Rigas den Andre will be releasing a new 12" split with Boys of Caligula on Finnish skweee label Harmönia this spring. He'll also be collaborating with Mark O'Sullivan (DK7, Mighty Quark) on a record due out in February and has another vinyl EP in the works for April. There will be a skweee comp coming out on Flora & Fauna in February that Rigas will appear on which I should hopefully be getting copies of for the mailorder department.
Swedish death-metal legends Dismember will roll through Poland in April:
04/21 - Music Garden, Lodz (PL)
04/22 - Pod Palma, Rzeszów (PL)
04/23 - Loch Ness, Kraków (PL)
04/24 - Mega Club, Katowice (PL)
04/25 - Eskulap, Poznan (PL)
04/26 - Madness, Wroclaw (PL)
04/27 - Od Nowa, Torun (PL)
04/28 - Progresja, Warszawa (PL)
04/29 - Grafitti, Lublin (PL)
New tourdates for Swedish metalcore act Crowpath:
02/16 - The Rock, Copenhagen (DK)
02/17 - Conne Island, Leipzig (GER) w/Necrophagist
02/18 - JZ Treff 9, Heidenheim (GER)
02/19 - Bunker, Bozen (ITA)
02/20 - Carpi (Modena) Ekidna (ITA)
02/21 - Traffic, Rome (ITA)
02/22 - Ambasciata di Marte, Firenze (ITA)
02/23 - Batofar, Paris (FRA)
02/24 - Heretic Club, Bordeaux (FRA)
02/25 - tba, Nancy (FRA)
02/26 - Underworld, London (UK) w/Viatrophy
02/27 - Star and Garter, Manchester (UK) w/Viatrophy
02/28 - The Glebe, Stoke-on-Trent (UK) w/Viatrophy
03/01 - Dynamo, Eindhoven (HOL)
In case you weren't adequately underwhelmed the last time, Emperor will be returning to the US for a trio of shows in 2007:
05/30 - The Metro, Chicago, IL
06/01 - BB King Blues Club & Grill, New York, NY
06/03 - Key Club, West Hollywood, CA
Hopefully Samoth won't be denied entry again this time 'round.
Finnish prog act Alamaailman Vasarat reports that they are done with their new album "Maahan" and have two teasers tracks posted for download: https://www.vasarat.com/
Some new UK dates for 120 Days:
02/26 - Club NME/Astoria, London (UK)
02/27 - White Heat/Madam Jojos, London (UK)
Via One Chord to Another comes word that Finnish indiepop act Puny will be releasing their new album "It kills you" on January 24 and also have a single available for free download at their website: https://www.punysounds.com/
This week's Norwegian top 20 album chart:
01. Sivert Høyem & The Volunteers - Exiles
02. William Hut - Nightfall
03. Bjørn Eidsvåg - Nåde
04. Vamp - I full symfoni (med KORK)
05. Kristin Asbjørnsen - Wayfaring Stranger - A Spiritual Songbook
06. Odd Nordstoga - Heim te mor
07. Jan Werner - Stronger
08. 120 Days - 120 Days
09. Øystein Sunde - Sundes verden
10. Sissel - De beste 1986-2006
11. Thomas Dybdahl - Science
12. Marit Larsen - Under The Surface
13. Espen Lind, Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes og Askil Holm - Hallelujah - Live
14. Morten Abel - Some Of Us Will Make It
15. Rockettothesky - To sing you apple trees
16. Malin - Malin på månen
17. Åge Aleksandersen - Snöharpan
18. Anne Nørdsti - Her vil jeg bo
19. Ole Ivars - Ole Ivars så klart
20. Mari Boine - Idjagiedas - In The Hand Of The Night
MIC Norway reports that Annie has signed with Island Records and has secured the services of Brian Higgins (Girls Aloud, Sugababes) to produce her forthcoming sophomore album.
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Lasse Stefanz - 40 ljuva år!
02. Moneybrother - Pengabrorsan
03. Markus Fagervall - Echo heart
04. Laleh - Prinsessor
05. Nisse Hellberg - Snackbar blues
06. Martin Stenmarck - Nio sanningar och en lögn
07. Bo Kaspers Orkester - Hund
08. Björn Skifs - Andra Decennier
09. Abba - Number ones
10. Lisa Miskovsky - Changes
11. Lars Winnerbäck - Efter nattens bränder - 1996-2006
12. Therion - Gothic Kabbalah
14. Orup - Faktiskt
15. Koop - Koop islands
16. The Refreshments - It's gotta be both rock & roll
17. Vikingarna - Bästa
18. Peter Jöback - Flera sidor av samma man
19. Anna Ternheim - Separation road
20. Eric Gadd - Gaddamn - The ultimate collection
The new Sahara Hotnights album will be released on April 18 via the band's own Stand By Your Band label and will be distributed via Universal Music. The first single "Cheek to cheek" will be premiered at the Swedish Grammys on January 30.
Swedish power-pop act The Virtues will be back in the UK this month:
01/23 - Acoustic gig, Chester
01/24 - The Rampant Lion, Manchester
01/25 - Frog & Nightingale, Chester
01/26 - The Cavern, Liverpool
Ink19 reviews the most recent Hell On Wheels album "The odd church": https://www.ink19.com/issues/january2007/musicReviews/musicH/hellOnWheels.html
Consequences have recorded a new, faster version of the song "Birds are singing" for their next single. It was recorded and produced by Ronald Bood and a video is under production by Filmtecknarna. The official release date is February 21.
MP3: Blinders On - You had me at hello
Full disclosure: Blinders On singer/guitarist Jonas Appelqvist is a frequent It's a trap! contributor. We have similar taste in music, so it's no surprise that I also like his band. There is no clandestine financial relationship between us.
As Jonas himself pointed out in his recent review of The Sound O.E, the noisy-indierock/post-hardcore scene in Sweden is still very much alive and well, despite a few quiet years. All those bands Jonas lists? Blinders On fits right in. Like all the best examples of the genre, the songs are built on layers of jagged guitars and a heavy, driving rhythm section, but at the same time, always strongly informed by pop conventions. The textures may tend towards the dissonant, but there's always a melody lurking beneath the surface and a huge chorus around the corner. Great stuff and y'know what's even nicer? If you like the song I've posted today, you can head to the Blinders On website and download the band's entire new record "Obsolete music" for free. It doesn't get much better than that.
Blinders On - You had me at hello