Pedestal 04: The Cardigans

The Cardigans are known to most only for their huge international hit "Lovefool" from way back in 1997, and that's exactly how my nearly-lifelong obsession with them began. In the ripe year of the third grade, I first became hooked on "Lovefool" after hearing it on the radio and seeing its elaborate video on MTV. I went online, with my old dial-up connection, and downloaded clips of songs from their first three albums from their website. Soon after, I picked up two of their records in a big sale at Tower Records and played them non-stop for months. Even at that young age, with a CD player among my few possessions, I knew I had found something special, and to this day they remain my favorite band.

The Cardigans started out as just a local Swedish band with their 1994 debut Emmerdale. Full of bright, optimistic pop songs with serious undertones, it quickly caught on in their home country, fueled by early singles "Rise And Shine" and "Sick And Tired." Their second album Life, released the next year, became a success throughout Europe thanks to its catchy retro-kitsch sound. "Carnival" and a reworked "Rise And Shine" slowly gained them attention and their ironically upbeat tunes began to spread. When First Band on the Moon came out in 1996, it didn't make too much of a splash until "Lovefool" was used in Baz Luhrmann's version of Romeo + Juliet. The song became a worldwide smash and the album became a success all over. After much touring and increased exposure, they returned in 1998 with the darker, electronic-influenced Gran Turismo. Though it didn't get much attention in the US, the album and its singles, especially "Erase/Rewind," were considerable hits in the UK and Europe. After a long break for solo projects, the band finally released their fifth album Long Gone Before Daylight in 2003. A more organic and stripped-back affair than its predecessors, the album didn't really find an audience outside their homeland. A delayed US release, coupled with minimal promotion worldwide, saw them fade into obscurity. In 2005, they released possibly their best record yet, Super Extra Gravity. Full of energy and tight pop structures, it contains some of their finest work, so it's a real shame that it ended up being the least widely heard of all their albums. On the horizon is a Best Of collection, coming out January 28 overseas (or early March in some countries, including the US), containing their biggest hits and selected album highlights. A limited edition will also be released featuring a bonus disc packed with rarities (though I've somehow already collected the majority of tracks on even the special edition!).

Back to my history with the band, after Life and First Band on the Moon hooked me, I tracked down their first album on import and eventually even their b-sides collection The Other Side of the Moon. After Gran Turismo came out, I dragged my dad out to Pomona with me to see them in concert. Disregarding that it was a school night and I was still in fifth grade at the time, I went hours early to line up at tiny club The Glass House so I could be right in front of singer Nina Persson for the whole show. Almost matching that amazing experience was when I finally managed to track down the extremely rare original Swedish issue of Life, containing a different tracklisting to the US version, after two years of intensive searching. While I loved Long Gone Before Daylight and Nina Persson's excellent solo album A Camp, it was Super Extra Gravity that really reminded me of how much The Cardigans have meant to me over the years. I grew up with their music and still love it, for good reason, so here is some of their best for your listening pleasure, including a brand-new remix of "Erase/Rewind" by Robyn collaborator Kleerup, due to be released digitally in Europe very soon.

The Cardigans, "Rise & Shine" [zShare] (from the album Emmerdale; also features on the US version of Life)
The Cardigans, "Carnival" [zShare] (from the album Life)
The Cardigans, "My Favourite Game" [zShare] (from the album Gran Turismo)
The Cardigans, "I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer" [zShare] (from the album Super Extra Gravity)

Exclusive:
The Cardigans, "Erase/Rewind" (2008 Remix by Kleerup) [zShare]

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