Guest blogger Pär Berglund from the great Swedish music blog Meadow Music is ready with another three bands installment of On the Meadow, this one giving us contagious pop by the duo Gocart System, genre mixing electronica by Modual (also a duo) and Swedish melancholy in instrumental robes by Folkvang. Check them out and let us know what you think…

When I heard the duo Gocart System (photo) the first time a couple of years ago, I was captured immediately by their playfulness, musicality and sense of contagious pop melodies. They don’t seem to care about any pop music conventions and blends various influences in the songs, all in a naïvish, lo-fi, indie shroud. Maybe it’s a celebration of pop music from the sixties and onward, or maybe they just do what they feel like. Last year they released their first EP ‘Always Been The Same’ (on Meadow Music) and recently they uncovered their second EP ‘Across The Nation’. Here’s ‘Heavy Rotation’, the first track from the latest EP:

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Another duo, Modual, is also about mixing genres in some kind of crossover. The base is drum’n'bass and dubstep, which they have combined with beautiful, somewhat mellow pop melodies. Add some jazz vibes and you’ve got a cool, relaxed combination of irresistible music. Two EP’s have been released so far, the latest one titled ‘Infinity’.

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If there is such a thing as a special Swedish melancholy, I think that Folkvang shows us what that could feel like. Coming from the north of Sweden, their instrumental music, founded in the seventies’ progressive music, envisions the northern solitude, nature’s greatness and old traditions. Folkvang released their debut album earlier this year, and here’s ‘Ensamhetens Famn’ (”Embrace of solitude”):

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