Top 10s for 2009: Daggan Stamenkovic (Novoton/Klicktrack)

New Pascal album confirmed, preview posted

Novoton has announced that Pascal's forthcoming album "Orkanen närmar sig", their third overall, will be released on January 27. Hear a couple sample tunes at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/raukenroll

Absolut Noise interviews Pascal

Absolut Noise talks to Swedish noisepop act Pascal about their upcoming third album: http://absolutnoise.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-about-their-next-record.html

New Pascal being mixed next week

Pascal will mix their new album next week. See live video footage of them performing new tracks here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Knivbarbro&view=videos

Presenting: Skriet

Novoton has announced the signing of Skriet, the more subdued and electronic sideproject of Isak Sundström from Pascal and Jacob Frössén. The debut single "Fåglarna" is out now and can be previewed at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/skrietsthlm
Expect an album in August.

2009 Manifest Award winners

Here are the winners of the 2009 Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative Grammy:

Jazz: Bobo Stenson Trio - Cantando (ECM/Naxos)
Punk/Hardcore: Disco Volante - We are forever (Not enough)
Hårdrock/Metal: Grand Magus - Iron Will (Rise above/Border)
Rhythm: Movits - Äppelknyckarjazz (BD Pop/Universal)
Experimental: Anders Dahl - Doorbells (Bombaxbombax)
Hip-hop/RnB/Soul: Chords - Things We Do For Things (Juju/Playground)
Best Live: Robyn (Konichiwa Records)
Folk/Visa: Gunnel Mauritzson Band - Det som sker...(Sandkvie Records/CDA)
Synth: Elegant Machinery - A soft exchange (Out of Line/Sound Pollution)
Singer/Songwriter: First Aid Kit - Drunken Trees (Rabid Records/Border)
Pop: Frida Hyvönen - Silence Is Wild (Licking Fingers/Playground)
Rock: Pascal - Galgberget (Novoton/Bonnier Amigo)
Dance: Style of Eye - Duck cover and hold (Pieces of eight records)
MySpace-prize for best unsigned act: Tim Schmidt
Vice Label Award: Service

Read more here: http://www.manifestgalan.se/125.aspx

Antennas
Feeling feline tonight
Novoton

Antennas do not lend themselves easily to comparisons -- there are elements of the pop structures of Shout Out Louds, of the angular nature of Laakso's approach, among other such attempts to define their sound, but very few of these associations hold up as you move through the tracklist. "The collector" is kitschy-chic, like a Weeping Willows ballad hijacked by CDOASS; "Lies" has far more soul and funk in its composition than three Swedes should be able to manifest in song; "Youngbloods" channels a bit of Brit-rock suave before throwing itself recklessly down dance-punk avenues; "Upwardly mobile" could almost be a Hot Chip track... and yet "Feeling feline tonight" feels like a unified work, each track flowing easily into the next, despite the differences in tone and method. Novoton Records apparently can do absolutely no wrong: "Book of Norma" was my first 10 out of 10, postpunkers Paper and Pixies-style rockers Pascal both put out fantastic efforts in 2008, and "Feeling feline tonight", with its ability to combine 80s pop craftsmanship and angular indie rock with the interesting, reactionary elements of some 90s music (think Stone Roses and Pulp), only strengthens Novoton's position as one of the very best labels in Sweden. "Feeling feline tonight" is my first great surprise of the year.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Manifest nominees are go

The nominees for the Manifest Awards, Sweden's alternative Grammy, have been announced:

Synth:
Thermostatic - Humanizer (Wonderland Records)
Zeigeist - The Jade Motel (Spegel/Imperial Recordings/Playground)
Moonlight Cove - Orphans of the Storm (Kinetophone/Hot Stuff)
Elegant Machinery - A soft exchange (Out of Line/Hot Stuff)
Rhythm:
Movits - Äppelknyckarjazz (BD Pop/Universal)
Erici - Brasilicum (Erici Music/Dead Frog)
Saft Stockholm - Ordet (Saft Productions/Stockholm Electronica)
Kungers - Galaxen (Rätta Visan/Border)
Experimental:
Anders Dahl - Doorbells (Bombaxbombax)
Nina de Heyney, Charlotte Hug & Christian Jormin - Acoustic Electronic (LJ Records)
Pär Thörn - Schöneberg/Stammheim/Gärdet/Rågsved (Treffpunkt)
Anders Hultqvist - Traces (Chamber Sound)
Pop:
Frida Hyvönen - Silence Is Wild (Licking Fingers/Playground)
Hello Saferide - More modern short stories from... (Razzia/Bonnier Amigo)
Joel Alme - A Master Of Ceremonies (Sincerely Yours/Border)
Nordpolen - På Nordpolen (Sincerely Yours/Border)
Rock:
The Hellacopters - Head Off (Wild Kingdom/Sound Pollution)
Pascal - Galgberget (Novoton/Bonnier Amigo)
Fatboy - In My Bones (Fat State Production/Playground)
Manikins - Crocodiles (P.Trash Records)
Dance:
Pär Grindvik - Samlad årsproduktion (Stockholm LTD)
Anders Ilar - Sworn (Level Records 11)
Style of Eye - Duck cover and hold (Pieces of eight records)
Zoo Brazil - No Place Like Home (Gung Ho! Recordings)
Jazz:
Bobo Stenson Trio - Cantando (ECM/Naxos)
Nina Ramsby & Ludwig Berghe Trio - Du har blivit stor nu [En kamp!] (Moserobie/Bonnier Amigo)
e.s.t. - Leucocyte (ACT/Bonnier Amigo)
The Splendor - Sound of Splendor (HOOB/Border)
Punk/Hardcore:
Disco Volante - "We are forever" (Not enough)
Disfear - "Live the storm" (Relapse/Border)
Nitad - "Ibland kan man inte hindra sig själv" (Kranium)
Meanwhile - "Reality or nothing" (Feral Ward)
Hårdrock/Metal:
Burst - Lazarus Bird (Relapse/Border)
Dismember - Dismember (Regain/Sound Pollution)
Grand Magus - Iron Will (Rise above/Border)
Opeth - Watershed (Roadrunner/Bonnier Amigo)
Hip-hop/R'n'B/Soul:
Chords - Things We Do For Things (Juju/Playground)
Afasi & Filthy – Fläcken (P.o.p.e./Playground)
Masse - Gott & Blandat Vol. 2
Allyawan - Blu Duk Mixtape Vol. 2
Folk/Ballad:
Gunnel Mauritzson Band - Det som sker...(Sandkvie Records/CDA)
Maria Hörnelius, Bernt Andersson & Kjell Jansson - En sång för Kent (Eld Records/Border)
Jonas Knutsson & Johan Norberg - Skaren - Norrland III (Act/BAM)
Bjernulf/Björklund/Lindh – Pål Olles väg (Courage)
Singer/Songwriter:
Melpo Mene - Bring the Lions Out (Imperial Recordings/Playground)
Hyacinth House - Black Crows Country (True Music Production/Glitterhouse)
First Aid Kit - Drunken Trees (Rabid Records/Border)
Olle Nyman - Venture (A West Side Fabrication/Border)
Live:
Detektivbyrån (Danarkia)
The Hellacopters (Psychout Records)
Lykke Li (LL Recordings)
Robyn (Konichiwa Records)
Myspace prize for best unsigned act:
Montauk
Hero in action
Miranda Gjerstad
Sci-Fi Hands
John F Karlsson
Dyno
Tim Schmidt
Nottee
The Bellevues
Diskoteket

Go here for more: http://www.manifestgalan.se/

Top 10s for 2008: Daggan (Novoton)

Labrador is offering up the new Legends single "Seconds away" as a free download: http://www.labrador.se/mp3/the_legends-seconds_away.mp3
If you dig feedback squall pop ala JAMC/Pascal/etc., you'll dig this. I'm not normally a Legends fan, but I am definitely into it. C'mon, who doesn't love shrill feedback braindrills? Not me! Anyhow, the official date for the disc release (w/b-side remixes and so on) is November 5.

Novoton Records (Antennas, Pascal) has signed Hyper Plastic (ex-This Perfect Day) and will be releasing a 12" vinyl EP in early November. Samples at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hyperplastic

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

01. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
02. TALK 1
03. Division of Laura Lee - Central Park
04. New Decade - While tonight still is
05. Abduktio - Uutisia rintamalta
06. TALK 2
07. Echo Is Your Love - Lion tamer vs tigers
08. Fireside - Silver muscle car
09. Him Kerosene - Ladybugs
10. TALK 3
11. NEI - New morning
12. The Bear Quartet - All your life
13. Park Hotell - Dead ringers
14. KVLR - Spit
15. Electric Retard - Skate girl
16. TALK 4
17. Samuraj Cities - Ugly kids are alright
18. Barra Head - Iron to skin
19. Death By Kite - Himmelfahrtskommando
20. TALK 5
21. Blithe - Haven
22. Starmarket - You can't come
23. Lukestar - White shade
24. Monkeystrikes - Tahonga take away
25. TALK 6
26. Voices Break the Silence - This awful friend

Reminder: My show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday at the same time.

I almost forgot, but here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Jesper Norda - Tommorrow you'll be forgiven but tonight you will have your teeth knocked out
02. TALK 1
03. On Volcano - Out of sight
04. Monday Monkey Riot - Go ape
05. Dmitry Fyodorov - Warcollapse!
06. TALK 2
07. Wired for Mono - Don't look down
08. Small - Come around (vs Hippo remix)
09. September Malevolence - ...accidents happen so fasr
10. TALK 3
11. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Facelessness erase every trace of humanity
12. Napoleon - Send me a woman
13. Rigas Den Andre - I am crane
14. TALK 4
15. Mist - Subjective pop song
16. Ebba Grön - Tyst för fan
17. Neveres - Pause
18. Pascal - Cadillac
19. TALK 5
20. Komeda - Blossom (got to get it out)

Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) is now on Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.

Here's the video for the new Pascal single "Cadillac": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ9G7LnA3D8

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

01. Frivolvol - Out come the knives
02. TALK 1
03. Lapko - Dead disco
04. Gentle Touch - Once you used to
05. Pellarin - Whistle like you're 56
06. TALK 2
07. Björn Kleinhenz - Light of love
08. Pascal - Smärtsillande
09. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Weddings
10. TALK 3
11. Margaret Berger - Samantha
12. Doughnuts - Become one
13. Kusowsky - Jonny
14. NEI - The devil
15. TALK 4
16. Happiness - Loot at that rabbit go!
17. Firefox AK - Pushing
18. Fattaru - Hörde jag skål
19. TALK 5
20. Britta Persson - Cliffhanger
21. Grizzly Twister - Black box
22. The Social Services - Baltic Sea
23. TALK 6
24. Montys Loco - Criminal
25. Fontän - Alla kan se dig
26. Animal Alpha - Pin you all
27. TALK 7
28. Astrid Swan - Spartan picnic
29. Barra Head - Undermine
30. Fun - 2:22men
31. TALK 8
32. Ted Gärdestad - Oh, vilken härlig dag
33. Christian Kjellvander - Poppies and peonies
34. Echo Is Your Love - Lion tamer vs tigers
35. TALK 9
36. I Am Bones - Home is the one corner of hell that didn't catch fire
37. Miss Li - I'm sorry, he's mine
38. The Deer Tracks - YesThisIsMyBrokenShield
39. TALK 10
40. Entombed - Damn deal done