Boo-yah! My boys KVLR went straight to #1 on the Stockholm student radio charts! How awesome is that? The full list:

01. KVLR - Slow Clapping NY
02. Marit Bergman - Adios Amigos NY
03. Josh Rouse - Come Back (Light Therapy) NY
04. Promoe - These Walls Don't Lie NY
05. Swan Lee - I Don't Mind NY
06. Phoenix - Everything Is Everything 1
07. R-Kelly - Step In the Name of Love 2
08. Jens Lekman - Rocky Dennis Farewell Song 3
09. Clones - Crazy Boys 3
10. Tribeca - Solitude 3
11. Tiger Lou - Oh Horatio 4
12. Timbaland & Magoo - Indian Flute 4
13. The Thrills - Don't Steal Our Sun 4
14. Belle & Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo 5
15. Peggy Lejonhjärta - Sista styverns trappor 5
16. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out 5
17. Shout Out Louds - Please Please 5
18. Kaada - That's Life o-oh 5
19. Saraberg - Nuclear Love 6
20. Eastern Lane - feed your addiction 11

As mentioned before, the album is now available this week for preordering, so either order it from me if you're in North America or want the digipack, or head over to Chalksounds for ordering in Sweden/Scandinavia.

Ooh, the record is also a subject of focus on MI: http://www.musikindustrin.nu/mi/smpage.fwx?page=191&I_FOKUS=4158 (in Swedish)

Head on over to Tiger Lou's site to check out the cover, tracklist and preorder info for his new album "Is My Head Still On?": http://www.tigerlou.com/records.htm

Tiger Lou's new album ""Is my head still on?" has been confirmed for a March 10 release on Startracks. The Tiger is also scheduled to vist Rocket Radio in Stockholm tomorrow. Tune in live at 5:30pm if you're local, but you can also listen on the 'Net.

Streaming playlist: Singer/Songwriters, pt. 2

By way of Dagensskiva, here is the Swedish student radio top 20 for the week:

01. (08) The Von Bondies "C'mon C'mon"
02. (01) Broder Daniel "Shoreline"
03. (02) Belle & Sebastian "I'm A Cuckoo"
04. (04) Tiger Lou "Oh Horatio"
05. (05) The Latin Kings "T.L.K."
06. (06) David & The Citizens "Graycoated Morning"
07. (19) Jens Lekman "Rocky Dennis In Heaven EP"
08. (07) Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"
09. (12) Her Majesty! "You And Me Against The World"
10. (03) Shout Out Louds "Please Please Please"
11. (09) Organism 12 "Sångfågel"
12. (NY) Peaches Ft. Iggy Pop "Kick It"
13. (NY) Björns Vänner "Alexander Lukas"
14. (NY) Tribeca "Solitude"
15. (15) Timbaland & Magoo "Indian Flute"
16. (NY) Grandaddy "I'm On Standby"
17. (14) Edson "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"
18. (18) Obie Trice Ft. (Nate Dogg "The Set Up"
19. (NY) Aerospace "In A Place Of Silver Eaves EP"
20. (10) Nicolai Dunger "Here's My Song You Can Have It" (Album Sampler)

Leaving the chart:
11. The Thrills "Don't Steal Our Sun"
13. Bergman Rock "Help The Band"
16. Kamera "Suburban Boy"
17. Beezewax "Big Bad Car"
20. Disco Volante "Distort The South"

Tiger Lou has confirmed March 10 as the release date for the new album. A video for the first single "Oh Horatio" was shot in Gran Canaria and should be getting airplay soon. In other news, he's confirmed a bunch more tourdates and here's the latest:

02/21 - Kulturhuset, Jönköping (SWE) (solo)
02/27 - Gebäude 9, Cologne (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
02/28 - Molotow, Hamburg (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
02/29 - Marias, Berlin (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
03/01 - Cookys, Frankfurt (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
03/02 - Gleis 22, Munster (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
03/03 - Jord (Groove release party), Göteborg (SWE) (band)
03/04 - TBC (Groove release party), Malmö (SWE) (band)
03/05 - Festival 035 @ Diezel, Halmstad (SWE) (band)
03/21 - KB, Malmö (SWE) (solo) w/Jay Farrar
03/22 - Kägelbanan, Stockholm (SWE) (solo) w/Jay Farrar
03/25 - Herrgårn, Linköping (SWE) (band)
03/26 - Nöjesfabriken, Karlstad (SWE) (band)

PopMatters covers both Tiger Lou and the latest Parasol sampler today.

His record won't be out over there until May, but Tiger Lou will still head to Germany for a few dates supporting Cursive in late February:

02/27 - Gebäude 9, Köln
02/28 - Molotow, Hamburg
02/29 - Maria, Berlin
03/01 - Cookys, Frankfurt
03/02 - Gleis 22, Münster

By way of Dagensskiva, here is the Swedish student radio top 20 for the week:

01. (02) Broder Daniel "Shoreline"
02. (01) Belle & Sebastian "I'm A Cuckoo"
03. (03) Shout Out Louds "Please Please Please"
04. (04) Tiger Lou "Oh Horatio"
05. (06) The Latin Kings "T.L.K."
06. (05) David & The Citizens "Graycoated Morning"
07. (08) Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"
08. (NY) The Von Bondies "C'mon C'mon"
09. (NY) Organism 12 "Sångfågel"
10. (NY) Nicolai Dunger "Here's My Song You Can Have It (Album Sampler)"
11. (10) The Thrills "Don't Steal Our Sun"
12. (15) Her Majesty! "You And Me Against The World"
13. (06) Bergman Rock "Help The Band"
14. (NY) Edson "I Believe In A Thing Called Love"
15. (11) Timbaland & Magoo "Indian Flute"
16. (12) Kamera "Suburban Boy"
17. (NY) Beezewax "Big Bad Car"
18. (NY) Obie Trice Ft. (Nate Dogg "The Set Up"
19. (NY) Jens Lekman "Rocky Dennis In Heaven EP"
20. (14) Disco Volante "Distort The South"

Leaving the chart:
09. Weeping Willows "Stairs"
13. Courtney Love "Mono"
16. Mazarine Street "Bourgeois Blood"
17. The Strokes "Reptilia"
18. Dizzee Rascal "Jus'a Rascal"
19. Backyard Babies "A Song For The Outkast"
20. Muse "Hysteria"

By way of Dagensskiva, here is the first Swedish student radio top 20 for the year:

01. Belle & Sebastian "I'm A Cuckoo"
02. Broder Daniel "Shoreline"
03. Shout Out Louds "Please Please Please"
04. Tiger Lou "Oh Horatio"
05. David & The Citizens "Graycoated Morning"
06. Bergman Rock "Help The Band"
07. The Latin Kings "T.L.K."
08. Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"
09. Weeping Willows "Stairs"
10. The Thrills "Don't Steal Our Sun"
11. Timbaland & Magoo "Indian Flute"
12. Kamera "Suburban Boy"
13. Courtney Love "Mono"
14. Disco Volante "Distort The South"
15. Her Majesty "You And Me Against The World"
16. Mazarine Street "Bourgeois Blood"
17. The Strokes "Reptilia"
18. Dizzee Rascal "Jus'a Rascal"
19. Backyard Babies "A Song For The Outkast"
20. Muse "Hysteria"

In case you didn't already know, the new Tiger Lou single "Oh Horatio" is out now and his new full-length has been confirmed for a March 3 release date. Upcoming shows around Sweden:

02/21 - Kulturhuset, Jönköping (solo)
03/25 - Herrgårn, Linköping (w/band)
03/26 - Nöjesfabriken, Karlstad (w/band)

Other notables/honorable mentions:

Cult of Luna - The Beyond & s/t reissue (Earache)
Crushing doom in the vein of Neurosis and Isis, but with a touch of something else that separates them from the rest of the imitators. Hopefully these guys will tour the US because I bet they kill live.

Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Bud Fox)
Broder Daniel - Cruel Town (Dolores)
These are two of the best Swedish indiepop records this year and I think I actually like the former a bit more than the latter. Broder Daniel has some better songs when taken on their own, but the Shout Out Louds made a better album. I was hoping the latest Bad Cash Quartet would rate too, but it was a huge disappointment.

Zyklon - Aeon (Candlelight)
Ex-Emperor guitarist Samoth proves he can move on and still make quality music. One of the few black-metal releases this year that really caught my interest. Either the scene is stagnant or I've lost interest, not sure.

Motorpsycho & Jaga Jazzist Horns - In the Fishtank (Konkurrent)
It's about time the rest of the world was exposed to these guys. I can do without that one awful funk track, but the rest of this is great stuff. Hopefully the increased international profile of this release will help them get their own music recognized and appreciated.

Randy - Welfare Problems (Burning Heart)
I don't listen to much punk-rock these days, but Randy always delivers. Looking forward to the US tour in February.

The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight (Stockholm Records)
I was really put off by the mellow 70s vibe at first, but once I got over it I found out there were some pretty great songs here. Definitely not what I was expecting, but worth a second glance if you passed it over before.

Ricochets - Ghost of Our Love (White Jazz)
Tiger Lou - Trouble And Desire (Startracks)
Mustasch - Ratsafari (Majesty/Capitol)
Seven Feet Four - Departure/Arrival (Coalition)
Four solid releases from four very different acts. Nothing life changing here, but all still quite good and definitely worth investigating.

Jaga Jazzist - The Stix (Smalltown Supersound)
Supersilent - 6 (Rune Grammofon)
v/a - Money Will Ruin Everything 2xCD + Book (Rune Grammofon)
Norway is really a hotbed for experimental genre-expanding music right now and these three releases are a great place to start. You won't find that elusive "next big thing" here, just music that will make you think. Both Smalltown Supersound and Rune Grammofon are labels to keep an eye on.

Next year:
So far, I'm looking forward to new releases from Kristofer Åström, Cobolt, C.Armeé, Sahara Hotnights, Soundtrack of Our Lives, Tiger Lou, Weeping Willows and of course, KVLR to name a few. There's also an album in the pipeline from The Hives that's sure to be hyped beyond belief. And then there's the international promotion of José González and The Concretes to look out for, as well as who knows what other flavor-of-the-month they might try to sell you. As always, you know where to come if you want to hear about it first.

Top ten: 2003

The Swedish Kulturradet Minstry for Culture has announced their bi-annual budget awards (via MI):

Production:
Sandkvie Studio, Patrik Silvereke Barnlåtar, 80 000
Holmen Music, Anders Kråkan Ågren Lille Fille går vidare, 65 000
Holmen Music, J Bölja, K Hallberg, E Härdelin, K Stål Sånger från Hälsingland, 60 000
Giga Folkmusik, Kalle Almlöf & Jonny Soling Hopspelt 2, 60 000
Giga Folkmusik, Anders Svensson Smålandslåtar, 55 000
MNW, Bazar Blå, 60 000
Home Records AB, Jens Comén & Niklas Roswall Comén/Roswall, 50 000
Giga Folkmusik, Orust Nyktert kaffe, 80 000
Imogena AB, Peter Nylander Quartet Nylander, 75 000
Imogena AB, Tommy Kotter Kotter, 85 000
Imogena AB, Björn Samuelsson Memories Of Åke Persson, 70 000
Ayler Records, Bernt Rosengren Quartet B.R.Q. feat. M Feza Live, 90 000
Imperial Recordings, José Gonzalez, 50 000
Service, Rocky Dennis, 75 000
National, Pugh Rogefeldt Pugh, 40 000
Morphine Lane Records, Soak The Sin, 70 000
Gravitation, Spring In Paris Spring In Paris, 70 000
Startracks, Kristoffer Åström & Hidden Truck The Last Bonanza, 45 000
Startracks, Tiger Lou, 45 000
Startracks, Christian Kjellvander Songs From A Two-Room Chapel, 25 000
Footprint Records, Martin Bagge Lasse Lucidor, 65 000
Content, Aldo Clementi Fragments And Variations, 110 000
Intim Musik, Hilding Hallnäs Pianomusik i urval, 25 000
Nosag Records, Steve Dobrogosz Requiem, 100 000
Nosag Records, Bo Hansson Sic Rerum - Här är jag, 90 000
Stran Music, Adnan, Karim Targai Esiq, 65 000
Footprint Records, Turbulens Turbulens, 95 000

Artist and songwriters:
Soil Soil, 65 000
Filip Augustson Kvartett, 65 000
Love Suprette Love Suprette, 65 000
Jimmy Ågren Close Enough For Jazz, 65 000
Karin Rehnqvist Arktis, 65 000
Erik Steen Flamenco Fusion Misa Flamenca, 65 000

As you can see, that also means we know what the working title of Kristofer Åström's next album is.