Purple Rain, Swedish Dansband Style
January 17, 2009 1:46 PM Subscribe
Larz Kristerz plays "Purple Rain". For some reason, Prince hasn't sued them. Yet.
Swedish Dansband Larz Kristerz won the popular Swedish talent show "Dansbandskampen"
Also: Sweet Child O' Mine, Hey Ya!, We're not gonna take it, Yester-me Yester-you Yesterday.
Swedish Dansband Larz Kristerz won the popular Swedish talent show "Dansbandskampen"
Also: Sweet Child O' Mine, Hey Ya!, We're not gonna take it, Yester-me Yester-you Yesterday.
love, or something damn near like it. sure's got a hold on me here...
posted by dawson at 2:18 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by dawson at 2:18 PM on January 17, 2009
You can't sue someone for covering your song.
That hasn't kept Prince from trying. But unlike the Norwegian tribute album, Larz Kristerz' version of "Purple Rain" is still availble on cd.
posted by iviken at 2:26 PM on January 17, 2009
That hasn't kept Prince from trying. But unlike the Norwegian tribute album, Larz Kristerz' version of "Purple Rain" is still availble on cd.
posted by iviken at 2:26 PM on January 17, 2009
Adding accordions and Elvis suits won't make Richard Cheese's shtick funny.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:26 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by Sys Rq at 2:26 PM on January 17, 2009
Thanks for assuring me that despite how cool people say everything in Sweden is--they are in fact on the whole as cheesy as the rest of popular culture.
I'm usually a huge fan of kitsch but this makes my eyes bleed.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:27 PM on January 17, 2009
I'm usually a huge fan of kitsch but this makes my eyes bleed.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:27 PM on January 17, 2009
This cover would be better in Sweedish.
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 2:38 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by rageagainsttherobots at 2:38 PM on January 17, 2009
Prince does lend copyright sometimes. Fantasia sang "Purple Rain" in over 50 cities on the 2003 American Idol tour.
posted by zennie at 3:18 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by zennie at 3:18 PM on January 17, 2009
please god, strike me down with the stomach flu before allowing me to enter sweden.
posted by artof.mulata at 3:44 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by artof.mulata at 3:44 PM on January 17, 2009
Oh that's not ok to unleash on the world. We Swedes need to collectively apologize for this I guess.. Here in Sweden, "dansbandsmusik" (~ dancing music) is the rough equiv. to the worst form of US glitzy country & western. I think.
Old folks with zero taste (or interest) in music want to party -- a.k.a. get laid -- on the weekends but can't stand going to a club or bar? Chances are they go dancing/whatnot to this sort of ..thing. (Sure, there is a fanbase who love this shit, but there are freaks all over the world.)
posted by Glee at 3:52 PM on January 17, 2009
Old folks with zero taste (or interest) in music want to party -- a.k.a. get laid -- on the weekends but can't stand going to a club or bar? Chances are they go dancing/whatnot to this sort of ..thing. (Sure, there is a fanbase who love this shit, but there are freaks all over the world.)
posted by Glee at 3:52 PM on January 17, 2009
ladies and gentlemen, i present vikingarma vs 50 cent
i win
posted by pyramid termite at 4:10 PM on January 17, 2009
i win
posted by pyramid termite at 4:10 PM on January 17, 2009
vikingarna, i mean - how could i forget?
posted by pyramid termite at 4:11 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by pyramid termite at 4:11 PM on January 17, 2009
I heart Europe, but not Europop. And this is even worse than Europop: bastardizing the work of an American genius. There are currently hundreds of American cover bands doing a decent job of covering Prince's work on this Saturday night.
Oh, and I love Sweden and Swedes in particular, having lived there for months, and I accept Glee's apology.
posted by kozad at 4:16 PM on January 17, 2009
Oh, and I love Sweden and Swedes in particular, having lived there for months, and I accept Glee's apology.
posted by kozad at 4:16 PM on January 17, 2009
We Swedes need to collectively apologize for this I guess..
Maybe Norwegians should apologize for this.http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WrlFoJ2vUek
posted by iviken at 4:25 PM on January 17, 2009
Maybe Norwegians should apologize for this.http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WrlFoJ2vUek
posted by iviken at 4:25 PM on January 17, 2009
Snark aside, a brief context.
The Dance Bands (dansband), this immensely hated and equally loved part of Swedish culture, is fairly well covered in the above links, so I won't go in to that.
Regarding Larz Kristerz, though:
The thing is, Swedish dance band culture, hated as it is by anyone who ever made it past the village limits in the small town they were unfortunate enough to have been born in, has been on a bit of decline lately.
(The peak of this style of music was in the 70's.)
This didn't start with, but was propelled by, the seminal public radio top list Svensktoppen (top of the swedes), a show were many dance bands made their way to an audience, in 2003 deciding to allow english language songs on their top list.
New, younger, dance bands now had to move toward a more pop/schlager style, as they now were competing with "real pop acts". They of course also had to cater for the younger audience at the dance venues, and not the least move closer to being considered for participating in Melodifestivalen. (Which is the swedish qualifications for the Eurovision Song Contest, a qualification round that is far more popular than the ESC itself.)
This has made much of the dance band music an extremely dull blend of light pop and schlager.
Anyway. For some reason SVT, our public and by far biggest broadcaster, decided to have this Battle of the Dance Bands show. A shitload of dance bands competed, but in the end there were two left. Scotts, a perfect example of the "new, young" dance band. And Larz Kristerz.
Larz Kristerz is a young, but in style a classic, retro, dance band.
* They are from Älvdalen, home of the guitar/accordion/etc manufacturer Hagström - you might have seen Elvis with a Hagström Viking on more than a few occations. Larz-Kristerz use Hagström all the way, from guitars to mics, amps and speakers.
* They wear the classic dance band outfits. The outfits that came about in the 60's-70's because the bands couldn't do tax deductions off their stage clothes, they had to be stage costumes.
* They play both old and new songs in the classic dance band style, which is like a mix between country music, old schlager and cheesy shuffle.
Larz Kristerz is a band built to either boost a pride of a vanishing culture or to indulge ironic hipsters. I don't know which, probably a bit of both. And as far as I can tell this crossover has been very successfull. They atleast won this contest, seen by a million or so swedes for a consecutive 8 saturdays.
posted by mr.marx at 5:02 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
The Dance Bands (dansband), this immensely hated and equally loved part of Swedish culture, is fairly well covered in the above links, so I won't go in to that.
Regarding Larz Kristerz, though:
The thing is, Swedish dance band culture, hated as it is by anyone who ever made it past the village limits in the small town they were unfortunate enough to have been born in, has been on a bit of decline lately.
(The peak of this style of music was in the 70's.)
This didn't start with, but was propelled by, the seminal public radio top list Svensktoppen (top of the swedes), a show were many dance bands made their way to an audience, in 2003 deciding to allow english language songs on their top list.
New, younger, dance bands now had to move toward a more pop/schlager style, as they now were competing with "real pop acts". They of course also had to cater for the younger audience at the dance venues, and not the least move closer to being considered for participating in Melodifestivalen. (Which is the swedish qualifications for the Eurovision Song Contest, a qualification round that is far more popular than the ESC itself.)
This has made much of the dance band music an extremely dull blend of light pop and schlager.
Anyway. For some reason SVT, our public and by far biggest broadcaster, decided to have this Battle of the Dance Bands show. A shitload of dance bands competed, but in the end there were two left. Scotts, a perfect example of the "new, young" dance band. And Larz Kristerz.
Larz Kristerz is a young, but in style a classic, retro, dance band.
* They are from Älvdalen, home of the guitar/accordion/etc manufacturer Hagström - you might have seen Elvis with a Hagström Viking on more than a few occations. Larz-Kristerz use Hagström all the way, from guitars to mics, amps and speakers.
* They wear the classic dance band outfits. The outfits that came about in the 60's-70's because the bands couldn't do tax deductions off their stage clothes, they had to be stage costumes.
* They play both old and new songs in the classic dance band style, which is like a mix between country music, old schlager and cheesy shuffle.
Larz Kristerz is a band built to either boost a pride of a vanishing culture or to indulge ironic hipsters. I don't know which, probably a bit of both. And as far as I can tell this crossover has been very successfull. They atleast won this contest, seen by a million or so swedes for a consecutive 8 saturdays.
posted by mr.marx at 5:02 PM on January 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Prince does lend copyright sometimes.
Like here and here, for example.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:30 PM on January 17, 2009
Like here and here, for example.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:30 PM on January 17, 2009
Other members of my household are wondering why I'm laughing so loudly while sitting at my computer with headphones on.
posted by X4ster at 5:42 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by X4ster at 5:42 PM on January 17, 2009
This sounds more like a criminal case to me - For that man getting all those dumb Swedes to publicly eat his poop. Submissive coprophagy is not illegal bu must be done behind closed doors. And those campaigning for their right to public displays of coprophagy can go give themselves a whirly.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 5:50 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by gorgor_balabala at 5:50 PM on January 17, 2009
In other rain news, Chocolate Rain is now about Cherry Coke. If you thought Tay Z was a man of principle, well, I don't know why you were thinking about Tay Z.
posted by Citizen Premier at 7:30 PM on January 17, 2009
posted by Citizen Premier at 7:30 PM on January 17, 2009
Dear Sweden: Please stick to making indie rock and porn.
kthxbai
posted by bardic at 8:48 PM on January 17, 2009
kthxbai
posted by bardic at 8:48 PM on January 17, 2009
I actually smiled while listening to these Swedish Dansband (with a solid dose of Rockabilly - the piano player does a good Jerry Lee Lewis) Covers of American Pop/Rock/R&B/Whatever. Only the Stevie Wonder ("Yester-me...") fell flat because they didn't kick the tempo up nearly enough. And yes, I listened to but not necessarily watched all of them. The "just plain fun" factor came through better when you weren't looking at their awful ABBA-esque outfits and mugging for the camera.
You know what the whole exercise reminded me of? Weird Al's Rock Polka medleys (which I enjoy as both silly and satirical), but with even more innocent goofiness. Goofballs doing something well sometimes (but not always) entertain me. And when you see them on an album cover with full-Blagojevich hairdos and the title "Stuffparty", you know these dudes are SCREAMING:"DON'T TAKE US SERIOUSLY! RELAX!"
posted by wendell at 9:28 PM on January 17, 2009
You know what the whole exercise reminded me of? Weird Al's Rock Polka medleys (which I enjoy as both silly and satirical), but with even more innocent goofiness. Goofballs doing something well sometimes (but not always) entertain me. And when you see them on an album cover with full-Blagojevich hairdos and the title "Stuffparty", you know these dudes are SCREAMING:"DON'T TAKE US SERIOUSLY! RELAX!"
posted by wendell at 9:28 PM on January 17, 2009
And the Larz Kristerz 'redefinition' of those songs does not hold a candle (awfulness-wise) to these Tribute Albums (warning: Cracked.com link)
I also see that LK did very few English Language songs on their "Stuffparty" albums (there were THREE of them), but one of them was "Luckenbach, Texas" (the Willie & Waylon song). I would pay 99¢ for that on mp3 unpreviewed.
posted by wendell at 9:50 PM on January 17, 2009
I also see that LK did very few English Language songs on their "Stuffparty" albums (there were THREE of them), but one of them was "Luckenbach, Texas" (the Willie & Waylon song). I would pay 99¢ for that on mp3 unpreviewed.
posted by wendell at 9:50 PM on January 17, 2009
I liked it.
posted by planetkyoto at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by planetkyoto at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2009
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