Little Dragon
| Little Dragon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Little Dragon in North Beach, San Francisco in May 2009. From left to right: Håkan Wirenstrand, Fredrik Källgren Wallin, Yukimi Nagano, Erik Bodin. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Genres | Trip hop, downtempo, synthpop,[1] indietronica, dream pop, neo soul |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Off the Wall, Peacefrog, JVC Victor |
| Website | www.little-dragon.se |
| Members | |
| Yukimi Nagano Erik Bodin Fredrik Källgren Wallin Arild Werling Håkan Wirenstrand |
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Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic band, formed in Gothenburg in 1996.[2] It consists of Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion) and her close high school friends Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Källgren Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards).
Little Dragon's first release was the double A-side 7" single "Twice"/"Test", released on the Off the Wall label in 2006. The following year, the band signed with the larger British indie label Peacefrog Records and released their self-titled debut album Little Dragon on 27 August 2007.[3] Their second album, Machine Dreams, was released on 17 August 2009, followed by their third album, Ritual Union, released on 25 July 2011.[3]
Contents |
[edit] History
The band's name was inspired by the "Little Dragon" nickname Nagano earned due to the "fuming tantrums" she used to throw while recording in the studio. "It's a little exaggerated but there is some truth in it", Nagano said. "But we've grown up a bit and I realised you can't have a fit every day because otherwise you won't be able to stand each other."[4]
Little Dragon have toured throughout Europe and have also made music videos for the songs "Test", "Twice", "Constant Surprises", "After the Rain" and "Fortune". The double A-side single "Fortune"/"Blinking Pigs" was released in the UK on 26 January 2009. Their song "Twice" was featured in an episode of the fifth season of Grey's Anatomy; and in October of 2011 was featured in the end sequence of the fifth episode of Revenge. In late 2009, the group was chosen as one of Beyond Race Magazine's "50 Emerging Artists", resulting in a spot in the publication's eleventh issue as well as an exclusive online Q&A on the magazine's site.[5]
In September 2011, former keyboardist Arild Werling rejoined the group on support keys during live performances.[6]
[edit] Collaborations
The band members have collaborated with several other artists:[7]
- Drummer Erik Bodin is the percussionist for Swedish indie folk singer José González and Nagano sings harmony vocals on González's second album In Our Nature (2007).
- Nagano, Källgren Wallin and Wirenstrand are featured on Gorillaz's 2010 album Plastic Beach, on the tracks "Empire Ants" and "To Binge". Little Dragon were the supporting act in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong for Gorillaz on their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour.
- Little Dragon collaborated with Dave Sitek, producer and member of TV on the Radio, and his 2010 solo project Maximum Balloon on the track "If You Return".
- "Wildfire", a collaboration track between Little Dragon and SBTRKT that features vocals by Nagano, appears on SBTRKT's eponymous 2011 album.[8]
- Nagano provided vocals for "Scale It Back" on DJ Shadow's 2011 album The Less You Know, the Better.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- Little Dragon (2007)
- Machine Dreams (2009)
- Ritual Union (2011)
[edit] Singles
- "Twice/Test" (7" vinyl) – 2007
- "Constant Surprises" (7" vinyl) – 2008
- "Recommendation" (iTunes) – 2008
- "Infinite Love" (track produced exclusively for a Cartier ad campaign) – 2008
- "Fortune"/"Blinking Pigs" – 2009
- "Feather"/"Stranger" (iTunes) – 2009
- "NightLight" (iTunes) – 2011
- "Ritual Union" (7"/12" vinyl) – 2011
- "Little Man" (iTunes) – 2011
[edit] References
- ^ Matson, Andrew (10 November 2009). "Swedish-Japanese synth-pop act Little Dragon at Nectar Nov. 10". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/matsononmusic/2010244339_swedish-japanese-american_synt.html. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
- ^ Rathe, Adam (11 April 2011). "The Rise of Little Dragon". Spin. Spin Media LLC. http://www.spin.com/articles/rise-little-dragon. Retrieved 16 April 2011. "The band formed 15 years ago in Gothenburg, Sweden."
- ^ a b "Peacefrog : Artists : Little Dragon". Peacefrog Records. http://www.peacefrog.com/artists/little-dragon. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
- ^ Purdie, Ross (20 July 2011). "Little Dragon happy getting big". Nine News. ninemsn. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8275138. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
- ^ http://beyondrace.com/articles/features/2288-little-dragon
- ^ "Is the Little Dragon set to grow a fifth limb?". Little Dragon News. 19 September 2011. http://www.littledragonnews.com/index.php/is-the-little-dragon-set-to-grow-a-fifth-limb/. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
- ^ See official biography
- ^ "NEWS: SBTRKT to release debut album next week". Remote Control Records. 14 June 2011. http://blogrc.remotecontrolrecords.com.au/2011/06/news-sbtrkt-to-release-debut-album-next.html. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
[edit] External links
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