Tjuvlyssna has published an interview with The Motorhomes. (in Swedish)

Check out an English review of The Motorhomes' recent show in London right here. I had no idea they lost so many members and, judging from that review, I can't say that I'm too optimistic about the band's future. Well shall see. Oh, and they also have a recent interview in Swedish over at Marimba.

The Motorhomes have posted some pics from their recent mini-tour on their website. They've also secured a gig at the Camden Underworld in London on September 26 with Valley Days, Denver Mod and Filled.

Finally! The Motorhomes have a new website up and they report that they've record three new songs for their next album and have enlisted both Niklas Korssell (ex-The Plan) on drums and organist Henrik Carlsson. Can't wait for a new record, "Long Distance Runner" was easily one of 2002's best IMO. They've also got a few tour dates lined up for the near future so check em out:

08/28 - Kulturbolaget, Malmö (SWE)
08/29 - Sticky Fingers, Göteborg (SWE)
08/30 - Debaser, Stockholm (SWE)
08/31 - So What, Oslo (NOR)

I suspect we're in for another relatively slow news day as it's a big festival weekend with Norweigan Wood and Hultsfred going on. If you're like me and not lucky enough to be attending those events yourself, maybe take some time to chat in the forum or sign up for the mailing list.

Found via DJ Martian: BBC Collective interviews Norweigan electronic music artists Ralph Myerz And The Jack Herren Band.

Look for an interview with Julie from the band Bobby in the upcoming issue of Solo, out July 20.

Wired for Mono will be heading into the Supersaturators' studio this weekend with engineer Fredrik Loreby and producer Henrik "Honk" Widén (Diamond Dogs). They say their aim to make a new demo of three or four songs, but seeing as how they always record live to tape, it might just end up getting a proper release anyhow.

Trewetha Records has made the new self-titled EP from The State of Floral Beings (TSOFB) available for full download with a printable cover for $3. Check it out. If you'd rather wait to get a hold of the real deal, the CD doesn't come out until August.

Dead Frog Records has announced they've signed the Göteborg-based band Leopold to their label. The band's debut album "Dreaming Is For Anyone" comes out August 21.

In other Dead Frog-related news, they've updated the demo reviews on their site, so head on over to see what bands are up-and-coming.

In Flames will support Metallica at Madrid Regional Government Sports Centre "La Peineta" in Madrid, Spain on June 22.

Been awhile since I heard anything about these guys: The Motorhomes have now been brought under the wing of Talent Trust Management. And they're in good company, as Olle Ljungström, Parker, Weeping Willows, Kent Norberg, and The Cardigans are just a few of the other artists managed by the company. Now howabout a new album?

Captain Murphy has signed with Bonnier Music. The band did a vinyl EP with producer Pontus Frisk in May and should be available this weekend at Hultsfred. The first single comes out in August with the full-length to follow soon after.

Pitchforkmedia.com reviews the Tumult US release of "Pelican Songs" from Finland's Worms.

A new mp3 from The Knife this morning. Look to your right.

Rune Grammofon released the new Supersilent album "6" today. Featuring members of Motorpsycho among other bands, the label says the music will "attract followers of bands such as Goodspeed You Black Emperor!, Sigur Rós, King Crimson, (late) Talk Talk or Popol Vuh." Read more about it here or here. In other news about the band, Helge Sten aka Deathprod revealed in an interview with Mute magazine that the band will be releasing a 10 disc live box sometime around spring '04.

Backdraft's debut album "Here To Save You All" will finally be made available in the US on Febuary 18 from Abstract Sound USA.

Askil Holm has a new single called "Daydream Receiver" coming out January 21. The track was written by Askil with help from Martin Hagfors and Lars Horntvedth. Look for the new album in early March.

"We have never been better" declares The Cardigans is this short feature from Aftonbladet. The band has their big 'comeback' performance at the Rockbjörnen awards show next Monday. (in Swedish)

More from Aftonbladet: the E-Type metal show gets a mediocre review from Göteborg. (in Swedish)

Wilmer X has a new single called "Vi Som Blommar Sent" coming out February 10. The new album "Lyckliga Hundar" follows on the 24th. Get a preview here. They'll be doing some touring, too. The dates so far:

3/22 Malmö, KB
3/26 Stockholm, Göta Källare
4/3 Helsingborg, The Tivoli
4/4 Lund, Mejeriet
4/10 Göteborg, Trädgår’n
4/11 Kalmar, Palace
4/12 Uppsala, Katalin

The Punchdrunks have become a duo leaving just guitarists Robert Johnson and Per Thorsell. Of course the reason was music differences. It pretty much always is. Anyhow, the two will be working on the follow-up to Fried On The Altar Of Good Taste", tentatively titled "Atomic Powered Singing".

The Klerks are the band of the week over at MTVE.com. They describe the band as "the lost link between The Ark and Andreas Johnson." They remind me a bit of the first album from The Motorhomes. Anyhow,the band is getting a lot of hype so go ahead and read their profile and interview. The album comes out today and the third single for the track "Shame" will be out mid-February.

DVD plans for the Backyard Babies have been pushed back as the band is still hard at work on preparing for their next album. They promise it will come out eventually, but for now they rather concentrate on the new material. In other news, Nicke and Dregen will be in LA for upcoming NAMM show to promote their new guitar models. If you read guitar mags, maybe you've already seen an ad for them.

In Flames is gearing up to work on their next album by travelling to Denmark for preproduction. The band says they are still planning a few summer festival gigs, but otherwise this is their plan:

As we did for "Reroute to Remain" we will turn off our phones, put our personal lives on hold and disconnect our entire contact with the outside world so that we can focus 100% on making a great new album. Once again it will be the five of us, our equipment and the cheapest possible beer we can find - tons of it!!!
Some of you had some thoughts on what we can change with our music,and that´s always appreciated, but as always we will choose no other path than the one chosen by the 5 members of IN FLAMES!

Moneybrother (ex-Monster) has their debut EP called "Thunder in My Heart" coming out on StarEP/Startracks. It was produced by Jari Haapalainen (Bear Quartet) and will be out in February. The first single and video for the track "Reconsider Me" will be out in either February or March. Listen to a sample here. (Real Audio)

Okay, I admit it - I've been a slacker. Two new tunes today on your right. First up is the wonderful Isolation Years. Their debut album "Inland Traveller" gets a US release later this year from Galaxy Gramophone/Parasol and the new one comes out in March. I might've put this track up before, but I can't remember. Anyhow, don't miss it this time. Secondly, we have another track from the great Caesars Palace (aka The Caesars or the Twelve Caesars, as they known in the US). Simply put, a great pop band. More soon, I swear!

Diamond Dogs will be putting out a new CD collection of old and new material called "That´s the Juice I´m On" on January 27. Fans of classic rock style bands like the Hellacopters should check 'em out. And hey, Randy Bachman of Bachman Tuner Overdrive even guests on a track.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives will be taking the place of Cooper Temple Clause at the NME awards show in London on February 6. Cooper's bassist had his appendix out right before the holidays and has yet to fully recover, so they had to bow out. However, they will do a makeup gig on April 29. Ticketholders can either ask for a refund, opt for the new headliner, or defer their purchase for the rescheduled performance. Otherwise, buy your tickets here.

Speaking of TSOOL, did anyone record that Letterman performance? Can it be found online somewhere yet? Let me know.

Stabb will be travelling to the UK for their first time next week. The show is the 23rd at the Borderline in London. Their debut single "This Joke's On Me" comes out in February with the album to follow in April.

Madder Mortem has been confirmed as the opening act for Opeth's upcoming European tour. Opeth singer/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt himself highly recommend the band's latest record "Deadlights", too. The dates:

02.09 - Paris, La Locomotive
02.11 - Vittoria, Sala Azkena
02.12 - Porto, Hard Club
02.13 - Lisbon, Paradise Garage
02.14 - Madrid, Sala Caracol
02.15 - Barcelona, Razzmatazz
02.16 - Lyon, Transbourdour
02.17 - Milan, Transilvania
02.18 - Treviso, New Age
02.20 - Zurich, Abart
02.22 - Graz, Orpheum
02.23 - Munich, New Backstage
02.24 - Frankfurt, Batschkapp
02.25 - Essen Zeche Carl
02.26 - Halle, Easy Schorre
02.27 - Berlin, Columbia Fritz
02.28 - Hamburg, Schlachthof
03.01 - Groningen, Oosterport
03.02 - Tilburg, 013
03.04 - Utrecht, Tivoli
03.05 - Vosselar, Biebob
03.06 - Lille, Le Spendid
03.07 - Poiters, Chatellerault-Gornie
03.08 - Rennes, L' Antipode
03.10 - Portsmouth, Wedgwood Rooms
03.11 - Manchester, Hop & Grape
03.12 - London, Mean Fiddler
03.13 - Exeter, University
03.14 - Glasgow, Garage
03.15 - Nottingham, Rock City
03.16 - Bradford, Rio
03.17 - Birmingham, Academy
03.19 - Dublin - Whelan's

Watch singer/songwriter Johan Bergqvist's show from his January 15 performance in Hultsfred right here: modem / broadband. (Windows Media)

Watch the "director's cut" of the Wannadies video for "Little by Little". I've never seen the original, but this version contains 50 seconds of extra footage and is quite hilarious. Recommended. (requires Quicktime)

The new album "Love Metal" from HIM has now been confirmed for release in Germany and Finland on April 14. Most likely, the rest of the Europe will get it on the same day, but they aren't saying for sure. Also, the band's official site says the track listing leaked by the UK press is incorrect and they will be posting the correct one shortly.

See you on tour and remember to play "Below the Lights" at extreme volume levels. For even better results, try altered states of conciousness (knock yourself over the head, do yoga-jumping or stay awake for two weeks without food before you check out the album). If it doesn't fuck you up, we'll give you (fake monopoly) money back.

That's Enslaved talking about their new album, due out now in April from Osmose Productions. The band also has a live DVD in the works from MetalMind Productions entitled "Live Retaliation".

The up and coming band Wendy just got signed to Monarch Music by A&R man Magnus Nygren, the guy responsible for finding Jakob Hellman, Lars Winnerbäck and Lambretta. Expect a single by springtime.

Get a preview of hyped band-of-the-moment The Klerks over here and click the "Album Preview" link. Fans of Swedish pop such as The Motorhomes or Kent may want to check them out.

From Blabbermouth, comes this letter from a number of Swedish hard rock musicians accusing England's Z Records of "unscrupulous business practices." Some of the bands signed on the letter include Southpaw, Talisman, Humanimal and more. Of course, it's not really news that labels often screw bands out of money, but if you're interested in these artists or the label in question, please take note.

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.

A new week and some new tunes: Bloodbath is members of Katatonia and Opeth doing that classic Swedish death metal thing. The Flaming Sideburns got that dirty rock n' roll thing going on. The Motorhomes put out one of the best pop records this year. And Mando Diao's got a sound that's a little bit Motown, a little bit garage rock.

Speaking of Opeth, they just recently completed work on their upcoming album "Damnation", hot on the heels of the just-released "Deliverence". Billed as the mellow companion album to "Deliverence"'s heaviness, the album is presently being mixed by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree for a March 2003 release. The band claims it's "nothing like anything we've ever done before" and has a "strong '70s vibe both in material and production." Opeth will be doing some touring in support of the already-released album with dates already confirmed for London and Greece in December. They say there's more to come, so you may wanna check their website for the latest.

Finland's Children of Bodom have completed work on their next album. It's called "Hate Crew Deathroll" and will be released on January 7, 2003. View the artwork here.

Borknager has announced their plans to record the follow-up to "Empiricism". Oystein G. Brun's statement on the matter:

"We estimate to use about 4-6 months to record the album, as we want to use the time needed to get the album as close to perfection as possible. The album will be recorded in the same recording facilities as last time (Fagerborg and Toproom Studios) with Børge Finstad behind the desk. Musically the album will be a continuation of 'Empiricism'. Apart from that, we deem the right to keep the rest as a secret... he,he.... As of yet, there is no title for the album, but some song titles are ready: 'Cyclus', 'The Inner Ocean Hypothesis', 'The Wonder', 'Quintessence', 'Future Reminiscence' and 'Relate (Dialogo)'."

The Swedish Hit Music Awards were this past weekend. Kent and The Sounds won some awards, along with a bunch of international acts that I don't care about. Check out this article for the scoop. (In Swedish, list at bottom)

The Hellacopters are about the release their the next single from the album "By the Grace of God" on December 2nd. The a-side will be "Carry Me Home" with a cover of Rory Gallagher's "Big Guns" on the flipside. Listen to "Carry Me Home" right here.

I was thinking about these guys just the other day and wondering what they were up to. Amorphis has just entered Finnvox studios in Helsinki, Finland to begin work on their next album. Currently label-less as they have finished out their contract with Relapse, they expect the album to be ready for a summer 2003 release. They also plan to do a couple shows in the near future:

Nov. 30 – Skopje, MAC @ Skopje Trade Fair
Dec. 13 - St. Petersburg, RUS @ Youth Place
Dec. 14 – Moscow, RUS @ DK
Dec. 20 – Tampere, FIN @ Pakkahuone

In the spirit of keeping busy, frontman Pasi Koskinen's "black metal" project Ajattara is currently recording their new album, "Kuolema" (Death). Look for it around March 2003.