Other notables/honorable mentions:

Cult of Luna - The Beyond & s/t reissue (Earache)
Crushing doom in the vein of Neurosis and Isis, but with a touch of something else that separates them from the rest of the imitators. Hopefully these guys will tour the US because I bet they kill live.

Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Bud Fox)
Broder Daniel - Cruel Town (Dolores)
These are two of the best Swedish indiepop records this year and I think I actually like the former a bit more than the latter. Broder Daniel has some better songs when taken on their own, but the Shout Out Louds made a better album. I was hoping the latest Bad Cash Quartet would rate too, but it was a huge disappointment.

Zyklon - Aeon (Candlelight)
Ex-Emperor guitarist Samoth proves he can move on and still make quality music. One of the few black-metal releases this year that really caught my interest. Either the scene is stagnant or I've lost interest, not sure.

Motorpsycho & Jaga Jazzist Horns - In the Fishtank (Konkurrent)
It's about time the rest of the world was exposed to these guys. I can do without that one awful funk track, but the rest of this is great stuff. Hopefully the increased international profile of this release will help them get their own music recognized and appreciated.

Randy - Welfare Problems (Burning Heart)
I don't listen to much punk-rock these days, but Randy always delivers. Looking forward to the US tour in February.

The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight (Stockholm Records)
I was really put off by the mellow 70s vibe at first, but once I got over it I found out there were some pretty great songs here. Definitely not what I was expecting, but worth a second glance if you passed it over before.

Ricochets - Ghost of Our Love (White Jazz)
Tiger Lou - Trouble And Desire (Startracks)
Mustasch - Ratsafari (Majesty/Capitol)
Seven Feet Four - Departure/Arrival (Coalition)
Four solid releases from four very different acts. Nothing life changing here, but all still quite good and definitely worth investigating.

Jaga Jazzist - The Stix (Smalltown Supersound)
Supersilent - 6 (Rune Grammofon)
v/a - Money Will Ruin Everything 2xCD + Book (Rune Grammofon)
Norway is really a hotbed for experimental genre-expanding music right now and these three releases are a great place to start. You won't find that elusive "next big thing" here, just music that will make you think. Both Smalltown Supersound and Rune Grammofon are labels to keep an eye on.

Top ten: 2003

The Wire's top 50 of 2003 list includes Jaga Jazzist and Noxagt: http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/charts/2003_Rewind.html

v/a - Money Will Ruin Everything (2xCD + book) (Rune Grammofon)
If you are at all curious about the current avant-garde music scene, you need to get this. The Norweigan scene spotlighted here is where a lot of really exciting things are happening in music nowadays. As anyone who reads Wire already should know, bands like Supersilent and Jaga Jazzist are becoming increasingly revered worldwide and for good reason. And that's just two of the thirty names here. These groups are challenging and expanding the boundries of rock, electronica and jazz to create something completely new and amazing. And even though the marriage of physical art and music is nothing new, it's great to see the tradition continued with this exquisite package. Highly recommended.

Norweigan avant-garde label Rune Grammofon has revealed their release plan for early 2004:

Skyphone - Fabula (January 12)
Debut release from Danish trio, probably closest in spirit and musical ideology to Alog and Phonophani in the way they mix electronic and acoustic elements, either sampled or played by themselves. Highly melodic and detailed soundscape.

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - List of Lights and Buoys (January 19)
Debut release from Norwegian duo comprising young singer Susanna Wallumrød and keyboard player Morten Qvenild (Jaga Jazzist, Shining, Bertine Zetlitz, Nils Petter Molvær). Beautiful low-key songs including great versions of "Jolene" and "Who Am I".

Deathprod - Morals and Dogma (February)
Brand new and long awaited album from Norway´s sound artist par excellence.

Deathprod - Deathprod (February)
4 CD box comprising "Morals and Dogma", "Treetop Drive" (long deleted album from 1994), "Imaginary Songs From Tristan Da Cunha" (long deleted album from 1996) and "Reference Frequencies" (rare and deleted tracks). Comes in a solid black box with a booklet with detailed information on each release, each album packaged in their own beautifully designed digipack. This is simply a treat!

Norweigan all-star group KILL will play the Ideal fest in Göteborg on March 12 next year. The band consists of Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Erlend Mokkelbost (JR Ewing), Are Mokkelbost (Single Unit, Arm) and Espen Hangård (NoPlaceToHide) and was originally formed to Digimetal two years ago. That's quite a line-up! Other Scandinavian artists confirmed for the same fest include Pan Sonic, Mikkel Metal, Hazard, Contemporary Punk Unit, Peaux and DJ Jean-Louis Huhta.

Smalltown Supersound has put up an mp3 sample of the track "Tics" from Lars Horntveth's forthcoming album "Pooka", due out in February in Norway (mid-March rest of world). As mentioned before, Lars is the main songwriter behind Jaga Jazzist and this will be his debut solo release.

Smalltown Supersound reports that Jaga Jazzist songwriter Lars Horntveth has completed work on his debut solo album and it sounds "absolutely amazing." The Jørgen Træen (aka Sir Dupermann) produced record is called "Pooka" and will be released in Norway this coming February, March everywhere else. A 12"/CD single will be come out in February, too.

A ton of new music today for your listening enjoyment: first off we've got a streaming spotlight on Norway's Motorpsycho. They've been getting a lot of much-deserved attention for their recent "In the Fishtank" collaboration with the Jaga Jazzist horn section, so if you're curious about hearing more, this is a great place to start. I also put up the first batch of tracks from a Hederos & Hellberg live set. If you've been coming to this site for awhile, you'll notice that this one is different than the one I had put up before. Enjoy!

Norweigan eclectic/experimental label Smalltown Supersound will celebrate their 10-year anniversary with three dates at Blå in Oslo, Norway on Febuary 19-21. Confirmed artists scheduled to appear: Jaga Jazzist, Kim Hiorthøy, The Thing, Mental Overdrive, Jazzkammer/Sir Dupermann, Martin Horntveth, Alexander Rishaug, Per Martinsen (DJ), Rune Danielsen (DJ), Paal Nilssen-Love/Mats Gustafsson and Joakim Haugland (DJ). More details soon.

Pitchfork covers the Motorpsycho/Jaga Jazzist horns "In the Fishtank" collaboration today. Check it out. Hopefully this releases' increased exposure for the group will lead to a solid internation audience and maybe even some US touring. Who knows? Jim- get me that streaming playlist already!

The latest from Jaga Jazzist:

Hi, friends all over Europe! Our third Euro tour is over and we've done over 60 gigs this year. We want to thank you all for coming to our concerts, buying our merchandise, taking pictures, bringing your friends, supporting us, interviewing us... WE LOVE YOU ALL! It's been a fantastic year we never had thought could happen a year ago. As you can see we have one more megacool gig in Berlin, but after that we will be very focused on making new music. So, till we meet again... Have fun, and don't forget us :-)
We also want to thank all of you in Japan, US, Australia and other countries we haven't been to, for your patience. There's nothing we want more in 2004 than making a new album and touring outside Europe, as well. See you!

The latest Brainwashed Brain has reviews and samples from the Motorpsycho/Jaga Jazzist horns "In the Fishtank" record, among others. Check it.

Dusted reviews that new Motorpsycho/Jaga Jazzist horn section "In the Fishtank" album: www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/1067

Ninja Tune/Smalltown Supersound will be releasing the new single "Day" from Jaga Jazzist in January in both CD and 12" format. Besides the a-side, the disc will feature a new track by by Andreas Mjøs as well as remixes by Matthew Herbert and DAT Politics. The CD version will also feature the video for "Day". And, as mentioned before, the band is also gearing up for a European tour. Dates:

10/10 - Factory festival, Paris (FR)
10/11 - Chabada, Angers (FR)
10/12 - Euros, Dieppe (FR)
10/13 - AB, Brussels (BEL) w/Shining
10/14 - Aeronef, Lill (FR)
10/15 - Nancyjazz pulsations, Nancy (FR)
10/16 - Jazz sur son 31, Toulouse (FR)
10/17 - Octob`rock festival, Reims (FR)
10/18 - Melkweg, Amsterdam (NL)
10/19 - Effenaar, Eindhoven (NL)
11/08 - Berlin Jazz Festival, Berlin (GER)