Startracks reports that they've finally sealed a deal to provide Christian Kjellvander with an international release for his excellent album "Songs from a two-room chapel". Well, 97% sealed anyways. Assuming nothing goes wrong, look for it in France/Spain in October, the UK in November and the US early next year. I've been told the name of the label, but have been sworn to secrecy. Once everything's inked, you'll be the first to know.

Singer/songwriter Christian Kjellvander is back home in Sweden from his long vacation in the US and has lined up a bunch of solo dates:

07/26-27 - Slussenpensionatet, Orust (SWE)
08/07 - Luleåkalaset, Luleå (SWE)
08/14 - Badfest, Åland (SWE)
08/20 - Startracks Dagen, Vitabergsparken, Stockholm (SWE) w/Kristofer Åström (free)
08/27 - Treibhaus-Club, Luzern (SWI) w/Tomas Ebrelius
08/29 - Musikfestwochen, Winterthurer, Zurich (SWI) w/Tomas Ebrelius (free)

Christian Kjellvander has been forced to cancel his show in Phoenix due to car trouble. He'll try to do a make-up date if possible, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

The Christian Kjellvander show last night was fantastic, as expected. If you're anywhere near LA or Phoenix don't miss out on your chance to see him. Dates on the right.

I'm not sure why I haven't done it already, but here's the tracklists for those carious upcoming Startracks-produced Festival compilations:

Accelerator 2004
01. M. Craft – Sweet
02. The Shins – So Says I
03. Electrelane – The Valleys
04. Lali Puna – Faking the books
05. Broken Social Scene – Stars and sons
06. Explosions in the Sky – The only moment we were alone
07. Laakso – Blizzard
08. Jens Lekman – The wrong hands (prev. unreleased)
09. Jonas Kullhammar – Bebopalulia
10. The Go! Team - Panterdash
11. The Von Bondies – C'mon, C'mon
12. Existensminimum – The on and on
13. Franz Ferdinand – Take me out (Naum Gabo re-mix) (prev. unreleased)

Picknick
01. Kristofer Åström – Idiot talk
02. Richard Buckner – Jewelbomb
03. Tiger Lou – Rushmore (prev. unreleased)
04. Ane Brun – Are they saying goodbye?
05. Denison Witmer – Stations
06. Tomas Andersson Wij – Tommy och hans mamma
07. Christian Kjellvander – For the sake of the song (prev. unreleased. Zandt cover, recorded live at Mondo)
08. Anna Ternheim – Troubled mind
09. Nicolai Dunger – Slaves (we're together like)
10. Tomas Andersson Wij – En vän till mig
11. Ane Brun – Fight Song (prev. unreleased. Likely to be recorded for her next album due 2005)
12. Syd Matters – Have a nice day
13. Kristofer Åström – Cardiac (prev. unreleased, from the "There for" sessions)
14. Syd Matters - Bones
15. Richard Buckner – Put on what you wanna
16. Tiger Lou – Like you said
17. Nicolai Dunger - City sun

Don't forget! Christian Kjellvander plays solo in SF tonight at the Make-out Room. If you're in the area, I expect to see you there.

Finally! A bunch of stuff from Startracks just came in to the mailorder department: Kristofer Åström, Christian Kjellvander and Tiger Lou. Didn't I say 2004 is the year of the singer/songwriter? Yep, sure did.

As a special treat I've added two new mp3s to the playlist on the right. First up, there's a live track from Christian Kjellvander. As you can see, he just began his short run of West Coast dates last night opening for The Cardigans. I'm definitely looking forward to the SF show on Monday. And for the people that were asking - he's playing third out of four acts and should be on around 10-10:30pm.

Next, is a track from Sivert Høyem and his debut solo album "Ladies And Gentlemen Of The Opposition". You may recognize his voice from his main act Madrugada, but his other stuff is pretty great as well. Check it out.

Swedish radio channel P4 will be broadcasting a live Christian Kjellvander concert this weekend. Read more: http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/p4/programsidor/index.asp?ProgramID=488
I plan on adding a new CK live track to the playlist soon as well. Stay tuned.

Streaming playlist: On tour

Change is good, right? As you can see, there's a couple new things in the right-hand column today. Maybe some more stuff coming later. In the meantime, check out this e-card thingy I made to help promote those upcoming Christian Kjellvander dates. Feel free to pass it around.

I've confirmed a couple new solo Christian Kjellvander dates in the US. Here's what his schedule currently looks like:

05/20 - Neumos, Seattle, WA w/Jonathan Rice, The Cardigans
05/21 - Roseland, Portland, OR w/Jonathan Rice, The Cardigans
05/24 - Make-out Room, San Francisco, CA w/Pony Rabco
05/25 - Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA w/Jonathan Rice, The Cardigans
05/27 - The Paper Heart, Phoenix, AZ

I'm still working on trying to get one or two more dates, so I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Streaming playlist: Mailorder

Startracks recording artist Christian Kjellvander has jumped on the bill for a couple of the West Coast Cardigans dates in the US. Pretty cool, but I'm still waiting to hear about a show in SF. Dates:

05/20 - Neumos, Seattle
05/21 - Roseland, Portland
05/25 - Troubadour, Los Angeles

And while we're on this train of thought, fellow Startracks artist Christian Kjellvander will indeed be coming over to the States on a personal trip in July. I presume he'll be visiting family around Seattle? Anyhow, don't despair because he will be doing some dates while he's over here. I've already put in my bid to get him to come to San Francisco and I'm sure I'll learn more after talking to label honcho Fredrik on Saturday.