Added the rest of the live Christian Kjellvander mp3s that I have. Unfortunately I had some problems capturing the entire event so the seven songs here are all I got. Great stuff, but I wish I had the whole thing. Anyone out there with the rest, please let me know. Thanks!

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In My Life
02. Kurt Nilsen - She´s So High
03. HIM - The Sacrament
04. Junior Senior - Rythm Bandits
05. Killer - Naughty Boy
06. Paperboys - What U Need
07. User - Do You
08. C21 - She Cries
09. The Lost Patrol feat. Lisa Miskovsky - Alright
10. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
11. Outlandish - Guantanamo
12. Darude - Next To You
13. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
14. Christian Kjellvander - Homeward Rolling Soldier
15. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
16. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
17. Röyksopp - Sparks
18. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
19. Span - Found
20. Dilba - Diamonds And Motorcars

Challengers:
01. Qwan - One Life, One Love
02. Briskeby - Hey Baby
03. José Gonzales - Crosses
04. Moneybrother - Stormy Weather
05. Bertine Zetlitz - Twisted Little Star

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In My Life
02. HIM - The Sacrament
03. Killer - Naughty Boy
04. Outlandish - Guantanamo
05. Kurt Nilsen - She´s So High
06. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
07. Christian Kjellvander - Homeward Rolling Soldier
08. User - Do You
09. C21 - She Cries
10. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
11. The Lost Patrol feat. Lisa Miskovsky - Alright
12. Turbonegro - Fuck The World
13. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
14. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
15. Röyksopp - Sparks
16. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
17. Elin Sigvardsson - Where To Start
18. Dr. Alban - Work Work
19. Komeda - B.L.O.S.S.O.M
20. Span - Found

Challengers:
01. Paperboys - What U Need
02. Darude - Next To You
03. Mendez - Tequila
04. Dilba - Diamonds And Motorcars
05. Junior Senior - Rythm Bandits

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Added some new live mp3s from Christian Kjellvander today. Be sure to check em out on the right.

Swedish power-metallers Falconer have finished recording their new album "The Sceptre Of Deception", due out October 6 on Metal Blade Records. Mainman Stefan Weinerhall says the record is "a concept album about greed, falseness and megalomania in the 1300s in Sweden" and "based upon a true story." Sounds like a winning formula to me. The full tracklist:

01. The Coronation
02. Trail Of Flames
03. Under The Sword
04. Night Of Infamy
05. Hooves Over Northland
06. Pledge For Freedom
07. Ravenhair
08. The Sceptre Of Deception
09. Hear Me Pray
10. Child Of Innocence

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. Killer - Naughty Boy
02. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
03. HIM - The Sacrament
04. Outlandish - Guantanamo
05. Christian Kjellvander - Homeward Rolling Soldier
06. C21 - She Cries
07. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
08. Röyksopp - Sparks
09. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
10. The Lost Patrol feat. Lisa Miskovsky - Alright
11. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
12. Turbonegro - Fuck The World
13. Da Buzz - Alive
14. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
15. Venke Knutsen - Panic
16. User - Do You
17. Span - Found
18. Komeda - B.L.O.S.S.O.M
19. Pauline - Answer
20. Amulet - Breaking News

Challengers:
01. Dr. Alban - Work Work
02. Elin Sigvardsson - Where To Start
03. Willowtree - Summer On TV
04. The Rasmus - In My Life
05. Kurt Nilsen - She´s So High

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
02. Killer - Naughty Boy
03. Outlandish - Guantanamo
04. HIM - The Sacrament
05. C21 - She Cries
06. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
07. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
08. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
09. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
10. Röyksopp - Sparks
11. Christian Kjellvander - Homeward Rolling Soldier
12. Turbonegro - Fuck The World
13. User - Do You
14. Da Buzz - Alive
15. The Perishers - Sway
16. Span - Found
17. Komeda - B.L.O.S.S.O.M
18. Pauline - Answer
19. Amulet - Breaking News
20. Eric Gadd - Permission To Love

Challengers:
01. Creamstar - Stand By Me
02. Shebang - Crash
03. Clubstrophobia - Vegas
04. The Lost Patrol feat. Lisa Miskovsky - Alright
05. Venke Knutsen - Panic

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Some new bands confirmed for the Emmaboda Festival on August 7-9: Langhorns, Mustafa et Monique, Christian Kjellvander and Doktor Kosmos.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. Per Gessle - Mazarin
02. Carola - Guld platina & passion - det bästa
03. Anders Johansson - If it's all I ever do
04. Tomas Ledin - I sommarnattens ljus
05. Pugh Rogefeldt - Pughs bästa
06. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
07. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
08. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
09. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
10. Tommy Körberg - Gränslös - det bästa med
11. Style, Sandelin & Ekman, Freestyle - Samlade hits
12. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
13. Moneybrother - Blood panic
14. Anna-Lotta Larson - Tidlöst
15. Da Buzz - More than alive
16. Lars Winnerbäck och hovet - Söndermarken
17. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
18. Alcazar - Alcazarized
19. Per Myrberg - Sommarnatt Per Myrberg sjunger Taube
20. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
02. Killer - Naughty Boy
03. Outlandish - Guantanamo
04. C21 - She Cries
05. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
06. Kashmir - Rocket Brothers
07. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
08. Da Buzz - Alive
09. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
10. Turbonegro - Fuck The World
11. User - Do You
12. Ingrid Marguerite - Everything I Need
13. Darude - Music
14. Remedeeh - Give That Dog A Bone
15. Superheroes - Someone Else
16. Her Majesty - F.U.N.E.R.A.L
17. Equicez - Live From Pass It
18. Melody Club - Cover Girl
19. Prominent - Regrets
20. Bad Cash Quartet - Dirty Days

Challengers:
01. Club 8 - Saturday Night Engine
02. Amulet - Breaking News
03. Röyksopp - Sparks
04. Christian Kjellvander - Homeward Rolling Soldier
05. HIM - The Sacrament

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

The latest from Startracks Records:

Christian Kjellvander will be recording the new track "Portugal" next week for a video/single release sometime around October. He debuted the song live at Hultsfred fest and you can view footage of it here.

Fireside's latest album "Get Shot" finally gets a US/Canada release now on August 19 and the label says that tour plans are definitely in the works.

The label's latest signing Tiger Lou has set August 20 as the release date for their new EP. The tracklist:

01. Sam, as in Samantha
02. Nova Lee
03. When I was a kid
04. Trouble & Desire

You probably didn't notice as there hasn't been much publicity about it, but Simba Records recently released the Kristofer Åström "Plastered Confessions" EP in the US. Simba also put out a similar Marit Bergman EP over here that's worth checking out as well. And while we're on a tangent here, let me add that Simba is also working on a Joni Mitchell tribute CD that will feature contributions from Kristofer and Dennis Lyxzén (International Noise Conspiracy, Lost Patrol) among others. FYI, the label's website appears to still be a work-in-progress as I think it just came online.

And lastly, Startracks has finalized the tracklist for their first label-showcase compilation. It also comes out August 20 and will be dirt cheap:

01. Fireside - Throw it away
02. Christian Kjellvander -Broken Wheels
03. Kristofer Åström & Hidden truck - One good moment
04. Tiger Lou - Nova Lee
05. Loosegoats - Days of black (nights are light)
06. Kristofer Åström - 8 long years (previously unreleased)
07. Songs of Soil - Page
08. The Lost Patrol - Stating the obvious
09. Revolvo - Moscow mule
10. Jaffa de Luxe - Don't forget about Raquel
11. Candysuck - Popcorn
12. Leiah - Cover Discover
13. Starmarket - Mexican summer
14. Moneybrother - Thunder in my heart
15. Buck - Rock dream
16. Monster - Don't answer the phone
17. Refused - Pump the brakes

De Stijl reports they have signed with Prescription Records to put out their record in the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia. Congrats. The only other band on the already-hyped label is The Kills.

Christian Kjellvander (solo), De Stijl, Empire Dogs and Florence Valentin are some of the bands confirmed for the Tullakrok festival in Ängelholm, Sweden. More info here: http://gottwalds.cjb.net/

Empire Dogs also say they will be playing the Trästock fest. They'll also be going into Studio Vaxholm in Stockholm on June 30 for three weeks with Adam Kviman.

Listen for tracks from The Virtues album "Ruminate" during upcoming episodes of Real World, Road Rules and Extreme Challenge on MTV. The band also plans to film a video for the song "Alarm Call" soon.

Gluecifer got their long-awaited new website up and running. In other news, the band is working with cameraman Inge von Schreuder on putting together a DVD for release sometime next spring. They already have a bunch of footage shot, but still plan on getting more before editing it together.

Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke recently attended the Spot9 Festival in Århus, Denmark where he said his favorite acts were the Norweigan groups Jaga Jazzist and Supersilent. "Supersilent has also a good chance to get a good cult audience in America," he said (albeit poorly translated), "They have a very psychedelic sound. When one of their song was out on a compilation in America, I had thought to review it. After I saw them live, I should have done it in any case." Read more. (mostly in Danish)

Matti from Bear Quartet told Norrbottens-Kuriren that the new album is ten songs in under thirty minutes and it sounds like 'fotbollspunk'.

Labrador Records releases are now available in Mexico via Noise Kontrol Distribution.

Junior Senior will be releasing a new Denmark-only EP called "Boy Meets Girl" that will include some new remixes and re-recorded tracks along with a couple videos. Get the full details here.

Delusion of Adequacy reviews "The Raging Sun" from Logh. Even though they have yet to secure a US label/distributor, I agree with the reviewer - US fans of the first Deep Elm-released album should definitely seek it out.

Roskilde fest is officially sold out.

A number of Norweigan bands are aggressively promoting their music via TV over here in the US. First off, Cato Salsa Experience will reportedly be heard on MTV's 'The Osbournes'. And now Ephemera is making a go at it, too. (in Norweigan)

MTVE.com has posted a number of live videos from Stockholm Calling, including a few Cardigans tracks.

MIC Norway has posted their rundown on the top Norweigan summer music festivals.

Aftonbladet's Hultsfred wrap-up: http://www.aftonbladet.se/noje/musik/hultsfred/2003/index.html

The various demo bands appearing at this summer's Kalas tour have been announced:

Norrköping - The Rawhypnols
Kalmar - The Stuckups
Visby - Gilmour
Örebro - Firestone
Skövde - Hundarna
Lysekil - Dog Almighty
Malmö - Sandy Mouche
Varberg - Whitesilver
Göteborg - Olivia
Säter - Soardy
Stockholm - Kungers

HIM has posted a 22-minute video clip documenting the filming of their latest video for the song "Sacrament". Check it: Real / Windows

Mayhem has booked time in November at Puk Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark to record their next album, tentatively titled "Chimera". Look for it early next year from Season Of Mist Records.

NME reports that over 100 people were arrested at Hultsfred fest on Saturday when they, horror upon horrors, formed a conga line. "They ran round and destroyed fencing. There was a risk that both people and property would be damaged. We decided therefore to remove people in order to avert any further crime," said Reverend Moore, I mean Ulf Karlsson, the information chief for Kalmar District police.

Check out the latest Aquarius Records New Release List featuring reviews and samples from Pharoah Overlord, the all-instrumental "stoner rock" side project of Finland's Circle, plus much more.

Last Days of April's most recent album "Ascend to the Stars" just got a US release on Crank! Records this week and they've put up quite a few samples from the album on this page. Also, in cooperation with Now On Tour, they have an online contest where you can win a copy of said album along with a poster.

In case you didn't know, Entombed's new album "Inferno" has been delayed for August 4. It seems the reason behind the change is that their label Music for Nations's parent company Zomba was bought out by BMG and they had to shift the entire release schedule. Anyhow, they still have a couple gigs this summer and plan to start touring for the record around the same time it gets released. They'll also be filming a video for the track "Retaliation" later this week.

Opeth reports that their upcoming co-headlining tour with Porcupine Tree will feature their more mellow material, as they are supporting the new, mostly-acoustic "Damnation" album. They say they may even bust out the old song "To Bid You Farewell" from "Morningrise" among other ballad-esque tracks. In other touring news, they say they are working on a Scandinavian tour for October and November. Details when I get 'em.

The Ark will be playing Germany next week and their show on June 7 will be webcasted by Rockpalast. You can also participate in a live chat with the band on the same date from right here.

Musicbrigade and Startracks have put up a couple videos for public viewing:

Buck - Dead Time Race
Revolvo - Moscow Mule

JR Ewing has announced they will supporting Mars Volta for two UK gigs:

07/08 - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
07/09 - Electric Ballroom, London

Some of the new acts confirmed for the upcoming Accelerator The Big One shows: Christian Kjellvander & Lazy Grace Frontier (Malmö), Franke (Gbg), Mattias Hellberg (Gbg), The Radio Dept. (Sthlm), and Komeda (Sthlm).

MTVE.com has put up a bunch of new streaming video channels, including one for Northern Europe.

Also from MTVE.com, here's this week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
02. Turbonegro - Fuck The World
03. Outlandish - Guantanamo
04. A-Teens - Perfect Match
05. C21 - She Cries
06. Kashmir - Rocket Brothers
07. HIM - Funeral of hearts
08. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
09. Her Majesty - F.U.N.E.R.A.L
10. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
11. Dallas Superstars - Fast Driving
12. Darude - Music
13. Equicez - Live From Pass It
14. Melody Club - Cover Girl
15. Jennifer Brown - Weak
16. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
17. Antique - Moro Mou
18. Jon - This Side Up
19. Kwan - Shine
20. Paragon - Försök Förstå

Challengers:
01. The Klerks - Shame
02. Da Buzz - Alive
03. The Narcissists - Fanatik R.I.P
04. De Stijl - Date Times
05. Grand Tone Music - Become Whatever

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. Carola - Guld platina & passion - det bästa
02. Da Buzz - More than alive
03. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
04. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
05. Tommy Körberg - Gränslös - det bästa med
06. Alcazar - Alcazarized
07. Style, Sandelin & Ekman, Freestyle - Samlade hits
08. Her Majesty - Happiness
09. Moneybrother - Blood panic
10. v/a - Fame Factory volym 5
11. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
12. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
13. Fame - Give me your love
14. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
15. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
16. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
17. Eddie Meduza - Live(s)!
18. Martin Nilsson - En del av mig
19. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
20. Jill Johnson - Discography

DigitalMetal.com interviews Burst, who they call "one of the best new bands of 2004." As mentioned here recently, Burst features bassist Jesper Liveröd who just quit Nasum to focus more time on this band. Their second forthcoming album "Prey On Life" apparently was recently picked up by Relapse Records in the US and comes out sometime this fall.

Check out some sample mp3s and video from Bobby's new album "Romantic & Bleeding", out now on Imperial Recordings.

Drummer Henry Ranta has left Soilwork in order to dedicate more time to his personal life. The band's statement:

"After playing in Soilwork for five years, our dear friend and drummer Henry Ranta has decided that he can no longer continue to play in Soilwork. There are no hard feelings between Henry and us in any way, and we will still remain amazing friends, he will always be a true Soilworker. We wish him all the best of luck with his decision and we're sure we'll cross paths again in the future!"

And Henry's own personal statement:

"I guess this is supposed to be a statement of why and when I decided to leave Soilwork, but since this is a well thought out decision (not an easy one though) I will try and keep away from the sentimental 'bullshit' and just focus on the hard facts. Combining my daytime job, rehearsing, recording and touring with Soilwork has basically worn me out. This didn't really make a difference the first couple of years in Soilwork, but as time went on I started digging a black hole for myself. For the past two years I haven't really found any joy playing, and with all the tours coming up this year I felt that it was time for me to leave. Playing in Soilwork has been my life 24/7 for five years now, and at one point last year, I started to open my eyes to a lot of things that has been neglecting, just because I had been to concentrated on one thing only. Basically I'm gonna start investing more time in things that are making me happy right now. I'll take a peek at the other side, and I'm pretty sure that I'll enjoy what I'll find. But you're not gonna get rid of me yet though. It's not like I'm gonna stop playing drums. You will still hear me fucking shit up in The Defaced [his other band w/Darkane guitarist Klas Idebergand] other projects. A really big thanks to all Soilwork fans for amazing support throughout years — Love ya all! Finally I would like to say a big fucking 'hell yeah' to the band for five beautiful years of insanity."

Force of Evil has posted a couple new mp3s online: "Hell on Earth" / "Eye of the Storm". The band features in its ranks ex- and current Mercyful Fate members Michael Denner, Hank Shermann (both on guitar), Bjarne Holm (drums), Hal Patino from King Diamond's band (bass), and Martin Steene from Ironfire (vocals). Their as-yet untitled album is due out later this month on an unspecified label and they promise it will be "loaded with evil-riffing and lots of guitar solos." Dude.

Here's Christian Kjellvander's latest updated tour schedule:

06/05 - Eskilstuna, Strömsholmen
06/14 - Hultsfred, Hultsfredsfestival
06/26-29 - Roskilde (Denmark), Roskildefestival
07/01 - Malmö, Accelerator The Big One
07/19 - Skellefteå, Trästock
07/26 - Ängelholm, Tullakrok (solo)
07/30 - Strömstad, The Cod
08/07 - Emmaboda, Emmaboda-festival
08/09 - Göteborg, Göteborgskalaset

Askil Holm has enlisted Daniel Hovik as a new member for his backing band on keyboards. Daniel used to play with Askil in the band Attack and also currently plays with Hugo, who will be playing at the upcoming Kristiansand show too. The rest of the band's dates going into fall:

06/05 - Tønsberg, Event
06/07 - Isle of Jøa, Faksdal Pub
06/13 - Rockstock, Rakkestad
06/28 - "Agent Cody Banks" Premiere, Fredrikstad
06/30 - Kristiansand, Quart - Kick Off, Markens
07/10 - Høylandet, Høylandet Revyfestival
07/12 - Stavern Festivalen
07/19 - Tjøme, Gamle Ormelet (unplugged)
07/26 - Etne, Fugl Fønix
08/07 - SU Leir, Tvedestrand
08/08 - Steinkjer Martnan, Torget
08/15 - Namsos Martnan, Festplassen
08/27 - Steinkjer, Studenten
09/04 - Bergen, Kvarteret
09/12 - Stjørdal, Hell Bluesfestival
09/19 - Verdal, Catz

Added the rest of those Madrugada live mp3s on the right. Enjoy.

That charming young Norweigan, Sondre Lerche, just posted a new tour diary entry on his website.

Rec90 artists Lorraine are heading to Germany on tour this month with the band Delaware:

06/08 - Berlin, Magnet
06/09 - Hannover, Gig
06/10 - Leipzig - Moritzbastei
06/11 - Hamburg, Tanzhalle
06/12 - Kassel, K19
06/15 - Regensburg, Alte Mälzerei
06/16 - Köln, MTC
06/17 - Frankfurt, Nachtleben

Those of you in Deustchland can look for a track from the band on the sampler CD from the May edition of Zillo magazine, too. They also play the Working Class Hero Festival in Drammen Norway on August 6 and expect to have their debut full-length "The Perfect Cure" out in September.

Some news from Norway's Jester Records, the label of Ulver mainman Garm aka Kristoffer Rygg aka Trickster G:

September 15 marks the day that both Ulver's soundtrack to the film "Svidd Neger" and Virus' new album hit the stores. The other upcoming Ulver release, "A Quick Fix" EP, is now slated for August. Ulver even got a write-up in the Village Voice awhile back, too.
The new single and video "Sleepers" from Kåre João is out and getting spun NRK2 and ZTV. I haven't seen it myself, but they say it was shot on 16mm b&w film and resembles "such fine pieces of art as Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger than Paradise" and Gus Van Sant's "Drugstore Cowboy".
When's new album is due to be mixed in July with a release sometime this winter.
And lastly, the label is in negotiation with Tigerbeat6, the label of Kid606 for licensing of Jester's "cut-cool electronic" catalogue. The other part of their catalogue (or however you want to refer to it) is currently distributed by The End Records in North America.

The Crown has finished the recording of their album "Possessed 13" and is currently taking a three-week break before entering the mixing stage back at Studio Fredman. This release will be the band's sixth album and is the first one back with original vocalist Johan Lindstrand after a one-off with Tomas Lindberg (ex-At the Gates).

Due to singer Maja Ivarsson's bronchitis and over exhaustion, The Sounds have been forced to cancel a number of upcoming gigs. THe following dates are affected:

06/07 - Nuremberg, Germany
06/08 - Eifel, Germany
06/12 - Hultsfred Festival, Sweden
06/13 - Norwegian Wood, Norway
06/14 - Nyköping, Sweden
06/17 - Gothenburg, Sweden
06/18 - Gröna Lund, Stockholm, Sweden
06/20 - Wiesen, Austria
06/21 - Southside, Munich, Germany
06/22 - Hurricane, Hannover/Hamburg, Germany
06/27 - Kiruna Festival, Sweden
06/28 - Skellefteå Festival, Sweden

The band plans to recover at their home in Helsingborg, Sweden before setting back out on the road again.

Amorphis has posted a video interview with vocalist Pasi Koskinen and guitarist Esa Holopainen as part of their electronic press kit.

The UK's XL Recordings (Electric Six, Badly Drawn Boy, White Stripes, The Prodigy, etc) imprint Rex Records will put out the Radio Dept.'s album "Lesser Matters" this coming fall.

All six bands representing Finland's Popcity 2003 will perform at the Provinssirock festival in their own hometown Seinäjoki and takes place June 13-15. They are: Georg Kalliola & JooJoo Miehet, Kayah, Kuolleet intiaanit, Stigma, Trigon and Velvetcut. The Finnish Music Information Centre launched the Popcity project as a way to promote as-yet unknown bands from a different annually chosen town. Read more.

Saami artist Mari Boine has won the 2003 Nordic Council Music Prize of 47k EUR. "Mari Boine is one of the leading lights on the new Saami music scene. Boine's music defies facile attempts at labelling. It is based on joik but the complimentary stylistic ingredients include African rhythms, world music and rock-funk." Read more.

Confirmed bands for Festival Mission Impossible which takes place August 23 at Smedjebacken in Dalarna: The Hellacopters, The Ark, Pugh Rogefeldt, Docenterna and The Mainliners. At total of 16 acts will perform and tickets will cost 200 SEK.

The full lineup for Göteborgskalaset: Looptroop, Fireside, Moneybrother, Raised Fist, Mory Kante, Christian Kjellvander, Franke, Hammerfall, Evergrey, Cult of Luna, Her Majesty, Isolation Years, Florence Valentin, Shout Out Louds, Mando Diao, The Latin Kings, Advance Patrol, Ison & Fille, The Ark, Komeda, Paola, The Concretes, Satirnine, Thomas Rusiak, Dub Sweden, Kajsa Grytt, Kamera and Kristian Anttila.

The Maggots' new album "Do The Maggot" doesn't come out until August 25, but they're already heading out on tour in the UK:

06/12 - Sheffield, Casbah
06/13 - Aberdeen, Dr Drakes
06/14 - Edinburgh, Studio24
06/15 - Day off
06/16 - Newcastle
06/17 - York, Fibbers
06/18 - Nottingham, Junktion7
06/19 - High Wycombe
06/20 - London, Dirty Water
06/22 - Stockholm, Debaser/Gearclub

In case you were unaware, Timbuktu addressed stateminister Göran Persson in his song "Ett Brev" and now Göran is just about ready with his response. Apparently he wrote something together with an unnamed colleague in rap form (!!!) and it will be published in SSU's magazine Frihet on June 18. What comes next is anyone's guess.

The Killers, Gaffaman, Crash, Ziggy Kropp & Karma, Sirqus Alfon and Soul Source have all been added to Hultsfred fest.

Wired for Mono reports they will be heading back over to England in mid-July for a few dates, details to be posted on their website soon. They'll also be back in the studio recording some new material this month along with playing Friday at Debaser in Stockholm.

Okay, I'm totally pissed off because my webhost fucked up and somehow erased all my database information from the last week. Whether or not they'll be able to bring it back remains to be seen, but I am obviously not happy about the situation. So yeah, if you see weird things happening to the site, chances are it is not my fault.

UPDATE: I managed to recover a bit of last week's info from Google's cache (with the kind help of DJ Martian), but not everything is back to normal. I've got the info stashed away somewhere, but I'm still hoping that my webhost comes through for me with the backup.

Sonic Magazine (www.sonicmagazine.com) has a large feature on The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Union Carbide Productions in its latest issue along with a free compilation CD of unreleased tracks for subscribers.

Deleted Art will put out a five-song EP from Threeminutepopsongs later this year that will "destroy everything that preceded it." Look for it around August.

Soviac's album "GMC Out in the Fields" will see a US release later this year on Florida-based Mom Pop Records. The trio also plans for a European tour sometime this fall, but no details are available yet. The latest single "Boogie Woogie" just recently came out and the next full-length "Trilogy Sexlife Rodeo Friscotti" is due out this fall, both from Chalksounds.

In related news, Mom Pop is also the label that will be putting out the post-humous Your Halo Is A Radar self-titled CDEP this summer on July 29. More info here.

The nominees for the twelfth annual P3/Rockparty scholarship award have been announced. The prize is for people or organizations who work hard behind the scenes to make music happen in Sweden. And they are: festival arranger Niklas Jonsson, label Redline Records, manager Stina Lorentz and club organizer Mattias Berg. Read more. (in Swedish)

Denmark's The Raveonettes will appear on David Letterman on July 16.

Statemachine is having a release party for their new album "Short And Explosive" on June 3 at Alcazar/Nalen in Stockholm.

Raised Fist has scored a couple dates opening for Sepultura:

06/10 - KB, Malmö, SWE
06/11 - Rockfeller, Oslo, NOR
06/13 - Loppen, Copenhagen, DK

NRK has posted a photo gallery from the recent Turbonegro show at the Oslo Spektrum.

Ison & Fille make a guest appearance on Kaah's new 'elektro-funk' track "Namnlös", the b-side for the new single "Innan Du Går". They also guest on "Operation : Sverige", a track from Advance Patrol's current album "Utskrivna". And all of Highwon (Ison, Fille, Sabo, Ju-Mazz and Hoosam) appears on the debut-EP from AFC (Allied Forces) on the track "Ögon I Nacken".

For your amusement: Thorsten Flinck on being a body-double in The Sounds's video for the song "Dance with Me" from Expressen. (in Swedish)

Aftonbladet talks with Tomas Ledin about summer touring. His new album I sommarnattens ljus" comes out this week.

"Moodier than a manic depressive 12-year-old girl from northern Minnesota." Delusion of Adequacy reviews the latest album from Ulver, "1993-2003: 1st Decade in the Machines".

There will a 'Swedish Folksongs' evening on June 4 at the Swedish Church in NYC featuring songs by the most popular Swedish composers and poetry from writers such as E. Taube and B. Andersson. The performers will be Asa Rydman (voice), Helena Liljeblad (voice), Eva Engman (voice), Christina Nylund (piano), and Renee Cruz (bass). Admission is $10 and includes post-show cheese and wine.

Adrian Records is going be quite busy this coming fall. David & The Citizens are working on their next album in Malmö and have about eleven or twelve songs ready to go. Laakso are at Christoffer Lundquist's (Brainpool) studio in Skåne with Jari Haapalainen (Bear Quartet) working on their debut full length tentatively titled "– I miss you. I'm Pregnant". And lastly, Björns Vänner is going into the studio in a week to record the follow-up to the "Kvar på film" EP. Christian Kjellvander will be producing and the working title is "Restaurang & Björns vänner".

Upcoming Pink Twins live dates:

06/06 - Galleria Allinna, Riihimäki, FIN (Riihimäki Experiment) w/M.A. Numminen and Kari Peitsamo
06/07 - Kipsari, Helsinki, FIN
06/13 - Sonar Fest in Barcelona, Spain
06/19 - Club DOM, Moscow, RUS (Finnexport 2003)
06/21 - Yaroslavl Art Museum, Yaroslavl, RUS (Finnexport 2003)

Finnexport 2003 events feature also Pan Sonic and Anton Nikkilä and Alexei Borisov. See more info here: www.nbresearchdigest.com/finnexport/

C.Aarmé has announced they will release a 4-song 7" on Big Brothel Records sometime this summer. The name of the record will be "The Gag" and tracks to be included are the title track plus "Aimless", "Worst Part", and "Gasmask".

Hypocrisy has offered up an explanation for why they decided to pull out of the upcoming X-Mass Festivals European tour which was set to start on December 7 in London:

"We sincerely apologize for the cancellation of the X-Mass Fest. The reason being Dimmu Borgir have offered us to tour with them worldwide. This means we'll be touring Europe from 30th September 'till 29 October and the U.S. from 7th November 'till 14th December. We hope to see you out there this fall or this winter! Tour dates will be posted as soon as they are confirmed."

Amorphis' new album "Far from the Sun" debuted on the Finnish charts at #7. Check out the new video for the song "Evil Inside" from here.

Dead Frog Records just put up a brand new website. The label's latest releases include Holden's debut self-titled album and the single "Hard To Be In Love" from Paste. In related news, Holden just signed a publishing deal with Stiggy Music & Management AB. "Holden has everything needed to become a huge success locally and internationally," says Stiggy's Stefan Egmar, "great songs, great look, great album and a fantastic live-act with a brilliant [vocalist] Jenny Öhlund!"

Aquarius Records has put up their latest new arrival list, featuring samples and reviews of artists such as Bjorn Olsson, Johan Berthling, Uton, Markku Peltola and much, much more.

NorthSide Records has announced the upcoming release of Väsen's new album "Trio", due out this August with a US tour to follow in October. The label will also be reissuing Värttinä's classic album from '96 "Kokko", just in time for their 20th anniversary US tour in November. Dates and more details soon.

After the initial success of the festival in Helsinki, the PikseliAHKY / pixelACHE fest is hitting the road for events in New York on June 2-3 and Montreal on June 5-7. The event is billed as "an international laboratory for creative experimenting with audiovisual technologies" and will consist "audiovisual performances, interactive cinema screenings and an exhibition of media art projects." Most of the artists scheduled to appear are from pixelACHE's hometown of Helsinki, but not all. Here's a list of the Scandinavian talent to be represented: Animaatiokone crew (FIN) (Ari Nykanen, Mikko Lindholm, Perttu Hamalainen), Amfibio.org collective (FIN) (Antti A, Halcyon, *Jen, Juhuu, Maippi, Mesq, Teemu K), AVCENTRALEN (SWE) (Olle Huge, Martin Malm, Johan Skugge, Andreas Tilliander), Beeoff (SWE) (Olle Huge, Tomas Linell, Martin Malm, Mikael Scherdin), /dev/null Research Labs (FIN), Helsinki Interactive Cinema Crew & KINO Helsinki (FIN), Jussi Angesleva (FIN) & Ross Cooper (UK), O Samuli A (FIN), Tero (FIN), Tuomas Toivonen (FIN).
More info here: www.pixelache.ac

Trapdoor Fucking Exit has put up the video for the song "Short Term Investment", recorded live at Umeå Punkfest in 2001. Check it out.

Amulet recently filmed a video for the single "Breaking News". They say it "involves a low key gig at an abandoned house and a deathdefying girl in a van who brings terror to the city of Oslo." I'll let you know if they post in online.

Turbonegro's complete festival schedule for the summer:

06/02 - Flippaut festival, Bologna, Italy
06/05 - Ruisrock, Turku, Finland
06/12 - Hultsfred Festival Hultsfred, Sweden
06/20 - Kick off Festival, Wiesen, Austria
06/21 - Southside Festival, Neuhausen, Germany
06/22 - Hurricane Festival, Schlessel, Germany
06/27 - Roskilde Festival, Denmark
06/28 - Open Air, St Gallen, Switzerland
07/05 - London, Meanfiddler (clubshow) UK
07/12 - T in the Park, Kinross, Scotland, UK
08/07 - Nordland Musikkfestukke, Bodö, Norway
08/08 - Öya festivalen, Oslo Norway
08/09 - Wrightegaarden, Langesund, Norway
08/23 - Reading Festival, Reading UK
08/24 - Leeds Festival, Leeds, UK

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
02. Outlandish - Guantanamo
03. A-Teens - Perfect Match
04. Her Majesty - F.U.N.E.R.A.L
05. Jennifer Brown - Weak
06. HIM - Funeral of hearts
07. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
08. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
09. Melody Club - Cover Girl
10. Darude - Music
11. Mew - Comforting Sounds
12. Kwan - Shine
13. Equicez - Live From Pass It
14. Bertine Zetlitz - Girl Like You
15. Elin Sigvardsson - Where To Start
16. Timbuktu - Ett Brev
17. Paragon - Försök Förstå
18. Pauline - Runnin´ Out Of Gaz
19. Surferosa - Neon Commando
20. Homy - Bus Stop

Challengers:
01. Jon - This Side Up
02. Antique - Moro Mou
03. Fireside - All You Had
04. The Concretes - You Can´t Hurry Love
05. Kamera - At Work
06. C21 - She Cries

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Labrador Records is now distributed by Mortes Nois in Estonia. For more info email mrnois@hot.ee.

Dolores Records has announced they will be releasing a limited edition CD single for the new supergroup Vanessa and the O's on June 10. The band features ex-members of Popsicle along with James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins and is described as electronic pop in French. Crazy, eh? More info soon.

Bad Taste Records is the label of the month over at the Danish radio program New Rocking Sounds which airs Tuesdays at 8pm on 93.7 in Århus. They'll be interviewing Last Days of April, Logh and various others from the roster along with playng tunes from said bands. Be sure to check it out or wait for the clips to hit the online archives.

Listen to "Mattias Alkbergs Begravning" from Planekonomi, another band featuring Mattias from Bear Quartet. More info here. Look for 2 EPs this fall and a full-length sometime next year.

One of my pals over at indieworkshop.com reviews the new Flaming Sideburns album today.

"No one has satisfactorily explained why a country of 4.5 million generates so much music: is it the dark winters? Subsidised music lessons? Rubbish TV?" - John Bungey, The Times (UK)

Norweigan music appears to be making quite a few headways beyond their borders as evidenced in this article from MIC Norway. Turbonegro and Jaga Jazzist might be the first names to come to mind for most folk, but now there's also Beady Belle, Tord Gustavsen, Per Arne Glorvigen, and St. Thomas to pay attention to.

Johnny Bråttom Records will be holding a record release show on May 30 at Kulturkammaren in Norrköping for their forthcoming "Svensk Populärmusik Volym Två" compilation. The bands scheduled to appear are Slagsmålsklubben, recent Dolores-signees Cdoass, Bremen Brotröster GmbH, Björn Kleinhenz, and The Flu. As for the tracklisting of said comp, it is as follows:

01. Cdoass - The Box
02. Niccokick - Run, Run, Run
03. Björn Kleinhenz - How Long Is The Night?
04. Slagsmålsklubben - Filter Fabric Facts (DJ Upperkurt Instrumental Remix)
05. Idiot Savants - Daily Routine
06. Music 77 - Kameror
07. Pete Thompson - Folk Song
08. Lola Barbershop - Ticket To Happiness
09. The Kid - Baton Rouge
10. Junip - Turn To The Assassin
11. The Topeka Twins - Hunting Song
12. Menteroja - Call Me
13. Bremen Brotröster GmbH - Greater/Better
14. The Flu - Golden Hair
15. Celestine - Sunflower
16. José González - Heartbeats
17. Café Polymorf - A Good Time
18. Quit Your Dayjob - Pissing On A Panda
19. Joni - Frank Xerox
20. Ane Brun - Are They Saying Goodbye?
21. Sandy Mouche - A Year

Aftonbladet reports that famed Swedish videomaker Jonas Åkerlund is working with Blondie on the single "Good Boys" in LA. The new album ""The Curse of Blondie" comes out around September or October. Åkerlund's previous credits include artists such as Satyricon, Madonna, Metallica and The Prodigy.

This new album will be 'harder' than the previous one and more guitars. To sum it up: a groovier album!

That's Peter Tägtgren of Pain describing work on the new album. He says he's already finished all of the backing music along with five of the thirteen vocal tracks and should be able to have it out sometime this fall on Stockholm Records.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
02. Alcazar - Alcazarized
03. Eddie Meduza - Live(s)!
04. v/a - Fame Factory volym 5
05. Moneybrother - Blood panic
06. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
07. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
08. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
09. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
10. Jill Johnson - Discography
11. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
12. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
13. Antique - Blue love
14. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
15. Monia - Söderns hjärtas ros
16. Siw Malmkvist - Siws bästa
17. Elin Sigvardsson - Saturday light naive
18. Simson Dupont - Simson Dupont
19. Fame - Give me your love
20. The Sounds - Living in America

Tomas Ledin is going on tour in support of his new live album "I Sommarnattens Ljus" which comes out on June 2. The dates so far:

07/08 - Öja Slott, Öja
07/19 - Bergs Slussar, Linköping
08/03 - Stadsparken, Örebro

The lineup for Sommarrock, which takes place July 10-12 in Svedala, Sweden: Mikael Wiehe, Bubbles, Joddla w/Siv, Advance Patrol, The Ark, Danne Stråhed, Häjkån Bäjkån Band, The Mo and Di Leva.

This week's Swedish college radio chart (from Dagensskiva):

Leaving the chart:
(10) Randy "A Man in Uniform"
(11) Solomon Burke "Soul Searching"
(12) Fireside "All You Had"
(13) Magnus Carlson "Jag ber dig"
(16) Queens Of The Stone Age "Go With The Flow"
(18) The Go-Betweens "Caroline and I"
(19) David & The Citizens "New Direction"
(20) Hot Hot Heat "Bandages"

The full details for Finland's Koneisto Festival has been released. Some of the artists scheduled to appear include Björn Torske, Ralph Myerz & Jack Herren Band, Erlend Oye (acoustic set + "magnificent singing DJ set"), Datarock, Jori Hulkkonen, Rinneradio (feat. Dj Slow, Siiri Nordin and MC Paleface) among many others. The acclaimed electronic music festival was the first of its type for all of Scandinavia and the selection of performers "seeks to establish an interesting balance between commercial and experimental music" over the event's 9 stages. It all goes down in Helsinki from July 25-27 and more info can be found from the fest's official website.

Blabbermouth reports that HIM will be touring Europe in support of Ozzy Osbourne and Godsmack this September. I'll keep you posted.

DigitalMetal.com declares that Solefald's new album "In Harmonia Universali" positions them as "as leaders of the avant-harde, depth metal movement." Sure, that works for me I guess. Read the full review.

The first slew of bands confirmed for Trästocksfestivalen which takes place in Skellefteå from July 17-19: Christian Kjellvander, The Concretes, Monastir, The Bear Quartet, Totalt Jävla Mörker, Peter Bjorn And John, KVLR and Darcy.

Here's the bands confirmed to play Mit Nästa Liv which takes place July 18-19 at Ljungnäs, just north of Kalmar in Sweden: Rocky Dennis, The Kid, Ed Greene, Dialog Cet, Handsome Train, Myredpocketbook, Dorotea, Eisenhower, Hormones in Abundance, Rough Bunnies, Cat and Dog Dialogue, and Javelins. More info: www.mittnastaliv.tk

The Sounds will be on WXRK 92.3 in New York this Sunday at 11 pm. The band's official site says "KROQ", but they're just confused because the station goes by the name "K-Rock." Visit the station's website here.

Villa Records, in conjunction Johnny Bråttom Records, just put out an anti-war comp entitled "Support". The tracklisting:

01. José González - Heartbeats
02. Alarma man - Fuck you, you fucking fuck
03. Boy Omega - Come to my house
04. Sin närmiljö - Rudad
05. Björn Kleinhenz - A day and a night
06. Niccokick - I drink to get thrilled
07. Bremen Brotröster GmbH - Main theme from Mr Kaputt's birthday party
08. Songs from the empire - You are my sunshine
09. The book of Daniel - Soultraffic through friday
10. Kubot - Regnvals
11. I am Ferguson - Right hand pain
12. Music 77 - Snow white
13. Chelsea's corner
14. DJPJGJ - Gutt trumset
15. Quit your dayjob - Look! A dollar!
16. Dorotea - Let's give it a shot
17. Johan Norefalk - Never ends

View the cover art here.

In other Villa news, the label has said that the Boy Omega/The Book Of Daniel split 7" has been delayed, but they hope to have it by June. They will also be releasing a new CDr called "Blues for Papa Nyll" from The Appalachian Foothill Brothers, a new band featuring Gustafsson-brothers: Daniel from The Book Of Daniel and Martin from Boy Omega.

This week's roundup of new records from Musikindustrin.nu features releases from Carola, Colony 5, Crystal Blue and many more. They also have a focus piece on the new Lost Patrol record. (in Swedish)

Aftonbladet reports that Per Gessle (one half of Roxette) is planning on touring in support of his new solo album. Read more. (in Swedish)

Fireside, Brolle JR, The Mo, Florence Valentine, De Stijl and Elin Sigvardsson are now on the bill for Piteå Dansar Och Ler fest.

Even more bands added to Hultsfred: Timbuktu w/Damn!, Discharge, Junior Senior, Florence Valentin, Phunky Drakes, Soundclash: Topaz vs. Axxion Pack, Elin Sigvardsson and Johan Borgert.

And for the We & Yous fest we now have The Radio Dept., Dr. Higgins, José Gonzales, Sandy Mouche, Speedmarket Avenue, Ant, Gisel, Hospital, The Winston Solution, Adria, The Dannys Says and Homeland.

By way of Unioncarbideproductions.com comes word that the coming UCP box-set will be entitled "Career Opportunities 1986 - 1993". The webmaster over there also says he's gotten some new videos and photos recently and will be posting them online in the near future. I'll keep you informed.

Now streaming in mp4 format over at Black Box Recorder is Niko Skorpio's "Delta Amoeba" and "the SKORPIOns" EPs. The music is described as "the sonic experimentation and aesthetic of an underground noise album but somehow channels recent "electronica" without compromise. Imagine if trip-hop star Tricky gave up the reefer, moved to Finland, and got depressed and lost his mind... and you'll be on the right path." Sound intriguing, does it not?

Backyard Babies have confirmed that Joe Barresi will be the producer on their forthcoming album. Some of his previous credits include artists such as Sheryl Crow, Limp Bizkit, Monster Magnet, Kyuss, QOTSA, Hole and L7. Recording starts in Sweden in June with mixing to follow in LA.

Christian Kjellvander's new video for "Homeward Rolling Soldier" is now available for viewing: low / med / high