Upcoming European tourdates for Cult of Luna:
04/15 - Close Up Festival, Stockholm (SWE)
04/18 - Sojo, Leuven (BEL)
04/19 - Vera, Groningen (NL)
04/20 - Dynamo, Eindhoven (NL)
04/21 - Patronaat, Haarlem (NL)
04/22 - Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
04/23 - Pitz Club, Milton Keynes (UK)
04/24 - Joiners Arms, Southampton (UK)
04/25 - Star And Garter, Manchester (UK)
04/26 - Barfly, Liverpool (UK)
04/27 - Barfly, Glasgow (UK)
04/28 - Barfly, York (UK)
04/29 - Limelight, Belfast (UK)
04/30 - Voodoo Lounge, Dublin (IRE)
05/01 - Barfly, Birmingham (UK)
05/02 - Barfly, London (UK)
05/04 - La Loco, Paris (FRA)
05/05 - Le Son Art, Bordeaux (FRA)
05/06 - Le Marché Gare, Lyon (FRA)
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Magnus Uggla - Ett bedårande barn av sin tid
02. The Knife - Silent shout
03. Christer Sjögren - King creole
04. Laleh - Laleh
05. Björn Skifs - Decennier sånger från en annan tid
06. In Flames - Come clarity
07. Thåström - Skebokvarnsv 209
08. Mia Marianna & Per Filip - Våra mest älskade sånger
09. Lisa Ekdahl - Pärlor av glas
10. Sanna Nielsen - Nära mej - nära dej
11. The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity
12. Agnes - Agnes
13. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
14. Son of a Plumber - Son of a Plumber
15. Håkan Hellström - Nåt gammalt, nåt nytt, nåt lånat, nåt blått
16. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
17. Darin - Darin
18. Robyn - Robyn
19. Torgny Melins - Dansbander
20. Monica Zetterlund - Z - det bästa med monica zetterlund
Pitchfork reviews Diskaholics Anonymous, the collaboration between Swedish sax player Mats Gustafsson with Thurston Moore and Jim O'Rourke: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/d/diskaholics-anonymous-trio/weapons-of-ass-destruction-live-in-japan-v1.shtml
In two weeks, Songs I Wish I Had Written will unleash the new Le Sport single "It's not the end of the world", the first taste of what will be their debut full-length album due out in April.
Check out the video for "I blame the sun" from The Horror The Horror over at the MTVe website: https://www.mtve.com/article.php?ArticleId=4845
Today's mp3 post belongs to Kevin Renick. Take it Kevin...
Avi and I were both mesmerized by the new Lampshade CD "Let's away", but he was gracious enough to let me do the writeup for today's mp3. Lampshade is a quintet with four Swedes and a fabulous Danish vocalist named RebekkaMaria Andersson. In just two CDs, these guys have become one of the finest bands in Scandinavia, and they're one of the first bands I would mention right now if someone asked me why I'm so enamored of all things Nordic. Lampshade's music is filled with dynamic colors, from fiery guitar work and pounding percussion, to utterly bewitching moments of sensual softness. And for those like me who are especially captivated by Scandinavian music that SOUNDS Scandinavian, Andersson's voice is positively enthralling. She enunciates distinctively, with a more relaxed air than Björk, to whom she's sometimes compared, yet her accent is delightful, adorning these beautifully crafted compositions with an extra bit of magic. This song is one of the standouts on a disc with many of them: Andersson sings lyrics in exquisite Swedish over a droning guitar pulse that evokes ancient folk mysteries and an epic sense of space, then she switches to English mid-stream for a sweet ballad about a "little girl all dressed up in ropes and tears." The song continues with lovely vocal harmonies, back to the droning guitar, then an unexpected melodic little coda. Honestly, this is about as powerful and emotionally gripping as music can get!
Ladies and gentlemen, he speaks the truth. "Let's away" is another one of 2006's best releases. And in case you were wondering, it's Damien Jurado providing the male harmony vocals. Check 'em out on tour in Sweden and Norway with Namur:
03/04 - Kulturhuset, Jönköping (SWE)
03/05 - KlubbOhSunday, Gothenburg (SWE)
03/07 - Landet, Stockholm (SWE)
03/08 - KlubbdinMamma, Folketshus, Örebro (SWE)
03/09 - Herrgår´n, Linköping (SWE)
03/11 - Rock Bottom, Oslo (NOR)
March's album of the month? Why it's Tiger Lou and his most recent album "The loyal"! One of 2005's best releases and readily available on both CD or as a high-bitrate DRM-free paid download. Check it out!
Also new in the webstore today: the latest album "Sins" from Swedish indierockers Antennas (formerlly known as Novak) and the debut full-length "Madame, madame!" from Firefox AK which Aftonbladet is calling "this year's most interesting debut." Sucks for you if you didn't preorder the latter because now the price has gone up a buck. You snooze, you lose.
Diapazam has announced the signing of Sesam, Aches and Le Muhr. Sesam will be the first one with a release with "Aim your bullets well" dropping on April 26.
A West Side Fabrication has signed Gbg-based act Minxy Soul Models. Look for their debut album in April and the single "Top gun" in the next few weeks.
Check out the Enslaved newsletter with details on the new album "Ruun" and recent video recordings: https://www.enslaved.no/newsletters/feb06/nlfeb06.html
Rune Grammofon has announced that the label retrospective "Until human voices wake us and we drown" 5x10" vinyl box-set is just about done and should be available for mailorder. The set includes a 16-page booklet illustrated, as always, by Kim Hiorthøy and will be limited to 1000 copies. A definite collectors item. Also on the way is a new 10" from Deathprod featuring remixes he's done for Nils Petter Molvær (2), Murcof, Larsen and Cloroform as well as the track "Deerstalker" from the "Money will ruin everything" comp. And lastly, RG will also be doing a vinyl edition of "Come up for air", the latest album from Norway's The White Birch. The record was produced by Deathprod/Helge Sten and features guest vocals from Susanna Wallumrød (Susanna and the Magical Orchestra), so it's only natural that RG get involved. They'll be doing a CD version for the US and Asia, too. Exact release dates and more details soon.
Finland's Montevideo has confirmed that their debut album "Come clean" will be released on April 5 and they will be celebrating with a release party in Helsinki. More details tba later.
Swedish singer/songwriter Lasse Lindh will release the new EP "Attica" on April 19.
Hanna Hirsch will be releasing a 7" entitled "Radiance kills" on Cage Match Federation this spring.
Fireside has added a second show in Japan on March 3 at Eggman in Tokyo.