2021

November 26, 2021
More new music for dance!
”BARBIE - a performance about dance history” premieres today, at Örebro Teater. A dance piece produced by Gala Dance Bergslagen, that I have had the fortune to write a bunch of new music for. This is a revised update of an earlier version of the piece, with more new original music. Choreography and production by Ellinor Ljungkvist. Performed by Ida Hellsten and Jessica Andrenacci.

The requirements for this production gave me the opportunity to write music in a wide variety of different styles - ranging from a piece in the style of Offenbach’s Can Can music, to Schubert-type and 20th century piano pieces, oriental music and some ambient minimalistic and hybrid cinematic stuff. Lots of fun challenges!

October 8, 2021
New music for dance!
JAGUAREN premieres today - a dance piece produced by Gala Dance Bergslagen, based on a children’s book with the same name by Ulf Stark and Anna Höglund. Choreography and stage adaptation by Ellinor Ljungkvist. Performed by Niklas Fransson and Ellinor Ljungkvist. Featuring music and sound production/mix by me.

The music used is partly a selection of old tunes of mine in new versions arranged specifically for this production, as well as a couple of brand new tunes written exclusively for this piece.

August 20, 2021
New music for TV available!
Season 1 of the new Nordic sci fi-drama series The Dark Labs premieres today on Paramount+. The Dark Labs, created by Karl Thyselius together with Thobias Hoffmén, is a sci-fi/drama series about how people and human relationships are affected by AI and modern technology in different ways. I’ve been lucky enough to contribute with music for five of the 8 episodes (Jonas Wikstrand on the remaining three).

A Paramount+ original, The Dark Labs is the first Nordic drama production in the recent launch of Paramount+ in the Nordic countries.

2020

May 17, 2020
There is a brand new video for the latest Dream Radio single Pacific, watch it here. The footage for the video is taken from the always amazing Prelinger Archives.

May 15, 2020
The latest Dream Radio single Pacific is out now! Available on all major streaming platforms. Give it a spin, and please share it on social media if you like it.

March 17, 2020
Demo reels up on YouTube! I put together a couple of demo reels with my film music (from recent short films by Inlovewith Studios), and some favorite tracks from the Dream Radio catatolg. Check them out on my YouTube channel, or here.

2019

July 13, 2019
New gig posted! Me and Johanna Aveskogh will play our Hasse & Tage program at a new festival outside of Örebro, on the beautiful island of Vinön. Read more here.

June 28, 2019
Glad to announce the latest Dream Radio release: the EP On This Day. Three tracks of live looping guitar bonanza! Available on all major platforms. Read more about it here, and watch the video promos here.

January 18, 2019
Happy New Year!
Glad to announce the first Dream Radio release of 2019: Roseman Bridge, 1965. Available now on all major streaming services. Read more about it here.

2018

December 23, 2018
With Christmas around the corner, I put together a little folksy arrangement of one of my favorite Swedish Lucia/Christmas songs, “Så mörk är natten i midvintertid”. Check it out on my Youtube channel skyfieldsmusic. From Dream Radio to you all: Merry Christmas!

October 4, 2018
A bunch of videos and clips from the recent Dream Radio gig are now available out there! Check them out on Facebook: mikaelkarlssonmusic, or Youtube: skyfieldsmusic or Instagram: mikaelkarlssonmusic. A couple of videos from the event are also posted here.

July 30, 2018
More new music up on Spotify and iTunes! The music from the exhibition Fyndet is now available on the album Lives, including an extra track called Life and times. And this week I also released Music from a play, music from and inspired by a stage play based on a short story by Swedish author Per Olov Enquist. Read the full liner notes for that album here.

July 29, 2018
Gig calendar updated! A couple of dates with Thyselius and a solo performance with Dream Radio coming up! Go to live section for more info.

May 4, 2018
My new solo project Dream Radio is finally on! Read more here, and listen to the debut album We let go here.

2017

May 11, 2017
Almost 20 years back, I started playing in a band called Coy. It was my first, and still to this day, the most important musical “school” I could have ever dreamed of. We were all in our early twenties, our ambitions were incredibly high, our confidence endless, and we were really meticulous in all aspects of what it meant to be a band - rehearsals, song arranging, recording, equipment, live gigs, preparations. We took everything seriously, and for such a young age, we were all pretty damn good players. Nejra was the band’s natural leader - she wrote the songs, sang like a goddess, played the piano like no one else. She was (and is) one of the most geniously talented musicians I have ever met. I am really fortunate to have been able to play and create music with her, both in Coy and later with her own solo project. The years with Coy was all in all a wonderful learning experience, and so much fun along the way. I met some of my closest friends during those years, most of them in that band. 

In 2005 we recorded what was supposed to be our next demo/record. Self produced, but with quite an extensive budget for an independent, unsigned band. This was before YouTube, iTunes, and Spotify, and before home recordings could really offer anything of the kind of professional sound quality that is achievable with much less ado nowadays. So we did it the old fashioned way -  a classic studio (including the classic hour rate), one of the best engineers/mixers in town, and with a bunch of songs and arrangements that were our best stuff yet (in my opinion). This, coupled with a peak level of playing and musicianship, made these recordings really hit another level for us in many aspects. 

Unfortunately the record was never released at the time. We didn't pull through with the rest of the production chain - printing CDs, distribution and so forth. Again, this was way before you could easily release music on streaming services and reach people worldwide for a couple of dollars a year. So the tracks more or less fell into oblivion on a hard drive somewhere. Until now. We realized that, since nowadays there's nothing stopping you from just putting your stuff out there, we could do that with these songs as well. The tracks were already recorded, mixed and mastered. So as soon as the four of us that made up the last line up of the band had agreed to do it, we hit the button. 

So now, 12 years later: let us proudly present the last, previously unreleased, album by Coy - No Compromises.
Available now on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music, Deezer, and more. 

Nejra van Zalk - vocals, piano
Mikael Karlsson - electric and acoustic guitars
Jonatan Tjäder - bass
Olle Prim - drums and percussion

March 26, 2017
Live videos from the "Mest ibland tistlar" release are now available! Check out "Min längtan" below. A complete Youtube playlist is found here. Thanks to Olympiateatern for having us, and thanks to David Storm for filming, and for post-production mixing and mastering. 

June 19, 2016
"...Allan Pettersson's Barfotasånger has been turned into modern songs in clever arrangements...." - Sofia Lilly Jönsson, SvD
"Perfect summer listening for moments when you might feel obliged to happiness just because the sun is shining." - Johan Korssell, CD-revyn

Reviews and mentions of "Mest ibland tistlar" is starting to come in! Please visit the press section for links to all reviews and press mentions.   

May 29, 2016
The album "Mest ibland tistlar" is finally here! Thanks to everyone involved in the making, and thanks to everyone who came to the release event at Olympiateatern. Buy your physical copy from the Tröstlösa Records web shop. Or, if you can live with the thought of always having to wonder how great the physical album and artwork actually look (it looks really great), the album is available as a digital download in the  iTunes store as well. Or, alternatively, feel free to stream the life out of it on Spotify or any other streaming service, and tell all your friends to do the same!

May 7, 2016
Tröstlösa Records, the record label that is releasing Mest ibland tistlar, also has a podcast introducing each new release in their catalogue. They just released the latest episode, where me and singer Ola Sandström speak to Emeli Jeremias about our upcoming album. Please have a listen! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes for future episodes on future album releases. 

April 12, 2016
Check out this album preview for the album "Mest ibland tistlar", due for release May 29th. 

April 5, 2016
On April 20th I will play at the release event for Fredrik af Trampe's debut album "Tysta slag". Great songs, great band, great evening. Don't miss!  

March 25, 2016
Me and singer Johanna Aveskogh will perform "Från landsvägar till förortstorg" in Bagarmossen church on March 30th, 1.30 pm. See you there! 

March 20, 2016
The album "Mest ibland tistlar", featuring new arrangements of Allan Pettersson's Barfota songs, will be released on May 29th on independent label Tröstlösa Records. Go to Live page for tickets and more info on the release event.