There’s definitely more than Abba in Sweden. But who is hiding behind the enigmatic name of Those Dancing Days? Five young women (two are still in school) from the outskirts of Stockholm who’ve just released their first indie debut album Run Run including hit Hitten.

Their name comes from a tribute to the legendary rock group Led Zeppelin and their song “Dancing Days”. With their refreshing pop, their have won over their home country up to being nominated last year for Best Swedish Act Prize at the MTV Music Awards. Their music made of lively melodies accompanied with sweet guitars and soft voices turns into a perfect summer soundtrack. So let’s dance!

Listen here

Watch out! Once you’ve heard her terribly catchy and sexy sound you’ll be caught. But who exactly is DJ Missill? DJ, VJ, producer, graphic designer?

As a “self-made woman”, Missill has built her own private Idaho that she is willing to share with dance clubbers. Her universe is composed of hip hop and electro bits mixed with animé characters.

Nicknamed the “Urban punk” by British media, she hit definitely her target earlier this year with well-named album “Targets,” adding to her usual signature a dose of ragga breakbeat and stings of rock. Her ultimate mission: to win over your hearts…

On today’s market, he’s one of the funkiest graphic designers who everybody is — or will be — fighting for. Jelsen Jargon has already proven his off-the-wall style working with Pepsi, Vitamin Water, Brown Girls Burlesque and Dunkin Donuts. Let’s slow down and chat with the inspired and inspiring Jelsen Jargon.

TRACE: What inspires you?

Jelsen: Hmm. Everything inspires me. “Input Dictates Output” is my saying. In general I just try to keep my eyes and ears open; try to take in as much as possible.

Traveling’s a big deal. I wish I could travel three months out of every year — at least. The more perspectives in my back pocket when approaching a specific problem the better I can solve it.

I’m also a fan of riding the subways of any city. It’s such a great rotation of interesting content; the sounds, the colors, the languages, the pace…the way people interact with with each other — gotta love it.

T: What would be the ultimate client you would like to work with?

J: I’d love to collaborate with oodles of folks, but if I had to pick one industry to work in for the remainder of my career it would have to be a community and grassroots organization — ideally in an African (diaspora worldwide) community. The opportunity to contribute to the further advancement of my people via graphic design is just about the coolest win-win scenario imaginable. I couldnt possibly think of anything better than that.

(more…)

He totally brings you more than a “little bite of feel good”. British funk singer Jamie Lidell hits one more time the joy session with new album “Jim” released this month.

Revealed to a larger public in 2005 with his song “Multiply,” Lidell has now scored a try with a funkier music, still holding the influence of the great Otis Redding but with a much more personal vocal signature that can only be brought by a longer experience on stage and studio. Recorded in LA, Paris and Berlin — where Jamie spends now most of his time - “Jim” mixes vibrating bits with deeper soul music tracks singing about his life. Lidell definitely keeps his rythm going.

She’s only 22, but she’s got the flow of a hot shot diva. Since she first started singing in Phillie’s jazz clubs when she was only 16, Melody Gardot has perfectly borne her name. But ask Melody and she’ll tell you that music means more to her than that. Music, she’ll tell you, saved her life.

After a very serious bike accident, it was thanks to her music therapy sessions that Melody got back on her legs. She still bears repercussions from her accident, walking with a cane and wearing tinted glasses. Writing her first songs during a convalescence, Melody’s first album, Worrisome Heart, is the perfect reflection of those past days, mixing pain and uncertainty with classical but audacious style and creating an intimate atmosphere at the intersection of jazz and blues.

Check her out on tour now in Europe.

Drawings coming out of nowhere; evanescent female figures with flowers blooming out of their eyes or mouth. That’s Noumeda Carbone’s world. Her art reveals her personal path, a crossroad composed of many sources.

Raised in France from an Indian-French mother and an Italian father, Noumeda has been immersed into an ocean of art at a very early age. Graduated from the Instituto d’Arte of Florence and collaborating with international art magazines (Rio, Kult magazine), she is used to mixing drawings, photographs, watercolours and even collages, managing to build a world full of lightness and dream-like effects — as if the Alice in Wonderland set had met animés and geishas. A world where everything could be possible.

Just imagine, 30 years ago going to an art gallery and bumping into a urinal! At that time, French artist Marcel Duchamp definitely shocked Parisians. Cheeky, hilarious — sometimes rude — one of the Dada movement representatives gets another time around in Paris with mates Man Ray and Picabia.

The Sex, Humour and Flamenco exhibit brings together puzzling representations of life. At a time where formal is on its way back, a fresh reminder of impudence comes to check us up. From the female sensuality embodied by Catherine Deneuve, to toilets or a dancing bicycle girl: definetely a funky vision of life!

Go deeper here.

Remember those 1950s era advert posters? Colorful, graphic, with a touch of childlike glee. They’re back with a little help from artist Nishant Choksi. This London based illustrator uses a whole array of what can now be qualified now as kitsch marketing. But instead of implementing a simple interpretation of this legendary imagery, Choksi plays with the ultimate weapon of the 21st century artist: irony. Times have changed, and companies working with Choksi like Vodafone, The L.A. Times and The Guardian are eager for playful characters, stories that can be understood in one glance. That’s definitely the power of humor - quick, effective and hilarious.

http://www.nishantchoksi.com/

Have you ever heard of “baroque modernism”? Very few have, with the exception of Tim Biskup who fabricated this artistic concept. The East Coast artist has been building up a universe made up of geometrical forms, long-limbed flashy ladies and psychedelic robot toys (that can, by the way, be more than 5’7 feet tall). This interest in cartoon inspired drawings comes from an early career amongst the animation studios of Biskup’s home state of California. As the millennium approached, Tim began showing his artwork in L.A., Tokyo, Barcelona and Berlin. Working on a variety of projects, like limited edition prints, vinyl figures, sculptures and t-shirts, Tim Biskup’s latest work has driven him into “darker territories” made up of skulls, nightmarish landscapes and mythological futuristic monsters. Tripped out and kind of scared? Don’t fret, it’s just art! Check out his website or his MySpace page for more info.

It may not strike you at first glance, but these hyper-feminine, glamorous, colorful characters were born on the streets, directly from the one-and-only Miss Van. Straight from southern France, the Toulouse native soaks up her inspiration and she’s now a worldwide sensation taking her art to Barcelona, Manila and New York City. In the early 1990s at the age of 18, Miss Van first sketched what is now recognized as her signature style. Shapely, sensual dolls, whose roots can be traced to Japanese anime - a mixture of childlike creatures and otherworldly aesthetics. With a style all her own, she’s been able to build up a strong reputation in a male dominated field. Bringing pin ups, and glorious strokes of pink, she celebrates the best part of being a girl! Check out her exhibit at the Magda Danysz Gallery in Paris running through December 29th.