It's too late now, but Sirius satellite radio broadcasted a recording of the ExMS showcase in NYC with The Ark, The Drowners, Moneybrother and The Deportees on channel 26, "Left of Center". Sorry I didn't get to posting the news before the weekend (it was aired both Saturday and Sunday), but it's good to note that people are paying attention and that these bands are getting promoted.

Oh. My. God. That had to be the longest trip home ever. I left Umeå late Sunday to head back to Stockholm and then got about an hour sleep before I had to run back to Arlanda to catch my flight to Paris. As luck would have it, the flight to Paris was delayed just enough for me to miss my connection flight to San Francisco, leaving me standed in France for an additional 24hrs. Merde! Thankfully the airport put me up at a local hotel, but let me tell you - it's scary to be a vegetarian at a Parisian buffet when there's so many little googly eyes staring back at you. I didn't realize pork came in so many forms. So anyhow, I survived and finally made it back home yesterday only to discover that my computer was kaput. Awesome. Still, it's so nice to be back in my own house with my wife and dogs and to sleep in my own bed, especially after such a draining journey.

Okay, day three of Umeå Open. My talk went okay even though I imbibed quite a bit the night before and the audience was somewhat unresponsive in typical Norrlandic fashion. That's pretty much what I expected, so I can't really complain. I suspect I could've prepared a little better, but it's far too late for those kinds of thoughts now. The shows that night were fantastic. Cult of Luna kicked things off down in the basement and actually played slower live than on record. Good stuff. I ran out of there at just the right moment to find Isolation Years taking the stage upstairs at the main auditorium. Again, quite nice. Both bands suffered a bit from being the first ones out for the evening, but both the bands and the crowd warmed up nicely by the end of their sets. After that I sat for a bit and relaxed before heading off to see a bit of El Perro Del Mar who was much, much better than I expected. I've thought that her recordings were kind of mediocre, but she really had a great voice live. Then it was back downstairs for Silverbullit who were easily the highlight of the entire festival. Such an awesome band, both live and on record. I took it easy after that until Moneybrother closed the show with a fantastic performance with his full band, including strings. It's interesting to see how much more he talked and related to the audience in Sweden than when I saw him a few weeks ago in LA. Both were good shows, but Anders was obviously much more comfortable in his home country, using his own language.

Huge thanks to everyone who put me up and put up with me. Thanks to everyone at Umeå Open and ExMS for making my trip possible and I'll be trying my best to thank you all personally in the next few days as I catch up on email. I had an awesome time and met so, so many great people. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'll be back in Sweden once again. I just won't go through France next time. Pictures soon! Once my home computer gets fixed. Oh, and if anyone finds my address book, please send it back to me. I'll cover the postage.

Now back to the grind! Brand new mp3 from C.Aarmé. Forget about Kent, Moneybrother, or whoever else being this year's summer hitmakers - this track is by far the best single you'll hear this summer, maybe even all year. I've been listening to it on repeat all week, it's just so good. And what could be a better songtitle than "We are the world"? Can it get any better than that? No! Of course not! 100% pure gold I tell ya! Can't wait to hear the album.

Okay, I survived Umeå Open day two and actually managed to get up and give my seminar this afternoon at 1. There weren't a ton of people there, but I can't blame them considering how much beer was being consumed the night before. As I said, I barely made it there myself. Firefox played at the same time, too. I'm bummed I didn't get to see her.

Anyhow, the bands I got to see last night were all really, really good. The Tiny kicked things off perfectly and were followed by Tiger Lou. Having only seen Rasmus perform solo before, it was reelly exciting for me to finally hear him with a full band. They played my favorite song "The war between us" along with a couple new tracks, so I was 100% satisfied. I screwed up and totally missed the next few bands while I hung out with friends, but I made sure I got to see The Ark. What can I say? They were amazing. They better come back to the US. Soon.

Tonight I have see Cult of Luna, Isolation Years, Silverbullit and Moneybrother. So many great bands, all at the same fest. And Rasmus from TL is doing guest vocals with CoL, too. Can't wait!

Moneybrother
To die alone
Burning Heart Records

Anders Wedin's former band Monster released a couple of albums (and a compilation) that had quite a lot of good songs on them, but they were far from perfect, and the same goes for Moneybrother's first album "Blood panic" - a lot of hits, but too many duds. Looking back like this, it appears as if Anders Wedin has gradually improved as a songwriter (not that weird, I know), only for him to reach his full potential on "To Die Alone". For this is in fact, to use a British term, a belter of an album. There are no of those dodgy duets that I had problems to stomach from "Blood panic" and Anders appears very confident with his excellent voice, and it appears as if he has calmed down a bit and not tried to fit thousands of ideas onto one record, which consequently makes all the songs on "To die alone" gel better than what the "Blood panic" tracks do. With "To die alone" we also get a nice mix of up-tempo number and slower stuff, and personally I prefer the slower songs to the rockier ones, there's so much soul in them that they almost burst! The best track on the disc is "Eventually it'll break your heart" (a gorgeous but sad, sad song) which is one of the best songs I've heard in a long time and for the last two weeks I have to get a daily dose of it or I start feeling strange. A few weeks ago I reviewed the first single from this album and wrote that it gave me a 'sickly feeling' - a statement I won't withdraw but I can admit that I like "They're building walls around us" a bit more now than then, but it's still my least favourite track from the album. As you might have noticed, this review doesn't really add that much to the current praise that Moneybrother is getting from the It's a Trap! quarters and other places, so allow me to humbly join the queue of people saying: "This album is fantastic".
- Simon Tagestam

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Kent - Du och jag döden
02. Moneybrother - To die alone
03. Jill Johnson - Being Who You Are
04. Christer Sjögren - Love Me Tender
05. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
06. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
07. Jimmy Jansson - Som en Blixt
08. Hammerfall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
09. Darin - The anthem
10. Håkan Hellström - Ett kölikbarns bekännelser
11. Viktoria Tolstoy - My Swedish Heart
12. Martin Stenmarck - Think of Me (New Version)
13. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
14. Thorsten Flinck - Vildvuxna rosor
15. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
16. Broder Daniel - No Time for Us 1989-2004
17. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
18. The Real Group - In the Middle of Life
19. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
20. Arash - Arash Arash

Uncritical has posted a track from Moneybrother: http://uncritical.blogspot.com/2005/03/i-cant-say-why-i-need-you-here.html
Chris, I think you'll be happy to know that Simon ranks the album very highly, though he still feels that lead single is the weakest track. His full album review should be up either later today or tomorrow. I agree that it's a great album and I hope it catches on over here, too.

Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Moneybrother - They're Building Walls Around Us
02. Hammerfall - Bloodbound
03. Smak - Hallanvaara
04. Darin - Money For Nothing
05. Angu - Red Light
06. Christian Walz - Never Be Afraid Again
07. Lazyboy - Underwear Goes Inside The Pants
08. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himlen men ingen vill dö
09. Moder Jords Massiva - Fast Attack/ Slow Decay
10. Simone - Last Days And Nights Of Rock'n'Roll
11. Sugarplum Fairy - Far Away From Man
12. The 69 Eyes - Lost Boys
13. Mendez - Is That Ok
14. Jim Stärk - Morning Song
15. Beats And Styles - Two White Monkeys
16. LAB - When Heaven Gets Dirty
17. Elin Sigvardsson - Stupid Sunday Song
18. Husky Rescue - City Lights
19. Deportees - Champagne
20. Anna Ternheim - My Secret

Challengers:
01. Kent - Max 500
02. Bertine Zetlitz - Ah-ah
03. Marie Miller - Playground
04. Saybia - Bend The Rules
05. User - Miss Wanted

Go here to vote for your favorite.

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Kent - Du och jag döden
02. Moneybrother - To die alone
03. Christer Sjögren - Love Me Tender
04. Hammerfall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
05. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
06. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
07. Darin - The anthem
08. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
09. Martin Stenmarck - Think of Me (New Version)
10. Håkan Hellström - Ett kölikbarns bekännelser
11. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
12. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
13. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
14. Benny Anderssons orkester - BAO!
15. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
16. Stefan Nilsson - Så som i himmelen (filmmusik)
17. Timo Räisänen - Lovers Are Lonely
18. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
19. Thorsten Flinck - Vildvuxna rosor
20. The Real Group - In the Middle of Life

Swedish Christian nu-metallers Blindside have signed with DRT Entertainment. Besides releasing the band's new album later this summer, the label will also be reissuing their self-titled debut album and "A Thought Crushed My Mind" in late May along with a new DVD "Ten Years Running Blind". More details: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=34548

Aftonbladet's Per Bjurman reports from the NYC ExMS Swedish Showcase with Moneybrother and The Ark: http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/noje/story/0,2789,621230,00.html (in Swedish)
Notice how he doesn't even bother to bring up the Deportees?

My interview with Moneybrother is now up: [click here]
Kelly will probably throw a hissy-fit because I edited out some stuff, but it's only because it wouldn't be amusing to anyone but us. Maybe if she participated more instead of texting her fake boyfriend I might've done different.

Interview: Anders Wendin/Moneybrother

Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Moneybrother - They're Building Walls Around Us
02. Smak - Hallanvaara
03. Darin - Money For Nothing
04. Thomas Dybdahl - A Lovestory
05. Christian Walz - Never Be Afraid Again
06. Hammerfall - Bloodbound
07. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himlen men ingen vill dö
08. Lazyboy - Underwear Goes Inside The Pants
09. In Flames - Touch Of Red
10. Annie - My Heartbeat
11. The 69 Eyes - Lost Boys
12. Beats And Styles - Two White Monkeys
13. LAB - When Heaven Gets Dirty
14. Sugarplum Fairy - Far Away From Man
15. Moder Jords Massiva - Fast Attack/ Slow Decay
16. Mendez - Is That Ok
17. Husky Rescue - City Lights
18. Jim Stärk - Morning Song
19. Håkan Hellström - En Midsommarnattsdröm
20. Deportees - Champagne

Challengers:
01. Elin Sigvardsson - Stupid Sunday Song
02. The Margarets - Surf Alone
03. Anna Ternheim - My Secret
04. Simone - Last Days And Nights Of Rock'n'Roll
05. Angu - Red Light

Go here to vote for your favorite.

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names
Live @ the Barfly, London, 03/16/05

I love music. I love it so much it hurts, but at the end of last year and the beginning of this I've just been to too many rubbish gigs and bought too many boring records. I tell you, at one point I almost gave up! Lately though, things have been looking brighter with excellent records by Moneybrother, Håkan Hellström, The Evens and more, coming out, and with equally good live shows from Bright Eyes, Arcade Fire and others, my interest in music has been ignited once again. What I'm trying to get at here is that the Suburban Kids with Biblical Names gig yesterday was just another logical step in this revival. Or, that might be an understatement since the show was one of the best I've witnessed in a long time. If It's a Trap! worked under some sort of grading system this show would have gotten five Vikings out of five. Their songs are just so charming and fantastic that I couldn't help but smiling and shuffling my feet to the beat throughout the whole show. It might help that I'm an avid Jonathan Richman fan, but I'm sure SKWBN can charm anyone who's into clever indiepop. Tonight I'm going to see Arcade Fire once again, and hopefully they won't ruin this good streak that I've enjoyed lately. Thank you very much.
- Simon Tagestam

Okay, I think I'm adequately recovered from my trip to LA for the ExMS Swedish showcase. I sat down for some nice chats with Anders from Moneybrother and Peter of Burning Heart Records, so look for that stuff to get posted soon. Transcriptions are not my strong point, but I'll try to get it done ASAP. As for the show, the Deportees were only slightly less boring live than on record, Moneybrother ruled but suffered from a somewhat indifferent crowd and The Ark was brilliant. Who knew those guys had so many screaming gayboy fans in LA? They actually got called back for a much-deserved encore of "Father of a son" too. Good times.

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Kent - Du och jag döden
02. Moneybrother - To die alone
03. Christer Sjögren - Love Me Tender
04. Hammerfall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
05. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
06. Håkan Hellström - Ett kölikbarns bekännelser
07. Darin - The anthem
08. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
09. Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck - So much for staying alive
10. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
11. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
12. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
13. Arash - Arash Arash
14. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
15. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
16. The Wallstones - Pleasure and pain
17. The Real Group - In the Middle of Life
18. Caesars - Paper Tigers
19. Ted Gärdestad - Sol vind & vatten - Det bästa
20. Stefan Nilsson - Så som i himmelen (filmmusik)

Eldkvarn have set April 20 as the release date of their new album "Atlantis" along with the first single "Konfettiregn". The record was produced by Bear Quartet guitarist Jari Haapalainen and features guest appearances from Christer Sjögren and Håkan Hellström.