This week’s focus is on Switzerland with The Mondrians and the film Home. Incorporating elements of garage rock, psychedelia, power pop, and good ol’ fashioned rock’n’roll, Swiss indie band The Mondrians first hit the music scene back in 2005 with the release of a set of homemade demo recordings called Pearl of the Lake. They followed this up with several more demos throughout the next couple of years and began their assault on mainland Europe, playing shows in Switzerland and France, before trekking across the English Channel to attempt to impress the notoriously tough British music press and audience. After doing just that the band journeyed to Spain in 2008 to begin work on their debut album with producer Gordon Raphael…

This week’s focus is France with singer Camille and the film Un Prophète. Quirky French pop chanteuse (and occasional Nouvelle Vague vocalist) Camille has often drawn comparisons to Iceland’s Björk due to her idiosyncratic, and oftentimes outlandish, singing style camilleand the vast range of genres her music draws inspiration from (traditional chanson, electropop, and even opera are all represented). Since her 2002 debut album, Le Sac des Filles, Camille has been a musical superstar in her native country, with nearly half a million albums sold and counting. She has also won numerous awards, including the Prix Constantin (the French answer to the Mercury Prize) for her second album, Le Fil, and multiple prizes at the Victoires de la Musique.

So we love Karen O. She has this incredible energy, a haircut few people can pull off, and really great outfits. And oh yeah, her music is pretty great too. Remember when she did that fan video for “Cheated Hearts” that included just about everyone who has ever wanted to impersonate Karen O?
Well, as if The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s lead singer wasn’t already near and dear to our hearts, we can now credit her with the soundtrack to the greatly anticipated cinematic adaptation of the children’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are. I mean, I was dying to see this movie the second I heard about it, but now that I know Karen O is involved, I’m pretty close to implosion.

We’re going to stay in Scandinavia this week, with the charming indie pop duo Kings of Convenience and Norwegian film, Max Manus.
Childhood friends Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe have been creating music together since their teenage years in the band Skog, KingsOfConvenience-02-bigthough they didn’t find success until their debut album as the Kings of Convenience, 2001’s Quiet Is the New Loud. They are set to release their third studio album, Declaration of Dependence, on October 20; it is their first album in five years. The lead single is titled “Boat Behind”, and several songs on the new record feature Canadian indie songstress Leslie Feist on back-up vocals.