sweden (actually the same city as me) that had some success during the last two years with their naked, fragile piano based music. Not even as songwriters, but as a coverband that even the media enjoyed. They were the opening act for Ryan Adams during his European tour and their albums sold fairly well. The problem was that they got too popular and finally went their separate ways in early 2003. You see, they both are involved in other projects and this duo-thing started off as a fun sideproject. Hellberg is tied up with a reggaeband and some other minor projects while Hederos is touring the world as an original member of Soundtrack of Our Lives. There simply isn’t time for them to carry on. They did have time to release two good and interesting albums and one farewell EP, which I recommend dearly. Cover bands isn’t exactly a new phenomena, but there is something special about this duo. The thin and bare voice of Hellberg combined with Hederos magnificent pianoplaying really sounds unique. Add some harmonica and feet-tapping and you got the entire set-up. Some of the songs might feel a bit too long and some not diverse enough, but if you’re in the right mood it’s extremely affecting and hard to resist. They even manage to surpass some of the original versions, and that’s something, considering they cover Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Randy Newman, just to mention some legendary artists. Artists that many people have covered before, but not with this approach and not this convincing.
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