New music today: Motorpsycho and Ulver from Norway plus super-hype band of the moment, The Sounds. Look to your right.
Believe it or not, but The Haunted are set to appear on the MTV show "Cribs". Apparently MTV newsman Iann Robinson is a big fan of the band. So yeah, if you want to see a tour of the band's homes, check out the show on December 4.
Finnish doom band Shape of Despair has a new bassist, Sami Uusitalo. The band is scheduled to enter the studio early next year to record their next album. Expect a late 2003 release on Spinefarm Records.
Crystal Committee (ex-Starmarket) will have their debut album out in February on Chalksounds Records. Entitled "Forever Overhead", it was recorded at Studio Gröndal. I'm not positive, but I assume it was produced and engineered by studio owner Pelle Gunnerfeldt of Fireside.
Also out on Chalksounds in the near future is the new album from Moonbabies. The band is still working hard in the studio, so a release isn't expected until around March.
Export Music Sweden (ExMS) reports that net earnings for exports from the Swedish music industry grew 37% in 2001 from the year previous for a total of 500M euros. And that wasn't even all that great, they say as sales weren't quite as good as hoped for. 2002 looks to be better though. with good sales coming from TSOOL, In Flames and others.
The Ark, Håkan Hellström, Robyn, and The Sounds will be performing on the Swedish TV show Faddergalan on December 9th.
See the new Madrugada video for the song "Majesty" here: High or Low. The band has also put up a tour diary on their website. Check it out.
Rumor has it that The Soundtrack of Our Lives will be back to tour the U.S. in February and March with a stop at South by Southwest along with Citizen Bird/Silverbullit and Isolation Years. Look for them on Late Night With David Letterman in late January, too.