"I think it's one of the best albums I've heard in a long while...'kiss the sad boy' is brilliant..that tune is stuck in my head.'Rag and bone rag' sounds like Ronnie Lane with Zep!.."
Guy Griffin - Quireboys
WELCOME TO ALL THINGS RAG-AND-BONE
WELCOME TO ALL THINGS RAG-AND-BONE
2008-10-21
The new shirt design is now available in additional colors here. Just select the "Rag-and-Bone"-category from the drop down menu.
2009-06-30
New gigs added.
2009-05-21
New gigs added.
2009-01-29
New gigs added.
2008-10-21
A new shirt design is available here.
2008-10-20
A new batch of album reviews:
Singer/ songwriter/ guitarist Mats Nilsson is from Sweden and is, in fact, Rag-And-Bone, named after a distant relative who was, guess what kind of man. R-and-B may be helped out by numerous friends on a variety of acoustic and electric instruments, but this CD has very much the feel of a solo album. After singing “in a bunch of rock bands”, he bought an acoustic guitar, and this is the result. The Blues is obviously a large part of his make-up, as the opening ‘Mayfly Blues’ (with its shades of ‘Led Zeppelin III’), the joyful duet with Maria Davidsson ‘Aiming For Love’ prove; so too are the various forms of rock since 1970 and people like Bob Dylan and a whole host of singer/ songwriters, though there is certainly a healthy dose of Americana (particularly the appropriately titled though sadly too short ‘Rambler Stomp’). Everything is in faultless English and the vocals have a tinge of Mick Jagger about them, making for an interesting though not a priority release.
***½ Driving rural acoustic blues from Sweden
Swedish performer Mats Nilsson (for Rag-And-Bone is he) continues the current fine vein of excellent country/Americana-styled music coming out of Scandinavia. On his album cover he looks every inch the 1920s bluesman, top half suited and tied, bottom half jeans and boots, acoustic guitar held across his body like a charm, and inside he does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin.
His style is rural acoustic blues and opening track Mayfly Blues is a superb example of the genre. Fast acoustic hammering drives vocals as urgent as they can be, reflecting the songs life in a day premise and refrain ‘time’s so precious to me.’
Kiss The Sad Boy (with Maria Davidson on feisty backing vocals and some great organ playing) is another fine piece with a deft phrase or three (‘feed the fire/with goodbye letters’). Nilsson takes the odd diversion or two along the way. There’s the poppy You Are A Perfect Lie, which recalls a backwoods Dolly Varden, as his voice echoes the peerless Steve Dawson’s if he’d gargled with gravel for a few years, Big Skies, which with its lap steel and catchy chorus, is reminiscent of the better moments of the Poco school of country-rock and the jugband stomp of Rag and Bone Rag.
The heart of the album remains the blues though, and Nilsson brings it all back home on the final two tracks, the paean to the travelling man Rambler Stomp and the anguished wail of The Hammer And The White Heat, a ‘whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ piece with the best line on the album in ‘your shadow smells like bad luck.’
Overall a fine album that pays its respects to the tradition while moving it forward, which is what it’s all about.
JS - Maverick Magazine
"This is different, more unique and better than most, this is music which will be rediscovered by the coming generations and Rag- And-Bone are in this way one of those rare musicians."
Rootstime - Belgium
Singer/ songwriter/ guitarist Mats Nilsson is from Sweden and is, in fact, Rag-And-Bone, named after a distant relative who was, guess what kind of man. R-and-B may be helped out by numerous friends on a variety of acoustic and electric instruments, but this CD has very much the feel of a solo album. After singing “in a bunch of rock bands”, he bought an acoustic guitar, and this is the result. The Blues is obviously a large part of his make-up, as the opening ‘Mayfly Blues’ (with its shades of ‘Led Zeppelin III’), the joyful duet with Maria Davidsson ‘Aiming For Love’ prove; so too are the various forms of rock since 1970 and people like Bob Dylan and a whole host of singer/ songwriters, though there is certainly a healthy dose of Americana (particularly the appropriately titled though sadly too short ‘Rambler Stomp’). Everything is in faultless English and the vocals have a tinge of Mick Jagger about them, making for an interesting though not a priority release.
Norman Darwen - Blues Matters
***½ Driving rural acoustic blues from Sweden
Swedish performer Mats Nilsson (for Rag-And-Bone is he) continues the current fine vein of excellent country/Americana-styled music coming out of Scandinavia. On his album cover he looks every inch the 1920s bluesman, top half suited and tied, bottom half jeans and boots, acoustic guitar held across his body like a charm, and inside he does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin.
His style is rural acoustic blues and opening track Mayfly Blues is a superb example of the genre. Fast acoustic hammering drives vocals as urgent as they can be, reflecting the songs life in a day premise and refrain ‘time’s so precious to me.’
Kiss The Sad Boy (with Maria Davidson on feisty backing vocals and some great organ playing) is another fine piece with a deft phrase or three (‘feed the fire/with goodbye letters’). Nilsson takes the odd diversion or two along the way. There’s the poppy You Are A Perfect Lie, which recalls a backwoods Dolly Varden, as his voice echoes the peerless Steve Dawson’s if he’d gargled with gravel for a few years, Big Skies, which with its lap steel and catchy chorus, is reminiscent of the better moments of the Poco school of country-rock and the jugband stomp of Rag and Bone Rag.
The heart of the album remains the blues though, and Nilsson brings it all back home on the final two tracks, the paean to the travelling man Rambler Stomp and the anguished wail of The Hammer And The White Heat, a ‘whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ piece with the best line on the album in ‘your shadow smells like bad luck.’
Overall a fine album that pays its respects to the tradition while moving it forward, which is what it’s all about.
JS - Maverick Magazine
"This is different, more unique and better than most, this is music which will be rediscovered by the coming generations and Rag- And-Bone are in this way one of those rare musicians."
Rootstime - Belgium
2008-09-29
New gigs added.
2008-08-16
Rag-and-Bone will perform live today on Kanal Lokal Skåne at 18.00. See it here.
2008-02-07
New album review :
(A A A A)
Here we go again. A young guy who’s worn out countless rock and roll bands, and finally found his own beginnings; who has learned to appreciate roots music, acoustic guitars, lap steel guitars and banjos. I would like to introduce you to mister Nilsson. Yes, Nilsson is another one of those Swedes. A Swede from Malmö. He has chosen the Nom de Guerre Rag-and-Bone, because a rag-and-bone man fixes things other people have thrown away as junk and sells it. Nilsson, on the other hand, fixes songs that have been thrown away as junk and sells them again on this, his debut album (MusicSpot/Musicplace Europe). He is not all alone in this endeavor, he got a little help from his friends. Eleven of them, to be exact – on drums, double bass, accordion, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, trombone, electric guitar and vocal assistance in a nice duet. All recorded in the studio of Pontus Snibb. The result is sensational. Nilsson has a fantastic, somewhat hoarse voice, that really comes into its own in great folksy songs like According to Your Plans, Now Forever, Fame Is Just the Last Way Out and the phenomenal closing song The Hammer and the White Heat with its rolling piano and blazing theremin. This song, along with the infectious Kiss the Sad Boy – a song one would like to hear on the radio every day, competes for the title of high point of the album.
Rag-and-Bone is a new name that firmly establishes itself with this impressive and richly mood-laden debut.
(A A A A)
Here we go again. A young guy who’s worn out countless rock and roll bands, and finally found his own beginnings; who has learned to appreciate roots music, acoustic guitars, lap steel guitars and banjos. I would like to introduce you to mister Nilsson. Yes, Nilsson is another one of those Swedes. A Swede from Malmö. He has chosen the Nom de Guerre Rag-and-Bone, because a rag-and-bone man fixes things other people have thrown away as junk and sells it. Nilsson, on the other hand, fixes songs that have been thrown away as junk and sells them again on this, his debut album (MusicSpot/Musicplace Europe). He is not all alone in this endeavor, he got a little help from his friends. Eleven of them, to be exact – on drums, double bass, accordion, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, trombone, electric guitar and vocal assistance in a nice duet. All recorded in the studio of Pontus Snibb. The result is sensational. Nilsson has a fantastic, somewhat hoarse voice, that really comes into its own in great folksy songs like According to Your Plans, Now Forever, Fame Is Just the Last Way Out and the phenomenal closing song The Hammer and the White Heat with its rolling piano and blazing theremin. This song, along with the infectious Kiss the Sad Boy – a song one would like to hear on the radio every day, competes for the title of high point of the album.
Rag-and-Bone is a new name that firmly establishes itself with this impressive and richly mood-laden debut.
Wiebren Rijkeboer - Altcountry.nl
2008-01-28
New video: "According to Your Plans" - Live 2007 added.
2008-01-12
New gig added.
2007-12-22
Rag-and-Bone is featured on the Möllevångsfestivalen 2007 compilation CD. Reserve your copy by dropping a line to kraft [at] mollevangsfestivalen.net.
2007-11-23
The third batch of reviews is in:
"One thing's for sure, it's not rag-and-bone junk, but an incomparable fine debut album that he delivers. The contents are nothing short of shining material. Mats Nilsson and his rasping voice are both joyful and serious in songs like "Kiss the Sad Boy", the captivating "Aiming for Love", a fine duet with Maria Davidsson and the tranquil "According to your plans"."
"The guy behind Rag-and-Bone, Malmö-based Mats Nilsson, makes an astonishingly mature debut with this album." "...what impresses most, besides the expressive voice, is the way that he as a song writer moves between different expressions and styles with such ease. One of the best Swedish Americana albums of the year."
"The instrumentation on this album is classic Americana - all acoustic guitars, harmonicas, upright bass and lap steel - but the vocal delivery and song-writing are not. Nilsson's songs sound like they are written by a rocker moonlighting as a folkie and, at times, they are all the more interesting for it. 'A Lost Part of Me' is a case in point, with a chorus that is pure rock, just in a different format." "Nilsson knows his way around a tune and the album is full of great moments ('You Are a Perfect Lie', 'Mayfly Blues' and 'Aiming for Love'). For those who have a snobbery when it comes to their Americana, Nilsson is not the man for them. However, for those who are prepared to accept an element of genre experiment (Neil Young fans apply here!) then 'Rag and Bone' should have more than enough highlights to keep you interested."
"One thing's for sure, it's not rag-and-bone junk, but an incomparable fine debut album that he delivers. The contents are nothing short of shining material. Mats Nilsson and his rasping voice are both joyful and serious in songs like "Kiss the Sad Boy", the captivating "Aiming for Love", a fine duet with Maria Davidsson and the tranquil "According to your plans"."
Hans Bloom - Dalademokraten
"The guy behind Rag-and-Bone, Malmö-based Mats Nilsson, makes an astonishingly mature debut with this album." "...what impresses most, besides the expressive voice, is the way that he as a song writer moves between different expressions and styles with such ease. One of the best Swedish Americana albums of the year."
Lars Davidsson - Smålänningen
"The instrumentation on this album is classic Americana - all acoustic guitars, harmonicas, upright bass and lap steel - but the vocal delivery and song-writing are not. Nilsson's songs sound like they are written by a rocker moonlighting as a folkie and, at times, they are all the more interesting for it. 'A Lost Part of Me' is a case in point, with a chorus that is pure rock, just in a different format." "Nilsson knows his way around a tune and the album is full of great moments ('You Are a Perfect Lie', 'Mayfly Blues' and 'Aiming for Love'). For those who have a snobbery when it comes to their Americana, Nilsson is not the man for them. However, for those who are prepared to accept an element of genre experiment (Neil Young fans apply here!) then 'Rag and Bone' should have more than enough highlights to keep you interested."
Dan Wilkinson - Americana-uk.com
2007-11-08
New gigs added.
2007-10-23
Rag-and-Bone will be televised. Check out Kanal Lokal today 18.00 for two songs and an interview. (And don't feel sad if you miss it on the first go-round
as there will be regular reruns.) Guest starring: Pelle Jernryd (Lap Steel) and Maria Davidsson (Vocals).
2007-09-27
The second batch of reviews is in:
”… a sensationally strong debut. Mats Nilsson turns out to be an accomplished singer singer/songwriter with a trunk full of strong songs based on American roots like delta blues, country and folk music. … It rocks and gyrates, it bleeds and shimmers.”
“PPPP … really good roots album with surprising musical depth.“
”…full of inspired folk rock with a blues and country feeling, where Mats’ soulful vocals and acoustic guitar are front and center… Here is all the energy that’s more often than not missing in this new singer/songwriter trend, a kind of freshness that goes a long way. But he also brings genuine song writing, which although it stays within traditional boundaries, still has a personal touch to it.”
”…touches deeply. With a melancholy voice and nimble guitar picking he conjures feelings that linger on.”
”… a sensationally strong debut. Mats Nilsson turns out to be an accomplished singer singer/songwriter with a trunk full of strong songs based on American roots like delta blues, country and folk music. … It rocks and gyrates, it bleeds and shimmers.”
Rune Häger - Rootsy.nu
“PPPP … really good roots album with surprising musical depth.“
Dan Marklund - Piteå Tidning
”…full of inspired folk rock with a blues and country feeling, where Mats’ soulful vocals and acoustic guitar are front and center… Here is all the energy that’s more often than not missing in this new singer/songwriter trend, a kind of freshness that goes a long way. But he also brings genuine song writing, which although it stays within traditional boundaries, still has a personal touch to it.”
Magnus Sundell - Trots allt
”…touches deeply. With a melancholy voice and nimble guitar picking he conjures feelings that linger on.”
Magnus Ransheim - Helsingborgs Dagblad
2007-09-27
The first batch of reviews is in:
”The self-deprecating love song "According to Your Plans", is my favorite, but the whole thing is pleasing and, above all, genuine Americana all the way through. Well crafted songs, an elite group of backing musicians and vocals charged with presence and emotion.”
”Interesting and very british-feeling rock and roll with an acoustic timbre and earthy colors, a hint of mysticism, well-played guitars in curious harmonies, and resonating warmth.”
“It’s been a long, long time since a debut album got me in such a good mood as this one… Mats Nilsson turns out to be a singer/songwriter with a lot of feeling for American roots music as well as british power pop!”
”The self-deprecating love song "According to Your Plans", is my favorite, but the whole thing is pleasing and, above all, genuine Americana all the way through. Well crafted songs, an elite group of backing musicians and vocals charged with presence and emotion.”
Lennart Persson - Rootsy.nu
”Interesting and very british-feeling rock and roll with an acoustic timbre and earthy colors, a hint of mysticism, well-played guitars in curious harmonies, and resonating warmth.”
Håkan Engström - Sydsvenska Dagbladet
“It’s been a long, long time since a debut album got me in such a good mood as this one… Mats Nilsson turns out to be a singer/songwriter with a lot of feeling for American roots music as well as british power pop!”
Rune Häger - Rootsy.nu
2007-09-12
videos for "Mayfly Blues" and "Kiss the Sad Boy" added.
2007-09-10
New gigs added.
2007-09-05
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we've had to change MySpace-address. The new address is: www.myspace.com/ragandbonemusic. Please update your bookmarks.
2007-08-31
New gigs added.
2007-08-16
New gigs added.
2007-08-03
The release party for Rag-and-Bone's debut album will be held at Bodoni, Malmö on 2007-09-19 (Wednesday) at 20.00.
2007-07-18
New site up and running. Check back for updates...
Merchandise:
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