The new Kent boxset "Box 1991-2008" will be released on October 29 and will include all of their albums to-date along with tons of bonus material and a 96-page booklet. Go here for preorder info and a full tracklist: https://www.bengans.se/popup/kent_box/se.aspx

Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:

01. Hello Saferide
02. Detektivbyrån
03. The Radio Dept.
04. Jens Lekman
05. Logh
06. Håkan Hellström
07. Shout Out Louds
08. Tiger Lou
09. Kent
10. Juvelen

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

Skivkoll has the tracklist for the new Olle Ljungström tribute comp "Andre sjunger Olle Ljungström", due out September 24: http://www.skivkoll.se/2008/08/21/andra-sjunger-olle-ljungstrom/
A few of the artists participating are Joakim Berg (Kent), Thomas Di Leva, Andreas Mattsson, Tomas Andersson Wij plus a duet with Ane Brun and Emil Jensen.

Kent's "VinterNoll2" will be included in the forthcoming "Guitar Hero World Tour" video game.

Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:

01. Håkan Hellström
02. Laakso
03. The Radio Dept.
04. Detektivbyrån
05. Kent
06. Sambassadeur
07. The Concretes
08. The Kid
09. Studio
10. Tiger Lou

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:

01. Håkan Hellström
02. Laakso
03. The Radio Dept.
04. Detektivbyrån
05. Kent
06. Sambassadeur
07. The Concretes
08. The Kid
09. Studio
10. Tiger Lou

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

MP3: CMX - Nainen tanssii tangoa

More Finnish weirdness for you today courtesy of CMX, a long-running act that rose out of the mid-80s hardcore scene. But don't go into this expected the usual fast/harsh punk because they quickly abandoned that approach and started to incorporate more mainstream rock and progressive influences into their sound. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is pretty much all I know. According to Wikipedia the band is fairly renown at home, which makes sense considering how much they remind me of Kent at times. It's that big, melancholy rock sound, though in CMX's case, it's filtered through that odd Suomi sensibility that touches so much of their music. This particular song is a gem simply because it manages to match classic Finnish tango with pop, prog and hardrock. It's that kind of eclecticism that makes Scandinavian music so great! It's the old being made new again, the past and present coming together. And yet, still the past -- this came out in 1994, after all -- but it doesn't sound dated to me. Weird for weirdness sake almost never works; these guys make it sound natural.

CMX - Nainen tanssii tangoa

Here is the It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 artists of the week:

01. Sigur Rós
02. Coldplay
03. Radiohead
04. Death Cab for Cutie
05. MGMT
06. Belle and Sebastian
07. The Radio Dept.
08. Kent
09. Håkan Hellström
10. The Cure

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

Kent is giving away a remix of their new single "Vy från ett luftslott" as a free download: http://www.kent.nu/
They are also encouraging fans to create their own videos and upload them to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/kentchannel

The new video for "Close" from long-running Swedish synthpop act The Mobile Homes is now done and ready for viewing: http://www.megahype.com/new_releases/the_mobile_homes_close
As mentioned before, it's produced by Sami Sirviö of Kent and the band is currently working with Christian Falk on a new full-length for release this fall.

Here is the It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 artists of the week:

01. Death Cab for Cutie
02. Radiohead
03. Håkan Hellström
04. Lykke Li
05. The Radio Dept.
06. Nine Inch Nails
07. Kent
08. Belle and Sebastian
09. Shout Out Louds
10. Feist

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

Here is the It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 artists of the week:

01. Håkan Hellström
02. Death Cab for Cutie
03. Radiohead
04. M83
05. Lykke Li
06. Jens Lekman
07. Bob Dylan
08. Kent
09. Belle and Sebastian
10. Bloc Party

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

MP3: September Malevolence - Who watches the watchmen?

Another week, another chapter in our ongoing 2008 Göteborg music spotlight. This week's guest: Martin Lundmark from September Malevolence/A TenderVersion Recording.

So what's up with the Gbg postrock scene anyway? Does September Malevolence consider themselves a part of that? Does it even exist?

Well no, I don't really think there's a specific scene for postrock here, the city is too small. There are some bands though, and I guess we all more or less know each other, but scene? Nah.

How would you say the music scene in Gbg compare to other cities in Sweden? What makes Gbg better (or worse) in comparison?

I think it's pretty good, there are loads of bands here. It's also far more diverse than people in general believe. The underground is so much better than the mostly boring bands that get media attention...

As far as TenderVersion goes, do you consider yourself a regional label, dedicated to documenting the local scene? I know you have those shitheads Scraps of Tape from Malmö on your label, but let's forget about them for now, especially that Johan guy. How important do you think it is that there are labels around to do that?

Haha... everybody knows Johan's a dick! I haven't really thought of TenderVersion as being a regional label, and now that Audrey is spread around the country and I've signed Yamon Yamon from Sthlm, I guess it's not the case. It kind of was in the beginning when Once We Were, Audrey and September Malevolence all lived in Göteborg though. The main focus for TenderVersion has always been to get outside of Sweden, that's where the action is.

Jerry Bowman seems to resent me calling him a scenester in an earlier entry of this Gbg spotlight series (see here and here). Was I off-base? What's his deal anyway? Pen Expers are not a good band.

Well, I've only read his blog a few times. And scanning through it now to be able to answer this question, I think you are right. And we don't share the same musical taste for sure. File under: Yawn...

What do you see as the future of the Gbg music scene? Any upcoming trends to keep an eye on?

Hm, that's a tricky one. I hope to see more experimental stuff coming out of Gbg soon. That would be awesome! And that they get some attention mediawise! The 40-year olds at GP write about Håkan Hellström and Kent, the 30-year olds write about Hästpojken... not my cup of tea. What we need now are some passionate kids with a taste for the new and eclectic! Rise above the mainstream, anyone?

And as for September Malevolence, what are your upcoming plans? Care to share a new song?

Well, the new album is released May 30th in Europe and a bit later in Japan. We are hitting the road for three weeks in May/June doing our 5th European tour and are hoping to go to Japan later this year. Basically we want to tour as much as possible... why don't you hook us up in the US dude? ;)

I've attached "Who watches the watchmen?", the first track from the upcoming CD/LP "After this darkness, there's a next". It's a killer!

Indeed it is...

September Malevolence - Who watches the watchmen?

Here is the It's a Trap! Last.fm listening group top 10 artists of the week:

01. Radiohead
02. Jens Lekman
03. Death Cab for Cutie
04. Håkan Hellström
05. Kent
06. The Knife
07. Lykke Li
08. Belle and Sebastian
09. Shout Out Louds
10. Elliott Smith

Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Ane Brun - Changing of the seasons
02. Nordman - Djävul eller gud
03. Amy Diamond - Music in motion
04. Sibel - The diving belle
05. Jill Johnson - Music Row
06. Takida - Bury the lies
07. Kikki Danielsson - Kikkis bästa
08. Meshuggah - Obzen
09. Fernandoz - Anders & Git - En helt ny dag
10. The Cardigans - Best of
11. Tomas Andersson Wij - En sommar på speed
12. Carola - Främling 25 år
14. Eskobar - Death in Athens
15. Lars Winnerbäck - Daugava
16. Lykke Li - Youth novels
17. Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden
18. Maia Hirasawa - Though, I'm just me (new edition)
19. The Poodles - Sweet trade (new edition)
20. Tommy Körberg - Rakt upp och ner