Via Dagensskiva, here's this week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) Beastie Boys "Ch-Check It Out"
02. (06) Marit Bergman "I Will Always Be Your Soldier"
03. (07) David & The Citizens + Mattias Alkberg "Big Chill"
04. (02) Morrissey "Irish Blood, English Heart"
05. (08) Strip Music "Desperation"
06. (03) The Embassy "Wearing Our Pop Art Hearts On Our Sleeves EP"
07. (04) The Von Bondies "Tell Me What You See"
08. (NY) Infinite Mass "The Thief"
09. (12) Outkast "Roses"
10. (13) My Red Cell "In A Cage (On Prozac)"
11. (14) Tiger Lou "Sell Out"
12. (09) Raymond & Maria "Ingen vill veta var du köpt din tröja"
13. (11) Franz Ferdinand "Matinee"
14. (16) Graham Coxon "Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery"
15. (17) The Tough Alliance "Make It Happen"
16. (05) Sahara Hotnights "Hot Night Crash"
17. (10) PJ Harvey "The Letter"
18. (NY) Svenska Akademien "Psalm För Mörkrädda"
19. (19) Ash "Orpheus"
20. (NY) Niccokick "Run Run Run"

Leaving the chart:
15. Kristofer Åström "The Wild"
19. Velvet Revolver "Slither"
20. Shout Out Louds "Oh, Sweetheart"

The Embassy have a fancy new flash-based website: http://www.embassyrecordings.org/

Via Dagensskiva, here's this week's Swedish student radio top 20:

01. (18) Beastie Boys "Ch-Check It Out"
02. (13) The Von Bondies "Tell Me What You See"
03. (05) Strip Music "Desperation"
04. (01) Morrissey "Irish Blood, English Heart"
05. (NY) The Embassy "Wearing Our Pop Art Hearts On Our Sleeves EP"
06. (08) Sahara Hotnights "Hot Night Crash"
07. (03) Marit Bergman "I Will Always Be Your Soldier"
08. (02) Jens Lekman "You Are The Light"
09. (06) PJ Harvey "The Letter"
10. (11) The Tough Alliance "Make It Happen"
11. (12) Graham Coxon "Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery"
12. (NY) David & The Citizens + Mattias Alkberg "Big Chill"
13. (09) Faithless "Mass Destruction"
14. (04) Raymond & Maria "Ingen Vill Veta Var Du Köpt Din Tröja"
15. (19) Deportees "Arrest Me 'Til It Hurts"
16. (10) Franz Ferdinand "Matinee"
17. (NY) My Red Cell "In A Cage (On Prozac)"
18. (NY) Ash "Orpheus"
19. (15) Bright Eyes Feat. Neva Dinova "Black Comedy"
20. (16) Velvet Revolver "Slither"

Leaving the chart:
07. The White Stripes "There's No Home For You Here"
14. Prince "Musicology"
17. Kelis "Trick Me"
20. Weeping Willows "You Weren't Even Close"

The Embassy will release their new EP "Wearing Our Pop Art Hearts On Our Sleeves" on May 7 via Service Records. Tracklist:

01. Information
02. Flipside of a memory
03. New plans

P3 Musikjournalen reports that The Embassy is working on demos for their new album under the tutelage of reknown producer Björn Olsson.

Lake of Tears will enter the studio on February 13 to begin work on their new album, tentatively titled "Black Brick Road". An August release on Noise Records is expected.

German radio show "45 minutes", broadcast every second sunday at 7.30 pm on Radio Blau Leipzig, recently published their best-of-the-year lists and they contain a ton of Nordic acts. Here's some highlights:

Top 100 LPs 2003
01. The Bear Quartet "angry brigade" (A West Side Fabrication)
03. David & The Citizens "until the sadness is gone" (Adrian)
05. The Legends "up against the legends" (Labrador)
06. The Radio Dept. "lesser matters" (Labrador)
08. The Embassy "futile crimes" (Service)
10. Wan Light "let's wake up somewhere else" (Labrador)
12. Mew "frengers" (Sony)
13. Monastir "the modern sound for a loser generation" (A West Side Fabrication)
16. Peter Bjorn And John "s/t" (Beat That!)
17. The Crystal Committee "forever overhead" (Chalksound)
18. Dub Sweden "welcome to our world" (Silence)
21. Franke "optimismens hån" (Service)
22. Club 8 "strangely beautiful" (Labrador)
23. Komeda "kokomemedada" (Sonet)
32. The Concretes "s/t" (Licking Fingers)
42. Broder Daniel "cruel town" (Dolores)
50. The Cardigans "long gone before daylight" (Stockholm)
57. Laakso "miss you, i'm pregnant" (Adrian)
58. The Raveonettes "chain gang of love" (Dragnet)
73. Paola "stockcity girl" (Dolores)
83. Burek V "s/t" (A West Side Fabrication)
85. Carpet People "more bad weather coming out of the rain" (Chalksound)
88. Isolation Years "it's golden" (Stickman)
89. Douglas Heart "douglas heart" (Labrador)
93. Mando Diao "bring 'em in" (Majesty)
94. The Knife "deep cuts" (Rabid)
97. Ariel Kill Him "in the pyramid" (Kasual)
99. Edson "every day, ervery second" (Labrador)

For the rest of the list, as well as their singles chart, go here: http://www.pop-on-paper.de/

Check out the video for "Hurt" from The Embassy right here.

Here's some information on the new "Autovision" CD single from CDOASS by way of Dolores Recordings. There will also be a 7" version with a remix of the title track on the b-side as part of the Dolores Singles Club.

Check out the video for "B.L.O.S.S.O.M.", the new track from Komeda right here.

The Barbarella garage/rock'n'roll festival is now set for August 27-28. Bands confirmed so far include Dixie Buzzards, Sons of Cyrus, and Finland's Flaming Sideburns.

Word on the street is that Parasol is currently in negotiations to release the upcoming Moonbabies album "The Orange Billboard" in the US. Details when they're confirmed.

The Haunted have their new website up and running.

Moneybrother has been added to the Roskilde lineup.

Speaking of Roskilde, any of you Swedes thinking of going might consider taking the train where they'll have even more bands playing on the way to the fest. Seriously. So far Como and Little Miss Swede are booked for the occasion. Read more: http://www.tuborg.se/roskilde/taget.html

Isolation Years have been confirmed for the Västrahamnsfesten/Woody West in Malmö on June 13 along with Woodrock in Bern, Switzerland on August 8.

Via Unioncarbideproductions.com comes word that the upcoming Hultsfred-fest single will indeed be released commercially in Sweden, but no dates have been revealed as of yet. View the cover art here. In related news, Björn Olsson made a few contradictory comments to P3 Musikjounalen about his participation in the upcoming reunion gig. Will he or won't see? No one's saying for sure. Go to the UCP site to read the translated transcript.

The first group of bands have been announced for the upcoming Uppsala Summer Hardcore Festival: Between Us, Regulations, Victims, The Jam Session, Bruce Banner, The 21st Impact, Labour, Second Thought, Rabid Grannies, and One Step Ahead. The event takes place June 23-24 at Ungdomens Hus. More info here: http://uahc.diskonto.org/festival/

Webzine Samson & Rourke has posted another slew of demo reviews, this time featuring the likes of Hospital, The Clarks Royale, and Autumn Swing. (in Swedish)

Abba has gone gold yet again in America, this time with the "20th Century Masters - The Best Of ABBA" collection.

Service Records reports that Franke will have a new single "Drunknandets Färg" from their album "Optimismens Hån" out sometime by the end of summer. They also say that The Embassy is currently working on a video as weather permits and Studio is uh, in the studio working on a new album. They also hint that they have signed some new acts, but no details have been revealed yet. I'll let you know.

DigitalMetal.com reviews "Trigger", the new EP from In Flames.

It's kinda silly, but here's a contest for the best photoshopped picture featuring someone from Immortal, found via Musique Machine.

Download the mp3 for the song "Dominate" from Project Hate's forthcoming album "Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate", due out in August from Threeman Recordings.

Via Blabbermouth, comes this amazing commercial for Coop Prix, a Norweigan food store. Why is it relevant? Well, that's Masterplan and ex-Yngwie frontman Jorn Lande.

Internet-only label Monotonik's latest release is "Oll Tolk'n' no Ding atcheev'd" from Ernesto Aeroflot aka Teemu Kiiskilä of Raahe, Finland. Their description:

Mr. Aeroflot is a mysterious fellow who's released on net.label Commie and a host of smaller labels under names/groups such as TranceYlvania, Sky Wide Jazz, Oodi & Elegia, High Grade Multi Purpose Intelligent Terminal (!), and more. This 10-track album showcases his unpredictable but riveting style excellently, as '80s bleep sounds and stuttering electro mix up with distorted unrest, sweeping electronica, and a wholly surprising bonus cut to create something truly different.

Read more and download from here: http://www.mono211.com/content/releases/mtkmp111.html

Thy Primordial has parted ways with vocalist Isidor due to "lack of interest and inspiration" and has already been replaced by Nicke Holstensson of Nominon. The band says "his voice are of course a bit different compared with Isidor's but fits the new material really well!" They are scheduled to go into Abyss Studios later this month to commence work on their sixth album "Pestilence Upon Mankind". Look for it late 2003 from Blackend Records.

Check out some pics from the recent C.Aarmé/Alarma Man show at Club Surburbia.

The Caesars are doing a quick US tour in support of their recently released compilation album "39 Minutes Of Bliss (In An Otherwise Meaningless World)". The single "Jerk it Out" continues to gather more and more airplay (I heard it once myself on SF's Live 105) and will also be heard in an upcoming Michelob TV ad. They'll also be playing the Glastonbury in the UK on June 27. Anyhow, those US dates:

06/19 - San Francisco, Popscene
06/20 - Los Angeles, Spaceland
06/21 - Los Angeles, Viper Room
06/23 - New York, Sin'e
06/24 - Brooklyn, Southpaw
06/25 - Boston, Paradise

Fireside has posted a bunch of new pictures over at their website.

Via Home Groan Net comes these lo-fi videos of Groan Alone playing live opening for Lucinda Williams.

Martin Hagfos has now been confirmed to play the Øya festival along with a new backing band called "Cream of the Crop" that will feature some of Norway's best musicians. Check out the cast list: Martin Hagfors (Home Groan), Håkon Gebhardt (Motorpsycho, Tussler and HGH), Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Lars Håvard Haugen (Hellbillies, Respatexans), Pål Flaata (Midnight Choir), Vidar Ersfjord (Velvet Belly), and Askil Holm.

Read a short review of the recent Radio Dept. show in London opening for Apples in Stereo.

Unioncarbideproductions.com sends word that they have received twenty promo copies of the new UCP single that will be given out at Hultsfred. Since not everyone can attend said fest, the aforementioned website will be holding a contest to give their copies away. Go here to find out how.

Bridge Records has posted an update on the label's recent activity. Head on over for the full skinny, otherwise note the most important thing is that the new Jam Session album is now out. Their intriguing description:

It all looks awesome, and sounds even better. This record has been doomed, but we stared Satan in his eyes and told him we would not give up until we got this shit out. Since this needs to be heard. Great melodic breakdowns and then it just erupts into manic, furious assault.

In other Bridge news, the label also has plans to release a 7" from The Accidents, a band which features members from Voice of a Generation, or what they call "fyllepunkös". They also have a new 7" coming out from I Ren Desperation, a new crust-style band with members from Nine, Totalitär and Millencolin. That one's a joint release with Finland's Combat Rock and Hater of God in the US, so be sure to check it out.

Some new bands have been announced for the Øyafestivalen Vika-scenen shows: Don Juan Dracula, Oslo Athletico, Wholy Martin, Point Shirley, and Lorenzo. More info here. (in Norweigan)

DigitalMetal.com reviews new albums from Enslaved and Passenger, the side project of Anders Friden from In Flames and Niclas Engelin from "the vastly under-rated" Gardenian.

Norway's Extol is heading over to the States for a number of dates. Shows on June 13 through July 1 are with Demon Hunter, Still Breathing and The Agony Scene and their latest album "Synergy" is out now from Century Media. The dates:

06/13 - Club Impact - Tacoma, WA
06/14 - Fat Tuesday - Spokane, WA
06/15 - The Zone – Yakima, WA
06/17 - Radio Rendezvous – Twin Falls, ID
06/19 - Meow Meow - Portland, OR
06/20 - JoshuaFest -Quincy, CA
06/21 - The Boardwalk -Sacramento, CA
06/22 - Showcase Theater - Corona, CA
06/23 - The Brickhouse - Phoenix, AZ
06/24 - TBA - Albuquerque, NM
06/25 - Sox Palace - Denver CO
06/26 - Ground Zero - Wichita KS
06/27 - The Door - Dallas, TX
06/28 - TBA - Little Rock AR
06/29 - El Torreon – Kansas City, MO
07/03-05 - Cornerstone Festival – Bushnell, IL
07/06 - The Oracle – Atlanta, GA
07/07 - Rocktown Skatepark – Nashville, TN
07/08 - Emerson Theater - Indianapolis, IN
07/10 - Sonshine Festival - Wilmar, MN

Children of Bodom and Soilwork will be teaming up for Japanese tour in September. Dates so far:

09/05 – Osaka, JAP - Big Cat
09/06 – Nagoya, JAP - Club Quattro
09/07 – Tokyo, JAP - Shibuya AX

MTV Nordic will broadcast their footage of this weekend's Stockholm Calling Festival on June 15 at 22:00 CET. Some of the bands scheduled to play the event include Christian Kjellvander & Lazy Grace Frontier, The Cardigans, De Stijl, and Thomas Rusiak.

P3 Musikjournalen reports that Håkan Hellström will be making a guest appearance on the upcoming Universal Poplab cover of the Morrissey classic "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Succesful". The song will be on the band's as-yet-untitled debut album, due out this coming fall. Their first single "Casanova Fall" is out now.

The new Accelerator comp comes out this week and it features some of the best indierock that Sweden has to offer. The tracklisting:

The Embassy - It never entered my mind
Radio Dept. - 1995
The Concretes - Forces
Laakso - Out of taste
Johan Borgert - Smal
David & the Citizens - Stop!
Bear Quartet - Load it
Isolation Years - Open those eyes
Moneybrother - Reconsider me
Franke - Aldrig förstå
Paper - Gone today gone tomorrow
The Knife - You take my breath away
Fireside - Thing on a spring

View the coverart here. Check out Club Accelerator's site here. To download the D&tC track, go here.

Da Buzz are hitting the road in support of the new single "Alive":

05/30 - Umeå, Umeåfesten
07/31 - Eskilstuna, Ungdomsfestivalen
06/06 - Katrineholm, Stadsparken
06/07 - Malmö, Dockan
06/13 - Sollentuna, Sollentunamässan
06/27 - Ludvika, Ludvikafesten
06/27 - Motala, Vätternfestivalen
06/28 - Enköping, Enköpingsfestivalen
06/29 - Uppsala, Birjer Jarl
07/03 - Halmstad, Halmstad stadsfest
07/03 - Sölvesborg, Killibomdagarna
07/04 - Töreboda, Torget
07/10 - LYSEKIL Meddelas
07/11 - Luleå, Hamnspelet
07/12 - Lekvattnet, Sommarens höjdare
07/19 - Åsele, Åsele marknad
07/24 - Karlskoga, Stranddagar
07/25 - Sävsjö, Sävsjöfestivalen
07/26 - Visby, Burmeister
07/31 - Karlstad, Hamnfestivalen
08/01 - Skellefteå, Underbar
08/02 - Öostervåla, Folkets park

Picked up the guys from KVLR at the airport yesterday. They're a little jet-lagged, but otherwise very excited to head out on tour. Should be a lot of fun! The dates, yet again:

3/7 - Santa Cruz, CA - Drop-in Center w/Science of Yabra, The Yellow Press
3/8 - Redding, CA - Tag Teen Center w/Mercy Mile, The Yellow Press
3/9 - SF, CA - Club Galia w/Low Rise, Century Schoolbook, Fuck the Hope You Gave Me (ex-Fury 66, Audiocrush, Yaphet Kotto), Science of Yabra
3/10 - Huntington Beach, CA - Liquid Den w/, Taint
3/11 - Phoenix, AZ - Red Room
3/12 - Albuquerque, NM - Burt's Tiki Lounge
3/13 - Austin, TX - Momo's TFT/Better Looking Records Showcase w/Mark Gardner of Ride, Jealous Sound + more
3/14 - Flagstaff, AZ - Soul Kitchen
3/15 - Sacramento, CA - 1020 J w/Sputterdoll, No Avail

One of my favorite bands, Katatonia, is heading out across Europe with some help from Finntroll. The dates:

4/16 - Nachtleben/Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany
4/17 - Kiff, Aarau, Switzerland.
4/18 - Terminal Export, Nancy, France
4/19 - Dioxin, Schindellegi/Schwyz,Switzerland
4/20 - Midian Club, Vicenza, Italy
4/21 - Alpheus, Rome, Italy
4/22 - Transilvania Live, Milan, Italy
4/24 - Crockmore, Perpignan, France.
4/25 - K.G.B., Barcelona, Spain
4/26 - Caracol, Madrid, Spain
4/27 - SWR VI, Barroselas, Portugal
4/29 - Republicca II, Valencia, Spain
4/30 - West Rock, Cognac, France
5/01 - Rail Theatre, Lyon, France
5/02 - Splendid, Lille, France.

Some more dates have been announced for the upcoming In Flames/Mudvayne US tour. Here's the current itinerary:

3/08 - Pittsburgh, PA - Metropol
3/10 - Hartford, CT - Webster Theatre
3/11 - Clifton Park, NY - Northern Lights
3/12 - Pittston, PA - The Staircase
3/14 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVa
3/15 - Orlando/ Lake Buena Vista (FL) - House Of Blues
3/17 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's
3/18 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave / Eagles Ballroom
3/19 - Cleveland, OH - Odeon Concert Club
3/21 - Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit Room
3/22 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Egyptian Room
3/23 - Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom
3/25 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club
3/26 - Oklahoma City, OK - Coca Cola Bricktown Event Center
3/28 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Amphitheatre
3/29 - San Antonio, TX - Sunset Station
3/30 - McAllen, TX - Villa Real Conv. Ctr.

Finland's The Rasmus are doing a short Swedish tour in support of their new album "Dead Letters" which comes out March 21. The dates:

4/9 - Stockholm, Klubben
4/10 - Göteborg, Valand
4/11 - Köpenhamn, Lilla Vega
4/12 - Helsingborg, The Tivoli

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. Emil Sigfridsson - Tillbaka till igår
02. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
03. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
04. The Refreshments - On the rocks
05. The Sounds - Living in America
06. Barbados - Rewind
07. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
08. Kikki Bettan Lotta - Live från Rondo
09. v/a - Fame Factory volym 3 final 2002
10. The Knife - Deep Cuts
11. Melody Club - Music machine
12. Thomas Rusiak - In the sun
13. The Radio Dept. - Lesser matters
14. A Teens - New arrival
15. Magnus Uggla - Klassiska mästerverk
16. Christian Kjellvander - Songs from a two-room chapel
17. Slaptones - Simplify
18. Björn Skifs - Ingen annan
19. The Haunted - One kill wonder
20. Håkan Hellström - Det är så jag säger det

Listen to the new Isolation Years single "Open Your Eyes". Very different from their first record, but still quite good. Can't wait to hear the full album!

This week's Swedish college radio chart (from Dagensskiva):

Leaving the chart:
(11) Coldplay "Clocks"
(13) Laakso "Long Beach"
(15) The Dysfunctionals "Payback Time"
(16) Pearl Jam "Love Boat Captain"
(17) Ed Harcourt "All Of Your Days Will Be Blessed"
(18) Caesars Palace "Candy Cane"
(19) Ben Harper "With My Own Two Hands"
(20) Erlend Öje "Sudden Rush"

It's been quite some time since I heard anything about them, but Bad Cash Quartet has now been confirmed for Popaganda fest at Universitetsområdet in Stockholm to take place May 29-31. Other bands confirmed for the fest include The Embassy, Florence Valentin, Crystal Committee, The Junior, The Concretes and Buck.

Melody Club is setting their sites on Germany. Their album will get a release there on May 5 to be followed by a tour:

5/14 - Hamburg (D) Molotow
5/15 - Düsseldorf (D) Unique
5/16 - Weinheim (D) Cafe Central
5/17 - Berlin (D) Bastard
5/18 - Kassel (D) K19
5/19 - Frankfurt (D) Cookys
5/20 - Dresden (D) Downtown
5/21 - München (D) Atomic Cafe

The Cardigans are now scheduled to play a couple German festivals this summer: Rock am Ring on June 6, Rock im Park on June 7.

Christian Kjellvander is working on a video for the track "Homeward Rolling Soldier". Keep an eye out for it around March or April. In the meantime, check him out on tour:

03/05 - Oslo - So What
03/07 - Halmstad - Diezelfestivalern
03/08 - Nybro - Mejeriet
03/14 - Norrköping - Kulturkammaren
03/15 - Jönköping - Kulturhuset
03/17 - München/Germany - Orange House w/Brendan Benson
03/18 - Dresden/Germany - Star Club w/Brendan Benson
03/19 - Berlin/Germany - Magnet w/Brendan Benson
03/20 - Munster/Germany - Gleis 22 w/Brendan Benson
03/22 - Bochum/Germany - Matrix w/Brendan Benson
03/23 - Örebro - Strömpris
04/04 - Helsingborg - The Tivoli
04/05 - Ronneby - Föreningarnas hus
04/15 - Copenhagen/Denmark - Lille Vega
04/16 - Århus/Denmark - VoxHall

See the video for Dub Sweden's new single "Walk Me Home": Modem / Broadband

Wolf will be entering Abyss Studio in June with producer/engineer Peter Tägtgren to work on a new album. Look it around fall from No Fashion Records with cover art from Holm (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond) that will include "a lot of fire." Sweet. They also plan to do a video and tour.

The lineup and dates for the upcoming Norweigan Zoom tour has been annouced. Scheduled to play are Helldorado, Johndoe, Nicolai and X.Lover. The dates:

3/5 - Luftslottet, Grimstad
3/6 - Checkpoint Charlie, Stavanger
3/7 - Caledonien Scene, Kristiansand
3/8 - Sort og Blå Scene, Porsgrunn
3/11 - So What!, Oslo
3/12 - Hulen, Bergen
3/13 - Meieriet, Sogndal
3/14 - Kroa, Volda
3/15 - Tapperiet, Molde
3/20 - Blårock, Tromsø
3/21 - Sinus, Bodø
3/22 - Hydranten, Hamar
3/27 - The Spitz, London

Norway's Sondre Lerche seems to be on his way up in the world, at least over here in the US. Read this feature about his recent show in Baltimore. More info and a sample here.

Lars Winnerãck is back from his self-imposed sabbatical and ready to work on his new album "Söndermarken", whose title is inspired by the Danish park. Read more here. (in Swedish)

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
02. C21 - You Are The One
03. St. Thomas -Long, Long Time
04. Winta - Emotions
05. The Raveonettes - Attack Of The Ghostriders
06. The Cardigans - For What It´s Worth
07. Grant - Just The Thing
08. Sahara Hotnights - Alright, Alright
09. Caesars Palace - Candy Kane

Challengers:
01. The Embassy - It Never Entered My Mind
02. Håkan Hellström - Den Fulaste Flickan I Världen
03. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
04. Desmond Foster - Love, Love, Love
05. The Knife - Heartbeat

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

The Crystal Committee (members of Starmarket) and The Lost Patrol (Dennis from t(I)NC) have both been confirmed for the upcoming Umeå Open fest. Other acts already confirmed include Cult of Luna , Advance Patrol, Ison & Fille, Marit Bergman, My Left One, Paris, and Peckish.

Finish 'polka-metallers' Finntroll have posted a .zip file containing an mp3 of a new song entitled "Visor Om Slutet". It's the first recorded material they've made public since being joined by new vocalist Tapio Wilska. Look for the track to surface on a new release sometime in spring.

I posted my top ten lists for 2002 over at the other website I write for, indieworkshop.com. Check it out right here. My list is at the bottom. And in honor of said list, I'm gonna put up some mp3s from Logh and The Motorhomes. Yeah, they might've already been up awhile ago, but whatever. Enjoy!

I suspect the flow of news will be slow over the next two weeks, so if I'm not posting, that's probably why.

KVLR will be having a record release party for the new CD collection "On Planted Streets" January 10 at Norrlandsoperan / B-salen. Said CD includes all of the band's recorded material to-date on one disc. In other news, the album "The Great Collapse" (one of my 2002 faves) is finally going to get a Japan release February 19 on Philter Records/Sony.

The Embassy are the band of the week over at MTVE.com. Besides the short interview and profile, there's a couple song samples to check out, too.

Look for interviews with Cult of Luna in upcoming issues of Kerrang, Terrorizer and Rock Sound. As I've said before, I fully expect the new upcoming album to be a monster so keep your eyes out.

Finland's HIM just got back from LA and reports they are finished with the new album. Look for it around April on Supersonic/G.U.N. Records. The band also just completed the filming of a new video for the song "Buried Alive by Love". Bam Margera of 'Jackass' directed and Juliette Lewis makes an appearance. There's some photos of the proceedings here.

Due to increased bandwidth concerns, I may have to limit the number of mp3 downloads on this site in the future. I'd rather not, but bandwidth is expensive and it's not as if I'm making any money here. Anyhow, I don't plan on taking them away completely so don't worry about that. If anyone is willing to remotely host files or has any other ideas, please let me know.

Nojesguiden has published their top 20 Swedish albums for 2002. The list:

1. Christian Kjellvander - Songs from a Two-Room Chapel
2. Håkan Hellström - Det är så jag säger det
3. Nicolai Dunger - Sweat Her Kiss
4. The Perishers - From Nothing to One
5. Koop - Waltz for Koop
6. Andreas Tilliander - Elit
7. Ison & Fille - Vår sida av stan
8. Mando Diao - Bring 'Em In
9. Sagor & Swing - Melodier och fåglar
10. Timbuktu - Watt¹s dö madderfakking dill?
11. Looptroop - The Struggle Continues
12. Stephen Simmonds - For Father
13. Masayah - s/t
14. Puss - We Are Puss
15. Johan Skugge - Objects and Buildings
16. The Embassy - Futile Crimes
17. Smyglyssna - We Can Fix It
18. Edson - Edson for Strength
19. Hans Appelqvist - Tonefilm
20. Mokira - Plee

Read more here at the bottom of the page. (In Swedish)

Remember those five songs Kristofer Åström recorded about a week ago? Well they are all gonna end up on that upcoming MCD after all. It's gonna be called "Dead End" and will be released in February (on Startracks, I assume). Here's what Kristofer had to say about it:

Personally, I think it's the best recording we've done so far. We recorded it live in studio and did some overdubs on a couple of songs. It's got an energy to it that I miss in the previous albums.

Hardcore Superstar is about to go back into the studio with producer Roberto Laghi to record the follow-up to "Thank You (For Letting Us Be Ourselves)". The planned release date is April 28.