The Musikbyrån site is now updated with the new In Flames video for "Take this life" as well as The Knife's "Silent shout" and "We're from Barecelona" from I'm From Barcelona: http://svt.se/musikbyran
Coming up (tonight?) on the Musikbyrån Live series with be Robyn from Mejeriet in Lund last year to be followed by shows from The Hellacopters, Bear Quartet and more. As always, the shows will be available for streaming for a limited time shortly after they air.

Fucking finally! The Hellacopters return to the US:

03/06 - Double Door, Chicago IL
03/07 - tba
03/08 - Khyber, Philadelphia PA
03/09 - tba
03/10 - Bowery Ballroom, New York NY
03/11 - Axis, Boston MA
03/12 - Black Cat, Washington DC
03/13 - Masquerade, Atlanta GA
03/14 - Juanita's Cantina Ballroom, Little Rock AR
03/15 - Lizard Lounge, Dallas TX
03/16 - Meridian, Houston TX
03/17 - Sanctuary, San Antonio TX
03/18 - SXSW, Austin TX
03/20 - Bluebird, Denver CO
03/21 - Club Sound, Salt Lake City UT
03/22 - tba
03/23 - Casbah, San Diego CA
03/24 - Slim's, San Francisco CA
03/25 - El Rey, Los Angeles CA

No Seattle show? Not even Portland? Weak!

On September 25 Satellite Records will be releasing a tribute comp for Swedish singer/songwriter Ola Magnell entitled "Påtalåtar - Hyllning till Ola Magnell". Check out the tracklist:

01. Elin Sigvardsson - Tomma Tunnor
02. Lars Winnerbäck - Ta Det Kallt (Don't Think Twice..)
03. Stefan Sundström - Påtalåten
04. Lalla Hansson - Bruten Vinge
05. Mats Ronander - På Älvors Vis
06. Sanna Carlstedt - Nya Perspektiv
07. Tomas Andersson Wij - Trasten
08. 13th Floor Escalators - Rulltrappan (I think this is Nicke from The Hellacopters with Dregen from Backyard Babies)
09. Ronny Eriksson/Kristofer Åström - Vällingklockan
10. Anna+Idde - Vargarnas Vår
11. Lars Demian - Kliff
12. Benneth Fagerlund/Max Schultz - Malvina Utan Mörker

Boba aka Anders Lindström of The Hellacopters will be doing a new project with Sulo from Diamond Dogs called The Bitter Twins and the Last of the Lovers to mark the occasion of 20 years playing together. Rounding out the band will be Anders Härnestam (Weeping Willows) on drums, Mattias Bärjed (The Soundtrack of Our Lives) on guitar and Stefan Björk (ex-Wilmer X) on the bass. The plan is record at the end of January with an eventual album release sometime around early Summer.

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Björn Skifs - Decennier sånger från en annan tid
02. Son of a Plumber - Son of a Plumber
03. Jill Johnson - The christmas in you
04. Monica Zetterlund - Z - det bästa med monica zetterlund
05. Darin - Darin
06. Lena Philipsson - Jag ångrar ingenting
07. Thåström - Skebokvarnsv 209
08. Amy Diamond - This Is Me Now
09. Björn Afzelius - Björn Afzelius bästa
10. Nanne - Alltid på väg
11. Eva Dahlgren - Snö
12. Laleh - Laleh
13. The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity
14. Brolle Jr - Brolle jr tolkar cornelis - en stund på jorden
15. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
16. The Soundtrack of Our Lives - A present from the past
17. Sophie Zelmani - A decade of dreams 1995-2005
18. Carola - Jul i betlehem
19. Jussi Björling - Från operans värld till svenska sånger
20. Peter Lemarc - Sjutton sånger - lemarc sjunger lemarc

The nominees for the Swedish Grammis have been announced:

Best pop female:
Amy Diamond - This is me now
Ane Brun - A temporary dive
Frida Hyvönen - Until death comes
Jenny Wilson - Love and youth
Robyn - Robyn

Best pop male:
Darin - Darin
Håkan Hellström - Ett kolikbarns bekännelser
Mauro Scocco - Herr Jimsons äventyr
Peter LeMarc - Sjutton sånger - LeMarc sjunger LeMarc
Son of a plumber - Son of a plumber

Best pop group:
Alcazar - Dancefloor deluxe
Bodies without organs - Prototype
CDOASS - Extra fingers
Doktor Kosmos - Ett enkelt svar
Suburban kids with biblical names - #3

Best rock album (solo):
Christian Kjellvander - Faya
Freddie Wadling - Jag är monstret
Moneybrother - To die alone
Thåström - Skebokvarnsv. 209
Tomas Andersson Wij - Tomas Andersson Wij

Best rock group:
Kent - Du & jag döden
Soundtrack of our lives - A present from the past
The Ark - State of the Ark
The Cardigans - Super extra gravity
The Hellacopters - Rock & roll is dead

Best composer:
Anders Wedin (Moneybrother) - To die alone
Joakim Berg - Du & jag döden
Laleh - Laleh
Robyn/Klas Åhlund - Robyn
Thåström - Skebokvarnsv. 209

Best lyrics:
Håkan Hellström - Ett kolikbarns bekännelser
Jason Diakité - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
Joakim Berg - Du & jag döden
Laleh - Laleh
Thåström - Skebokvarnsv. 209

Best proder:
Anders Hansson & Alexander Bard
Bloodshy/Avant
Klas Åhlund
Laleh
Lars Halapi

Best hip-hop/soul:
Hearin'aid - The Boom Lucy
Jaqee - Blaqalixious
Looptroop - Fort Europa
Masayah - p.s.
Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö

Best hard-rock:
Candlemass - Candlemass
Hammerfall - Chapter V: Unbent, unbowed, unbroken
Hardcore Superstar - Hardcore Superstar
Meshuggah - Catch thirtythree
Opeth - Ghost reveries

Best jazz:
Bobo Stenson/Anders Jormin/Paul Motian - Goodbye
e.s.t. - Viaticum
Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Snake city north
Putte Wickman & Jan Lundgren - An intimate salute to Frankie
Torbjörn Zetterberg - Krissvit

Best club/dance:
Arash - Arash - new version
v/a - Inside Scandinavia vol 2
Hundarna från söder - Troika
September - In orbit
Spånka Nkpg - The City of the golden king

Open category:
Allan Edwall - Alla Allans visor
v/a - Du Beppe, Beppe Wolgers mästerverk
Peps Blodsband - Äntligen!
The Latin Kings - Familia Royale
Totta Näslund - Totta 8: Greatest hits!

Best newcomer:
Amy Diamond
Bodies Without Organs
Darin
Frida Hyvönen
Laleh

Best album:
Bodies without organs - Prototype
Kent - Du & jag döden
Laleh - Laleh
Robyn - Robyn
Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö

Best artist:
Kent
Laleh
Moneybrother
Robyn
Timbuktu

Best music dvd:
Abba - Abba the movie
Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis
Evergrey - A night to remember
Marit Bergman - Marit Bergman - Live at Rival
Timbuktu - Funken styr våra steg

Best song:
Amy Diamond - What's in it for me
Darin - Money for nothing
Kent - The hjärta & smärta ep
Robyn - Be mine
Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö

Full list of every category here: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2198&a=503182

MP3: The Hellacopters - You are nothin'

When I first heard that Nicke from Entombed had started a garage-rock sideproject, I was stoked. I was just starting to get into other dirty rock/garage bands like The Mummies and The Devil Dogs, so the first Hellacopters album "Supershitty to the max" fit right in with my collection. And while that record is pretty good, it's the second disc "Payin' the dues" that really got me going. That record is absolutely on fire and you can hear it with the very first track "You are nothin'". If that's not a ballsy statement of intent, I dunno what is. Unlike the band's more recent material, the recording is still buried in fuzz and dirt, perfectly emulating the style they were going for. Remember- this is garage rock, not the 70s-style arena rawk the band later evolved into. Both eras of the 'Copters are excellent (and in some ways, I prefer the latter), but it's always good to listen back at where they came from.

The Hellacopters - You are nothin'

The nominees in the Scandinavian categories at the MTV Europe Music Awards:

Best Swedish: Christian Walz, Kent, Moneybrother, The Hellacopters, Timbuktu
Best Danish: Mew, Carpark North, Nephew, The Raveonettes, Nik and Jay
Best Norwegian: Röyksopp, Marion Raven, Turbonegro, Thomas Dybdahl, Ane Brun
Best Finnish: The Rasmus, HIM, Nightwish, 69 Eyes, Apocalyptica

Entombed has revealed that "Serpent saints" will be the title of their forthcoming album, due on June 6, 2006 via their own Threeman Recordings. Rumor has it that ex-drummer Nicke Andersson (The Hellacopters) might contribute to the songwriter and recording now that Uffe is gone, but nothing is confirmed yet.

The next single off of The Hellacopters most recent album "Rock n' roll is dead" will be "I'm in the band". Universal will be putting out the CD version with the video and b-side "Positively so naive". A 12" vinyl edition will be released by Wild Kingdom. Upcoming live dates with fellow Swedes The Doits:

09/19 - Markthalle, Hamburg (GER)
09/20 - Longhorn, Stuttgart (GER)
09/21 - Flex, Vienna (AUS)
09/22 - Rote Fabrik, Zurich (CH)
09/23 - PTR Usine, Geneva (CH)
09/24 - Apolo, Barcelona (SPA)
09/25 - Santana 27, Bilbao (SPA)
09/26 - Aqualung, Madrid (SPA)
09/28 - L'Elysée Montmartre, Paris (FRA)
09/29 - Schlacthof, Wiesbaden (GER)
09/30 - Werk 2, Leipzig (GER)
10/01 - Live Music Hall , Köln (GER)
10/02 - Georg Elser Halle, Munchen (GER)
10/03 - Soundgarden, Dortmund (GER)
10/04 - Schlacthof, Bremen (GER)
10/05 - Postbahnhof, Berlin (GER)
10/06 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
10/07 - The Cod, Strömstad (SWE)
10/08 - Rockefeller, Oslo (N0R)
10/09 - Trädgårn, Göteborg (SWE)
10/10 - Cirkus, Stockholm (SWE)
10/13 - Viking Line Ferry between Stockholm and Helsinki

More Scandinavian dates tbc for October and November.

When Nicke Andersson first left Entombed to concentrate 100% on The Hellacopters, the future of his old band was left totally up in the air. C'mon, what do you do when one of your founding members and main songwriters leaves? The pressure was on, to say the least. So when the new album "Same difference" finally was released in 1998 with new drummer Peter Stjärnvind, a lot of people were especially critical of the record. Now, I'm not gonna come out and say that everyone was wrong, but I do think they were unjustly harsh. While it's obviously not the best thing they've ever done, it's still nowhere near as bad as a lot of those initial reviews would have you believe. Coming out after the fuzzy death n' roll onslaught of 1997's "To ride, shoot straight and speak the truth", "Same difference" was a study in contrasts. The production was significantly cleaner and the playing was much more subdued, though tighter. It was the sound of a band in transition, trying to figure out where to go next. Yeah, there's some definite clunkers on the record, but I think that it hold up well regardless. It doesn't help that the tracklist is totally front-loaded, but it works just fine on shuffle. And ignore those five bonus tracks on the US version - they were much better off left as a separate disc on the "TRSSASPTT" limited edition digipack. So anyhow, as you should know, I love me some country music along with my death metal. So when Entombed throws some downtuned slide guitar into the mix, you bet your ass I'm all about it as on today's track "Clauses". It still might not be enough to redeem all of "Same difference", but hopefully it'll at least make you go back and rethink it.

I don't feel like copying and pasting the whole thing, so go here for the first set of European tourdates this fall for The Hellacopters: http://www.hellacopters.com/site/theshows.asp

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. CajsaStina Åkerström - De vackraste orden
02. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
03. Amy Diamond - This Is Me Now
04. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
05. Robyn - Robyn
06. Musikal - Mamma Mia
07. Di Leva - Själens krigare: samlade sånger 1980-2005
08. Ulf Lundell - Högtryck
09. Kent - Du & Jag Döden
10. Carola - Störst av allt
11. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
12. Darin - The anthem
13. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
14. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
15. Totta Näslund - Totta 8: Greatest Hits
16. Nanne - 20 år med Nanne
17. The Hellacopters - Rock & Roll Is Dead
18. Anna Ternheim - Somebody outside
19. Kina Jaarnek & Elvis Presleys Band - En hyllning till Elvis
20. Monica Zetterlund - Monicas bästa

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. CajsaStina Åkerström - De vackraste orden
02. Amy Diamond - This Is Me Now
03. Robyn - Robyn
04. Di Leva - Själens krigare: samlade sånger 1980-2005
05. Totta Näslund - Totta 8: Greatest Hits
06. Carola - Störst av allt
07. The Hellacopters - Rock & Roll Is Dead
08. Musikal - Mamma Mia
09. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
10. Ulf Lundell - Högtryck
11. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
12. Kent - Du & Jag Döden
13. Pandora - 9 Lives
14. Nanne - 20 år med Nanne
15. Ted Gärdestad - Sol vind & vatten - Det bästa
16. Laleh - Laleh
17. Bodies Without Organs - Protoype
18. Electric Banana Band - Electric Banana Band och Trazan & Banarnes bästa
19. Helena Paparizou - My Number One
20. Arvingarna - #8

Indieworkshop reviews the solo debut from Karl Larsson (Last Days of April): http://indieworkshop.com/music/1818/

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. CajsaStina Åkerström - De vackraste orden
02. Musikal - Mamma Mia
03. Amy Diamond - This Is Me Now
04. Robyn - Robyn
05. Carola - Störst av allt
06. Ulf Lundell - Högtryck
07. The Hellacopters - Rock & Roll Is Dead
08. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
09. Kent - Du & Jag Döden
10. Pandora - 9 Lives
11. Nanne - 20 år med Nanne
12. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
13. Ted Gärdestad - Sol vind & vatten - Det bästa
14. Di Leva - Själens krigare: samlade sånger 1980-2005
15. Arvingarna - #8
16. Totta Näslund - Totta 8: Greatest Hits
17. Laleh - Laleh
18. Electric Banana Band - Electric Banana Band och Trazan & Banarnes bästa
19. Jill Johnson - Being Who You Are
20. Bodies Without Organs - Protoype

Dusted reviews the reissue of Efterklang's "Springer" EP: http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2183

Podcast: Feel-good summer mix, pt. 2