At last: here are the the two Stina reviews that I promised to translate for you. I have no doubt that the actual translation is far from flawless. Hopefully, you'll get the picture anyway.
"Citynytt", the magazine where the reviews appeared, is a freely distributed Swedish entertainment magazine. As you'll see, none of the reviews are overtly positive, but they aren't genuinly negative, either. As I mentioned earlier, the reviews are rather short; and you probably wonder why it took me so long to translate them. Well, I'm sorry about that. But better late than never, right?
The review of "And She Closed Her Eyes": ---------------
Author: Anders Lundquist
Magazine: Citynytt
Issue: February 1994
Page: 9
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Stina Nordenstam: "And She Closed Her Eyes" (Telegram/Warner Music)
[Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)]
I held many deep aversions against Stina Nordenstam's debut album. I thought that she imitated Rickie Lee Jones, and gave me an itch that I only could get rid off by pressing the"off"-button...
That c-l-o-s-e songstyle can still seem like a mosquito buzzing in the ear, and the Artistic Effort makes Jane Siberry appear like a boogie-rocker in comparison. But Nordenstam's cryptic, sparse and poetic pop occationally gives me the same staggering emotional experiences as a good movie (even if she sometimes stumbles and comes closer to a "failed artmovie" Ugh!). Most satisfactory are the songs that contains Johan Norberg's cliché-devoid guitar playing. The fact that Erik Holmberg (the "other" half of Dive) is the producer shows that she aims high. Nordenstam's music still has a self-conscious, high school-like touch that can annoy, but this looks promising for the future.
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The review of "Little Star":
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Authors: Micke Goulos & Nisse Hellberg
Magazine: Citynytt
Issue: February 1994
Page: 8
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[Sub-heading: "Low-voiced"]
Stina Nordenstam: Little Star (Telegram)
[Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5)]
[Micke Goulos] Let me see, what did I write: "A voice that drips of ingratiatiousness..."; "The same feeling as sitting in a closed elevator that slowly runs out of oxygen..."
Actually, the only time that I've had a review censored was when I attacked Stina's debut; all ecstatic jazzjapanese that has imported the album can salute it as much as they want to. I freaked out and my then editor-in-chief sighed and canceled my text. Anyway, either I have gotten used to Stina's voice or she has achieved better results with this single.
NISSE: A lot of compression. Reminds me of an old Nick Lowe-song, a b-side, "Basin Street", that has the same sound. Is it Björk? Pretty good, but a little affected in some way. You really can hear how they have thought. European in some way, a lot of thought behind. Otherwise, I'm pretty critical of intellectual music. It should be felt in your stomach first, then one can think.
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In this second piece, I think this Nisse (problably some kind of musical figure) was invited to comment on the singles reviewed wihout knowledge of what he was hearing: ("Is it Björk"?).
I don't know who actually decided on the rating, one of them or both.
If I come across anything else on Stina in the future, I'll let you know.
Yours,
Magnus
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Magnus Stromgren
Umea, Northern Sweden
