In-stock and ready to ship: "Museum of future sound vol. 2"
Yes, the new Flogsta Danshall skweee comp is here and it is amazing.
Also new in-stock today: Anna Leong - Terrorarium
The Umeå-based bands sophomore album! RIYL Isolation Years, David Sandström Overdrive, etc.

Isolation Years, Jennie Abrahamsson and Fredrik Fagerlund will play a record release show on April 24 at Scharinska in Umeå for the new Norrland music comp "Pure North". Find out more at myspace or see this article at Västerbottens Folkblad for a full tracklist.

Umeå-based act Isolation Years report that they are working on a new album.

MP3: High Hats - Bitterswede

I love love love self-depreciating/self-referential songs like this. Isolation Years' "Yellow cross on blue" edges it out ever so slightly in the end, but hey- there's no shame in being #2. My favorite couplet: "I feel good when I am pissed / I don't think that god exists" You can't go wrong when tossing in an acknowledgment of Sweden's status as a secular state as far as I'm concerned. I know it's goofy, but as a former religious studies student, I'm all about it. And the tacked on "P-I-G is the police" line that doesn't quite fit? It's so dumb, it's brilliant! If you don't like this, I don't like you.

High Hats - Bitterswede

MP3: Anna Leong - Guillotine

The new Anna Leong single "Guillotine" is pure Umeå pedigree. The folkiness of Isolation Years, the melodic melancholy of The Perishers; it's all there amidst the pleading and prostration. And though the sound of the city is obvious, they make it their own by adding various subtle touches. For example, listen to that organ refrain - it's maddening, like something you'd expect to hear at an evil carnival ala "Something wicked this way comes". Compared to feeling conveyed by last Friday's Caesars Palace post, this is the polar opposite, despite the actual tone not being all that different. What I like best about the song though are all the little, unexpected melodic shifts that carry it along. Like the way the bridge sounds so uplifting before the triplet fill into the chorus. And those tossed off blue notes in the guitar solo - that seals it for me. They seem so ugly at first, but they really take the song to another level. Without them, the piece would be pleasant but forgettable. As-is, it's a great track which makes me excited to hear the rest of the album.

Watch the video here.

Anna Leong - Guillotine

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

01. Disfear - Deadweight
02. TALK 1
03. The Social Services - Up in arms
04. Kaka - The hotspurs (the less know the faster we go)
05. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Manic panic
06. TALK 2
07. Tiger Lou - Patterns
08. Paper - My life is going under
09. Dreamboy - Stars
10. TALK 3
11. Lack - Watchmen
12. Don't Be A Stranger - Mon chi-chi
13. Ea Philippa - Heslenes sang
14. TALK 4
15. Ef - Thrills
16. Isolation Years - Yellow cross on blue
17. Frivolvol - Satellite kids
18. TALK 5
19. Enslaved - Eld
20. The Grand Opening - Secrets revealed
21. Ultralyd - Comphonie V
22. TALK 8
23. Firefok AK - Techno tears
24. The Indecision Alarm - Alienation process
25. Looptroop Rockers - Marinate
26. TALK 7
27. Markus Krunegård - Jag är en vampyr
28. The End Will Be Kicks - Exit ramps
29. Cadillac - Locomotive
30. TALK 8
31. Lukestar - Lake Toba
32. Commando M Pigg - Baby doll
33. Printer - Minds out
34. TALK 9
35. Seven Feet Four - Auto emotion
36. Tobias Hellkvist - Abomination
37. Barra Head - Undermine
38. TALK 10
39. Britta Persson - Happy hour
40. Anna Leong - Guillotine
41. Ted Gärdestad - Can't stop this train
42. TALK 11

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

01. Annika Norlin/Säkert! - Generalens visa
02. TALK 1
03. Downstairs - Legs for arms
04. Dmitry Fyodorov - 1b-1
05. Northern Fields - Never take the beauty
06. TALK 2
07. Barra Head - Undermine
08. Fläskkvartetten - Som glas (ft. Nina Persson)
09. Benea Reach - New waters
10. TALK 3
11. Firefox AK - Winter rose (Tellevika remix)
12. Dansdepartementet - Svarta brev
13. Randy - Little toulouse
14. TALK 4
15. Britta Persson - At 7
16. M:40 - Brännmärkt
17. Mechanical Bird - Martha
18. TALK 5
19. Marvins Revolt - Multiple fractures
20. The Drawbacks - Straight lines & circles
21. Isolation Years - Say-nothing day
22. Christian Kjellvander - Poppies and peonies
23. TALK 6
24. Little Dragon - Recommendation
25. FAP - Sjömannen
26. Cortex - Animals (...looking at me)
27. TALK 7
28. Ulf Ljusberg - Whatever was
29. Mayhem - Deathcrush
30. Alog - St.Paul sessions II
31. TALK 8
32. Tigerbombs - 1000 sparks
33. Mainliners - Bourbon and ice
34. Mando Diao - San Francisco Bay
35. Madrugada - Look away Lucifer
36. TALK 9
37. Matts Katt - Refused was fucking murdered

Top 10s for 2007: It's a Trap!

Two White Horses, the brother/sister duo of Jakob and Lovisa Nyström (Isolation Years, Säkert!), have posted four new demo tracks on myspace including El Perro Del Mar and Abba covers: http://www.myspace.com/2whitehorses

Rasmus Kellerman from Tiger Lou was my guest on this week's radio show and this is what we played:

01. TALK 1
02. Tiger Lou - The loyal
03. Sara Berg - Call me from below
04. Thomas Dybdahl - Maury the Pawn
05. Torpedo - Hospital
06. TALK 2
07. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Heroica
08. Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
09. Isolation Years - Nurse hands
10. Jennie Abrahamson - Songs we sing
11. TALK 3
12. Firefox AK + Tellevika - Eric
13. Winter Took His Life - Lucky star
14. Knugen Faller - Jag vill inte vara med
15. Favorita - Seven comforts
16. TALK 4
17. Mikael Jonasson - Can you dig this?
18. Lindeberg & Can - Forbidden romance
19. John Dahlbäck - Gas
20. TALK 5
21. Ozgur Can - Changed
22. Aril Brikha - Winter
23. TALK 6
24. Rupesh Cartel - Hide like this
25. Madrugada - Hard to come back
26. Mob - Wait for me
27. TALK 7
28. Tiger Lou - Functions

Swedish indierock act The Tourist has a new two-track single posted for free download: http://www.thetourist.se/musik.html
Good, straightforward stuff. RIYL Isolation Years, Anna Leong.

Column: A Postcard Life #3

The playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Isolation Years - Frosted minds
02. TALK 1
03. Hyacinth House - Lucky stranger
04. Immanu El - Kosmonaut
05. Kamera - Fragile
06. TALK 2
07. Pay TV - Fashion report (clubmix)
08. Fun - I've got a truck
09. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
10. TALK 3
11. Superfamily - Warszawa
12. Majessic Dreams - Still inside
13. The Indecision Alarm - Time for the big guns, baby
14. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
15. TALK 4
16. The Fine Arts Showcase - Modern love
17. Karin Ström - Ordlös
18. Meleeh - Malign
19. TALK 5
20. Kongh - Pushed beyond
21. Baby Woodrose - Let yourself go
22. TALK 6
23. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet (Cat Burgler remix)
24. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Rhythm
25. The Bell - I need nothing
26. September - Satellites
27. TALK 7
28. Piroth - Waltz for prima ballerina
29. Sällskapet - Järnstaden
30. Montt Mardié - Birthday boy (drama)
31. TALK 8
32. CS Nielsen - Bottle for the road
33. Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - Love will tear us apart
34. Voices Break the Silence - Mopo3
35. TALK 9
36. Plain Fade - Blue skies ahead

Hey look, Jakob and Lovisa Nyström (Isolation Years, Säkert!) have a myspace page for their band as a duo: http://www.myspace.com/2whitehorses

Festival report: Way Out West