The Wonder Boys
news
March 7, 2012:
A new update sure is long overdue, we know. Well, please bear in mind that ever since 2006, The Wonder Boys have been busy with the next full-length cd, "Back In Business", which hopefully should be released later this year after an unusually long wait. After that, a bonus cd (similar to "Die Kleine Schlagerparade") will be next in line: "The B.O.N.U.S. Manifesto". Also, a cd with the soundtrack to DL:s "Jakten på Bernhard" (Traces of Bernhard") documentary and related outtakes is planned aswell (....and some time, hopefully, cd remasters of the first two TWB cassette albums, which is VERY long overdue).
Apart from all those grand plans, what's new since last time?
The video comeback continued last year with four more videos:
Speaking of videos, you should also check out these related things:
Mikal (1991; animated shortie by DL (+ bonus). The score to the signature melody was written down April 1 & Dec 15, 1990, and a new recording was made March 14, 2011. When a vintage recording of the "Mikal" signature eventually turns up - surely, there's got to be a cassette with it somewhere - we'll keep you posted)
Sugar Daddy: nine-2-five (2002; live recording from Lund Konsthall Oct 21, 1995. This was briefly considered for inclusion among the "Jakten på Bernhard" dvd's extra material, but gave way for newer stuff instead, i.e. "Post Scriptum", "Frödings hjärna" and the 5-track TWB audio loop)
Slug Area: live at Antikvariat Hundörat, Stockholm, Sept 9, 2011. (Leif Elggren: tin cans. Jonas Ellerström: guitar. DL: clarinet. (Please note DL:s Bernhard Redenstedt t-shirt!))
Slug Area: pre-gig rehearsal at Antikvariat Hundörat, Stockholm, Sept 9, 2011.
The documentary "Jakten på Bernhard"/"Traces of Bernhard"/"Bernhardin jäljillä" was shown in Finland on swedish YLE FST5 on May 16, 2011, and was up for internet view (for people in Finland) a month afterwards at Arenan, until June 15.
At the end of July 2011, CK's & DL's third "Knisen & Knåkan" pixi book was published, "Knisen & Knåkan lär sig dansa" ("The Cnow and The Pignet learn how to dance").
Furthermore, the first two K&K books will be reprinted during 2012: "Knisen & Knåkan har tårtkalas" (third ed.) in Pixibox Kalas (in March), and "Knisen & Knåkan går och badar" (third ed.) in Pixibox Semester (in June).
January 2012 saw the release of David's "lost" experimental novel "Orkestern" ("The Orchestra"), which was written back in 1996-97 (as a part of the "Susanna & Bo" story, a link between the "Susanna & Bo" hardcover book from 1999 and the "David Liljemark" (a.k.a. "the silver album") hardcover book in 2000), now finally published with the partly missing illustrations to each chapter, and an extensive new afterword discussing DL's work in comics, music, movies and writing. There's also a special limited "artist book" edition (20 copies), boxed and signed, including two paintings each from the "Café CM" TWB video.
Jan 15, 2011
The Wonder Boys' extensive video comeback (see previous entry) is continued, with three additional new videos up for view!
Live May 22, 2009: No Camera + Be My Lord (Em)
P.S. Please also note that Det Grymma Svärdet #5 (magazine + 10'', aug 2010) includes "Tävvelsten" (from 1997), in a new edit (original version on the "Dayw" 2-cd from feb 2005).
Nov 26, 2010:
We're terribly sorry for the lack of updates this recent year. It has to do
with extensive film work, a computer change, parental leave, and, well, more
film work, etc. The page has moved, and so did the mp3 server (those links should
work again now).
Anyway, what's new since last time?
Summer 2009 saw two special "private" live performances:
On Lars' and Nicole's wedding, Aug 1, 2009, the Honky Tonk Boys (Björn
Radon on vocals, David on acoustic guitar and some backing vocals, and guest
star Tassilo Radon filling in for Lars, on a wonderful toy trumpet solo) performed
the DL-penned song "Happy Blues". Please note Folklore Center legend
Izzy Young (Bob Dylan's old pal) in the left picture, sitting to the right!
Two days later, David (sax) and his brother Dan (trumpet), played for their dearly beloved Grandma, who turned 90 that day (her last birthday, as it sadly turned out earlier this year). The set (once again) included "Ja må hon leva" and "Värmlandsvisan", and as a "sax only" encore (which may be of interest to the longtime TWB fan), a surprise impromptu performance of... "Sax Play"!
"Den Flygande Värmlänningen" 7'' was for sale at S.S.
Records for a while, but when we checked back now, it seems to be sold out
(at their place, that is - it's still available through Lystring, though).
"I Detta Satans Rum" was apparently played Dec 15 2009 at Art
for Spastics.
David's 58 min documentary "Jakten på Bernhard" ("Traces
of Bernhard", Silverosa Film 2010, produced by Anna Byvald & Lukas
Moodysson), was premiered at Gothenburg International Film Festival Jan 29,
2010. TWB fans should note that it also features Christian Kastén behind
(and occasionally in front of) the camera; that the song "Eva's Chair"
(from "The Grand Tradition Of Sitting Between Chairs") is included
in the soundtrack (mainly written and performed by David, with some excellent
help from old pal Mattias Bärjed of Ants of the Underground, Nymphet Noodlers,
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and Free Fall fame) and also "Madrigal"
(which is the mp3-only released "A Story (1978)") without vocals);
that Bernhard is the man behind the lettering used for the TWB logo first used
inside the cd tray of the "T.A.S.C.A.M. Manifesto" album (later on
the front covers of "The Grand Tradition..." and "Passion &
Compassion").
"Jakten på Bernhard" was later shown on "Doc Lounge"
events in Malmö (Feb 15, Inkonst), Lund (Feb 16, Mejeriet), Stockholm (Feb
23, Allmänna Galleriet) and Gothenburg (March 2, House of Win-Win). The
Stockholm screening also included - apart from the "Efterlysning: Space"
short movie from 2002 - a rare, improvised live performance of "Ett stycke
för Bernhard" ("A piece for Bernhard"), by David (sax),
Jonas Ellerström (electric guitar), David Enemar (sax) and Nicole Vickers
(clarinet) - more members were supposed to attend, but couldn't do so, due to
the terrible weather situation.
Swedish Television (SVT) showed "Jakten på Bernhard" on April
11, also had several re-runs the following week, and it was up for internet
viewing on SVT Play a whole month, until May 11. You can still catch a few minutes
here
(until March 31, 2011), aswell as a trailer
on Youtube. It was also shown at Värmlands Filmfestival, Arvika (April
17) and on the "Pandoras ask" exhibition at Galleri Verkligheten,
Umeå (April 23 - May 7), then later (Sept 25) competed at Nordisk Panorama in Bergen, Norway.
There's also a fan page on Facebook.
(By the way, "Horst - munspelskungen" was shown July 10-11 in a pig
sty (!) at the "Party Paradise no. 2" event in Åbytorp.)
In mid-January 2011 (Jan 12), Folkets Bio will release the dvd
"Jakten på Bernhard och andra filmer av David Liljemark", which
includes the following material:
* Jakten på Bernhard (58:00) [which also has english subtitles]
* Post Scriptum till Jakten på Bernhard (12:08)
* Horst - munspelskungen (30:00) [see Nov 15 & Dec 18, 2006 entries
below]
* Efterlysning: Space (6:02)
* Frödings hjärna (0:47)
* Ett litet barn (24:06) [see March 16, 2005 and May 26, 2009 entries below]
* The Wonder Boys: My Old Friends (4:18) [see Dec 8, 2005 entry below]
* ...and a 5-track TWB audio loop (New Start [DL], The Night When The Losers
Won [CG/DL], Alströmer Disco [DL/CG], Sax Play [DL], A Gift I Never Had
[CG/DL]).
Pretty neat, huh? Do NOT miss out! It's already advertised for pre-sale at Discshop
and Webhallen.
The Wonder Boys have also done a serious comeback in the video department,
this autumn 2010. Apart from the old My
Old Friends video, you can now enjoy these new videos:
This Used To Be Our Bench
No wave disco (for Erik
Ahlgren 1727)
Let's Glitch Again Like
We Did Last Summer
Live Inside The Sagrada
Familia
We hope to be back again soon, folks...
Aug 28, 2009:
PAGE MOVED FROM GEOCITIES TO HERE, i. e. www.thewonderboys.se
!
July 13, 2009:
David has a new book out, the grand Boltzius,
which you can get from Ordfront Galago.
It begins with a 100 page "drama documentary" graphic novel about
David's father's mother's father's brother, the (in)famous and bizarre so-called
"faith healer" Fredrik August Boltzius (1836-1910). The reality which
the comic story is based on, is then explained in detail in 260 additional pages
of extensive documentary notes. Yes, this thesis-like book is one of a kind,
that's for damn sure!
Music bonus: One of F. A. Boltzius' (1836-1910) own songs was "Wandringen",
which David set to (new) music a couple of years ago (a simple D-A-G-A chord
pattern), which you can listen to here.
Enjoy!
May 19, 2009:
Vill Du Dubba [=Las Palmas cover] was included in another WFMU playlist
Jan 19.
Our good friends Far & Son ("Father
& Son") included a sample from I Detta Satans Rum [=Brainbombs cover]
in their brilliant song Precis Som Jag ("Just Like Me"): watch a fan
video here.
Also, David has a new book out, Äppelkindat
Bus ("Applecheeked Mischief"), which you can get from Komika.
Oct 30, 2008:
Now and then, The Wonder Boys (or should we say The Fan Boys?) have the
occasional brush with celebrity; David meeting Yoko
Ono after attending a "part concert, performance & Q/A" type
of event ("An
evening with Yoko Ono") at Kulturhuset, Stockholm May 29, 2004 and
getting his copy of the "Some Time in New York" 2-LP signed (see a
close-up in the Pictures section) + handing over the "Alströmer
Disco EP", is of course a classic.
This time, on a piece of his own artwork (!), David got an autograph ...from
a BEATLE!!!
The thing is: Pete Best, The Beatles'
original drummer (from Aug 12, 1960 to Aug 16, 1962) visited Karlstad
while on tour to promote his current band's new album, "Haymans
Green", and attend a Beatles convent. Because of the occasion (and
bear in mind that The Beatles - the post-Best lineup - once played in Karlstad,
at the Sundsta
aula Oct 25, 1963), the very nice mr Carl Edlom (who has previously played
with Christian G in an unnamed post-"Subtitles" pre-"Attic Drive"
band constellation in the early/mid-1990s), assigned an illustration from David
to be used in NWT, Oct
24. The result, made instantly upon request Oct 20, was this montage (yes, another
paraphrase!):
The utterly good-hearted mr Carl Edlom (well, he's the hero of this
story!) then granted David's request for getting Pete
Best to sign the printed page, bringing the paper to the convention Oct
25 - see Carl's photo below:
"Pete liked it and checked closely", says Carl. On Pete
Best's right side is his younger brother (& co-drummer bandmate) Vincent
"Roag" Best (the son Mona
Best had with the much-younger-than-her Beatles' personal assistant, Neil
Aspinall).
The NWT issue, signed & dedicated by the
original Beatle, Mr Pete Best!
(The doodle on the right - inspired by Hergé
perhaps? - is by Roag, who according to Carl, had some trouble standing in the
shadow of his big brother...)
And while speaking of early members of The Beatles - don't forget to check out the truly, truly awesome paintings by Stuart Sutcliffe at the Stuart Sutcliffe Estate (see "Important works" links - all of them!). That none of these paintings ever was used for a Beatles album cover, is in retrospect nothing but a crying shame...
July 25, 2008:
The release of Den Flygande Värmlänningen
was celebrated at the opening of David's art show "Den
lille konstsamlaren" ("The
little art collector", exhibiting the highlights from DL's collection
of weird "outsider" art, bought at various flea markets during the
past 10 years, some works familiar to the longtime TWB fan) at ak28
in Stockholm 4-6 July. Sugar Daddy performed "8 1/2 (for Fellini)"
at the opening too, including some rare saxophone flogging.
Also, the video for "My Old Friends" (see News entry for 8 dec 2005 below) is now up on YouTube!
May 19, 2008:
On the evening of May 3 at the wedding party for Anna & David, we finally
managed to squeeze in many of the great people who've played and/or sung with
The Wonder Boys over the years, in one grand group picture. Photo: Nicole Vickers.
From left to right: Markus Lantto, Anna Liljemark (formerly Edin), Åsa
Lundgren, Christian Gustavsson, David Liljemark, Christian Kastén, Lars
Pettersson, Maria Boström, Dan Liljemark. A round of applause, and we'll
take a bow!
April 18, 2008:
David guested ZTV on the first episode of "ZTV
Presents: The Simon Gärdenfors Trash-Culture Show" Monday 14:th,
22:00. Our dear friend, good-ol' Simon
G (of Las Palmas fame,
etc) brought David in to talk
about his obsession with (the "Mission: impossible" nature of) completing
his collection of the chewing gum card series "SPACE", that was manufactured
in 1982 by Dandy Chewing Gum in Vejle, Danmark. Out of 100, #38 and #91 are
still as missing as they were in the mid-80s, and have never even been seen
IRL by David (but there's two different versions of #17, though!) -who has ca
670 extras (and even an extra "SPACE" box). If you have one or both
of these cards, #38 and/or #91, get in touch I-M-M-E-D-I-A-T-E-L-Y!!!!, and
you will be kindly rewarded... If you're familiar with David's comics, you might
already know about this obsession, but anyway, you can watch the "candy-wrapper"
episode of "The Simon Gärdenfors-Skräpkultur Show" here.
Anyway, the "SPACE" quest hasn't got much to do with TWB's music -
at a surface glance, anyway! So, instead we'd now like to give away an old lyric
reference maybe few of you noticed back when. In "(Stuck In A) Weird Conversation",
off of the "T.A.S.C.A.M. Manifesto" album
from 2002, there's a line that goes:
"-So I went to a SHoP on Hunt Lane - they always greet you with a SMiLE
:-)"
This, of course, was (and still is) a tribute to Jon Hunt's & John Lane's
great (and now pretty much lost) "SMiLE
Shop" web site, about Brian Wilson's & the Beach Boys' at the time
still unreleased masterpiece "SMiLE".
April 5, 2008:
A belated report to inform everyone that The
Great Learning Orchestra performed "Parsifal (1882-38969364735)"
by Rodney Graham (1990)
17 February 12.00-13.00 at Konstnärshuset
in Stockholm (featuring TWB's David on alto saxophone). Photo by Anna.
Feb 8, 2008:
...And thanks to our good friend mr Fredrik Jonsson and his Lystring
label, The Wonder Boys have now made their comeback in the 7'' vinyl format!
250 copies of this beautiful EP - which comes in a fold-out sleeve - was delivered
the day before yesterday, but will get a proper release date in April/May:
Coincidentally, this also happens to be the by far strangest TWB release ever (this far). "Den Flygande Värmlänningen" pays tribute to the swedish music elite with very rearranged covers of tracks by Las Palmas ("Vill du dubba"), Robert Broberg ("Tom Top") and Brainbombs ("I detta satans rum", the song that evolved into "No Place" (lyrics) and "Fuckmeat" (riff)), and also features an interlude called "Fåglar (Intro)", related to Cornelis Vreeswijk. The sleeve is (re-)designed by graphics maestro Petter Sjölund, and includes (to go with the liner notes) a black & white photo of David taken by his fiancé Anna Edin. It's also the third installment of Gylf, a fanzine (8 A6 pages each) by David & Fredrik that came out in 1990 and 2001, respectively (2001 was also the year when the first TWB vinyl EP was released - a few copies are still available, and everyone should have it!).
Gylf #1 (1990) and #2 (2001) - both extremely rare (33 numbered copies each).
Jan 17, 2008:
Thanks to a recent wonderful digital resurrection of files on an old defunkt
Macintosh computor, we have finally completed our Lyrics section with all the
songs from the first two TWB "cassette albums" (not just a few selections
as before). Yes, we know, they should indeed be rereleased on cd in their entirety
aswell.)
Feb 5: Some missing old lyrics from "Good Sides"
CD2 also added.
Oct 20, 2007:
The Horst movie (se below) was shown 13:00 Sunday 7th Oct at Röhsska
Muséet in Gothenburg, during this
event; a Koloni collaboration
with the GAS festival.
(Also, see DN 18 Oct for a note by David regarding
the film.)
We've also just heard that David's & Christian K's "pixi" children's
book "Knisen & Knåkan har tårtkalas" (se news entry
below for May 2003), has been released in Japan!
June 12, 2007:
The Horst movie (se news entries below) will be shown Monday 18th June at
Fylkingen in Stockholm, during this
event - a release party for the new great magazine "Det
grymma svärdet" #1 ("The cruel sword", or poss. "The
awesome sword"). The movie will also be shown Wednesday 20th, 15:15, at
Lava, Kulturhuset,
Stockholm.
May 14, 2007:
Yesterday 13-19 at Fylkingen, Stockholm,
The
Great Learning Orchestra (see June 9 and Jan 29 entries below) had a day
devoted to their "A4 room" project, with A4-concerts, A4-exhibition
& A4-installation. The
GLO at the time consisted of c:a 11-13 players, + some additional participants
from the audience. 13 different "A4" pieces were performed by the
group, some of them in two or more versions. David played saxophone (mainly),
and contributed one of the "A4" pieces performed: an untitled minimalistic
thing that started with a take on the "Rock Around The Clock" sax
solo (constantly riffing in E), which then gradually (d)evolved into free-form
noise. The closing piece of the day was Cornelius Cardew's "Schooltime
Special" (1968).
You can order a 2-cd of the day's recordings from Loco
(or if you wanna get anal about it: get the 4-cd box with the sessions in their
entirety!).
Feb 8, 2007:
The Horst movie (se news entries below) will be shown tomorrow Friday on
"Gata" at Södra Teatern/Kägelbanan,
Stockholm, and on Sunday 11 at Panora, Malmö, on the "Music
Doc Festival".
Dec 23, 2006:
Merry Christmas everybody! And don't forget to listen to this
song today...
Dec 18, 2006:
Extra material! Here are some rare "behind the scenes" shots from
the making of the Horst
movie mentioned below: three photos from David's interview with the harmonica
king [Horst Holtfreter] on 10 January 2006, taken by Micke Carlson
(who can be spotted in the background photographing at least one of these pictures
in the movie, while Horst talks about getting beat up in Finland).
Photos © Micke Carlson, used with kind permission.
Aug 29, 2006:
New review!
“Passion & Compassion”
was reviewed in the swedish pop fanzine ettnollett
#49, by Robban Svensson. Read it here.
(including translation...)
June 9, 2006:
"All styles at once":
in Sonic #29, Johan Jacobsson has
written a piece about The Wonder Boys. Read this short interview with David
here (translation coming up soon)!
Also, tonight, The
Great Learning Orchestra (featuring David among the sax players again -
see Jan 29 entry below) will perform the music to Tobe Hooper's "The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre" in Hörsalen at Kulturhuset
in Stockholm, as a part of "The Underscore Symposium - the ultimate seminar
about filmmusic".
April 29, 2006:
News about "related" stuff:
The new 3'' cdr record label Müßiggänger
has a brand new release out by Sugar
Daddy:
"nine-2-five" (live at Lunds Konsthall, 21 Oct 1995 (mid-day show
- in the evening, "6-6-6" was performed)). Limited edition of only
33 numbered copies, hurry up to get one of these beautiful & rare collector's
items! Sugar
Daddy is David's noise jazz band, which was formed in Dec 1994 and has played
live 17 times since then; a total of 32 different people have so far participated
in the ever-changing line-up.
The second printing of David & Christian K's children's "pixi"
book "Knisen & Knåkan har tårtkalas" ("The Cnow
& The Pignet have a cake party") is now out in the stores; see May
2003 entry below (and Nov 28, 2005 entry aswell).
April 10, 2006:
The Wonder Boys' new album is here: "Passion & Compassion"!
Finally, it's time for the real follow-up to "Die
Große Schlagerparade" that came out in January 2005. This new
full-length album, "Passion & Compassion", contains 21 tracks;
another excellent eclectic mix of styles, as you might expect by now from The
Wonder Boys. See the discography section for tracklist & details, and
place your orders ASAP so you don't miss out on this. We wouldn't want that,
but most of all: YOU wouldn't want that. A win-win situation for all –
especially the ears.
Also, both the pictures & mp3 sections are updated.
Note to TWB trainspotters out there: David makes a (very!) short "cameo
appearance" in Lukas Moodysson's
new, awesome film, the beautiful "Container"
(D. wears a Bachman-Turner Overdrive tour t-shirt that he bought at a BTO gig
in Örebro 14 April 1991! Yes, that's what Mattias is wearing on the cover
illustration of this
record, mentioned in the Nov 2003 news spot below). Even more anal-retentive
note: the SS dagger (borrowed from David's dad) has previously been featured
in the "Susanna
& Bo"
comics and has since been shown on a
couple of
exhibitions.
February 28, 2006:
The Wonder Boys now have a MySpace page here: www.myspace.com/thewoenderbeuys
(Why the weird “The Wönder Beuys” url? Well, it turned out
that another “The Wonder
Boys” band – formed in f**king jan 2005! – had already
signed up.)
January 29, 2006:
Dear fans, as you might’ve noticed, we try to keep you up-to-date
with most things that’s going on in The Wonder Boys’ world, be it
big or ever so small. We usually don’t tell everything about other related
projects and stuff though, like: the occasional Sugar
Daddy gig (David's noise jazz band formed in 1994, most recent concert was
performing “16” to the “9-2-5” video at Arvikafestivalen
16 July, 2005); what goes on with Christian K and his pop maestro friends in
Caroline Soul (we reckon
you’ve bookmarked their website and check back often); David’s recent
cartoon book collection (“Ritman
Katz & Mannen med Påskö-ansiktet” – “Ritman
Katz and The Man with the Easter Island face”, Optimal
Press sept 2005) or comics exhibition (“Rekvisita-
serierna och verkligheten” ("Props")
13 jan – 12 feb 2006 at Serieteket,
Kulturhuset, Stockholm –
original art + related objects); or David’s sax playing again with Mattias
Ullman’s shimmering noise-ambient band Endless
Smile (live at Lilla Teatern in Lund 3 dec 2005, after some “silent”
years); or the news about Studio Gröt being in the process of moving (to
Forshaga).
But this, we just have to tell you about right now:
Yesterday, 28 January 2006, in Hörsalen at Kulturhuset
in Stockholm, The
Great Learning Orchestra (formed by Leif Jordansson & Pelle Halvarsson
in 1999), which this time consisted of 31 players (featuring David on alto saxophone),
performed Lou Reed’s influential
1975 masterpiece 2-LP “Metal
Machine Music – The Amine ß Ring” in a complete version
arranged for orchestra by Ulrich Krieger
(of Text Of Light
fame). If you know the Zeitkratzer version
– featuring Lou Reed himself doing a guitar solo – from 2002 (they
played it on two different occations), they were c:a 10 players, and the piece
was shortened; part 3 & 4 were split together making a shorter version,
which actually makes this complete TGLO
live version a “world premiere”. And it was fuckin' AWESOME!
A joy and an honour to play. After the end of the “locked groove”
that finishes the set, first shout from a guy in the audience was “ONE
MORE TIME!”
No prisoners were taken.
January 4, 2006:
Our dear comics artist friend & colleague Mats
Jonsson had the good taste of playing The Wonder Boys in the swedish radio
on December 29th last year – the track of (excellent) choice was none
other than “If
We Get Through This, We’ll Get Through Anything”, that finished
off Mats’ (also excellent) “Winter” talk in the SR P4 Västernorrland
show “Pulsen”
(“The Pulse”). Cheers, MrJ!
The track was recorded in 1998 and appeared on The Wonder Boys’ first
release, the “...And
It’s A Wonderful, New Start” cassette album (1999). The video
was filmed by David (and his brother Dan) about a year ago, and edited into
proper shape earlier this week with kind help from our excellent cutting room
master, mr Sam “Scraping Sampan Off
The Wheel” Sohlberg. Enjoy, both old and new friends – and enemies!
November 28, 2005:
The Wonder Boys were featured on Craig Bonnell's highly enjoyable Swedesplease
blog (entry: Sunday, November 20, 2005), thank you Craig! This might explain
this week's sudden interest from various places around the globe (Japan,
the Philippines...). The Wonder
Boys are of course very pleased to hear from new fans!
It's also time for a new children's book release by David & Christian K:
another 10 x 10 cm "pixi" book, this time called "Knisen &
Knåkan går och badar" ("The Cnow & The Pignet go swimming"),
published by Bonnier Carlsen. It's
a follow-up to "Knisen & Knåkan har tårtkalas" ("The
Cnow & The Pignet have a cake party"; see May 2003 entry below), which
will be re-released some time in spring 2006. Note: both books are in Swedish
only, sorry all our foreign friends...
September 24, 2005:
HUGE MP3 UPDATE!!!
Thanks to “wonder boy of the month”, the very generous & kind-hearted
gentleman Mr Sverker Åslund, a true patron of the arts, The Wonder Boys
were donated plenty of server space to host a number of mp3 tracks, both old
“classics” – and some brand new stuff!
If you're not excited now, you must surely be dead. But never mind, we make
music for dead people too.
July 10, 2005:
...and here are the right answers to The Wonder Boys trivia competition
about proper titles & working titles:
1-E, 2-B, 3-A, 4-C, 5-H, 6-K, 7-G, 8-D, 9-F, 10-J, 11-I.
No More Encores (Birthday Present), Close-Down Announcement (Diner ’75),
All I Could Say At The Time (E.P.A.), Hello/Dead Stalkers (G.A.G. Dance), The
Car Ran Out Of Gas And I Guess We Ran Out Of Magic (Gröt 040113), Those
Were The Days (Gröt 040117), Something’s Happening To You (I Hate
When That Happens), If We Get Through This, We’ll Get Through Anything
(M. Bellos Lullaby), Parliamo Italiano (Radio Free Flamingo), The Girl From
Tory Story (S4050716), The Day Before Christmas (The Pony Remark).
Although no correct answers were submitted (well, noone bothered to send in
anything at all, to tell you the ugly truth! We guess Jim “Mission:Impossible”
Phelps & his crew have retired), the winning price of a “’Passion
& Compassion’ preview + rarities” cd will be sent to Tim
Ellison, ‘cause he’s a nice guy who will probably appreciate
it. On this subject, we might also add that the new “dance track”
with the tentative title “050516-17” which is in the works, already
has two discarded working titles: “Venus from Willendorf” and ”Concrete
Poetry Disco (dedicated to C.F. Reuterswärd)” – the song has
yet to find its proper lyrics. Then there’s “The Wonder Boys Might
Save You” which for a while was planned to become “Torture Reggae”,
but will most likely (on Gröt’s insistent request) not be released
at all. We'll see!
Important notice of possible FAQ nature:
if you heard a track called “Stronger than you” by a group called
“Wonderboys”, or any other
track by them, be very well aware that it has nothing whatsoever to do with
The Wonder Boys! That group was formed in 2001 (according to their .se
website, which also has a “the” prefix in the url, to confuse things
even more. Thanks guys!). And all you good TWB fans out there, know for a fact
that by then, The real Wonder Boys (yours truly, who started in 1997/98)
had already released quite a lot of material – the first two cassette
albums (hailed as works of genius in the U.S.) and the vinyl EP. So, here at
The Wonder Boys’ headquarters, we wouldn’t mind if “Wonderboys”
(*cough cough*) could have the decency of picking a new moniker that isn’t
already taken... (The DJ "Wonderboy", who in latter years have played
at the Popaganda festival in Stockholm, is not of the "proper" TWB
crew either). Then there's a Norwegian cover band ("Norges
råeste partyband") also... Are we going to have to do a "the
London Suede" (c'mon, you're Dog Man Star fans, right?) or change our name
to "The Wönder Beuys"?!??
Remember, fans of The
Wonder Boys: accept no substitutes!!!
June 5, 2005:
Time for a new collection, folks! It’s been a while since the “0,000
001 Million Wonder Boys Fans Can’t Be Wrong” cd (that collected
tracks from the first two cassette albums + the 7’’ vinyl EP), but
this is a different kind of collection, called:
The Vaults “It Looks Cold, But Not Like Rain”.
The cd (a request from our friend Petter Testbild!) is focused on the “experimental”/instrumental
tracks by The Wonder Boys. A few of them haven’t been previously released,
since they were or are still slated for the next “proper” TWB album
(working title: “We’ve Been Busy”. Current title: “Passion
& Compassion”). This cd under the new moniker “The Vaults”
collects 26 tracks, but is less than an hour long in total. Check details here.
Speaking of working titles: the trivia competition below is still on!
May 29, 2005:
New review!
“Die Große Schlagerparade” and “Die Kleine Schlagerparade”
were reviewed by nice guy Nicke Boström in the swedish pop fanzine ettnollett
#46-47. Read it here. (Unexpectedly,
it focuses on the “bonus” cd (DKS), rather than the proper full-length
album (DGS), but it’s very positive nevertheless!)
April 16, 2005:
The Wonder Boys trivia competition!
Connect the right song with its working title! In a month from now, we will
announce the right answers and the winner, who will get a “work in progress”-cd
with the forthcoming TWB album (“We’ve Been Busy”) in its
then current status + some additional rarities... "Good luck, Jim!"
Working titles: Proper titles:
1. Birthday Present A. All I Could Say At The Time 2. Diner ’75 B. Close-Down Announcement 3. E.P.A. C. Hello/Dead Stalkers 4. G.A.G. Dance D. If We Get Through This, We’ll Get Through Anything 5. Gröt 040113 E. No More Encores 6. Gröt 040117 F. Parliamo Italiano 7. I Hate When That Happens G. Something’s Happening To You 8. M. Bellos Lullaby H. The Car Ran Out Of Gas And I Guess We Ran Out Of Magic 9. Radio Free Flamingo I. The Day Before Christmas 10. S4050716 J. The Girl From Tory Story 11. The Pony Remark K. Those Were The Days
February 23, 2005:
Slöphead was played on the radio in Finland! It was a children's special
program, and ”Burning Electric” was Radio
Mental Alaska’s excellent track of choice. We have a strong feeling
in the TWB/SH headquarters that March will be a good month for Slöphead...
you just wait and see! (For a short Slöphead presentation, check Jan 2004
news below.)
Back to The Wonder Boys... The mp3 section is updated with a brand new CG/DL
track: The
Girl From Tory Story!
February 16, 2005:
Check out the new Caroline
Soul release “I made a promise I would shape up”, will you?
It’s perfectly awesome!! Yes, we’re used to that, but hey, it just
KILLS.
February 10, 2005:
”Dayw” solo 2-cd – check bottom of the “related”
section on the “discography” page. Note: for die-hard fans only!
January 5, 2005:
The Wonder Boys are back, with "Die Große Schlagerparade"
- a new full-length album!!! And by “full-length”, we do mean full-length
(as John Holmes would’ve said). Along with a lot of new songs, the singles
from 2004 are included, or represented in some form. The eclectic 21 track setlist
is a yin and yang unity of hi-fi and lo-fi, a rockin’ TWB mix of, let’s
see...
...90210 farmers' rock, potato disco (a.k.a. “punk funk”), duets
(a lullaby for the mentally unstable or possibly dying; the other about gay
nostalgia), tampax comercial fossil love bossa nova, scats and a touch of the
middle east, cheerful love songs, other not so cheerful love songs, laments
of lust, loss and longing, self mutilation dance band techno, semi-gothic trumps
of doom and gloom in various settings (warship spleen or a vengeful Santa),
striptease pole boogie meets dixieland with a hint of klezmer, Italian language
smurf rock, twisted drum’n’bass eurodisco (with dubious intertextuality),
flavours of India and religious dead-ends, and the usual dashes of free jazz
and noise. Distortion, reverb, guitars, saxophones & everything-and-the-kitchen-sink
+ that "loopier than Kevin Ayers" voice of the singer whom Modern
Rock Magazine once called "brilliant" and an "outsider genius"
(thanks, Tim). Everything prepared
with the care and love you’ve come to expect from the good ol’ Wonder
Boys.
Check the discography section for details, and place your order straightaway!
(Note: the pictures section is also updated.)
TWB shopping guide in Stockholm (sorry, in Swedish only!):
...Och i Stockholm kan den nya cd:n, samt ett visst mått av ”back-list”,
köpas på Pet Sounds (Skåneg.53)
och Rockar Hårt (Hornsg.63), för
den som hellre köper i lönndom, alternativt bara är för
otålig för ye olde post. Några ex av den gamla klassiska (och
nu smått sällsynta) vinyl-EP:n lär finnas till salu på
Under (Tjärhovsg.19); kanske kan något ex även finnas kvar på
Little Shop Of Records (Bondeg.7) [nej, de tycks ha konkat/flyttat].
Först till kvarn får först svina!
December 6, 2004:
New mp3 for Christmas!
Yes folks, it’s time to celebrate the holidays (or not) with The Wonder
Boys, who - thanks to good ol’ Bjoerne (en får tacke) - has a brand
new Christmas song available for download here: The
Day Before Christmas. Written and performed by Christian G (all instruments
etc) and David L (vocals + a bit of additional percussion). Hurry up, tidy up
your soul and get this rare track - it might be gone with the Christmas tree!
September 15, 2004:
The first single from the upcoming TWB album is... Let’s Glitch! Featuring
a number of new additional tracks you won’t find anywhere else. It’s
a glitchnoise-fest – and you’re invited!
July 25, 2004:
New mp3 available! If you search Demoradio.se
for “The Wonder Boys”, you can download the “Alströmer
Disco” track - the most talked-about TWB hit since “New Start”
(?!).
We’ve also added som new photos in the “Pictures” section.
June 2, 2004:
In the swedish newspaper Svenska
Dagbladet, there’s an article today about the Elvis cover paraphrase
coincidence with The Wonder Boys and The
Fall (see also March news below). Read it, with some comments, here.
Written by Cyril Hellman (who also wrote about David and TWB in SvD,
June 26 2003).
May 22, 2004:
Just in time for the upcoming potato season, The Wonder Boys release their
new incredible three-track cd single, the “J. Alströmer Disco EP”!
Check the discography section for details, place your order and dig the “Alströmer
Disco” lyrics while waiting for your copy to arrive. Thank you very much.
May 2004:
Short reviews of TWB’s ”The Grand Tradition...” and
the “Emma & David” cds appears in the swedish pop fanzine ettnollett,
read them here.
On May 3, the swedish radio show “P3 Pop” played “The Car Ran Out Of Gas And I Guess We Ran Out Of Magic”, which actually marks TWB's debut on national radio.
For another music-related illustration job by David, see a Morrissey illo here.
And check out the Caroline Soul website regularly, will you? You don’t want to miss their new 7’’ (or anything else by these pop meisters, featuring Christian K on the bass).
March 2004:
There is a short Wonder Boys interview in Galago
1/2004, where David answers four questions from Mats
Jonsson, along with two other music-making comics artists: Simon Gärdenfors
from Las Palmas
and John Andersson. Read it here.
We’ve translated it for all you non-Swedes, who also should be informed
that Galago is an excellent “alternative”
comics magazine which David often contributes to.
A line where David describes The Wonder Boys' music was cut out due to lack
of space, but you can read this “outtake” here and now: “Efter
ett besök på Heavy Sound
och Skärholmsloppisen passerar Smog,
Jonathan Richman
och Scotty Moore en schizofren helkväll
på Fylkingen där Borbetomagus
jammar med Eva Nordwalls
spöke.” (“After a visit at Heavy
Sound and Skärholmen's junk market,
Smog, Jonathan
Richman and Scotty Moore walk by
a schizoid all-nighter at Fylkingen, where
Borbetomagus jam with the ghost of
Eva Nordwall.”)
The Fall’s upcoming “best of” compilation “50,000 Fall
Fans Can’t Be Wrong” has a nice cover in the grand tradition of
Elvis paraphrases. The Wonder Boys are very proud to have the cover of their
“0,000 001 Wonder Boys Fans Can’t Be Wrong” cd be seen among
the others at The Fall's
official website.
February 2004:
Brand new ”Emma & David” cd-single out now! Features the tracks
“Firefly” (in two different versions) and
“Might Aswell Be Dead”, written & performed by Emma
Holmér and David Liljemark.
Emma is the voice and sole songwriter of Mine,
who released two cd albums and a number of singles between 1997-2001. You can
(and should!) still get these through Massproduktion
and - at a real bargain price - through ginza.se
Emma has guested on a couple of The Wonder Boys tracks, providing vocals on
“Granted”, “No Camera” and “The Car Ran Out Of Gas
And I Guess We Ran Out Of Magic”.
(Bootleggers/collectors note: In the TWB vaults, there are cover versions of the Mine songs “In And Out Of Love” and “Wouldn’t Mind The Waiting”; the first was even considered for use as an intro track to a Mine gig in May last year, the latter is a blues interpretation.)
January 2004:
Let's get retro! Slöphead was a band in Karlstad, Sweden 1984/85, consisting
of Mattias Nilsson, David Liljemark and David's second cousin Martin S, who
played their own heavy metal-influenced free-form songs on tin cans, toy guitar
and a "Venetian blind string bass". As a reminder, we would like to
point out that you can still download the complete recordings by Slöphead
in mp3 format here
, thanks to digital mastering chief Richard Carlsson who cleaned-up the tapes
gloriously. For the cd cover, just send us an email and we'll email it right
to you. If you're an audiophile, or only have dial-up modem, or for whatever
reasons, you can of course also order a cd from us instead. 23 tracks (some
songs in up to five alternative versions), 45 minutes.
14 songs were written: Your Cruel Death, C.P. Child, Evil Eagle, Where Is The
Pen, Knock Him, Burning Electric, Ugly Witch, Woman Murder, Slöphead, Winged
Assassin, Moonman, Ded Mans Head, Chopper Attack, Hippo In The Night. Not everyone
was recorded, though (neither the one-time planned cover of Metallica's "Motorbreath").
There was also a "Slöphead
II" in Lund/Malmö 1994-98, featuring David
on guitar and Martin
Fredrikson on vocals & toys (and sometimes John Ball on bass and Micke
Sahlin on drums - listen to "Burning Electric" here).
Mattias and David had a brief Slöphead
reunion in 1998 aswell, Mattias
on vocals & drums, David on guitar (the metal magic was still there - dig
"Woman Murder" here!!).
December 19, 2003:
Check www.tsool.net/kort
for a rare web-only Christmas single by The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, with cover
art made by David.
It will only be available for a short time, so hurry up folks!
December 2003:
The "Good Sides" 2-cd got a nice review by Mats Gustafsson in The
Broken Face #18. Check the review section - and hurry up to get this swell
magazine, it's unfortunately the last issue.
November 2003:
Now the limited edition "Soundtrack
Of Our Lives featuring Randy Bachman" live 12'' picture disc is out
(including a cd with the same three tracks), with cover art made by David.
Avaliable through www.randybachman.com
only.
October 2003:
Volcano Records Underground Mailorder, our favourite american distributor,
now also carries the new "Good Sides" 2-cd and the "Happy New
Year EP". To read what was said about these records, check:
http://www.webspawner.com/users/volcanorecords/index.html
(Hey, while you're at it: you also must get Tim Ellison's first solo album,
finally on cd! Excellent stuff. Includes super song "Brick Wall".)
September 2003:
The Wonder Boys proudly present... their new album: "Good Sides; Crime
Will Prevail - and demos too!"
56 minutes, 16 brand new recordings - and as a special treat for our fans: a
well-packed bonus cd! Check the discography section for details. Of the many
gems on the bonus cd, you'll find demo versions from 1989 (!) and 1990 of The
Wonder Boys' popular instrumental track "Sax Play" (check the mp3
section if you haven't heard it yet). Go get these Good Sides now, folks!!!
The previous full-length album, T.A.S.C.A.M. Manifesto, got a nice review by
Mats Gustafsson in The
Broken Face #17. Check the review section!
July 2003:
Check out www.randybachman.com
to see a piece of the artwork David has done for a forthcoming collectors item
live 12'' picture disc by The Soundtrack Of Our Lives featuring Randy Bachman!
It's in black & white on the web page, so keep in mind - you ain't seen
nothing yet!
June 26, 2003:
David is interviewed in the swedish newspaper Svenska
Dagbladet today, mostly about his comics
but also about The Wonder Boys.
May 2003:
It's time for a new release by David & Christian: a 10 x 10 cm children's
book
called "Knisen & Knåkan har tårtkalas" (Bonnier
Carlsen);
"The Cnow & The Pignet have a cake party"! If you can't read swedish,
you'd better learn it fast!
Or hold on a while for us to write an accompanying translation sheet.
The mp3 section is updated with a new track, "You Bring Out My Good Sides",
written and performed by David (featuring his brother Dan on the trumpet),
recorded in Karlstad at the legendary Studio Gröt, by Gröt. We hope
you will enjoy the song.
March 2003:
Time to celebrate, folks! The “T.A.S.C.A.M. Manifesto”
album was tied for 637th place in the recent Village
Voice Pazz 'n' Jop critics poll for the year 2002.
Yes, that’s even better than the 673th place ”II” got
in the 2000 poll, so the prognosis is that The Wonder
Boys will be #1 in 2038 or so. Keep your fingers
crossed.
The "0,000,001 Million Wonder Boys Fans Can't Be Wrong"
(or "Best Of") cd was reviewed in the swedish fanzine Normal Man #2
- check out the reviews section.
January 2003:
...And it’s a wonderful, new year! The Wonder Boys
surprise everyone and their cat with the sudden
release of a brand new three-track cd-single, recorded
in glorious hi-fi (!) at Studio Gröt: the “Happy New
Year EP”.
It features the new track “Happy New Year” and new
versions of the songs “Strings Attached” and “Bad Luck
Charm”, which makes it a knock-out winner!
15 dec 2002:
Volcano
Records, a brand new mailorder business, carries
The Wonder Boys records in the U.S., and had some very nice
things to say about the EP, the “Best Of” cd and the
new album (first review of T.A.S.C.A.M. Manifesto)!
Check the Reviews section for this wonderful
reception, and don’t forget to sign up to receive the
list!
Yes! As of December 1st 2002, the new “T.A.S.C.A.M.
Manifesto” album is out! Two years after the release
of “II”, you finally get 22 new songs, 64 minutes of
The Wonder Boys at their best, mastered to cd in
better sound quality than ever. Check out the track
list in the “Discography” section first if you like,
but essentially, you know what to do: buy it now!!!
Also, The Wonder Boys got their first swedish review,
check the “Reviews” section (Sonic
#9 on the “Best Of”
cd).
