Octopus Ride is a band based in Malmö, Sweden. Originally formed as Eskimo Chain in 1999, the group developed from Syd Barrett imitators, via art rock septet, to inventors of “psychedelic post-punk” (2002) and, when incorporating members of VED (2008-2009), “mantra rock”. They have kept re-forming with different line-ups to this day.

The sound of crickets, vibrating sex toys, the voices of Donald Sutherland and Sean Penn, and a bundle of exotic instruments come together bewitchingly on Octopus Ride’s self-titled debut, released on Rev/Vega in 2013. Order here.

A much belated second album is expected in the autumn of 2021. Featured musicians: Karl Alm, Christian Ekvall, Henrik Kyhlberg, Johannes Måbrink and Unni Zimmerdahl. Guesting: Robert Carlsson, Björn Eriksson and Jenny Wilson.

Driften is a duo formed in 2020 by Jenny Wilson and Christian Ekvall, making Erotic Horror Ambient using the slogan “having sex to make music to have sex to”.

Driften’s debut is based around two voices and the sounds of everyday life, delivered through a feverish, hypnotic filter; an album influenced by performance art, psychedelia and horror movies as well as by Steve Reich, Brian Eno and Harold Budd. Order here.