Mando Diao - The malevolence of Mando Diao - 2CD+DVD 2009

Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album Hurricane Bar. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, and Japan although their influence has recently spread to Western Europe, most notably the UK.

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The roots of Mando Diao date back to 1995 when Björn Dixgård and the former Mando Diao member Daniel Haglund played in a band called Butler. With band members changing over the following four years, the current line-up decided to take the project more seriously. Björn Dixgård and Gustaf Noren locked themselves up in a summer house and spent 14 months writing songs. They claim the Beatles as their original source of inspiration. Allegedly, Gustaf joined the band after he and Björn had talked all night about this band. The two renamed their band Mando Diao which, according to the band has no particular meaning, appearing to Björn Dixgård in a dream, when a man came up to him and shouted Mando Diao!.

The now-renamed band made their first public performances in the clubs of their hometown Borlänge in 1999. A local writer described them in an article as the best unsigned band he had ever seen. This was soon followed by a record deal with EMI Sweden. In 2002, their first album Bring 'Em In was released in Sweden. It contains early demo versions of their songs, partly recorded in the basement of keyboardist Daniel Haglund, who left the band later in 2003. In 2003, the album was released internationally by MUTE label, along with their debut single Sheepdog. As of 2004, the band is hailed enthusiastically by the music press as one of the most sanguine newcomer bands of the year. The album Hurricane Bar was released in 2004. Their third album, Ode to Ochrasy, was released in 2006. By the end of 2006, the band released a DVD called Down in the Past. Ode to Ochrasy was released in the UK through the Nettwerk label on April 2, 2007, in a previously unreleased format including 4 bonus tracks. In October 2007, the band released their album, Never Seen The Light Of Day. Their latest album, Give Me Fire, was released on February 13, 2009.

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Mando Diao has been touring all over the world, though their biggest following is in Germany, Japan, and their homeland Sweden. The band supported The Bravery on their tour in 2005, along with the Los Angeles band The Colour. On their 2006 European tour, they were supported by Razorlight and Johnossi, and for the British leg of the tour they were a joint support act for the Dirty Pretty Things along with Larrikin Love.

At the end of January 2007, Mando Diao were widely covered in the Swedish media because of an incident at their live concert on January 27, 2007. They were performing at the Amplified festival at Norrlands Opera House in Umeå when a part of the floor the audience was standing on collapsed, leaving at least 25 fans hurt. Five people were taken to the hospital with injuries such as broken arms and legs. According to the management of Norrlandsoperan, the hall had been checked, but they had never thought the floor, consisting of several moveable parts on concrete girders over a three meter deep hole, wouldn't hold the 170 people in the room, since the fire department had given them approval for 800 people. After this unfortunate event, Mando Diao stayed in Umeå in case they could do anything to help the injured fans. They also visited the hospitalized fans personally.

Mando Diao appeared April 29, 2007 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and on July 7, 2007 they performed at the German leg of Live Earth in Hamburg. Since the summer of 2007, Mando Diao has had support from a horn section consisting of renowned Swedish jazz musicians Nils Janson and Nils Berg. Mando Diao singer Björn Dixgård toured Europe solo during the end of 2007. On November 3, 2008, the band played one US date for the Give Me Fire tour with the Capshuns and We Barbarians at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. On September 2, 2010, they recorded an MTV Unplugged concert at Union Film-Studios in Berlin, featuring guest appearances by Daniel Haglund, Ray Davies, Klaus Voormann, Juliette Lewis and Lana Del Rey. The concert was released on CD and DVD in late 2010. (wikipedia)

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Mando Diao - The malevolence of Mando Diao-the EMI B-sides 2002-2007
(2CD+DVD Solna EMI Music Sweden 2009)

CD: The malevolence of Mando Diao

1. Chi ga
2. This is the modern
3. Son of dad
4. Duel of the dynamite
5. The malevolence
6. Popovic
7. Hail the sunny days
8. Cinderella
9. Last time infected
10. Carbon place
11. Sheepdog (acoustic)
12. Chet Baker
13. Sweet Jesus
14. Picture of 'em all
15. And I don't know
16. With or without love
17. Good morning, Herr Horst (Rac mix)
18. Spit on your love
19. Telephone song
20. The quarry
21. How we walk
22. Searching for owls
23. San Francisco Bay
24. Your lover's nerve
25. Moonshine fever
26. India love
27. For the tears
28. Waves of fortune
29. Deep blue sea
30. She's so
31. Jeanette
32. Long before rock'n'roll (live)
33. We're hit
34. Chi
35. A hard day's night
36. Little boy jr (live)
37. Paralyzed (live)
38. Sheepdog (live)
39. Driving around

DVD: Live and unplugged at Svenska grammofonstudion

1. Intro
2. Killer Kaczynski
3. The new boy
4. God knows
5. Paralyzed
6. The band
7. Amsterdam
8. Welcome home Luc Robitaille
9. Sheepdog
10. Take me home, country roads
11. Ochrasy
12. Misty mountains
13. Chi ga
14. Long before rock'n'roll
15. You can't steal my love
16. Credits: The wildfire