New pics of Nicolai Dunger and The Perishers up at Musique One Stop: www.photohenrik.com/mos/

Here's this week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. Outlandish - Walou
02. Grand Avenue - Take It As It Comes
03. Safri Duo feat. Clark Anderson - All The People In The World
04. Eskobar - Love Strikes
05. The Crash - Still Alive
06. Winta & Anton Gordon - Hot Romance (Rok With You)
07. The Rasmus - First Day Of My Life
08. Elin Sigvardsson - Paper Cup Words
09. Erik Faber - Century
10. Redrama - Hang It Up
11. Maria Mena - You´re The Only One
12. Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
13. September - We Can Do It
14. Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
15. Shout Out Louds - Please Please Please
16. Pauline - Babylon
17. Learning From Las Vegas - The Only One
18. Jokeren - Havnen
19. Morten Abel - Birmingham Ho
20. The Perishers - Let There Be Morning

Challengers:
01. Alice In Videoland - Got To Go
02. Gaute - Miss you when you´re gone
03. Barbi Esco - Fairy Tale
04. Her Majesty - You and me against the world
05. William Hut - It´s the breeze
06. Kamera - Suburban boy
07. Velcra - Can´t stop fighting

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

Here's this week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. Outlandish - Walou
02. Eskobar - Love Strikes
03. Grand Avenue - Take It As It Comes
04. The Crash - Still Alive
05. Safri Duo feat. Clark Anderson - All The People In The World
06. The Rasmus - First Day Of My Life
07. Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
08. Redrama - Hang It Up
09. Erik Faber - Century
10. Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
11. Surferosa - Lucky Lipstick
12. Maria Mena - You´re The Only One
13. September - We Can Do It
14. Pauline - Babylon
15. Niccokick - Turn 27
16. David - What The Hell
17. Majid - Boys And Girls
18. Jokeren - Havnen
19. Lene - Pretty Young Thing
20. Snook - Såpbubblor

Challengers:
01. Morten Abel - Birmingham Ho
02. Elin Sigvardsson - Paper Cup Words
03. The Perishers - Let There Be Morning
04. Shout Out Louds - Please Please Please
05. Learning From Las Vegas - The Only One
06. Chords - Wrap Your Chops
07. Winta & Anton Gordon - Hot Romance (Rok With You)

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

Streaming playlist: Guest DJ: Niklas Holmberg

Chicks On Speed (GER), Sahara Hotnights, The Perishers and José González are the first acts confirmed for next year's Umeå Open fest on March 25-27. More info: http://www.umeaopen.nu/

The new album "Let There Be Morning" from The Perishers will finally be released on December 29. The first single "Sway" has already been out for awhile and the new one for the title track will be coming soon along with a brand new video.

And speaking of Cult of Luna, the UK-based webzine Drowned in Sound recently interviewed the band and you can read it here. It's not terribly in-depth, but they do name-drop fellow Umeå bands The Perishers and Isolation Years.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
02. Killer - Naughty Boy
03. Outlandish - Guantanamo
04. HIM - The Sacrament
05. C21 - She Cries
06. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
07. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
08. Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
09. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
10. Röyksopp - Sparks
11. Christian Kjellvander - Homeward Rolling Soldier
12. Turbonegro - Fuck The World
13. User - Do You
14. Da Buzz - Alive
15. The Perishers - Sway
16. Span - Found
17. Komeda - B.L.O.S.S.O.M
18. Pauline - Answer
19. Amulet - Breaking News
20. Eric Gadd - Permission To Love

Challengers:
01. Creamstar - Stand By Me
02. Shebang - Crash
03. Clubstrophobia - Vegas
04. The Lost Patrol feat. Lisa Miskovsky - Alright
05. Venke Knutsen - Panic

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

Okay, I know it's totally goofy, but I posted an mp3 excerpt of the new Weird Al track that parodies The Hives. Download it on the right.

Scandinavianleather.com has put up a Turbonegro trivia contest to compete for special limited edition copies of the new album.

JR Ewing has two new interviews online, one from sandiegopunk.com and another from punk/porn site burningangel.com. And as said before, there's also been another date added on the upcoming Turbonegro/Surferosa Norweigan stadium tour on May 30 in Fredrikstad. Tickets are going fast, so be sure to get yours if you want to attend.

The Cardigans have posted an interview that Magnus did with Amir, Henrik and Mattias, the three gentlemen behind the recent videos. In other news, the band has added a woman named Eva on as their temporary sixth member to play keyboard, guitar and sing back ups on the upcoming summer tour dates. "She is very nice, 163 tall, brunette, a little older than us, very experienced in the Swedish music scene. And she is good looking," they say.

Bergland Productions has announced that Cucumber Slumber (feat. Ståle Storløkken of Supersilent) has started work on a new record and should have it out sometime this coming fall. The band's last album "New Cumber" came out in 2001.

The Sounds will be on David Letterman tonight. Check local listings for airtime.

StillHoldingOn.net recently did an interview with Swedish hardcore act Misconduct. The band also confirmed a bunch of shows on their upcoming European tour with 25 Ta Life. Go here for the latest.

KVLR has posted a whole bunch of new pictures from their recent time in the studio. They recorded a total of four new songs for their next album and plan to do the rest after they return from tour at the end of the summer. And yeah, like I said before, they've been getting assistance from Marcus and Lena of Komeda. If the rough mix stuff I've heard is any indication, the record is gonna be great. Can't wait.

The buzz-band Radio Dept. will be heading over to the US for a few select west coast dates:

07/10-13 - San Francisco, CA - Pop Holiday Fest at Bottom Of The Hill w/Even As We Speak, Aerospace, Pipas, Evening Lights, more
07/15 - Portland, OR at The Blackbird w/Aerospace, Pipas, Evening Lights, The Frenchmen
07/16 - Seattle, WA at Chop Suey

Håkan Hellström will be releasing a new single for the song "Mitt Gullbergs Kaj Paradis" on June 20 that'll include two new songs for b-sides. Just in time for the Kalas tour, eh?

Neovoid has posted a review of ex-black metal band Manes new album "Vilosophe". The label Code666 describes them as a mix of Katatonia, Radiohead and Aphex Twin, but I'm not sure I'd completely agree with that assesment myself. Katatonia yes, but that's a no-brainer for this sort of pop-infused avant metal. Anyhow, I agree that it's a good album and well worth investigating for people who are into different kinds of heavy music.

Read PopMatter's review of "Sky Pilots", the latest album from Finland's Flaming Sideburns.

The full schedule and set times for Pop Dakar have been published. Check it out. Bands scheduled to appear include Paris, Bear Quartet, First Floor Power, Radio Dept. and more.

Here's a short tour diary with photos and video from the recent Narcissists tour in Germany.

Swedish webzine Samson & Rourke has put up a featured review and contest for Logh.

Big news from Nasum! Bassplayer Jesper has decided to leave as to focus on his other band Burst, which he has been involved with for over 10 years with some of his childhood friends. There's no animosity on anyone's part, the time just came to make a decision between the two projects. Read the full statement from the band on the subject. In other smaller news, Nasum has added Urban Skytt from Regurgitate on 2nd guitar and put up a newly redesigned website. As mentioned before, the band will play a record release show for the new album "Helvete" at Hotel Continental in Örebro on May 24.

I first talked about it way back in March, but here's a new MIC Norway feature on the upcoming 'Midnight Sun' tour featuring Supersilent, DJ Strangefruit, Arve Henriksen and Sidsel Endresen that's coming to the UK later this month. Those dates again:

05/22 - Exeter, Phoenix
05/23 - Bath, Bath International Music Festival Pavillion
05/24 - Belfast, Crescent Arts Centre
05/25 - Salisbury, Salisbury Festival
05/26 - Birmingham, Medicine Bar
05/27 - Liverpool, Unity Theatre
05/28 - London, 93 Feet East

Unioncarbideproductions.com sends word that there will indeed be a promo CD from the band available at Hultsfred this year featuring newly remixed versions of the songs "Be Myself Again" and "San Fransisco Boogie". There's also word of a potential commerical release for the single, but nothing's been decided yet. Also by way of UCP.com, comes this article paying tribute to the band. Check it out.

Expressen reports that Timbuktu will be contributing music to the film "Hip Hop Hora". It was directed by Teresa Fabik and premieres on February 6. Björn Kjellman stars. Read more. (in Swedish)

The new album from The Perishers will come out in September with the first single "Sway" to drop in June.

Jakob Hellman, Helena Bergström, Kjell Höglund & Johan Johansson and Tomas Di Leva have all been added to the roster of the Visfestivalen which takes place in Västervik on July 10-12.

Dates scheduled so far for the upcoming Avrikafest tour, featuring the band Kamera along with various DJs and more:

05/30 - Oslo, So What
05/31 - Fredrikstad, Dis Café
06/01 - Göteborg, Sticky Fingers
06/03 - Malmö
06/04 - Örebro
06/05 - Linköping, Platens Bar
06/06 - Stockholm, Debaser/Ultrachrome
06/07 - Karlstad, Arena

Norway's Moonfog records, the label run by Satyr of Satyricon, has signed the new band Disiplin to their roster. The band was started by Savant M of Myrkskog back in 2000 and will be entering the studio in August to record their debut album. "It´s very rare that a new band on the scene succeeds in catching my interest on the strength of a demo alone," says Satyr, "apart from the obvious fact that I enjoy their music and that I have a great belief in their potential, I think they have that undistinguishable Moonfog sound." And the sound he's talking about? Well, Savant describes the band as "based on old school black metal with inspiration from thrash and death metal." Read a recent interview with the band here. (in Norweigan)

Check out the latest edition of reviews and samples from Brainwashed, including writeups on Scandinavian artists such as Supersilent, Erkki Kurenniemi, the "Arctic Hysteria - Early Finnish Avant-Gardeners" comp, and more.

Here's some new dates from Sunride:

06/12 - Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland w/Endstand
08/16 - Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland w/Sweatmaster, Minus SF
08/30 - FUZZFEST 2, Musikens Hus, Göteborg, Sweden w/Mushroom River Band, Terra Firma, Awesome Machine, more

The new album "Through The Red" comes out today and the band will be playing around Europe later this month.

The Hommos have rescheduled their gig at the Barfly Camden in London from May 26 to the 27th.

Johan Bergqvist has finished up work on the video for the song "Lovelace" and posted it online. Check it: low / high
The track comes from a mini-album that was released last September and is being reissued later this summer as a precursor to the forthcoming full length.

More US press for David & the Citizens: The album "For All Happy Endings" is now reviewed on indiepages.com.

Rumor has it that Thirdimension is planning a US tour in the near future.

Another sign things are probably not okay for The (International) Noise Conspiracy? Keyboardist Sara Almgren has been recruited by Marit Bergman to play guitar in her touring band. If you weren't already aware, Sara used to play guitar for the all-girl hardcore/metal act Doughnuts. They released a couple reconds on Victory in the mid-90s. Anyhow, Marit has decided to ditch the guitar on stage so she can, I assume, focus more on her singing. Look for her on the Kalas tour this summer, among other festival dates. In other news, my sources tell me she plans on doing five different cover tunes for her new EP "From Now On" which comes out on June 12. More details when I get 'em.

Laakso will be heading into the studio soon to lay down the tracks for their debut full length. They say to expect a good live sound as evidenced already on their debut EP "Long Beach".

The terminally underappreciated Notre Dame, led by the multitalented Snowy Shaw (Dream Evil, ex-Mercyful Fate, Illwill, etc.), reports that they have completed work on the new album "Creepshow Freakshow Peepshow". Originally titled "Vaudeville le Devil", the album will be the first lacking guitarist Jean-Pierre De Sade and should be out later this year from Osmose Productions.

In case you missed it, I had a guest review published on Dagensskiva on Saturday.

The Rasmus have now been confirmed for both the June Rock im Park and the June Rock am Ring fests in Germany on the 6th and 8th respectively.

Puffball has a new 7" coming out on Stereodrive! Records, the label of record store Green Hell Records in Münster. "Outlaw" is the a-side title track and "Hornet Rider" is the b-side along with a cover of Merle Haggard's "Momma Tried". And from Southspace webzine, here's a short interview with the band.

Via the band's webiste, here's a review of Logh from NME written by James Jam:

..."Every time..." is a record so fucking dull, so fucking uninspired, that nme finds itself looking for a chainsaw and pricing up cheap flights to Sweden. In the words of the high priest of rock'n'roll fun, Iggy Pop, seek out and destroy.

Logh's response? "James has been bought a planeticket to Sweden. we´re waiting anxiously." Brilliant. In other Logh news, the band reports they are finishing up work on the new video and should have it done next week.

The Norweigan paper VG recently published a long interview with Morten from A-ha. Here's a nice English synopsis plus a link to the article itself.

St. Thomas will be putting out a limited vinyl edition of "Hey Harmony" in mid-May. 300 copies, 180 gram vinyl. He'll have it for sale at the May 10 Rockefeller show in Oslo. He'll also be playing quite a few shows around Europe coming up soon, with more to be announced for June:

April 30 Ålesund - TBC
05/01 - TBA
05/02 - Trondheim Blæst
05/03 - TBA
05/07 - Molde, TBC
05/08 - Sogndal, Meieriet
05/09 - Hønefoss, Alfreds
05/10 - Oslo, Rockefeller
05/14 - Stavanger, Checkpoint Charlie
05/15 - Kristiansand, TBC
05/16 - TBA
05/17 - Skien, Brekkeparken
05/21-23 Sweden, TBA
05/24 - Hamburg, Echochamber im Phonodrom
05/25 - Berlin, Roter Salon
05/26 - Muchen, Club Zwei festival in Atomic
05/28 - TBA (Frankfurt or Koln)
05/29 - Roskilde Gimle Cafe
05/30 - Copenhagen, Loppen
05/31 - Århus, Spot festival
07/18 - Feierwerk Festival, Munich August 8 or 9 Øyafestivalen

Here's some pictures from Randy's show at Groez Rock in Belgium on April 26.

Johan Bergqvist along with Crying Bob Records is putting together a new festival tour called Bobbyfest. The established goal of the tour is to "give you the best independent music there is, for a good price." Sounds good to me. The line-up is Leftlane, The Virtues, Johan Bergqvist, Moody Alan, and Moll Flanders and so far there's just two dates set for May with more set to come in the fall. Details as of now:

05/03 - Mondo, Stockholm
05/17 - Diezel, Halmstad

A day in the life with The Ark: http://www.thearkworld.com/day.htm

It's about friggin' time. Startracks in association with Simba Records has put out a Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck compilation in America called "Plastered Confessions". Five songs from the previous albums, plus a Steve Earle cover. Better than nothing, I guess. More info here or here.

Green Carnation's upcoming album will be called "A Blessing In Disguise" and it comes out June 16 in the UK, June 17 in the US from Seasons of Mist. In case you were wondering, Green Carnation features various members of In the Woods along with Tchort who did time in Emperor.

Burnitblue.com reviews Jaga Jazzist - "The Stix". It's been out for awhile in the band's home country of Norway, but comes out May 6 in the UK.

DigitalMetal.com reviews Opeth's new album "Damnation".

Sweden's Centinex has announced they will enlist the help of Per Gustafson from Cult of Luna to do the artwork on their new CD "Decadence - Prophecies Of Cosmic Chaos". Timo "The Eyeless" Ketola will handle the layout. Recording begins June 23 at Black Lounge Studios and they expect to have it sometime in October on Candlelight Records.

NRK has finally made Immortal's performance from the Inferno festival available for viewing: http://nrk.no/magasin/upunkt/musikk/inferno_2003/2713354.html

Sweden's buzz-band of the moment Radio Dept. release their debut 7" for "Liebling" b/w "We Would Fall Against The Tide" in the UK today on Rex Records. They'll also be playing their first shows over in London this weekend:

05/02 - The Spitz, 109 Commercial Street, Old Spitalfields Market, E1. w/Apples In Stereo and The Loves
05/03 - The Arts Cafe, 28 Commercial Street, E1., w/Kicker and Sportique

Norway's Sondre Lerche got himself a short feature interview on CNN: 'Sondre Lerche: Sunny sounds from Norway'

Mattias Alkberg of Bear Quartet is working on a solo project called "Begravning" and you can download a sample here.

Here's the winners of this year's Swedish Hip-Hop awards:

Best Album: Looptroop - The Struggle Contuines
Best Song: The Narcissists - Fanatik R.I.P.
Best MC: Timbuktu
Best Producer: Embee
Best Vinyl Release: Highwon - Beats, Rim & Gendish
Best DJ: Confuze
Best Download: Snook - Mognare Än Oss
Best Newcomer/Demo/Self-Released: Frotté - Den Stora Daldansen
Hip-Hop Culture Award: Aerosol/Graffiti: Unik
Hip-Hop Culture Award: B-boy: Hammer Hill B Boys
Crossfade Video Award: Ison and Fille - Fakka Ur
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ken

And speaking of Swedish hip-hop, the latest edition of Sounds Norway (SoNo) is a special on the subject: "everything you need to know about it; and meet a couple of old-timers who think hiphop is the perfect way to air all their grumbles." Check it out.

Some of the new bands confirmed for Avrika fest: Gåte, Kaizers Orchestra, Ralph Myerz & the Jack Herren Band, Shout Out Louds, Paris, JmyHaze Beatbox, Homy, Ricochets, Sparks of Seven, Peter Dolving Band, Thulsa Doom, JR Ewing, Alice in Videoland, Totalt Jävla Mörker and Slagsmålsklubben.

Sunride has confirmed their upcoming tourdates in support of their new album "Through the Red", out May 19 on People Like You Records:

05/01 - 45 Special, Oulu, Finland
05/03 - Pub Bastun, Mariehamn, Åland w/Endstand
05/08 - Klubi, Tampere, Finland w/Dozer
05/09 - Stella Star, Helsinki, Finland w/Dozer
05/10 - Lutakko, Jyväskylä, Finland w/Dozer
05/14 - Kino, Pori, Finland
05/16 - Bar 15, Seinäjoki, Finland
05/17 - Torvi, Lahti, Finland
05/24 - Mikrokosmos, Magdeburg, Germany
05/25 - Knaack, Berlin, Germany
05/26 - Rosenkeller, Jena, Germany
05/27 - Paradox, Ingolstadt, Germany
05/28 - 013, Tilburg, The Netherland

Cult of Luna reports that they have a new drummer - Thomas from The Perishers. I can't confirm it for sure, but my assumption is that Marco Hildén has accepted a permanent position with Logh and moved on. In case you didn't know, Marco has been filling in for them since their drummer Kristofer left recently mid-tour. As reported earlier, Cult of Luna just recently completed work on a new video and is now putting together plans for a full European tour this fall. Details when I get 'em.

It's not exactly new, but here's some pictures and captions from the Avanto '02 fest with Pan Sonic, Erkki Kurenniemi and more.

Burning Heart won't release the new Lost Patrol album until June 2, but you can download a preview mp3 now: Lost Patrol - "Going Going Gone"

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.

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.