Super duper.

MP3: The Cardigans - In the Round

WE'RE AT THE END OF THE CARDIGANS WEEK HERE AT FUCK YEAH! GO TEAM!

Closing out the extra long week with the newest Cardigans record "Super Extra Gravity". Maybe their most solid effort, and a fine showcase of a band that is wise beyond it's years with no signs of slowing down. I'm ready for the next album now!

Long Gone.

MP3: The Cardigans - You're the Storm

WE'RE ONE POST AWAY UNTIL THE END OF THE CARDIGANS WEEK HERE AT FUCK YEAH! GO TEAM!

A hop and a skip later, pretty much starting from scratch came "Long Gone Before Daylight", the polar opposite of "Gran Turismo" or really anything that came before it. Mostly mellow and even a bit twangy, it sparked the biggest sea change for the Cardigans yet. A nice one to sleep to, and maybe be a little melancholy too.

Victory at Gran Turismo

MP3: The Cardigans - Erase/Rewind
MP3: The Cardigans - Hanging Around

WE'RE JUST ABOUT TO WRAP UP THE CARDIGANS WEEK HERE AT FUCK YEAH! GO TEAM!

"Gran Turismo" is a wild card of an album, it sticks out in the Cardigans' discography, abandoning their pop roots almost completely in favour of electronic sounds and darker tones. At times, it can be the most rewarding of albums from them and it makes you wonder what would happen if they revisited the ideas birthed from this time in the band. I'd like to see one like this again, at least for a spell.

The Moon: currently band-less?

MP3: The Cardigans - Lovefool
MP3: The Cardigans - Iron Man

IT'S THE CARDIGANS WEEK (sorta) HERE AT FUCK YEAH! GO TEAM!

"First Band On the Moon" is the Cardigans album I listen to the least. It's very great though, and is the one that really set them off. At first, I was against posting "Lovefool" as it is an obvious choice, but when stepping away from the girly hype it brought, it really does stand as wonderful pop song. I know the band distances itself from it, but it's sweet and honest and really brought a great band into people's homes that wouldn't usually find them.

And of course, it's very much worth noting that the Cardigans are badass and metal as fuck, covering a Black Sabbath song for the 2nd time. They choose the seminal "Iron Man" this round, and it is everything a good cover should be. Word up.

Life is good.

MP3: The Cardigans - Rise & Shine
MP3: The Cardigans - Celia Inside

IT'S THE CARDIGANS WEEK HERE AT FUCK YEAH! GO TEAM!

And it wouldn't be a themed week without it starting late: For the rest of the week, we focus on the Cardigans and their albums, except for a couple. Today we start with "Life", the first exposure of them for myself and most of us in the States. I first heard the record from an old girlfriend and later picked it up in the used bin when I lived in Portland, which sparked my deep love affair with the Cardigans.

"Life" is certainly one of the more memorable Summer records for me; anytime while walking that a song from it comes up on shuffle from the iPod, I typically wait for it to end and then start the record from the top. One of the songs featured today, "Celia Inside", was a shuffle track for me which caught me on the perfect day and now when I hear it, it always feels like a perfect day. It almost sounds like a singles collection, which is fitting as some of these songs were their first ever written and re-recorded for this lp. It truly is a shining entry in the pop genre and is as solid an effort as any of their albums that came after.