In somewhat Ebb-related news, Gaymonkey labelmate Sara Berg will soon release her new single "Crawl back from under" on March 12. B-side remixers include Sophie Rimheden, Endel & Leida, Appareil and Goodstuf. Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/saraberg

In celebration of the release of her new album "Street of dreams", Swedish singer/songwriter Sofia Talvik is giving away an entire remix album as a free download: http://www.sofiatalvik.com/streetofdreamix
Contributing artists include Tobiah, Sophie Rimheden, Chuck Dread, Johan Sigerud and more.

The Mr Suitcase remix may have already been posted on Discobelle, but now the Sophie Rimheden remix of "Winter light" by Richard Reagh is online as well: http://www.reagh.net/blog/winter-light-remixes/

Check out Sophie Rimheden's new Xmas single with rapper CK under the name iSH: http://www.huglife.se/media/ish/index2.htm

Sudd will be presenting a special mp3-download Advent calendar starting tomorrow: http://www.sudd.org/
Artists confirmed and revealed so far include Firefox AK, Laakso, Sophie Rimheden, Björn Kleinhenz, GOTO80 - one each day until Christmas.

Listen to the new Sophie Rimheden/Annika Holmberg single "My madness" on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/rimhedenholmberg

Interview: Marit Bergman

The third single from Sophie Rimheden's most recent album is now available for free download along with the Familjen remix: http://www.sophierimheden.com/
The track is called "Days go by" and it features guest vocals from the one-and-only Marit Bergman, so of course it's highly recommended.

Various Artists
Jävla kritiker!
NONS

This could have been the compilation album that would make other compilation albums obsolete, since it's a brilliant idea – get some critics to write reviews of non-existent songs then let the bands record them. What a shame then that most of the tracks here are rubbish. Before I dug into this album, I read the individual reviews, and they made me expect something great, which is a bit unfortunate since "Jävla kritiker!" only contains a couple of interesting songs. There are definitely none of those masterpieces that the reviews suggest that there is to be found here. It's kind of odd that they've managed to get some of Sweden's best critics and writers together for this project, but hardly any of Sweden's best bands (ok, Sophie Rimheden is perhaps the undisputed master of what she does and Nicolai Dunger seems to hit the right strings with certain folks). The best thing about this compilation is how some of the artists (like Nicolai Dunger) have either submitted a song chosen on random, or totally ignored the text they were meant to base their song on.
- Simon Tagestam

The concept of the NONS "Jävla kritiker!" compilation is intriguing: gather up a number of renown critics and have them all write reviews for songs yet to be made. Then have the artists create the song to fit the review. Even though I knew the results would be mixed, I still was incredibly excited to hear it because the idea is just too good. The downside however, is that my Swedish language skills are just not good enough to understand all of the critical essays that are the foundation of the project. Oh well, at least I still have the music, right? Well, the results are uneven, just as I predicted. There are a few diamonds in the rough though - both Andreas Tilliander and Sophie Rimheden contribute nice dancey electronic numbers and Nicolai Dunger's instrumental track is quite good, as is Silverbullit's song. The highlight for me though, is Isolation Years. It's not all that surprising since they have long been one of my favorite bands, but what can I say? The truth is what it is. Read the review and go download the song.

MP3: Isolation Years - Minstrel

The concept of the NONS "Jävla kritiker!" compilation is intriguing: gather up a number of renown critics and have them all write reviews for songs yet to be made. Then have the artists create the song to fit the review. Even though I knew the results would be mixed, I still was incredibly excited to hear it because the idea is just too good. The downside however, is that my Swedish language skills are just not good enough to understand all of the critical essays that are the foundation of the project. Oh well, at least I still have the music, right? Well, the results are uneven, just as I predicted. There are a few diamonds in the rough though - both Andreas Tilliander and Sophie Rimheden contribute nice dancey electronic numbers and Nicolai Dunger's instrumental track is quite good, as is Silverbullit's song. The highlight for me though, is Isolation Years. It's not all that surprising since they have long been one of my favorite bands, but what can I say? The truth is what it is. Read the review and go download the song.

Isolation Years - Minstrel

The latest Sophie Rimheden single "Queen of the night" and its remixes by Richard Reagh and Le Sport are now all downloadable in one place: http://www.rimhedenmedia.com/~sophie/srproductions/srp/downloads.html

Fluxblog posts a track from Sophie Rimheden: http://www.fluxblog.org/2006/01/lights-on-ceiling-dont-know-sophie.html

Download the Richard Reagh remix of Sophie Rimheden's "Queen of the night": http://www.thisispop.se/queen_of_the_night-richard_reagh_remix.mp3

Sophie Rimheden
s/t
SRP

One musician taking charge of their personal arsenal of technology can be a mighty impressive thing. Sophie Rimheden, one of Sweden's cutting-edge electronica artists, creates a dizzying mix of sound on her self-titled third album, yet there's a clear sense of purpose and a tight focus that prevent the disc from ever sounding self-indulgent (a problem I had with some tracks on her previous album). Rimheden employs a trademark multi-tracked harmony sound on these 13 tracks which is often deliriously enjoyable, along with peppy rhythms and fairly straightforward synths. But the arrangements are certainly not formulaic. My favorite song is "The real way," a genuine classic on which a rather eccentric lead vocal, a cool chugging rhythm track and a layered harmony chorus combine to spine-tingling effect. The infectious "ba ba's" and simple rhythms that permeate this record show a disciplined craftswoman at work, while there are curious surprises in the arrangements and overall mix. You're loopy in the best way, Sophie, m'dear, and this is a nifty little platter.
- Kevin Renick