Some small updates for the last few For the Record shows: first up, Firefox has been added to the bill for the Hell on Wheels/Virtues date. Tiger Lou's wife fronts that band and they have mp3s on their website. It's also finally been confirmed that Wan Light will be one of the bands playing the Labrador Records showcase day. One more act will be added, but it's still not confirmed yet.

Here's the lineup for the Startracks Dagen afterparty show happening at Mondo following the free outdoor concert with Kristofer Åström and Christian Kjellvander: Tiger Lou, The Fine Arts Showcase and Be Under Centary Knife (BUCK). Tickets are 80 sek and doors open at 10pm.

This week's MTV UpNorth chart is challengers only:

01. Honestly - Carmel Sandella
02. Johnny De Luxe - Drømmer jeg
03. Fjarde Varlden - Annu En gang/Up Med Garden
04. The National Bank - Tolerate
05. Camille Joines - The Creeps
06. Qwan - I Can't Deny it
07. Tiger Lou - Sell Out
08. José González - Stay In The Shade
09. Miss Universum - Across The Universe
10. Unni Wilhemsen - Humbly For Her
11. The Rasmus - Guilty

Vote for your favorite and next week there will be a special new chart with a ton of new videos: http://www.nordic.mtve.com/shows/upnorth/

Tiger Lou is making headway down in Australia. The single "Sell out" has been sent to radio and TV and the album "Is my head still on?" gets a proper release on September 19. Will a tour follow?

Go here for some links to check out Tiger Lou's newest video "Sell Out": http://www.startracks.se/news.asp?ID=285

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

01. Nightwish - Nemo
02. The Hives - Walk Idiot Walk
03. Sondre Lerche - Days That Are Over
04. Promoe - These Walls Don´t Lie
05. Lambretta - Kill Me
06. Kemopetrol - My Superstar
07. Kings Of Convenience - I´d Rather Dance With You
08. Elastinen - Syljen
09. Nik & Jay - En dag tilbage
10. Sahara Hotnights - Hot Night Crash
11. Eskobar - Bring The Action
12. Teddybears STHLM - Hey Boy
13. Various Artists - I Kan Ikke Slå Os Ihjel
14. Latin Kings - Shonnar Vet
15. Infinite Mass - The Thief
16. Petter - Repa skivan
17. The Raveonettes - Heartbreak Stroll
18. The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Black Mask
19. Remee & The Mildas Touch - No.1
20. Euroboys - One Way Street

Challengers:
01. Tiger Lou - Sell Out
02. José González - Stay In The Shade
03. Miss Universum - Across The Universe
04. Unni Wilhemsen - Humbly For Her
05. The Rasmus - Guilty

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

Tiger Lou has once again redesigned his website, this time adding a nice yellow hue: http://www.tigerlou.com/

Eskju Divine - Darkness all around (Imperial Recordings)
The melody of the first song sounds very similar the opening track on Tiger Lou's album, but it's taken in a much more polyphonic and embellished direction. Lead singer/songwriter Gustaf Spetz's voice has a similar timbre to Tiger as well. Both play excellent melancholic pop music, but Eskju Divine adds much more bombast and reverb to the proceedings. The wall-of-sound production also lends them a much more dreamy vibe, which is both good and bad. Good because it makes even the most simple passages of music more powerful, but bad because it also means the EP can pass by without leaving much of an impression, if not being listened to at full volume. This piano, bass and drums trio never falters for lack of a guitar either. In fact, it never even occured to me that the instrument wasn't there until I read the group's bio. Good stuff.

Eskju Divine
Darkness all around
Imperial Recordings

The melody of the first song sounds very similar the opening track on Tiger Lou's album, but it's taken in a much more polyphonic and embellished direction. Lead singer/songwriter Gustaf Spetz's voice has a similar timbre to Tiger as well. Both play excellent melancholic pop music, but Eskju Divine adds much more bombast and reverb to the proceedings. The wall-of-sound production also lends them a much more dreamy vibe, which is both good and bad. Good because it makes even the most simple passages of music more powerful, but bad because it also means the EP can pass by without leaving much of an impression, if not being listened to at full volume. This piano, bass and drums trio never falters for lack of a guitar either. In fact, it never even occurred to me that the instrument wasn't there until I read the group's bio. Good stuff.
- Avi Roig

Tiger Lou has updated his website with some photos from the "Sell Out" video shoot as well as some live pics from Germany: http://www.tigerlou.com/

Top ten: First half 2004

In what's looking to be one of the best festival lineups in Sweden this summer (IMO, of course), the Blow Up a Panda Festival has now added [ingenting], The Baboon Show, Shout Out Louds, Unisex, Sons Of Cyrus and The Knife and Ape to the lineup. Other acts already confirmed include KVLR, Ellis the Vacuumchild, Tiger Lou, Last Days of April, Switchblade, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, The End Will Be Kicks, C.Aarmé and more. So who wants to fly me out? Details: http://www.blowupapanda.se/

Now that summer has pretty much arrived, here's the Swedish student radio top 40 for the year by way of Dagensskiva:

01. (2, 10) Promoe "These Walls Don't Lie"
02. (1, 8) Morrissey "Irish Blood English Heart"
03. (2, 10) Tiger Lou "Oh Horatio"
04. (1, 7) Marit Bergman Feat. Cecilia Nordlund "Adios Amigos"
05. (3, 8) Teddybears Feat. Mad Cobra "Cobrastyle"
06. (3, 7) The White Stripes "There's No Home For You Here"
07. (1, 8) Phoenix "Everything Is Everything"
08. (1, 9) The Von Bondies "C'mon C'mon"
09. (1, 8) Graham Coxon "Freakin' Out"
10. (5, 7) Infinite Mass "No.1 Swartskalle"
11. (2, 7) Jens Lekman "You Are The Light"
12. (2, 7) Franz Ferdinand "Matinee"
13. (3, 5) Strip Music "Desperation"
14. (1, 5) Belle & Sebastian "I'm A Cuckoo"
15. (1, 4) Broder Daniel "Shoreline"
16. (4, 7) The Tough Alliance "Make It Happen"
17. (5, 7) Jens Lekman "Rocky Dennis In Heaven EP"
18. (4, 5) David & The Citizens "Graycoated Morning"
19. (7, 8) Syd Matters "Black & White Eyes"
20. (2, 4) Marit Bergman "I Will Always Be Your Soldier"
21. (1, 4) Beastie Boys "Ch-Check It Out"
22. (5, 6) Laakso "Aussie Girl"
23. (2, 4) The Von Bondies "Tell Me What You See"
24. (3, 4) Shout Out Louds "Please Please Please"
25. (5, 5) PJ Harvey "The Letter"
26. (4, 6) Raymond & Maria "Ingen Vill Veta Var Du Köpt Din Tröja"
27. (6, 6) Damien Rice "Volcano"
28. (3, 3) The Embassy "Wearing Our Pop Art Hearts On Our Sleeves EP"
29. (5, 4) Sahara Hotnights "Hot Night Crash"
30. (8, 5) Pitch Black "It's All Real"
31. (4, 5) Her Space Holiday "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend"
32. (5, 3) The Latin Kings "T.L.K."
33. (7, 4) The Legends "Call It Ours"
34. (10, 7) Swan Lee "I Don't Mind"
35. (5, 3) The Streets "Fit But You Know It"
36. (9, 5) Faithless "Mass Destruction"
37. (3, 3) David & The Citizens + Mattias Alkberg "Big Chill"
38. (9, 4) Basement Jaxx "Plug It In"
39. (11, 5) Graham Coxon "Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery"
40. (9, 3) Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"

Note: (highest chart placement, total weeks on chart)