The multi-talented David Sandström (ex-Refused, Text) is getting ready to release a new solo album called "The dominant need of the needy soul is to be needed" in April and will counting down to its release via his new website: http://www.david-sandstrom.com/
Every Monday he'll be updating with live outtakes and song sketches for download as well as notes and lyrics for your perusal. He'll also be pictured with less clothes on as the big date approaches.
Artist: Refused
Genre: Punk/Hardcore
http://www.burningheart.com/refused/
http://www.myspace.com/refused
https://www.facebook.com/RefusedBand
Reviews: Sunflower princess (mp3) / Refused are fucking dead DVD / New noise (mp3)
New mp3 up today from up-and-coming punk rockers C.Aarmé. Look for their debut full-length on Burning Heart later on this year. Also added a new streaming radio show from Niklas Holmberg. He runs the very excellent Nicolai Dunger fansite at nicolaidunger.tk and The (International) Noise Conspiracy fansite at theblastoff.tk. His playlist is broken into four sections: rock'n'roll, melancholic, Refused-related and instrumental. All very cool, so be sure to check it out.
Lasse Marhaug of Jazzkammer has a new album of "hard electronics, brutal black-metal, free-jazz and white noise" coming out called ""The Shape of Rock To Come" on March 1 from Smalltown Supersound. And that's named after the famous Ornette Coleman album "The Shape Of Jazz To Come", not Refused you dunny.
Burning Heart has announced that the long-awaited Refused "Refused Are Fucking Dead" DVD career retrospective will be out this spring. It will contain all sorts of never before seen material along with the group's videos and more. Also in the works from the defunct band is a DVD Audio 5.1 surround sound remix of the now-classic album "The Shape Of Punk To Come", out early next year on Epitaph in North America. Burning Heart will follow with a European release again in the spring. And that's not all - there will also be a new digipack edition of the album bundled along with remastered versions of earlier works "Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent" and "The EP Compilation" out on both labels next year. More details and exact release dates coming soon.
January 20 marks the day that ex-Refused/current (International) Noise Conspiracy frontman Dennis Lyxén will release his latest solo album with Lost Patrol in the US. The album "Songs About Running Away" came out last June in Sweden on Burning Heart and will be put out by Epitaph/BHR in the States. For those that haven't heard it yet, the material is far different from Dennis' other bands as it is not political and much more in an acoustic singer/songwriter tradition.
As mentioned way back on 08/19, Cobolt (feat. ex-Refused bassist Magnus) is doing a five-song EP for Startracks offshoot StarEP this fall. Well, they've finally confirmed the tracklist: "Dulcinea", "Idle", "Shortest Night", "Smoke Signals", and "Sin Gas". Those of you looking for Refused-style bombast best go elsewhere, cuz these guys are pure slowcore.
You've probably already heard some of the buzz surrounding new releases from the label Planekonomi, but let me refresh your memory. First, the new album "8-16" from Royal Downfall is out and should appeal to fans of Fugazi or At The Drive-In they say. Björn Olsson (TSOOL, UCP, etc) is currently mixing Mattias Alkberg BD's (Bear Quartet)'s solo 4-song EP "Med Spöken" and it should be ready for release early next year. Jon Brännström (ex-Refused, Text) is hard at work on his new project Jon F Kennedy, and should have a record ready for early 2004, too. "If you're into the whole Anticon scene this will blow you away," they say. Downloads are up at the Planekonomi site and look for potential annoucements of new signees soon, too.
I posted the tracklist for the new Startracks comp way back on 06/24 but this message from label mainman Fredrik Holmgren is too good to pass up:
"Ok, I said for years it will never happen to me. Now I'm down at the level of Bad Taste and Burningheart...
I'm sorry, I am really!
The first label compilation ever is to hit the stores 24th of September. It had to be done and honestly I find it of healthy quality. It's priced as a single (even lower then Universal dared too go ! :) ). Here are the final set list, even a exlusive one with Mr. Åström. And yes it even by the bands on it looks like yet another Burningheart comp. Kids I found those artist, launched them some I even invented and then BHR cashed in. I'm for real kid!"
That tracklist again, to refresh your memory:
01. Fireside - Throw it away
02. Christian Kjellvander -Broken Wheels
03. Kristofer Åström & Hidden truck - One good moment
04. Tiger Lou - Nova Lee
05. Loosegoats - Days of black (nights are light)
06. Kristofer Åström - 8 long years (previously unreleased)
07. Songs of Soil - Page
08. The Lost Patrol - Stating the obvious
09. Revolvo - Moscow mule
10. Jaffa de Luxe - Don't forget about Raquel
11. Candysuck - Popcorn
12. Leiah - Cover Discover
13. Starmarket - Mexican summer
14. Moneybrother - Thunder in my heart
15. Buck - Rock dream
16. Monster - Don't answer the phone
17. Refused - Pump the brakes
Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:
01. Per Gessle - Mazarin
02. Carola - Guld platina & passion - det bästa
03. Lasse Stefanz - Det här är bara början
04. Anna-Lotta Larson - Tidlöst
05. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
06. Robyn - Don't stop the music
07. Pugh Rogefeldt - Pughs bästa
08. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
09. Da Buzz - More than alive
10. Jamie Meyer - It´s all about me
11. Lars Winnerbäck & Hovet - Söndermarken
12. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
13. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
14. Tomas Ledin - I sommarnattens ljus
15. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
16. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
17. Tommy Körberg - Gränslös - det bästa med
18. Per Myrberg - Sommarnatt Per Myrberg sjunger Taube
19. Anders Johansson - If it's all I ever do
20. Moneybrother - Blood panic
Jocke Åhlund from The Caesars will be filming the new video for American hardcore band Thursday and their song "Signals Over The Air". His previous credits include work for bands such as Refused, Broder Daniel, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, The Caesars (of course) and more. More info and stills from his ouvere here: http://www.refused.tv/directors/joakim_ahlund.php
Refused's long awaited post-humous DVD collection "Refused are Fucking Dead" comes out in February along with a 5.1 sound version of the now-classic "Shape of Punk to Come" album.
Dennis Lyxzén (ex-Refused, (International) Noise Conspiracy) is taking solo project Lost Patrol on the road for a few dates up in Norrland, Sweden. Joining him as a backing band will be Andre Sandström (drums; The Nervous Minds, Trisstess, ex DS-13), Robert Pettersson (bass, vox; Regulations, Dead Ones), Anders Stenberg (guitar, vox; ex-Bittersweet), and Jonas Lidström (organ, vox; ex-Bittersweet). The dates:
08/08 - Café 23, Piteå
08/09 - Unf-lokalen - buskis, Luleå
08/10 - tba, Gällivare
08/11 - Snabelhuset, Boden
08/12 - Hagakollektivet, Umeå
The latest from Startracks Records:
Christian Kjellvander will be recording the new track "Portugal" next week for a video/single release sometime around October. He debuted the song live at Hultsfred fest and you can view footage of it here.
Fireside's latest album "Get Shot" finally gets a US/Canada release now on August 19 and the label says that tour plans are definitely in the works.
The label's latest signing Tiger Lou has set August 20 as the release date for their new EP. The tracklist:
01. Sam, as in Samantha
02. Nova Lee
03. When I was a kid
04. Trouble & Desire
You probably didn't notice as there hasn't been much publicity about it, but Simba Records recently released the Kristofer Åström "Plastered Confessions" EP in the US. Simba also put out a similar Marit Bergman EP over here that's worth checking out as well. And while we're on a tangent here, let me add that Simba is also working on a Joni Mitchell tribute CD that will feature contributions from Kristofer and Dennis Lyxzén (International Noise Conspiracy, Lost Patrol) among others. FYI, the label's website appears to still be a work-in-progress as I think it just came online.
And lastly, Startracks has finalized the tracklist for their first label-showcase compilation. It also comes out August 20 and will be dirt cheap:
01. Fireside - Throw it away
02. Christian Kjellvander -Broken Wheels
03. Kristofer Åström & Hidden truck - One good moment
04. Tiger Lou - Nova Lee
05. Loosegoats - Days of black (nights are light)
06. Kristofer Åström - 8 long years (previously unreleased)
07. Songs of Soil - Page
08. The Lost Patrol - Stating the obvious
09. Revolvo - Moscow mule
10. Jaffa de Luxe - Don't forget about Raquel
11. Candysuck - Popcorn
12. Leiah - Cover Discover
13. Starmarket - Mexican summer
14. Moneybrother - Thunder in my heart
15. Buck - Rock dream
16. Monster - Don't answer the phone
17. Refused - Pump the brakes
The Caesars aka Caesars Palace have gotten themselves a write-up in the May issue of Kerrang:
Swedish people rock. And not just because of their shiny hair and nice teeth, but because they seem to possess an understated sense of style, intelligence and passion for all things rock. Mixing the pill-popping, proto-punk sounds of The Who with the grandiose LSD-tinged pop of Phil Spector, Caesars have been the centre of the Swedish renaissance since their formation in the mid-90s, watching some of their comrades-in-ties accidentally spearhead the garage-rock revival along the way.
"Anything which becomes 'cool' soon attracts crap bands and becomes passé, but that's okay because then things go back underground," ponders singer/guitarist Jocke Ahlund. "What would be bad is if people thought we'd formed a garage band two weeks ago when some of our songs on our new album are seven years old. And, um, we're not a garage band."
He's right, of course. Dipping into blissful West Coast psychedelia, Caesars' new album is light years beyond the scene that prompted Ahlund to form the band with childhood friend Cesar Vidal, inspired by a diet of Billy Childish and Sonic Youth. As is the way with many in the Swedish scene, Caesars (who go by the name Caesars Palace back home) aren't shy in helping out their like-minded brethren - The Hives cite them as major influences, Ahlund directed Refused's seminal "New noise" video and they've just toured the US with their buds The Soundtrack Of Our Lives.Twenty-five Swedes rolling into a new American town every day and taking over was funny," chuckles the singer. "It's hard not to party on tour. As Swedes we make sure we don't go anywhere without a little ass-pocket of vodka..."
They also got a favorable review in NME. Read it on the band's website. I tell ya - with the right promotion we'll definitely be hearing a lot more about these guys in the near future.
The Venue have updated their website with part II of the "Dude, where's my lighter" tour diary from their recent trip to the US.
Randy have been added to the lineup of the Download festival which takes place May 31 to June 1 in the UK at Donington Park. More info: www.downloadfestival.co.uk
Dolores Records has actually confirmed a release date of August 25 for a new Broder Daniel single. I'll believe it when I see it.
In other Dolores news, the label has signed the band Cdoass and will release a single for the song "Autovision" very soon. It's a rerecording of a song they've already released and the CD will include the tracks from their latest 7" too ("Airplanes" b/w "The Box"). And finally, Dolores will also put out a 12" version of the single through their singles club which will have a special remix of the title track as the flipside. Oh, and in case you're curious, the band is described as post-punk ala Gang of Four, Television and Talking heads.
And in even more Dolores news, the label has also revealed their latest single for the club will be "123 Bom Bom" from Love Is All featuring Josefin of the band Girlfrendo. More info including mp3s are available here.
Finnish psyche-rockers Circle will touring central Europe in June. Check it:
06/06 - Scheune, Dresden (DE)
06/07 - Fundus, Weingarten (DE)
06/08 - Reitschule, Bern (CH)
06/09 - Sue Ellen Bar, Zürich (CH)
06/11 - Raum 102, München (DE)
06/12 - Cafe Cairo, Würzburg (DE)
06/13 - Stubnitz, Rostock (DE)
06/14 - Silke, Hannover (DE)
06/15 - Magnet, Berlin (DE)
06/16 - Molotow, Hamburg (DE)
Interested in what the Moonbabies are up? Check out this studio report page. Included are pics from the studio along with the potential cover art design and more.
Kaospilot has finally secured a release date for their self-titled debut full-length on June 9 through Level-Plane Records.
Advance Patrol's new single "Min Musik" comes out in June. The b-side will be for the track "Området E På Plats" which features guest appearances from Lilleman and Helt Fjuttade. While you're at it, check out AP on tour in the near future:
05/07 - Stockholm
05/09 - Linköping
05/14 - Köpenhamn
05/31 - Stockholm
06/12 - Hultsfred
06/26 - Roskilde
07/05 - Tivolirocken in Kristianstad
Isolation Years, The Leeches, Nebos, Endivia, and The Heartattacks have all been added to the lineup of the Blow Up a Panda fest which takes place July 26-27 in Stockholm.
Abbath from Immortal guests on a couple tracks on the new Dimmu Borgir record. One of the songs on which he appears is called "Humanity Perverse" and it will also feature the Prague Orchestra String Section. Look for it in stores this September from Nuclear Blast.
Zyklon (ex-Emperor) has revealed the track listing to their upcoming album "Aeon", due out in September on Candlelight Records:
01. Psyklon Aeon
02. Core Solution
03. Two Thousand Years
04. No Names Above the Names
05. The Prophetic Method
06. Specimen Eruption
07. Electric Current
08. An Eclectic Manner
Zyklon and fellow Norweigans Myrkskog play the Cameron Underworld in London on June 6.
Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:
01. v/a - Fame Factory volym 5
02. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
03. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
04. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
05. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
06. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
07. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
08. Jill Johnson - Discography
09. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
10. Antique - Blue love
11. Siw Malmkvist - Siws bästa
12. Simson Dupont - Simson Dupont
13. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
14. Elin Sigvardsson - Saturday light naive
15. Lasse Tennander - Därifrånochhit sånger 1974-2003
16. Mauro Scocco - Beat hotel
17. v/a - Fame Factory volym 4
18. The Refreshments - On the rocks
19. The Sounds - Living in America
20. Roxette - The pop hits
It has been revealed that Cecilia Nordlund makes a guest appearance on the upcoming Her Majesty record which comes out on May 26. As mentioned yesterday, people who preorder the new album will receive an exclusive free pin with their purchase.
Moneybrother, Nasum, and The Hellacopters have been added to the Hultsfred fest lineup.
Nightwish has pushed back the release date of their upcoming "End of Innocence" DVD to July 7. No reason was given for the delay.
Download two mp3s samples from the upcoming Nine album "Killing Angels": "Inferno" and "Discontent OD". Look for it in stores around August/September on Burning Heart.
Logh has been announced as the support act for Fireside on their upcoming Swedish tour. Congrats! And besides that, they've got quite a bit of other touring coming up. The dates:
03/20 - Prinzenbar (Docks), Hamburg, GER
03/21 - Magnet, Berlin, GER
03/22 - Starclub, Dresden, GER w/The Kills
03/23 - Gebaedue 9, Köln, GER w/The Faint
03/24 - Normal Records, Köln, GER
03/26 - La route du rhum, Nantes, FRA
03/27 - Local Transmission, Bordeaux, FRA
03/28 - Atzavara Club, St Feliu de Guixols, Girona, ESP
03/29 - Sala Moby Dick, Madrid, ESP w/The Donnas
03/30 - Sala Azkena, Bilbao, ESP
04/02 - Le Gibus, Besançon, FRA
04/03 - BOA, Luzern, CH
04/04 - Rockplanet, Pinarella di Cervia, ITA
04/07 - Szene Wien, Wien, A w/Cameran
04/08 - Orange House, Munich, GER
04/09 - Schlachthof, Wiesbaden, GER
04/10 - Schwimbad Musik Club, Heidelberg, GER
04/12 - La Guintuette Pirate, Paris, FRA
04/13 - Freebutt, Brighton, UK
04/14 - 93ft East , London, UK
04/15 - Club Fandango @ Dublin Castle, London, UK
04/16 - Sticky Fingers, Gothenburg, SWE w/Fireside
04/18 - Grand, Uppsala, SWE w/Fireside
04/24 - Herrgårn, Linköping, SWE w/Fireside
04/25 - Village, Västerås, SWE w/Fireside
04/29 - Kägelbanan, Stockholm, SWE w/Fireside
04/30 - Blå, Oslo, NOR w/Fireside
05/01 - Mejeriet, Lund, SWE w/Fireside
The Sounds say they are playing San Diego tonight on their website. No word on what club, but I'm sure if you're down there it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.
Zillion Digits aka David Sandström (ex-Refused) will be playing Klubb Modos in Umeå on March 22. I've been hearing good things about this, so check it out if you can.
Download an mp3 of 69-Hard's song "The Bullets", taken from the forthcoming album "Blues From Hell" due out April 11 on Idle Hands Records. Preorders are being taken at the label's website so act now, especially if you want a copy of the limited 3-song single.
There's going to be a new comp coming out called "Nordic Favourites" featuring 17 tracks from 17 artists including Silje Nergaard, Gåte, Bel Canto, Morten Abel, Maria Mena, The Rasmus, Junior Senior, The Sounds, Kristofer Åström, The Crash, and Lordi. Look for a "massive" Nordic TV ad campaign in the near future.
Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:
01. v/a - Melodifestivalen 2003
02. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
03. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
04. The Refreshments - On the rocks
05. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
06. Wilmer X - Lyckliga hundar
07. Fernandoz - Vem får din kärlek i natt
08. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
09. Emil Sigfridsson - Tillbaka till igår
10. v/a - Fame Factory volym 4
11. Kikki Bettan Lotta - Live från Rondo
12. The Sounds - Living in America
13. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
14. Kajsa Grytt - Är vi på väg hem?
15. The Knife - Deep Cuts
16. Ted Gärdestad - Droppar av solregn
17. Anders Widmark featuring Sara Isaksson - s/t
18. Magnus Uggla - Klassiska mästerverk
19. Barbados - Rewind
20. A Teens - New arrival
Lars Winnerbäck's new album "Söndermarken" has already gone gold in Sweden. Look for him on tour this summer over there.
This week's Swedish college radio chart (from Dagensskiva):
01. (02) Timbuktu "Ett brev" 02. (NY) First Floor Power "Happy Endings" 03. (01) The Donnas "Take It Off" 04. (05) Shout Out Louds "100 Degrees" 05. (NY) The Knife "You Take My Breath Away" 06. (03) Kamera "At Work" 07. (07) Lil'Kim Ft. Mr Cheeks "The Jump Off" 08. (NY) The Coral "Don't Think You're The First" 09. (04) The Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt.1" 10. (06) Missy Elliott Ft. Ludacris "Gossip Folks" | 11. (NY) The Kills "Fried My Little Brains" 12. (08) The Jayhawks "Save It For A Rainy Day" 13. (NY) Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Date With The Night" 14. (14) Blur "Out Of Time" 15. (NY) Club8 "Saturday Night Engine" 16. (ÅT) Brendan Benson "Metarie" 17. (10) Liam Lynch "United States Of Whatever" 18. (12) Placebo "The Bitter End" 19. (13) Isolation Years "Open Those Eyes" 20. (14) Satirnine "Hey No Hell" |
Leaving the chart:
(09) Whyte Seeds "Slow Motions"
(15) USCB Allstars "Watch Me Roll"
(16) Dj Format Ft. Chali 2na & Akil "We Know Something You Don't Know"
(17) Simian "La Breeze"
(18) Håkan Hellström "Den fulaste flickan i världen"
(19) Lars Winnerbäck "Åt samma håll"
(20) Millencolin "E20 Norr"
Kent has lined up another show this summer: the Park festival in Moss, Norway on June 14. Also playing are Kaizers Orchestra and Vibeke Saugestad.
UPDATED: Finntroll, Impaled Nazarene, and (maybe) Children of Bodom will be doing a benefit/memorial show at Nosturi in Helsinki on March 25 for Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta. The price of entry will be a 10 euros dontation with all proceeds going to cover expenses for Teemu's family. The funeral will be on March 29.
The Finnish band Amorphis have signed with EMI to release their next album, the self-produced "Far From The Sun". The first single "Day Of Your Beliefs" comes out in April, the album to follow in May. This will be the band's first major label release following a long relationship with Relapse Records.
After some time off and membership changes, Leiah is once again preparing to hit the road and tour Europe. Joakim can't make it because of new job obligations, but they think they've found a suitable replacement in Martin aka the "wiz kid" and "the unholy driver." The dates so far:
03/21 - Haldensleben Germany, JFZz "der club"
03/22 - München Germany, Kafe Kult
03/23 - Innsbruck Austria, Workstation
03/24 - Off
03/25 - Budapest Hungaria, Red Hole
03/26 - Cakovec Croatia, TBA
03/27 - Koprivnica Croatia, Kuglana 2
03/28 - Italy, TBA
03/29 - Pescara Italy, TBA
03/30 - Italy, TBA
03/31 - Ferrara Italy, TBA
04/01 - Italy, genova, TBA
04/02 - Toulouse France, Caravan Serail
04/03 - Torrelavega Spain, Ave Turuta
04/04 - Madrid Spain, madrid, Ene Ba
04/05 - Castellon Spain, Ricamor
04/06 - Castellon Spain, Kevin's House, exclusive show
04/07 - St. Feliu Spain, Atzavara Club
04/08 - Off
04/09 - Gent Belgium, Gent, Frontline
04/10 - Leuven Belgium, Leuven, Sojo
04/11 - Athus Belgium, Athus, Le Marignan
04/12 - Recklinghausen Germany, südpol
04/13 - Hamburg Germany hamburg, molotov
04/14 - Off
04/15 - Schwalmstadt Germany , Die Bar
04/16 - Münster Germany, Gleis 22
04/17 - Hohenmölsen Germany, Alte Musikschule
04/18 - Frankfurt/main Germany, Exzess
04/19 - Nürtingen Germany, Kuckucksei
04/20 - Schweinfurt Germany, Stadt Bahnhof
04/21 - Prague Czech, 007
04/22 - Berlin Germany, Kato
04/23 - Dresden Germany, Nubeatz
Supersilent has announced a few new festival dates including the Spot 09 festival in Århus, Denmark on May 30 and Øyafestivalen in Oslo on August 9. A full list of scheduled appearances is here.
The New Mess will touring Europe this June. The (very) tentative dates:
06/06 - Hanau (D) Schweinehalle
06/07 - TBA
06/08 - TBA
06/09 - TBA
06/10 - TBA
06/11 - Dresden (D) AZ Conni w/Off Minor
06/12 - Leipzig (D) Zoro w/Off Minor
06/13 - Cottbus (D) Chekov
06/14 - Berlin (D) Ausland
For more info about that new David & the Citizens EP I talked about yesterday, go to the band's website. They've put up full descriptions of what to expect from each song along with the recording information.
Ludwig from The (International) Noise Conspiracy will be filling on drums for The Soundtrack of Our Lives on the US tour in April. The dates:
4/2 - Minneapolis MN, 400 Bar
4/3 - Lawrence KS, Bottleneck
4/5 - Denver CO, Bluebird
4/6 - Salt Lake City UT, Zephyr
4/8 - San Francisco CA, Bimbo's 365 Club
4/10 - Seattle WA, Graceland
4/11 - Vancouver, Commodore Ballroom
4/13 - Whistler, Whistler Mountain Base
In other t(I)NC related news, Dennis has finished up work on the new Lost Patrol album and will be taking it to stage at the upcoming Umeå Open on March 28. Backing him will be members of Randy, Refused, Isolation Years and The Perishers.
In Flames had to cancel their show tonight in Cleveland with Mudvayne because their bus broke down "in the middle of nowhere." However, they promise to make up for it on their just-announced upcoming US headlining tour. Dates so far:
4/02 - Fayetteville AR, JR's Dickson St. Theatre
4/03 - Houston TX, Fitzgeralds
4/04 - Dallas TX, The Galaxy Club
From Rolling Stone concerning this year's SXSW fest:
Best Swedish Band: The Soundtrack of Our Lives beat Citizen Bird [Silverbullit] here in 2002, but this year it was all about the ladies. We give the nod to Maria Andersson and her hard-rockin' Sahara Hotnights over Maja Ivarsson and the New Wave sounds of the Sounds. The Hives' Howlin' Pelle Almqvist concurs -- he's dating Maria.
The Sounds have confirmed the dates for a Swedish tour in April that will coincide with the release of the new single "Rock'n'Roll". The dates:
4/19 - Helsingborg, The Tivoli
4/20 - Malmö, KB
4/23 - Stockholm, Klubben
4/24 - Göteborg, Trädgårn
4/25 - Sälen, Högfjällshotellet
4/26 - Jönköping, Parken
Håkan Hellström, The Sounds, Mando Diao, Meshuggah, Melody Club, and Loop Troop have been confirmed for the upcoming Arvika fest to take place July 10-12. Other international acts confirmed include Björk, Front 242, and Chicks on Speed.
Nü-metallers Blindside have been forced to cancel a number of dates on their upcoming European tour. Those affected:
3/28 - Wolverhampton, Little Civic
3/29 - Glasgow, Cathouse
3/30 - Manchester, Roadhouse
3/31 - London, Underworld
4/2 - Berlin, Magnet
4/3 - Cologne, Prime Club
4/5 - Hamburg, MarX
4/6 - Munich, Orangehouse
The Crown has set "Possessed 13" as the title of their upcoming album, due in September on Metal Blade Records.
It has been announced that Finntroll/Impaled Nazarene guitarist Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta's death on Sunday was the result of an alcohol-related fall. Again, my condolences to his friends and family.