Swedish chamberpop act The Tiny will be recording a new album in August with producer Paul Webb (Talk Talk) behind the board.

The long-awaited Licking Fingers Swedish music comp "Thank You For The Music" will finally be out on May 28 and the label will celebrate with a party that evening at Pet Sounds Bar in Stockholm. Here's the tracklist, as best I can tell:

01. Anna Järvinen - Svensktalande Bättre Folk
02. Jens Lekman - The Opposite Of Hallelujah
03. Lykke Li - Everbody But Me
04. Those Dancing Days - Dischoe
05. Friska Viljor - Old Man
06. Shout Out Louds - South America
07. The Concretes - The Sentence
08. First Floor Power - The Jacket
09. Pacific! - Runaway To Elswhere
10. Kleerup/Lisa Milberg - Music For Girl
11. The Radio Dept. - Freddy And The Trojan Horse
12. Studio - No Company
13. Peter Morén - Social Competence
14. Loney, Dear - Your Time Will Come
15. Wildbirds And Peacedrums - Liar Lion
16. El Perro Del Mar - Glory To The World
17. The Tiny - Too Heavy A Burden
18. Frida Hyvönen - See How I Come Into Town
19. Speedmarket Avenue - Sirens
20. Idiot Kid - Wide Awake
21. Nicolai Dunger - God's Waitingroom

Listen to songs from Johan Heltne and his forthcoming sophomore album "Vetenskapliga bevis för att Jesus lever": http://www.myspace.com/johanheltne
Very recommended, especially for fans of David Åhlén and/or The Tiny. It comes out May 26 via Raffaella.

Don't Be A Stranger
Frutti di Mare
ia!/V2

Swedish bands break up and morph into others quicker than an atom, or at least so it seems. The collaborative effort is so high, it's as if the Social-Democracy permeates every level of society, and, within the music scene, usually proves to be a successful act. Here for example, we have Don't Be A Stranger, a band which features former members of Honey Is Cool. For comparative purposes, this is not too dissimilar stylistically from The Concretes and The Tiny, though I find them to be better than the former and more accessible than the latter. On the tracks "Lonely together", "Yellow moon" and "Too late", the band is at their peak, with the mellow, intertwining instruments creating the space needed for the listener's maximum enjoyment. Just because one has an instrument doesn't mean one has to fill every second with sound - and with a group such as Don't Be A Stranger, the notes not played allow the music to be most emphatic.
- Matt Giordano

Bonnier Amigo Music has signed Anna Maria Espinosa (Moder Jords Massiva, Club Killers) and will be sending her into the studio with producer Jari Haapalainen (The Bear Quartet, Laakso, etc.) to record her debut album. As for the actual songs she'll be doing, she's lined up an illustrious cast including Ellekari Larsson (The Tiny), The Concretes, The Plan, Mattias Hellberg, Andreas Mattsson, Moder Jords Massiva, Nicolai Dunger and of course, the aforementioned Jari Haapalainen. Expect a fall release.

Folke, the pop alias of jazz bassist Torbjörn Zetterberg, will release his self-titled debut solo album on April 2 via Finest Quality Recordings. The record was produced by Johan Berthling (Tape, The Tiny) and features guest appearances by Ellekari Larsson and Leo Svensson (The Tiny), John Eriksson (Peter Bjorn and John), Lars Skoglund (Laakso), Ola Hultgren (Loney, Dear), Tomas Hallonsten (Tape) and more. Samples at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/folkemusic

Idiot Kid
Darkness in our house
Slottet

Somber and brooding, an intimate and intensifying examination of life and its complications, "Darkness in our house" is a bleak effort given warmth and presence from its composers. The strength of Linus Lutti's voice is complimented by its raspy fragility, making it the perfect narrator for the windswept, empty terrains the music explores and expands into, braced when needed by Ann-Sofie Lundin's backing register. The delicate production granted to the record by Johan Berthling (The Tiny, Tape) enhances the personal element of the album, making it all the more confessional and passionate. Not necessarily a record I'd recommend listening to every day during these winter months, but Idiot Kid are definitely worth a few minutes' research if not an investment.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

The Tiny have posted the new track "Too heavy a burden" on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thetinythetiny
Said track will appear on their forthcoming album, due out next year.

The playlist for this week's radio show, an all-winter theme:

01. Ricochets - Cold outside
02. TALK 1
03. Shining - Winterreise
04. Britta Persson - Winter tour
05. Svenson - In the snow
06. Weeping Willows - Christmas in prison
07. TALK 2
08. The Tiny - No money (for X-mas)
09. Kompjotr Eplektrika - Blikktztunddonner
10. The Knife - Reindeer
11. TALK 3
12. Hello Saferide - iPod X-mas
13. January Jaunt - Stuck in glaziers
14. Darkthrone - Too old, too cold
15. TALK 4
16. Sällskapet - Nordlicht
17. E.S.T. - Strange place for snow
18. Sort Mel - Det grønne flesket
19. Notre Dame - A scrooge tale
20. TALK 5
21. Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck - Winter moment
22. Syster Lycklig - Bilden till snöstorm
23. The Book of Daniel - 3rd of December
24. TALK 6
25. Samuraj Cities - Cold feet
26. Amandine - Silver bells
27. Logcabin - View of frost
28. Silverbullit - Winter coat
29. TALK 7
30. In Flames - December flower
31. Viktor Sjöberg - On a winters day
32. The Bear Quartet - Blizzard
33. TALK 8
34. Brick - Gray day
35. Laakso - Merry Christmas
36. Strayfolk - Another year before the mast
37. TALK 9

Don't forget to vote for Sirius Blog Radio at the Plug Awards! Vote here: http://www.plugawards.com/general_vote.php
We are nominated under the category "Media (Obsessive) > Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)".

Ellekari Larsson from The Tiny will be doing some travelling over the next few months and is looking for possible solo gig opportunities: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=43267142&blogID=331214320

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Lars Winnerbäck - Innan mörkret faller
02. TALK 1
03. TIAC - Boredom
04. Brainbombs - Who can you trust
05. Ted Gärdestad - Helena
06. TALK 2
07. Björn Kleinhenz - China Blue
08. Viktor Sjöberg - The sensation of your head on my chest
09. Marvins Revolt - Deliberate deeds
10. TALK 3
11. Abalone Dots - Under the rain
12. The Bear Quartet - The lost kid office
13. Lo-Fi-Fnk - Wake up
14. Watain - Underneath the cenotaph
15. TALK 4
16. The Tiny - Closer
17. Supersilent - 8.4
18. Anna Ternheim - Today is a good day
19. TALK 5
20. The Skull Defekts - The secret
21. Lukestar - White shade
22. Pay TV - Fashion report
23. Wolfpack - Enter the gates
24. TALK 6
25. Tigerbombs - Shaking the tree
26. Familjen - Ivanhoe & Rebecca
27. Giant Robot - Public = shopping
28. Eskju Divine - Hold on
29. TALK 7
30. The Bell - On and on
31. DHG - The snuff dreams are made of
32. Trio Mediaeval - Det lisle bånet
33. TALK 8
34. Peter Bjorn and John - It beats me every time
35. Margaret Berger - Seek I'll hide
36. Kaizers Orchestra - Kontroll på kontinentet
37. TALK 9
38. Darkthrone - F.O.A.D.

MP3: Piroth - Waltz for prima ballerina

Piroth are sister duo Johanna and Nina Piroth and together they create the kind of tight harmonies that you typically only hear from siblings. It's not too unlike The Roches, 'cept you'd have to swap their sense of humor for a large dose of Nordic melancholy. So yeah, we're talking folksy chamber-pop - more baroque than that other Stockholm-based sister duo Taxi Taxi!, but perhaps not so much as The Tiny. Actually, this particular track has more of a renaissance/medieval feel. The duo is still far more tweepop that early music overall, but it certainly has that vibe - the triplet rhythm, the storyline in the lyrics. That's pretty damn old-fashioned if you ask me. Or would that be 'olde fashioned' with an e? Not that I'm complaining - it's quite nice regardless.

Piroth - Waltz for prima ballerina

The playlist for my radio show this week:

01. Pistol Disco - Walking with Jesus
02. TALK 1
03. Heroes & Zeros - Into the light
04. Vijaya - Your gun will never set you free
05. Convoj - My timekeeping heart
06. TALK 2
07. Darkthrone - Too old, too cold
08. A Perfect Friend - Rush hour
09. Death By Kite - Hiroshima
10. TALK 3
11. Fun - I've got a truck
12. Moonbabies - Walking on my feet
13. The Perishers - When I fall
14. TALK 4
15. Regulations - Police siren
16. Viola - Ordinary teenage sensation
17. Björn Kleinhenz - Starlit queen
18. TALK 5
19. Gravy - Glory to our brilliant name
20. Hero Dishonest - Stalin vs Hank Hardy
21. Sophie Zelmani - To know you
22. Ulver - Capitel III: Graablick blev hun vaer
23. TALK 6
24. Håkan Hellström - Ramlar
25. Abhinanda - Highway tonight
26. Single Unit - Passion, pirates & parasites
27. TALK 7
28. Kompjotr Eplektrika - Skulldrummantra
29. The Tiny - Just like you
30. Death Breath - Death breath
31. TALK 8
32. Entombed - Serpent speech
33. The Cardigans - Marvel hill
34. Soviac - I got the ribbah
35. TALK 9
36. The Bear Quartet - Put me back together
37. You Is Stupid - I am history
38. Paris - 60 minutes
39. The Process - Mot Sverige i tiden
40. TALK 10
41. Weeping Willows - I give you the morning

Delusions of Adequacy reviews the US release of The Tiny's "Starring: someone like you": http://www.adequacy.net/review.php?reviewID=7895

Amplifier reviews the US release of The Tiny's "Starring: someone like you": http://www.amplifiermagazine.com/reviews/cds/the_tiny_cd_ep.php