People & Culture - Sweden - page 699

(starting with Echoes from the Dead , 2008) is set on the island of Öland. Other writers to
seek out include Karin Alvtegen (dubbed Sweden's 'queen of crime'), Kerstin Ekman, Ca-
milla Läckberg and Jens Lapidus.
Jazz is huge among Swedes; for a primer, look for records by Lars Gullin, Bernt Rosen-
gren and Jan Johansson.
Must-Reads
One of the best ways to get inside the collective mind of a country is to read its top au-
thors. Some of the most popular works by Swedish authors include The Long Ships (1954)
by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (1906-07) by Selma
Lagerlöf, The Emigrants series (1949-59) by Vilhelm Moberg, Marking (1963-64) by Dag
Hammarskjöld, Röda Rummet (1879) by August Strindberg and The Evil (1981) by Jan
Guillou.
Swedish Music
Any survey of Swedish pop music should probably start with ABBA, the iconic, extravag-
antly outfitted winner of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest (with 'Waterloo'). You can im-
merse yourself in ABBA completely at the Stockholm museum dedicated to the group and
its history; one wing of the ABBA museum houses the Swedish Music Hall of Fame,
which offers an efficient primer on the history of Swedish popular music.
More current Swedish successes are pop icon Robyn, indie melody-makers Peter Björn
& John, and the exquisitely mellow José González, whose cover of the Knife's track
'Heartbeats' catapulted the Göteborg native to international stardom.
Other artists of note include the Field, aka Alex Wilner, and Kristian Matsson, the
singer-songwriter who goes by the Tallest Man on Earth, as well as home-grown stalwarts
such as the massively popular Kent, the Hives, the Shout Out Louds and Håkan Hellström,
who is much lauded for his original renditions of classic Swedish melodies.
Swedish songwriters and producers are sought-after commodities: Denniz Pop and Max
Martin have penned hits for pop divas such as Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez, while
Anders Bagge and Bloodshy & Avant (aka Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg) co-
created Madonna's 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor .