Word on the street is that you Europeans dig ICQ over AIM and the like, so I went and got myself a number. It's over on the contact page. Go ahead and bother me at work, why doncha?
"I poured water over the microphone because I wanted to die. I didn't think, I just wanted to do something "on life and death"......"
Håkan Hellström tries to kill himself? Apparently so according to this article (in Swedish). Thanks to Zander for the scoop.
Looks like The Sounds are gonna get their chance to make it in America. James Iha (ex-Smashing Pumpkins) will be releasing their album on his label Scratchie Records in association with New Line. They'll also be making an appearance at the legendary Austin, TX South by Southwest Festival. Next big thing? My money's still on Caesars Palace aka The Caesars, but we'll see. The Sounds may be a bit easier on the eyes, though.
Speaking of South by Southwest, here's some of the other Scandinavian acts already confirmed: Bergman Rock aka Bob Hund, Madrugada, Children of Bodom, Meanwhile, The Teenage Idols, Sondre Lerche, RinneRadio, Pineforest Crunch and The Venue. For the full list, go here. It's already shaping up to be a bad-ass lineup, so make your travel plans now if you can.
Turbonegro are getting two of their old albums reissued with new bonus features. The album "Apocalypse Dudes" will have three added video tracks including "Get It On" and "Are You Ready For Some Darkness" plus a live version of "Age Of Pamparius". As for "Ass Cobra", that CD will now have the video for Denim Demon" on it. Look for 'em both on Epitaph Records in the US or Burning Heart in Europe. The band is also still hard at work on their comeback album now that they're reunited. Bassist Happy Tom promises it will be "most destructive party record you've ever heard!"
Millencolin and The Peepshows are gonna be doing a Scandinavian tour in 2003. Here's the dates:
March 13 Stockholm, Arenan
March 14 Skelefteå, Folkparken
March 21 Göteborg, Kåren
March 22 Lund, Mejeriet
March 23 Oslo, Rockefeller
The winners of the P5 Stockholm Badge awards have been announced. They include Kent for best band and best song ("Dom Andra"), Thåström for best male artist, Paola for best female artist, and The Giri Sound for best demo.
Listen to a recording of the Bad Taste Records fest online! Check out performances from the following acts: (requires Quicktime)
DankoJones
Langhorns
Last Days Of April
Logh
Misconduct will touring Europe with 25 Ta Life next June and July. Look here for dates as they are confirmed.
Remember when I said that the video for "Sister Surround" from The Soundtrack of Our Lives was being added to the MTV 120 Minutes playlist? Well, it hasn't happened quite yet, but the video does premiere on there this coming Sunday the 22nd. In the meantime, preview the video here: Real / Windows
Just got a copy of Thirdimension's "Protect Us from What We Want" from the good folks over at Parasol. Fans of The Soundtrack of Our Lives should take note, as they share the same kind of pop/psyche-rock sound. A full review over at indieworkshop will be up later this week, but for now you can download the first track on your right.
Holy shit! Check this out! Apparently, Yngwie Malmsteen was overheard making derogatory comments about homosexuals on a flight to Japan and an upset traveller dumped a cup of water on him. That mp3 is Yngwie's reaction caught on tape inluding comments such as "I don't a need a fucking cunt (to) come up to me and do that shit! See you in Tokyo bitch!" and "You've unleased the fucking fury!" Amazing! (from Blabbermouth)
Hypocrisy have started work on a new album. Expect a late 2003/early 2004 release.
Kasual Recordings is just about the release the new single from Ariel Kill Him entitled "Not Today, Not Tomorrow". It will contain two songs from the upcoming album plus an exclusive remix track and will only be available directly from the label. As for their new record, it's called "In the Pyramid" and will be out February 3.
Wanna see a bunch of record recommendations from various Norweigan artists such as Gluecifer, Turbonegro, Madrugada and more? Check this out. (in Norweigan) There will be a new artist added every day until Christmas.
The Ark visit Kenya? Read more here or here. (in Swedish)
Firesideomer just posted an interview with Kristofer Åström. It may not be very relevatory, but it's still pretty amusing. Check it out.
Moonfog will release the vinyl version of Satyricon's latest album "Volcano" in February.
Paola will perform her third and latest single live on MTV during the program Morning Glory this weekend.
Gluecifer will be heading into the studio on December 16 with producer Rings to record five songs for their next album.
Oh man, Mikkey Dee from Motörhead pulls no punches! Read what he has to say about Hammerfall:
Look at a band like Hammerfall and shit. They're going through the roof. When kids come up to me and say "Iron Maiden, they're almost as good as Hammerfall," there's something wrong, you know? I saw two kids with Iron Maiden-shirts, in Stockholm when me and Lemmy were there doing press, and I was sitting in the lobby waiting to get to the airport and I saw two eleven-year-olds with Iron Maiden t-shirts and I said, "Yeah, that's a great band you've got there" and they said, "Yeah, they're almost as good as Hammerfall, they sound exactly the same."
Then you realize there's something wrong here, you know. It's not a shit band, but it's incredible that they can hit the way they did. Anders is a great friend, and I hope to see Jens tonight. Someone told me that the Stratovarius guys are here. And the bass player, Magnus, he was the first bass player in Geisha. I fired his ass. He's an old friend since 25 years ago. So I'm glad for Magnus, and I'm glad for Anders. And Stefan is a good guy, the bald guitar player, he's good, but Joacim and Oscar, they can suck my cock. Because they really think they're god's gift to the planet, and I used to say don't shit on the ladder because you're going to climb on it on the way back. They pissed me off too much, let's say two years ago, by being rock stars. I've done this now for 22 years, around the world, and I'm no fucking rock star, I'm a normal guy, and I have a million friends around the world. They did a couple of fucking club shows and they were being the biggest rock stars you've ever seen in Gothenburg. It pissed me off because they were treating me almost the same way, and I said you should kiss my ass instead of throwing me out of the dressing room, you know? So I was pissed off. And Anders and Magnus, they had a long talk with Joacim and Oscar and said "Mikkey is really fucking pissed." So Oscar called me and he apologized and says he was so scared every time I showed up anywhere, and I said, "Oh, I'm not going to beat you up but you're still a fucking asshole." So they're like that when they see me. But I don't agree with that; I have a problem to see these fucking guys when they play one year then they're bigger than Mick Jagger. And the way they became big is by ripping off Helloween, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, even King Diamond stuff. I hear a complete rip off of some harmonies that are complete King Diamond stuff... And Helloween. And Accept. So, I mean, good luck to them, because I'm glad Magnus finally has a band, because he lived in an apartment of 27 square metres, for almost 20 years. He never had any money, he always played bass, he always stuck to his hard rock, and then he got a chance. I remember him calling me and saying, "Mikkey, I'm playing with a band called Hammerfall soon and we're going to do a tour," and I go, "Fucking great for you, Magnus." And then when Anders came into the band, he's a great drummer, that other guy was a fucking joke. So I'm happy for them. But I just can't agree on this rock star image, especially Oscar.
Read the rest of the interview with Metal Rules here. He actually talks a bit about the Scandinavian hard rock scene and dishes some dirt on W.A.S.P. and King Diamond, too.
The nominees for Norway's Alarm Awards have been announced. A sampling of the categories:
Pop: Jim Stärk, Monopot, Loch Ness Mouse, Hello Goodbye, and Thomas Dybdahl
Rock: We, JR Ewing, Gluecifer, Madrugada, and Gåte
Metal: Satyricon, Immortal, Red Harvest, Khold, and Arcturus
Live: Turbonegro, Jaga Jazzist, Gatas Parlament, JR Ewing, and Ralph Meyers & the Jack Herren Band
The Moonbabies report that they are now 3/4 of the way through recording their new album. It's scheduled for a March release on Chalksound in Europe and A Bouncing Space Recordings in the US. Here's a bit of what they had to say about it:
The new album sounds (at this point) like a hybrid between the more melodic parts of "June and Novas" and something totally colorful, new and unexplored. I definitely think we'll break some new ground with it. We started with a lot of songs and are on our way to narrowing down to twelve, or thirteen tracks. Funnily enough right now, we are working on an album of songs with no names. Unimaginary working titles like "apples" and "fear" are what we call the songs until they get finished lyrics and a real name, and it has been really hard to come up with the right titles for the this album. The best one's so far I think are "Bang goes another day" and "Fieldtrip U.S.A"... those I am proud of.
The band also finished their first ever video for the song "Over My Head". Filmed by the Swedish production company Colony and shot in Malmö, you can view it right here. (Requires Quicktime)
TSOOL is now confirmed to be entering the studio in January to work on their next record. Of course, you should have already suspected as such, but now we've got an official statement. As for their upcoming appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, frontman Ebbott had this to say:
"Being on the show will hopefully make a breakthrough easier, but you never know what effect these things have. But it's great fun!"
A Saturday Night Live appearance is apparently in the works, too. Pretty exciting!
Check out some new tunes in Real Audio from the folks at Promopop: By Heart - Catchy Music / The Leeches - World's End
Win some exclusive Motorpsycho stuff from NRK Stereo. (In Norweigan)
Recording of the new Entombed record is already beginning to wrap up. Expect a March release on Music for Nations.
Even more Entombed related news:
The band's Threeman Recording label is actually starting to get down to business. Entombed-side projects Murder Squad and The Project Hate MCMXCIX will be the first releases. There's also plans to do vinyl versions of the albums "Uprising" and "Morning Star".
Project Hate has parted ways with vocalist Mia Ståhl. That means they're looking for replacement female singer. Check their website for more details.
Washoe has apparently changed their name to Alpha Safari.
Uffe's old band Haystack has plans to do a one-off reunion gig in the near future. No date yet, but here's the band's lineup: Uffe - Guitar, vocals; Johan (Backyard Babies) - Bass; Jonas (The Maggots) - drums
In case you haven't noticed, I've been changing a few things around here and there. Check out the brand new links page, for instance.
The new video for the song "All Will Break" from Last Days of April is now online. Check it out: High quality / Low Quality
Swedish major label music sales are up domestically about 1.9%. 35.6% of those sales are from Swedish artists, too. Kent's "Vapen & Ammunition" and Magnus Uggla's "Klassiska Mästerverk" led in the tallies.
"Man or Mouse", the latest single from Millencolin is number one on MTV UpNorth. They will appearing on the air on Monday, November 11th to answer fan submitted questions.
Want to be in the new Turbonegro album insert? Check this out.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives said in an interview with Canadian Jam! Showbiz that their current North America tour is going well and they expect to start work on a new album very soon.