The Silent Ballet has good things to say about the new Tobias Hellkvist album "Sides": http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/1707/Default.aspx

IAT favorite Tobias Hellkvist is the artist of the week over at The Silent Ballet: http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Articles/tabid/55/ctl/Details/mid/412/ItemID/1692/Default.aspx

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

01. Anna Maria Espinosa - Everyday
02. TALK 1
03. Tobias Hellkvist - Vintervarm
04. The Bear Quartet - Needs vs. facts
05. The Social Services - Baltic Sea
06. TALK 2
07. Kristofer Åström - The dark
08. Honey Is Cool - You're a horse
09. Reeperbahn - Hjälte
10. Voices Break the Silence - The way
11. TALK 3
12. Hebosagil - River
13. Pan Sonic - Lähetys
14. Silverbullit - Only gold
15. TALK 4
16. Josè González - Down the line
17. Motorpsycho - Serpentine
18. NEI - Hello
19. Claws Costeau - Finnuggla
20. TALK 5
21. Hello Saferide - I thought you said summer is going to take the pain away

Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.

If you enjoyed today's mp3 post on Tobias Hellkvist, be sure to check out his other new release, a split with Scottish artist Metronomes (the solo act of Al Paxton from Stapleton). Said split features today's featured track "Vintervarm" along with a cover of the Stapleton track "Ships of the North Atlantic" and a third previously unreleased song. More info: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=100364651&blogID=415407847

MP3: Tobias Hellkvist - Vintervarm

In case you've been wondering why I haven't posted anything from the new Tobias Hellkvist album, I really have no good excuse. First and foremost, I wanted to spend some time with the record so I could pick the best track to adequately show it off, but that didn't work so well because the whole thing flows so well together. Then I was going to wait for Tobias to put together a single for a netrelease, but that project is turning into something far more exciting (wait and see!), so I gotta say screw it - here's a song called "Vintervarm" off the brand new Tobias Hellkvist album "Sides". Like all of his work, it's rooted in melodious drone and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's a fairly suggestive title too, as I can easily imagine it being the perfect soundtrack to a crisp, bright winter day, but I also think it works fairly well right now in these dog days of summer. I also appreciate that Tobias' growing composition skills - he's really branched out on this release and is trying new things, showing off different sides of himself ('natch, again as the title suggests) and working with varying arrays of instrumentation. The slow build here is marvelous because, I barely remember how it started by the time it's finished, I'm just enraptured in the moment. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyhow: very highly recommended!

Purchase: [click here]

Tobias Hellkvist - Vintervarm

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

01. Tobias Hellkvist - Besviken
02. TALK 1
03. The Deer Tracks - Yes this is my broken shield
04. The Tallest Man On Earth - Pistol dreams
05. White Knives - Death is king of the dancefloor
06. TALK 2
07. Abcess Exil - Kanske du förstår
08. Sällskapet - Nordlicht
09. KTMK - Kalinka
10. The Kid - Transient dance
11. TALK 3
12. Commando M. Pigg - This thing
13. I Are Droid - Sevenfold
14. Johan Heltne - Din alkoholism är ingen alkoholism
15. TALK 4
16. Zeigeist - Wrecked metal (cello version)
17. CMX - Nainen tanssii tangoa
18. Broder Daniel - Love doesn't last
19. TALK 5

Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.

All releases from And the Sound are now back in-stock and ready for order:

Ef - Give me beauty... or give me death!
Immanu El - They'll come, they come
Ef - I am responsible

Other new releases now in-stock:

Tobias Hellkvist - Sides (CD)
On Volcano - My sleep was filled with dreams (CDEP)

Hopefully you are a regular reader and already familiar with these artists because they are both excellent and highly recommended. I'm excited to offer them to you in my webstore.

IAT favorite Tobias Hellkvist has a new website: http://www.tobiashellkvist.com/
He personally handed me copies of his brand new album "Sides" while in Malmö last week, so expect copies to be posted for sale really really soon.

IAT favorite Tobias Hellkvist reports that he is done with his new album "Sides" which will be divided in two parts. More info to come.

IAT favorite Tobias Hellkvist has created a mixtape of mostly unreleased material for the Play My Tape site: http://playmytape.net/page.php?id=54
Needless to say, this is VERY highly recommended!

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

01. Disfear - Deadweight
02. TALK 1
03. The Social Services - Up in arms
04. Kaka - The hotspurs (the less know the faster we go)
05. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Manic panic
06. TALK 2
07. Tiger Lou - Patterns
08. Paper - My life is going under
09. Dreamboy - Stars
10. TALK 3
11. Lack - Watchmen
12. Don't Be A Stranger - Mon chi-chi
13. Ea Philippa - Heslenes sang
14. TALK 4
15. Ef - Thrills
16. Isolation Years - Yellow cross on blue
17. Frivolvol - Satellite kids
18. TALK 5
19. Enslaved - Eld
20. The Grand Opening - Secrets revealed
21. Ultralyd - Comphonie V
22. TALK 8
23. Firefok AK - Techno tears
24. The Indecision Alarm - Alienation process
25. Looptroop Rockers - Marinate
26. TALK 7
27. Markus Krunegård - Jag är en vampyr
28. The End Will Be Kicks - Exit ramps
29. Cadillac - Locomotive
30. TALK 8
31. Lukestar - Lake Toba
32. Commando M Pigg - Baby doll
33. Printer - Minds out
34. TALK 9
35. Seven Feet Four - Auto emotion
36. Tobias Hellkvist - Abomination
37. Barra Head - Undermine
38. TALK 10
39. Britta Persson - Happy hour
40. Anna Leong - Guillotine
41. Ted Gärdestad - Can't stop this train
42. TALK 11

Did I forget to mention that Tobias Hellkvist CDs are back in stock?

MP3: Ljudbilden & Piloten - Wedding

If you haven't seen the video for Ljudbilden & Piloten's "Wedding" yet, do it now. Don't worry, I'll wait for you. Now tell me, is that not the perfect marriage of music and image? (no pun intended) I don't think I will ever hear this song again without thinking of those women smiling and laughing. It's such a warm, beautiful experience, so soothing and joyous. Near perfect, even.
If you enjoyed the blissed out drone of Tobias Hellkvist as I have posted before, you will love this. If you appreciate the wordless vocals of I'm From Barcelona then yes, you'll probably like this too. If you love life, this is for you.

Ljudbilden & Piloten - Wedding

The playlist for my radio show this week featured all of my favorite songs from 2007:

01. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
02. TALK 1
03. Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle
04. The Skull Defekts - The secret
05. Ted Gärdestad - Räcker jag till
06. TALK 2
07. CS Nielsen - Black spots
08. Kornstad - Turkey, Texas
09. Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom
10. The Bombettes - I wanna
11. TALK 3
12. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
13. Repoman - Chemically obsessed
14. The Bell - I am history
15. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
16. TALK 4
17. Mainliners - Olivia
18. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
19. Karin Ström - Ordlös
20. TALK 5
21. Fun - I've got a truck
22. Tobias Hellkvist - Moment at ven
23. Juvelen - Hanna
24. TALK 6
25. Laakso - Worst case scenario
26. Closer - Sensing the wake
27. Asha Ali - A promise broken
28. TALK 7
29. Paper - My life is going under
30. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
31. Lukestar - White shade
32. TALK 8
33. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
34. Aerial - You will all die, all things will
35. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
36. TALK 9

Next week (12/29) I'm doing another special theme show on Swedish postpunk.

Top 10s for 2007: It's a Trap!