The House of Sweden throws killer -- and very popular -- late-night parties with DJs and live music a few times a year, which bring out very cool (and very indie) crowds with skinny jeans, scarves, asymmetrical haircuts and white Converse. As part of the Swedish embassy, it also hosts free concerts featuring Sweden's finest musical acts. These have ranged from indie-folk troubadour Jose Gonzales's standing-room-only lunchtime performance earlier this year to classical recitals. If your tastes edge toward the indie-rock end, you're in for a treat this week, as the Georgetown waterfront is the site of back-to-back events on Monday and Tuesday. Both concerts start at 9 p.m. and require an RSVP to rsvp-hos@foreign.ministry.se, so hurry up: admission is limited.
The House of Sweden's second musical offering is on Tuesday, and it's a bit of a headscratcher. Ane Brun, Theresa Andersson and Tobias Froberg are kicking off a national tour with a free concert, then heading off to New York and Philadelphia. Their tour returns to the D.C. area on Friday, and tickets for that show at Iota are $15. Doesn't make the most sense, but this is still a great combination of acts. Folky singer-songwriter Ane Brun reminds me of Keren Ann, only with more darkness behind her soaring melancholy voice. (She's also originally from Norway, but currently calls Stockholm home.) Tobias Froberg writes catchy pop songs that occasionally venture too far into the Coldplay/Keane nexus, but mostly have a charmingly dreamy feel. But Theresa Andersson is really the one to watch: She was born in Sweden but has spent the last 18 years in New Orleans, and her music is an infectious mix of Americana, girl group doo-wop, vintage blues and chiming Swedish indie pop. But almost getting as much attention as her songwriting is her performance technique, as the one-woman band triggers drum loops, dulcimer swells and guitar strums with foot pedals as her hands juggle guitar, violin and other instruments. (See the YouTube video for "Na Na Na" for a look at her deft switching of instruments. And yes, it was recorded in one take.)
-- Fritz Hahn (October 2008)
