Right, it’s official. Manon Dave is a musical chameleon - one second he is releasing remixes of Britney Spears and Timbaland, next melancholy alternative pop, then some dirty electro-dub riddims and now a pseudo-classical composition entitle Trinity.

We have seen few who can boast such a diverse range of projects - even fewer who actually pull it off.

For the track “Stones” and indeed parts of “The Flood”, it sounds as though Manon actually kidnapped an orchestra and locked them in his studio. He assures us this is not the case - and after checking with the authorities we have no reason to doubt him.

In fact he has managed to reproduce these delicate sounds without live instruments, somehow capturing the essence of each instrument to paint an intricate and utterly pleasing canvas of string and wind. This just goes to show what is possible with modern sound production.

For a proper review of this remarkable accomplishment, check out this excellent piece by Sean Michael Yoder.

Metal bands come and go - but we get the sneaking suspicion that GrandExit are here to stay. Last year was a good one for them, piecing together a new album “Burn With Grace” which is currently available on Spotify and many other services. Their fans are eating it up. To find out more about GrandExit we threw Pontus Petterson (on guitar/bass) a few questions - we post the answers below for your reading pleasure.

What have you tried to accomplish with your sound?
When we wrote “Burn With Grace” we for the first time really knew what we were doing, how to actually write songs, having an overlooking control over the process. It’s a good, powerful production -  and that’s the whole plan. We wanted to blend a great mix of the genres mentioned above.

If your music was a painting, what would it depict?
Organized thunder-chaos with a dash of pretty swirls.. or a madman made of flames
laughing as he is a living dead, burning gracefully..

Nice Who would say you influences are?
Older influenses that still shows proof of forming us is; Metallica, Edge Of Sanity, Dismember, Entombed, In Flames, Alice In Chains. Newer ones; Opeth, The Faceless, The Black Dahlia Murder, Mastodon, Whitechapel, Gojira.

What has been your greatest success so far?
Opening for bands like The Haunted and Entombed. Releasing two albums worldwide and recording an album as good as “Burn With Grace”.

Who would you most like to headline a show with?
Opeth or the The Black Dahlia murder. Metallica would be ok as well..

Got a any new releases coming up that we should know about?
The next one will probably be ready by summer. When or how it’s released is still to be seen. It will for sure get a unique production, we’ve been pretty ambitious on that part, be a lot more aggressive and technical. More death metal and packed with intense melodies. We’ve come up with some really cool ingredients to give us a sound of our own, in terms of production, melodies and vocals. On some songs the guitars and bass is tuned very differently, giving them a lot of character, some songs are written by starting in the other end, writing the drum-riffs first, some songs are very melodic and catchy, but still furiously intense. New, inventive & aggressive metal.

A Haberdashery is a word which was used to denote a shop which sold a wide assortment of goods, from buttons, threads, bird cages to mouse traps, swords and other bits and bobs. That this also denotes a name for a musician is quite fitting, because within the music of Haberdashery one finds a similar charming variety of goods on offer - this time of sounds and styles. With fans rushing to get hold of his creations, we caught up with Haberdashery and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his music.

If your music was a painting, what would it depict?
It would depict a scene from an Oscar Wilde novel – with dark rich oil paints, but the walls of the room would be shimmering with the glow of translucent circuitry.

What has been your greatest success so far?
In 2010, Haberdashery is releasing 12 free promotional EPs that feature new remixes of previous work, as well as demo and production versions of songs that will come out in 2011. So far, over 7000 tracks have been downloaded.

What inspires you to create music?
I think I connect with music more than I do with any other experience. Music must be the most beautiful art form – and I think that it’s because we feel it so intimately. Our sense of sound is what first connects us with the world. I can say things with music and sound that I can’t with words or images.

Got any new releases coming up that we should know about?
Next year, the new Haberdashery album “Tonight The Angels” will feature something new: 10 singles – one for each song - with remixes and b-sides along the way. A new release every month, starting in January!

Click here to visit the official Haberdashery website. You can find Haberdashery on most online stores and service, including Spotify. Otherwise, we have prepared a little taster below.

-

As you may have heard, The Peoples Music Awards are now taking entries for this years awards cycle. We have been checking out some of the music being added and must say we are impressed so far with this years turn out. Among the more standard genres of pop, rock, dance and hip-hop we are also glad to see some more unusual offerings being entered into the “Off the beaten track” category.

One of these comes from Immundus, a fellow Record Union member who hopes to make an impact with his spine chilling, spooky, otherworldly compositions which fall somewhere within the dark/ghost ambient genre. We caught up with Immundus to find out more about his music and what he hopes to accomplish.

Firstly, for those who haven´t heard it, how would you describe your music?

- The mysterious side of life, paranormal, ghostly presences and heavy and Haunting atmospheric music with the intention to recreate what is inside all of us an connects us, one way or another.

What have you tried to accomplish with your sound?

- In my sound I try to recreate daily atmospheres mainly based out of fear, paranormal experiences, heavy atmospheres and ghostly figures among many others. I personally have experienced these and I know there are many millions around the globe that have had the same experiences. To be able to add this feelings and recreate them into music, sharing it with those who has experienced the same and can relate to this sounds, is amazing.

What´s your strategy for getting those votes?

- I really don’t use “strategy” to get votes, I feel people should be able to vote if they like and support without me having to push them so much to do so. Basically, I post the awards and my presence on these awards on the news section and official site and from there on blogs and my social networks to create awareness of what “Immundus” is up to, so the news are available anywhere where the fans also are, which means they have the opportunity to check out and vote if they want to and pass the word to others.

What do you hope to achieve by partaking in this years award?

- I see this awards a a great way to connect with other artists and create new networks within the music industry, also these are the first awards I ever been involved in, so is quite exciting, just to be among all these great artists is already a honour. I also see this as a great way to expose not only my music, but also this genre of music that I feel it deserves more credit than many gives for.

And what will you do if you win?

-hahaha! naaa …I don’t know, I really don’t have a clue, I guess I should think about this one for a while longer;)

You can find Immundus on the Peoples Music Awards here. Check out his music and by all means vote! Otherwise, find him on Spotify here or visit his website.

DJ Count Effectz has been moving Sydney dancefloors with his eclectic dance/house productions since early 2008. Since then he has been releasing via labels in the US, the Netherlands and most recently founded his own Record Label Effectz Recordings. Spawned from backroom clubs his high powered sound provides a kaleidoscope journey through different (and sometimes quite bizarre) progressive sequences. This is a DJ exploring a range of different sounds, yet there is definitely a distinct style and approach to his music which many will find appealing. We caught up the the Count wanting to know more about his music.

If your music was a painting, what would it depict?
Picture a thousand different colours thrown at one canvas, no one can describe how good it is.

What have you tried to accomplish with your sound?
Something new, tasteful and most of all ‘EAR PLEASING’.

Who would you most like to headline a show with?
Definitely Afrojack or Deadmau5

What is the next step for you?
Aiming for my first tour and from what I have been producing, it is now time to show people my sound live in action.

Read more about Count Effectz and check out his many remixes on his blog. Otherwise, you can find his music on most online stores and services, including Spotify.

This outfit of Swedish Hip-Hopper´s are a mysterious bunch. Jumping around on stage wearing balaclavas and orange jumpsuits they don’t strike you as your average musicians. They are, well, something else altogether.  Intrigued, we caught up with VERKstaden and threw a few questions their way with the hope of finding out a little more more about them - here is how it turned out:

If your music was a painting, what would it depict?
- A dark alley filled with famous superhero villains drinking milk, everyone is wearing black clothes except for one, he is wearing purple clothes and he is drinking orange juice.

What makes you stand out from the crowd?
First of all we stand on the stage, and by doing that, we don’t stand with the crowd, we stand out from it… Secondly, we are completely anonymous and no one knows really how many members VERKstaden has.

Who would you most like to headline a show with?
- Vanilla Ice… I just feel bad for him and if we headline a show with him,… at least he gets booked…

What is the next step for you?
-    To send you this. For more information visit our blog.

Click here to listen to VERKstaden on Spotify.

Record Union would like to congratulate Troublemakers, whose album “Made in Sweden” was voted the best punk/hardcore album of 2009 at Manifestgalan over the weekend.  Manifestgalan is a prestigious award, handed out to the best independent releases from a range of Genres in Sweden each year. Made in Sweden is a masterful mix of classic Swedish punk rock and rock´n´roll, with all the trademark power, pace and attitude which makes music within this genre truly great. The band, and Hans Selander (The A&R who recruited them) are obviously extremely happy with the result.

You can listen to “Made in Sweden” on: Spotify, Deezer.

Today we are pleased to announce that Manchester based indie rock outfit The Words release their first UK chart registered single “FAG“. FAG is a very catchy song, incorporating the lively hooks, powerful vocals and quality delivery which are trademark of the The Words sound. Record Union are proud sponsors of this release, and hope it´s success will match the awesome talent and dedication of the band behind it.

The Words draw on a variety of influences ranging from The Strokes, Kings of Leon & Arctic Monkeys through to Elvis, The Beatles, David Bowie and Motown, the band have managed to produce their own unique upbeat, feel good sound which gets people singing along whilst also hitting hard in all the right places.

“FAG” is that kind of song which you will keep coming back to - catchy is doesn’t describe in accurately, morish is a little better, addictive might be going a little far, but not much. Give FAG a listen on the widget below, as well as the second song on the EP “I just wanna Dance”.

“FAG” is available on all major online stores, such as iTunes, TuneTribe and Amazon and. If you are in the UK, you can order the track via SMS here.

We are proud to announce that Swedish folk legend Björn Rosenström has distributed his entire catalog via Record Union. A true troubadour, Björn has been entertaining Swedes for over 10 years with his humorous, witty guitar driven folk pop. Now his music has been thrust into the digital realm and is available right now exlusively on Spotify.

Björn first became renowned for his comical ballads performing in front of friends and at parties. His first album released in 1996 entitled “Låtar som är sådär” (which took only a day and half to record) was a huge success, selling 110,000 copies and reaching number #6 in the Swedish sales chart - without marketing. Since then he has released 6 albums and along with his band performed at venues and festivals across Sweden. All his music is released via his own label Rosenström Musik.

We caught up with Björn and asked him a few questions about going digital. We post the Q&A here for your reading pleasure.

How important is it for you to have your music on services like Spotify etc.?
In general, I think it´s important to make my music available to people. Spotify is one way. Me and my band “Det Jävla Bandet” have a lot of live gigs and if I can make people listen to my music, I might even see them at some of my concerts.

You are one of the most appreciated artists in Sweden, what are your expectations concerning releasing your music digitally?
I expect to make my music available to a larger amount of people. I hope that I will satisfy my old fans and maybe find some new ones. If then some of them would like to pay for my slight contribution to joy and happiness, I would, of course, be more than happy.

Why did you choose Record Union for your digital distribution?
I have heard of Record Union before and I also got a recommendation from a contact at Spotify. My contact at Record Union is easy to deal with, so simply it was not such a big deal.

Will you be gracing the Swedish people by releasing any new material any time soon?
I´ve promised myself to have a new album ready before summer 2010 and I don´t want to end up a liar. Even if I  struggle a bit with my time schedules for the moment, I really think that the album will be released in time.

We are looking forward to it! What are your plans for the weekend? And where can your fans find you playing next?
On friday 6 we have a concert at the turistic metropol Tanumstrand (near the village Grebbestad in Bohuslän). Saturday 7 we make a trip to the city of Nässjö for another concert. Feel free to come and join the pleasure.

Many of us will have heard about the Twitter song, but the SEO song probably draws a blank. The “SEO song” is part of a campaign by the Creare Group to raise awareness about illegitimate and black hat Search Engine Optimisation techniques - and what better way to launch a campaign than with a little musical composition! Record Union is pleased to play our part in combating rogue SEO optimisers by distributing this song a few days ago, which will be available online in the coming weeks. The song is by Charlie & The Martyrs, and is accompanied by a rather fun video, which you can view below.