New Asha Ali gets release date

The new Asha Ali album will be out October 7.

Asha Ali update

Asha Ali says that she is planning to release her new album in August. Also, Pontus Levahn from Tiger Lou/Torpedo has been enlisted as her new drummer.

Asha Ali - Hurricane (video)

Check out Asha Ali's brand new video for the song "Hurricane": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWQ7Jh2iPAc
Been looking forward to new music from her for awhile!

'The Sweptaways show' revealed!

Yesterday I told you there was a new Sweptaways album on the way, today I give you full details. Once again, the release date is April 15 and here now is the tracklist with full guest + songwriter details:

01. Democracy – The Sweptaways and Sir Eric Beyond [Erik Aalto]
02. Sign your name – The Sweptaways and Nina Ramsby [Terence Trent D'Arby]
03. They don't know about us – The Sweptaways and Anders Wendin aka Moneybrother [Kirsty MacColl]
04. Electric – The Sweptaways [Dag Volle, Martin Sandberg, Herbert Crichlow, Leila K]
05. Time of the season – The Sweptaways and Pelle Almqvist (The Hives) [Rod Argent, originally performed by The Zombies]
06. Happiness will be my revenge – The Sweptaways and Jens Lekman [Jens Lekman]
07. I've got your man – The Sweptaways and Robyn [Marion Hall, Richard Martin, Rickardo Ducent, originally performed by Lady Saw]
08. With every heartbeat – The Sweptaways and Simone Rubi (Rubies) [Robin Carlsson, Andreas Kleerup]
09. Vintersaga – The Sweptaways and Uje Brandelius [Ted Ström]
10. The world's greatest – The Sweptaways [R Kelly]
11. Something special – The Sweptaways and Asha Ali [Dolly Parton]
12. Tjörn – The Sweptaways and Björn Olsson [Björn Olsson]

Expect the first single (tbd) in mid-March.

Asha Ali is now managed by La Firme.

Asha Ali on tour alongside Ken Stringfellow and Trouble Over Tokyo:

05/06 - Szene, Wien (AUS)
05/07 - Orto Bar, Ljubljana (SLO)
05/08 - P.P.C., Graz (AUS)
05/09 - Kaserne Basel, Basel (CH)
05/11 - ISC ("Schwedische Nächte"), Bern (CH)
05/14 - Cinema Paradiso, St. Pölten (AUS)
05/15 - Step Völkermarkt, Völkermarkt (AUS)
05/16 - Backstage, Wiener Neustadt (AUS)
05/17 - Sublime, Aflenz Kurort (AUS)

New mailorder items now in stock!

v/a - Great Northern Recordings compilation no. 3
Montys Loco - Farewell Mr Happy
The Lionheart Brothers - Dizzy kiss

Also, check out these re-stocks!

Montys Loco - Man overboard
Asha Ali - s/t (deluxe package)

Here's the playlist for this weekend's radio show:

01. C.Aarmé - Blodet
02. TALK 1
03. Kaka - The hotspurs (the less we know the faster we go)
04. Bitch Boys - Automobile
05. Benea Reach - Rejuvenate
06. TALK 2
07. The Second Band - The urgency of now
08. Breach - Murder
09. Montys Loco - Criminal
10. TALK 3
11. Det Gamla Landet - Krutrök
12. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Cardiac arrest
13. I Am Bones - Home is the one corner of hell that didn't catch fire
14. TALK 4
15. Madrugada - Look away Lucifer
16. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
17. When - The king
18. TALK 5
19. Beyond Dawn - Increasing the gravity
20. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Plokk
21. As In RebekkaMaria - She lion (Pato Sick Hangover remix)
22. TALK 6
23. Robert Svensson - 1987 (ft. Adam Olenius)
24. Paper - To her
25. Animal Alpha - Even when I'm wrong, I'm right
26. TALK 7
27. Niccokick - The poet
28. Asha Ali - Coward heart
29. Viola - I don't know how to party
30. TALK 8
31. Voices Break the Silence - No matter if it's now
32. Marybell Katastrophy - Red red lips
33. Anna Ternheim - Shoreline
34. TALK 9
35. Ulf Ljusberg - Here, me
36. Sir Eric Beyond and the Avant-garde - Democracy
37. Once We Were - Carnival
38. Birds On Holiday - I had a plan
39. TALK 10
40. Björn Kleinhenz - Tredje Långgatan 26

Bröderna Lindgren
Vuxen barnmusik!
Bonnier Amigo

"Vuxen barnmusik!" is an all-star collaboration album of sorts, featuring a slew of Sweden's most popular singers contributing at least one song, many with two. Sonically, the album is mostly a mixture of the textures of mid-70s classic rock and mid-90s alt-country, and, for the most part, it matches that vocally as well. To my ears, Caroline Wennergren contributes the strongest melodies of the album on her tracks "Eld i baken" and "Flyg iväg". In the second tier, one finds the familiarly loved Asha Ali, Mattias Alkberg and Kristofer Åström all taking what could be a slow record and pushing it up quite enjoyably. However, the strongest song on the album is its closer, the gorgeous "Finns det någon där" with Nina Ramsby and Martin Hederos performing a soft piano ballad with a light electric guitar playing in the background. The rest of the tracks though, did not do much for me, especially the faux-reggae "Välkommen til djungeln" which I've found to be completely unbearable. In the end, "Vuxen barnmusik!" is a decent album with a light-hearted feel, but can occasionally stray to the boring.
- Matt Giordano

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Britta Persson - Cliffhanger
02. TALK 1
03. Death By Kite - Sweet M
04. KVLR - Traitors and thieves
05. Anna Ternheim - Today is a good day
06. TALK 2
07. Don Juan Dracula - Take me home (Johan Angebjörn remix feat. Sally Shapiro)
08. Amorphis - Weaving the incantation
09. Thomas Denver Jonsson - Dreams at the film club (feat. Nina Kinert)
10. TALK 3
11. Don't Be A Stranger - Lonely together
12. Madrugada - Tonight I have no words for you
13. Majessic Dreams - Have to go
14. TALK 4
15. Pavan - The bird
16. Bröderna Lindgren - Om en guldfisk (feat. Kristofer Åström)
17. The Tarantula Waltz - Where I end and you begin
18. Adam Tensta - They wanna know
19. TALK 5
20. Commando M Pigg - Mot stjärnorna
21. Gravy - Rock scientists
22. Jonas Game - ADHD
23. TALK 6
24. Linus Larsson & John Roger Olsson - In the shadow
25. Idiot Kid - Go to sleep
26. Mats Öberg - Cool water - på Den Gyldene Freden
27. TALK 7
28. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
29. The Bear Quartet - I would be poor
30. Peloton - Aranburu
31. Royal Downfall - Lightning strikes twice
32. TALK 8
33. Made In Sweden - Winter's a bummer
34. Erik Enocksson - The state the sea left me in
35. Asha Ali - Coward heart
36. TALK 9
37. A-ha - Celice

The playlist for my radio show this week featured all of my favorite songs from 2007:

01. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
02. TALK 1
03. Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle
04. The Skull Defekts - The secret
05. Ted Gärdestad - Räcker jag till
06. TALK 2
07. CS Nielsen - Black spots
08. Kornstad - Turkey, Texas
09. Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom
10. The Bombettes - I wanna
11. TALK 3
12. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
13. Repoman - Chemically obsessed
14. The Bell - I am history
15. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
16. TALK 4
17. Mainliners - Olivia
18. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
19. Karin Ström - Ordlös
20. TALK 5
21. Fun - I've got a truck
22. Tobias Hellkvist - Moment at ven
23. Juvelen - Hanna
24. TALK 6
25. Laakso - Worst case scenario
26. Closer - Sensing the wake
27. Asha Ali - A promise broken
28. TALK 7
29. Paper - My life is going under
30. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
31. Lukestar - White shade
32. TALK 8
33. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
34. Aerial - You will all die, all things will
35. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
36. TALK 9

Next week (12/29) I'm doing another special theme show on Swedish postpunk.

MP3: Bröderna Lindgren - En hund som jag

I make no secret of my appreciation for children's music. "Bamses dunder hits!" still gets regular airplay in my house and no, I have no children of my own and my dogs hate singing and dancing so it's definitely not for their benefit. Naturally, when I heard about the new Bröderna Lindren record "Vuxen barnmusik!" ("Children's music for adults!"), I knew I needed to have it. Factor in the all-star cast of guest vocalists (Kristofer Åström, Ebbot Lundberg and Asha Ali, to name a few) and a backing band featuring drummer Fredrik Sandsten from The Soundtrack of Our Lives and I. If you're of a certain age (an adult?), you'll probably feel the same as it harkens back to the kind of songs I/we grew up on on Sesame Street, Schoolhouse Rock, The Muppet Show and so on: classic rock/pop that's happy and easygoing with plenty of opportunities for singalongs. Now, as for the track I've selected today, it features Mattias Alkberg from The Bear Quartet/MABD and is one of the more balladesque numbers. Not only is it one of the best vocal performances I've heard from him in awhile, it's also about dogs (more or less), so I'm all about it. Enjoy!

Bröderna Lindgren - En hund som jag (ft. Mattias Alkberg)

Podcast: Top Songs of 2007

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. The Bombettes - Dating scene
02. TALK 1
03. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
04. Dieter Schöön - Warm hearts
05. Kasper Bjørke - Back & spine (Fidel Astro remix)
06. TALK 2
07. Come Sleep - Be the end
08. Promise and the Monster - Trials
09. Immanu El - Home
10. TALK 3
11. Lukestar - Lake Toba
12. Marit Bergman - No party
13. Mando Diao - Never seen the light of day
14. TALK 4
15. Jonas Game - ADHD
16. Kornstad - Turkey, Texas
17. Josse - You had a plan
18. The Hives - You dress up for Armageddon
19. TALK 5
20. Randy - Freedom song
21. Ted Gärdestad - Så mycket bättre
22. Motorhomes - Into the night
23. TALK 6
24. Laakso - Västerbron
25. The Bear Quartet - Hunchback
26. Susanne Sundfør - The dance
27. TALK 7
28. New Moscow - Turbonegro must be destroyed
29. The Bell - Target group
30. Vaiping - The great polar expedition
31. TALK 8
32. NEI - City of gold
33. Asha Ali - Fire, fire
34. My Enemy - My time coming (Johan Formeijer remix)
35. TALK 9
36. CS Nielsen - Black spots
37. David Sandström Overdrive - The Fatville Treaty
38. C.Aarmé - Golden retriever
39. TALK 10
40. Aerial - My god, it's full of stars!

Here's the playlist for my radio show on Saturday:

01. Ted Gärdestad - Räcker jag till
02. TALK 1
03. The Setting Son - In a certain way
04. Beyond Dawn - TRNQL
05. Miss Li - Let her go
06. TALK 2
07. Jonna Lee - Dried out eyes
08. Death By Kite - Hiroshima
09. The Motorhomes - I wanna make you sing
10. TALK 3
11. Printer - Minds out
12. Alarma Man - Sweden, Sweden
13. Pistol Disco - Radiation
14. TALK 4
15. Knugen Faller - Lugna favoriter
16. Scraps of Tape - Since all the birds are moving, shouldn't we
17. Carpet People - If I lose my voice
18. TALK 5
19. Asha Ali - A promise broken
20. Ingenting - Punkdrommar
21. Holiday for Strings - I got two hands
22. TALK 6
23. NEI - City of gold
24. FAP - Sjömannen
25. Monoton - Hours
26. TALK 7
27. Deathbed - Everyday heroin
28. Dibaba - Go marching in
29. Johnossi - Execution song
30. Sista Sekunden - Se opp
31. TALK 8
32. Laakso - Worse case scenario
33. Tiger Lou - Sell out
34. Peter Bjorn and John - Matchmaker
35. TALK 9
36. Johndoe - Hardt som faen
37. Espen Jørgensen - Move ahead - quickly
38. Säkert! - Och jag grät mig till sömns efter alla dar
39. TALK 10
40. KVLR - Slow clapping
41. Anna Leong - 61
42. Final Exit - Bent out of shape
43. TALK 11
44. The Bear Quartet - Lights out, sound off