Movits!
Appelknyckarjazz
The Syndicate
8/10
Think Sweden, and you may think meatballs, or lutefisk. Not hip-hop. Well, unless you count the Movits!. The trio of the brothers Rensfeldt and friend Joakim Nilson have been burning out the charts in their native Scandinavia for quite a while now—two years, to be exact. Despite the language barrier—they sing mostly in Swedish—their unique mix of big band and hip-hop scored big US, thanks in no small part to a little talk show host by the name of Stephen Colbert.
Since their debut appearance on cable, their 2008 album Appelknyckarjazz, managed to climb to the next to top spot on the Itunes charts in 2008. But don’t take Itunes word for it. The opener “Ta Pa Dig Dansskorna”, a surreal combination of big band drums and rap, brings to mind a hip-hip Benny Goodman laying down rhymes over sultry horns. If that’s a bit much, sample “A Kasselblues”, a slow ditty that owes as much to John Coltrane as it does to LL Cool J. Whatever track you prefer, Appelknyckarjazz is promises to transfer you to a new musical world.
The Movits! are currently on tour. For dates, go to The Movits Tour Blog for more details.