It's a Trap! Scandinavian music journal

Watch the new video for "On the 54" from The Dandelions right here.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. HIM - Funeral of hearts
02. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
03. A-Teens - Perfect Match
04. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
05. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
06. Mew - Comforting Sounds
07. Kwan - Shine
08. Jennifer Brown - Weak
09. Surferosa - Neon Commando
10. Melody Club - Cover Girl
11. Moon Gringo - Buzz Aldrin
12. Bertine Zetlitz - Girl Like You
13. Whyte Seeds - Slow motions
14. Dub Sweden - Walk Me Home
15. Timbuktu - Ett Brev
16. Empire Dogs - The Dogs
17. Nik & Jay - Elsker Hende Mere
18. The Cardigans - For What It´s Worth
19. Equicez - Live From Pass It
20. Pauline - Runnin´ Out Of Gaz

Challengers:
01. The Jessica Fletchers - Let´s Go
02. Darude - Music
03. Outlandish - Guantanamo
04. K Ragnstam - Perfect Vacation
05. Paragon - Försök Förstå

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Kamera has announced a bunch of new dates for the summer:

05/30 - Fredriksta (NOR)
05/31 - Oslo (NOR), So What
06/01 - Västerås
06/02 - Stockholm, Debaser
06/03 - Jönköping
06/04 - Göteborg, Nefertiti
06/05 - Halmstad
06/06 - Linköping, Platens Bar
06/07 - Karlstad, Arena
06/26-29 - Skellefteå, Skellefteåfestivalen
07/05 - Sundsvall, Gatufesten
07/10 - Arvika, Arvikafestivalen
07/04-12 - Visby, ZTV Sommarstad Gotland
07/13 - Malta
07/19 - Torquay (GB)
07/20 - Brighton (GB)
07/23 - Åland, Rock Off Festival (tbc)
08/08 - Norrköping, Karnevalen

Pitchforkmedia reviews the American release of "C'mon Let's Pretend" from the Sahara Hotnights. Whaddya know? They actually like it.

Moonbabies have got a couple gigs lined up:

05/02 - Fredericia, Ungdomens hus w/The Violet Hour
05/03 - Copenhagen, Huset w/The Violet Hour

Reports are coming in on the big concert yesterday at Gröna Lund with Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Ark and Mando Diao: tsool.tk / Dagens Nyheter / Expressen

In other Mando Diao news, the band has reportedly fired organist Daniel Haglund. Haglund was apparently taking time off to spend time with his family and was given the news when he tried to return.

And the Sound is saying that Niklas and Thomas from Him Kerosene are rumored to be starting a new band. Nothing's confirmed yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
02. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
03. v/a - Fame Factory volym 4
04. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
05. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
06. Jill Johnson - Discography
07. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
08. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
09. Elin Sigvardsson - Saturday light naive
10. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
11. Mauro Scocco - Beat hotel
12. Lasse Tennander - Därifrånochhit sånger 1974-2003
13. The Refreshments - On the rocks
14. Antique - Blue love
15. Siw Malmkvist - Siws bästa
16. Roxette - The pop hits
17. The Knife - Deep Cuts
18. Magnus Uggla - Klassiska mästerverk
19. Robyn - Don´t stop the music
20. Dilba - Revolution

More from Aftonbladet: An article on Marie Fredriksson's (Roxette) recovery from brain surgery.

Don't forget to download the new free Soviac single today. Check it. The song is called "Boogie Woogie" and it's taken from the upcoming album "Triology Sexlife Rodeo Friscotti" due out later this fall.

Another treat from the folks at Chalksounds today - this time we've got a live video from that Carpet People record release show. The song is called "Girl Without a Skin" and you can view it here.

In related news, Carpet People are also heading out on their very first tour in four years! The dates:

05/16 - Umeå, Kamenski w/Perishers
05/17 - Sandviken, Kungen w/EP's trailer park
05/18 - Stockholm, Kafe 44 w/Chloe
05/30 - Popaganda Festivalen

Happy Tom of Turbonegro posted a pretty funny indictment of the Norweigan press over at www.scandinavianleather.com today.

JR Ewing has posted some video footage of them playing the Ieper Festival in 2002.

David & the Citizens just put a new photo gallery up on their website.

Spiritual Beggars recently did a session for the BBC's Radio One 'Friday Rock Show' and recorded the tracks "Beneath The Skin", "Young Man, Old Soul", "Mantra" and "Not Fragile" (Bachman Turner Overdrive cover) for a possible future release. Read more.

Sweden's The Leslies has announced an upcoming split EP with Paper Moon of Canada. It's actually one of many new releases planned by Endearing Records for their 'International Pop Exchange' series that will pair two bands from different countries for each split.

Erlend Øye, Randy, Meshuggah, Looptroop, Cult of Luna and Immortal have all been confirmed for this year's Quart fest on July 5.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives have announced a couple new gigs around Sweden this summer:

06/06 - Gothenburg, Ostindienfararen
07/31-08/03 - Storsjöyran, Östersund
08/08 - Hamnfesten, Luleå
08/26 - Slussens pensionat, Gothenburg

Aftonbladet has posted Mando Diao's new video for the song "Sheepdog". You can also view some web-TV interviews with The Rasmus over at there, too. (in Swedish)

P3 reports that Per Gessles will be releasing his new solo album "Mazarin" this summer on June 16. The first single will be "Här kommer alla känslorna (på en och samma gång)".

Monastir is heading out on the road beginning in May:

05/01 - Göteborg
05/02 - Hässleholm
05/03 - Lidköping
05/17 - Gävle
06/06 - Uppsala
07/17 - Trästock, Skellefteå
07/18 - Rockawaybeach, Norberg
08/1-2 - Augustibuller, Lindesberg

This week's NME had this to say about Wired for Mono's show at Brixton Windmill:

...Wired For Mono are dirty drone rock boys in disguise and "A Harbour An Anchor" is the loudest thing NME has heard in a dog's age. The sheer volume is comparable to the avant-garde Noo York art attack of early Sonic Youth, while "Colin's Dream" is a disorientating Byrds-type psychedelic-raga freak-out. As brilliant debut single "Travel In Turns" gets twisted from an alt.country groover into a pilled-up Rolling Stones space drone, the vigilant audience takes careful steps backwards: it’s an apocalyptic soundclash between the Charlatans-type canyon-rock and the audio-roar of a 747 taking off. Amazing stuff."

They are playing May 1 at Helldorado in Nyköping with Caesars Palace. Check out a poster for the show here.

A grand total of 100 (!!!) new bands were confirmed for Roskilde Fest today. Some of the acts mentioned include The Cardigans, Christian Kjellvander, Immortal, The Hellacopters, TSOOL, Satirnine, Gåte, Turbonegro, The Sounds, Cato Salsa Experience and The Raveonettes and a plethora of Scandinavian hip-hop artists: Advance Patrol (SWE), Denmarks Finest (DK), Equicez (NOR), Loose Cannons (SWE), Mad Con (NOR), Organism 12 (SWE), Son Of Light (NOR), Static & Nat Ill (DK) and Suspekt (DK). Read more.

Did you miss Hardcore Superstar last night at Chalmers in Göteborg? Well, you can watch a video of the song "Honey Tongue" from that performance.

Lullacry has postponed the release of their new single "Alright Tonight" to May. No reason was given for the delay.

Norway's Gluecifer has announced a couple dates for this summer:

05/31 - Jæren, NOR
06/06 - Working Class Hero Festival, Drammen NOR
08/16 - Raumarock festival Åndalsnes NOR

The band also reiterated their plans to come back to the US, hopefully this coming fall. Their exact words from the website: "For our very patient fans in the US... we are R E A L L Y looking forward to coming back & playin' for y'all!!!!!"

New Line Records has finally launced a website which of course has info and downloads for label darlings The Sounds.

Misconduct has been confirmed for the Kaktus Festival which will take place at an airfield in Arboga on July 18-19. Other artists playing include The Venue, Peter, Björn and John, The Virtues and Charta 77.

Stockholm Records artists Thee Ultra Bimboos are doing a few dates around Scandinavia in May:

05/02 - Västerås, Rockstad Västerås (Culturen)
05/03 - Malmö, KB
05/04 - Oslo, So What
05/05 - Göteborg, Pusterviksbaren
05/07 - Hultsfred, Metropol
05/08 - Stockholm, Nalen

Motorpsycho is planning a Japanese tour for December, but there's no details yet. Their side-project The International Tussler Society will also be doing some shows around Norway in August such as the Øya festival in Oslo on August 7-9. There may be some dates in Europe, too. Stay tuned.

Silence Records has put up a streaming sample of "Happy Endings" from First Floor Power.

In other Silence-related news, Träd, Gräs & Stenar are heading over to England to two dates in England and Brighton on May 21 and 22 respectively. The full list of their upcoming dates:

05/21 - London, 291 Gallery w/No-Neck Blues Band
05/22 - Brighton w/No-Neck Blues Band
05/28 - Västerås, Taj Mahal
05/29 - Oslo, So What
07/19 - Möja (Stockholm archipelago)

Watch the video for "New Direction" from David & the Citizens.

Turbonegro has announced the addition of a new gig at the Garage in London on May 12. Here's what their upcoming European tour itinerary now looks like:

04/30 - Göteborg, Lisebergshallen
05/01 - Stockholm, Munchen Bryggeriet
05/02 - Malmö, KB
05/03 - Hamburg, Grosse Freiheit, DE w/Division of Laura Lee
05/04 - Hamburg, Grosse Freiheit, DE w/DoLL
05/06 - Amsterdam, Melkweg, NL w/DoLL
05/07 - London, Garage, UK w/DoLL
05/08 - Glasgow, King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, UK w/DoLL
05/09 - Manchester, Hope & Grape, UK w/DoLL
05/10 - Birmingham, Acedemy 2, UK w/DoLL
05/11 - Dublin, Whealans, IRL w/DoLL
05/12 - London, Garage, UK w/DoLL
05/13 - Paris, La Tranbendo, F w/DoLL
05/15 - Bergara, Sala Jam, E w/DoLL
05/16 - Madrid, Aqualung, E w/DoLL
05/17 - Barcelona, Apolo, E w/DoLL
05/19 - Milano, Transilvania, IT w/DoLL
05/20 - Zurich, Rote Fabriek, CH w/DoLL
05/21 - Stuttgart, Longhorn, DE w/DoLL
05/22 - Munchen, Elserhalle, DE w/DoLL
05/23 - Köln, E-werk, DE w/DoLL
05/24 - Bielefeld, PC 69, DE w/DoLL
05/25 - Berlin, Columbia halle, DE w/DoLL
05/27 - Stavanger, Siddishallen
05/28 - Bergen, Haukelandshallen
05/29 - Trondheim, Trondheim Spektrum/Nidarøhallen
05/31 - Oslo, Oslo Spektrum

Due to an undisclosed family emergency, Millencolin has been forced to cancel the remaining dates on the second leg of their US tour to return back home to Sweden.

MTVE.com has the new video for "You're the Storm" from The Cardigans.

If you didn't already see it listed, Robyn is doing some touring this summer:

06/28 - Gamleby, Folkets Park
07/05 - Sundsvall, Sundsvalls Gatufest
07/23 - Tylösand, Hot Tylösand
07/24 - Hudiksvall, Stadsfesten
07/25 - Gävle, Rocknatta
07/26 - Piteå, Piteå Dansar och Ler
08/02 - Östersund, Storsjöyran
08/10 - Göteborg, Liseberg
08/15 - Stockholm, Gröna Lund

Here's a MIC Norway profile on Sondre Lerche with links to a number of interviews such as the CNN one linked here yesterday. Among other things, it says that Lerche is featured on the cover of this month's Index Magazine and he is also currently in Bergen, Norway working on his new album with producer Jørgen Træen (aka Sir Duperman). Look for him on tour in the US in May with Nada Surf and Ed Hartcourt.

Also by way of MIC Norway come this article on the Music Export Norway showcase as South by Southwest in Austin last March. Featured bands included the aforementioned Sondre Lerche, Madrugada, Ralph Myerz & the Jack Herren Band, Cadillac, Span and We.

This is pretty amazing: Junior Senior - "Move Your Feet". Definitely not the sort of thing I'm normally into, but that video is just too awesome.

Did you know the last Saturday in May is 'Swedish Music Day'? Me neither.

The following acts have been confirmed for the Siesta fest in Hässleholm on May 30-31: The Ark, Marit Bergman, Dynamo Chapel, David & The Citizens, Christian Kjellvander, $1000 Playboys, Her Majesty, Whyte Seeds, Last Days Of April, Lotta Wenglén Band, Joddla med Siv, Pete Thompson, Loserville plus a number of yet-to-be-named demo bands.

Lars Winnerbäck, Mikael Wiehe and Wilmer X have all been added to the bill of the Piteå Dansar Och Ler fest.

Entombed-side project Project Hate has set "Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate" as the name of their new album. Look for it later this year from Entombed's own Threeman Recordings label.

Dimmu Borgir has lined up a couple dates in the Netherlands for October:

10/02 – Amsterdam, NETH @ Paradiso
10/03 – Tilburg, NETH @ 013

In other news, the band has reportedly spent the last few weeks at Studio Fredman recording a new album. No word on when to expect it.

In case you missed it, I had a guest review published on Dagensskiva on Saturday.

The Rasmus have now been confirmed for both the June Rock im Park and the June Rock am Ring fests in Germany on the 6th and 8th respectively.

Puffball has a new 7" coming out on Stereodrive! Records, the label of record store Green Hell Records in Münster. "Outlaw" is the a-side title track and "Hornet Rider" is the b-side along with a cover of Merle Haggard's "Momma Tried". And from Southspace webzine, here's a short interview with the band.

Via the band's webiste, here's a review of Logh from NME written by James Jam:

..."Every time..." is a record so fucking dull, so fucking uninspired, that nme finds itself looking for a chainsaw and pricing up cheap flights to Sweden. In the words of the high priest of rock'n'roll fun, Iggy Pop, seek out and destroy.

Logh's response? "James has been bought a planeticket to Sweden. we´re waiting anxiously." Brilliant. In other Logh news, the band reports they are finishing up work on the new video and should have it done next week.

The Norweigan paper VG recently published a long interview with Morten from A-ha. Here's a nice English synopsis plus a link to the article itself.

St. Thomas will be putting out a limited vinyl edition of "Hey Harmony" in mid-May. 300 copies, 180 gram vinyl. He'll have it for sale at the May 10 Rockefeller show in Oslo. He'll also be playing quite a few shows around Europe coming up soon, with more to be announced for June:

April 30 Ålesund - TBC
05/01 - TBA
05/02 - Trondheim Blæst
05/03 - TBA
05/07 - Molde, TBC
05/08 - Sogndal, Meieriet
05/09 - Hønefoss, Alfreds
05/10 - Oslo, Rockefeller
05/14 - Stavanger, Checkpoint Charlie
05/15 - Kristiansand, TBC
05/16 - TBA
05/17 - Skien, Brekkeparken
05/21-23 Sweden, TBA
05/24 - Hamburg, Echochamber im Phonodrom
05/25 - Berlin, Roter Salon
05/26 - Muchen, Club Zwei festival in Atomic
05/28 - TBA (Frankfurt or Koln)
05/29 - Roskilde Gimle Cafe
05/30 - Copenhagen, Loppen
05/31 - Århus, Spot festival
07/18 - Feierwerk Festival, Munich August 8 or 9 Øyafestivalen

Here's some pictures from Randy's show at Groez Rock in Belgium on April 26.

Johan Bergqvist along with Crying Bob Records is putting together a new festival tour called Bobbyfest. The established goal of the tour is to "give you the best independent music there is, for a good price." Sounds good to me. The line-up is Leftlane, The Virtues, Johan Bergqvist, Moody Alan, and Moll Flanders and so far there's just two dates set for May with more set to come in the fall. Details as of now:

05/03 - Mondo, Stockholm
05/17 - Diezel, Halmstad

A day in the life with The Ark: https://www.thearkworld.com/day.htm

It's about friggin' time. Startracks in association with Simba Records has put out a Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck compilation in America called "Plastered Confessions". Five songs from the previous albums, plus a Steve Earle cover. Better than nothing, I guess. More info here or here.

Green Carnation's upcoming album will be called "A Blessing In Disguise" and it comes out June 16 in the UK, June 17 in the US from Seasons of Mist. In case you were wondering, Green Carnation features various members of In the Woods along with Tchort who did time in Emperor.

Burnitblue.com reviews Jaga Jazzist - "The Stix". It's been out for awhile in the band's home country of Norway, but comes out May 6 in the UK.

DigitalMetal.com reviews Opeth's new album "Damnation".

Sweden's Centinex has announced they will enlist the help of Per Gustafson from Cult of Luna to do the artwork on their new CD "Decadence - Prophecies Of Cosmic Chaos". Timo "The Eyeless" Ketola will handle the layout. Recording begins June 23 at Black Lounge Studios and they expect to have it sometime in October on Candlelight Records.

NRK has finally made Immortal's performance from the Inferno festival available for viewing: https://nrk.no/magasin/upunkt/musikk/inferno_2003/2713354.html

Sweden's buzz-band of the moment Radio Dept. release their debut 7" for "Liebling" b/w "We Would Fall Against The Tide" in the UK today on Rex Records. They'll also be playing their first shows over in London this weekend:

05/02 - The Spitz, 109 Commercial Street, Old Spitalfields Market, E1. w/Apples In Stereo and The Loves
05/03 - The Arts Cafe, 28 Commercial Street, E1., w/Kicker and Sportique

Norway's Sondre Lerche got himself a short feature interview on CNN: 'Sondre Lerche: Sunny sounds from Norway'

Mattias Alkberg of Bear Quartet is working on a solo project called "Begravning" and you can download a sample here.

Here's the winners of this year's Swedish Hip-Hop awards:

Best Album: Looptroop - The Struggle Contuines
Best Song: The Narcissists - Fanatik R.I.P.
Best MC: Timbuktu
Best Producer: Embee
Best Vinyl Release: Highwon - Beats, Rim & Gendish
Best DJ: Confuze
Best Download: Snook - Mognare Än Oss
Best Newcomer/Demo/Self-Released: Frotté - Den Stora Daldansen
Hip-Hop Culture Award: Aerosol/Graffiti: Unik
Hip-Hop Culture Award: B-boy: Hammer Hill B Boys
Crossfade Video Award: Ison and Fille - Fakka Ur
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ken

And speaking of Swedish hip-hop, the latest edition of Sounds Norway (SoNo) is a special on the subject: "everything you need to know about it; and meet a couple of old-timers who think hiphop is the perfect way to air all their grumbles." Check it out.

Some of the new bands confirmed for Avrika fest: Gåte, Kaizers Orchestra, Ralph Myerz & the Jack Herren Band, Shout Out Louds, Paris, JmyHaze Beatbox, Homy, Ricochets, Sparks of Seven, Peter Dolving Band, Thulsa Doom, JR Ewing, Alice in Videoland, Totalt Jävla Mörker and Slagsmålsklubben.

Sunride has confirmed their upcoming tourdates in support of their new album "Through the Red", out May 19 on People Like You Records:

05/01 - 45 Special, Oulu, Finland
05/03 - Pub Bastun, Mariehamn, Åland w/Endstand
05/08 - Klubi, Tampere, Finland w/Dozer
05/09 - Stella Star, Helsinki, Finland w/Dozer
05/10 - Lutakko, Jyväskylä, Finland w/Dozer
05/14 - Kino, Pori, Finland
05/16 - Bar 15, Seinäjoki, Finland
05/17 - Torvi, Lahti, Finland
05/24 - Mikrokosmos, Magdeburg, Germany
05/25 - Knaack, Berlin, Germany
05/26 - Rosenkeller, Jena, Germany
05/27 - Paradox, Ingolstadt, Germany
05/28 - 013, Tilburg, The Netherland

Cult of Luna reports that they have a new drummer - Thomas from The Perishers. I can't confirm it for sure, but my assumption is that Marco Hildén has accepted a permanent position with Logh and moved on. In case you didn't know, Marco has been filling in for them since their drummer Kristofer left recently mid-tour. As reported earlier, Cult of Luna just recently completed work on a new video and is now putting together plans for a full European tour this fall. Details when I get 'em.

It's not exactly new, but here's some pictures and captions from the Avanto '02 fest with Pan Sonic, Erkki Kurenniemi and more.

Burning Heart won't release the new Lost Patrol album until June 2, but you can download a preview mp3 now: Lost Patrol - "Going Going Gone"

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Homy's debut album "Music Box" comes out May 15 in Sweden. The single "Bus Stop" has already been receiving college radio airplay in the US and was released in Sweden just this past week. Look for the band to hit the festival circuit this summer.

Johan Bergqvist has announced a new pair of gigs in Sweden:

5/3- Mondo, Stockholm
5/17 - Diezel, Halmstad

Ulver has decided to push back the release of the upcoming "A Quick Fix of Melancholy" EP so it does not interfere with promotion of the "1st Decade..." remix comp. No exact date yet, but you can download a sample exerpt to whet your appetite.

Ex-Haunted frontman Peter Dolving has reportedly rejoined with his old bandmates in Mary Beats Jane to write and record a new album. Read more. (from Blabbermouth)

The Rasmus are making a bid for a wider European audience by signing to MotorUrbanDefJam Group in Germany, a division of Universal Music. The first single "In the Shadows" comes out this summer. "I look forward to working together with the nice people at MotorUrbanDefJam Group, they seem to know what they are doing and they are already totally in love with the music," says Lars Tengroth, the band's A&R rep at Scandinavian label Playground Music.

Cult of Luna have been nominated for 'Best Underground Act' at the 2003 Metal Hammer Awards along with Opeth, Arch Enemy, Satyricon and lone Americans Shadows Fall. More info and voting instructions are here. CoL also recently wrapped up the filming of a video for "The Watchtower" with Pete Bridgewater and George Steel at HemnMagasinet. More info about that when I get it.

HIM shot a video for the song "The Sacrament" at Ploskovice Castle near Prague last weekend. It was shot on 33mm film stock and should be edited and ready by sometime in mid-May. View pictures from the shoot here.

Car Crash Records has announced that they have signed C.Aarmé to their label. Look for a full length this fall or check out the just-released 7" on Deleted Art. A sample mp3 of the track "Tu puta mi casa" is available here.

How timely is this? Here's a MIC Norway profile on Jaga Jazzist. Look another big feature in May's issue of The Wire.

More from MIC Norway, here's some info about the upcoming Music Under Oslo Festival (MUO) which takes place in the city's subway stations. Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. The entrance fee is only the cost of a regular token. Artists scheduled to play include Fox&Wolf, Thomas Dybdahl, Thulsa Doom, and more.

From the Finnish Music Information Centre (FIMIC), check out Finland's 2002 year-end wrap-up.

Aftonbladet has a review and samples of the long-awaited debut from The Concretes.

Finland's Bangkok Impact has the album of the month over at Jockey Slut magazine.

If you can't get enough of that high-quality Swedish garage-rock, The Dandelions are heading over to London for a number of dates at the end of May:

5/22 - Gaz's Rockin' Blues
5/23 - Dragon Bar
5/24 - Cobden Club
5/27 - Eyelash at Pop

They've also got quite a few mp3s over at their site if you're interested.

Vote for "Playboy's Sexiest Women of Indie Rock" featuring the Sahara Hotnights. Um, whatever. And yeah, the link is safe for work.

Carnal Forge has announced that they have extended their contract with Centry Media for another two albums. Look for 'em on tour in America with the 2003 Metal Gods featuring Halford, Testament, Immortal, Primal Fear and Behemoth.

MTV Up North has moved to Thursdays with a new, extended format. Here's this week's chart:

01. HIM - Funeral of hearts
02. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
03. Mew - Comforting Sounds
04. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
05. A-Teens - Perfect Match
06. Kwan - Shine
07. Kashmir - Surfing The Warm Industry
08. Dub Sweden - Walk Me Home
09. Kari - Exile
10. Surferosa - Neon Commando
11. Paola - Interstellar Love
12. Moon Gringo - Buzz Aldrin
13. Melody Club - Cover Girl
14. Whyte Seeds - Slow motions
15. Pauline - Runnin´ Out Of Gaz
16. Bertine Zetlitz - Girl Like You
17. Jennifer Brown - Weak
18. The Cardigans - For What It´s Worth
19. Equicez - Live From Pass It
20. Thomas Rusiak - Unicorn
Challengers:
01. Empire Dogs - The Dogs
02. Timbuktu - Ett Brev
03. Nik & Jay - Elsker Hende Mere
04. The Knife - You Take My Breath Away
05. Jamie Meyer - Good Girl

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Besides appearing on MTV Morning Glory back home in Sweden this weekend, The Sounds also have reviews published in US mags Billboard and Alternative Press. I'll try and track 'em down if I can.

Misconduct's video for their cover of Bob Marley's "Iron Lion Zion" will premiere on CTV's new program 'Nöjesnytt' on April 29. Singer Fredrik Olsson and bassist Andreas Wall will be on the show, too.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
02. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
03. Jill Johnson - Discography
04. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
05. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
06. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
07. v/a - Fame Factory volym 4
08. Mauro Scocco - Beat hotel
09. Elin Sigvardsson - Saturday light naive
10. The Refreshments - On the rocks
11. Roxette - The pop hits
12. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
13. Siw Malmkvist - Siws bästa
14. The Knife - Deep Cuts
15. Fireside - Get shot
16. Buddaboys - Lost people areas
17. Fernandoz - Vem får din kärlek i natt
18. Dilba - Revolution
19. Emil Sigfridsson - Tillbaka till igår
20. The Sounds - Living in America

The Shout Out Louds are hard at work on their upcoming debut full-length which is now scheduled to come out September 29. They also have a new single coming out in May for the track "Hurry Up Let's Go" which will include an unreleased song as a b-side. And that's not all - they're even fitting in some touring:

4/25 - Borlänge, Klubb Desired
4/26 - Lund, Klubb Blender
5/7 - Oslo, So What
5/23 - Umeå Studion, Folkets Hus
5/28 - Örebro, Kåren
5/30 - Uppsala, Stones-festivalen
5/30 - Stockholm, Popaganda
5/31 - Linköping, Rocksensation, Herrgårn
5/31 - Kalmar, Skälby
6/6 - Göteborg, Pustervik w/Marit Bergman

This week's Swedish college radio chart (from Dagensskiva):

Leaving the chart:
(06) Jurassic 5 Ft. Mya "Thin Line"
(12) Asian Dub Foundation Ft. Sinead O'Connor "1000 Mirrors"
(14) Sean Paul "Get Busy"
(16) Blur "Out of Time"
(17) Outlandish "Guantanamo"
(19) First Floor Power "Happy Endings"
(20) The Concretes "You Can't Hurry Love"

'Against All Evens' is the name of the upcoming Second Gothenburg Biennale to take place May 24 - August 24 at Gothenburg Konsthallen. The event is being billed as "a resistance against all that which is vapid, indifferent and toothless" and will be curated by artist/musician Carl Michael Von Hauswolff. 27 concerts are scheduled to take place including performances by Tommi Grönlund (Sähkö Rec.) with Petteri Nisunen (FIN), John Duncan, Kim Gordon, Russell Haswell, Florian Hecker, Phill Niblock, Pita, Franz Pomassl and more. More info here.

Get a preview of the new Hell n' Diesel single in RealAudio format: "Tears for the Wicked" / "Rebel" / "Speed Devil"
Preorders are already being taken over at the Shuffle Records website.

Live4Metal is reporting that Enslaved was forced to cancel their show at The Garage in London tonight as the promotor seems to have bungled the job. Their statement:

Only about 65 advance tickets were sold and the promoters could not afford to pay the deposit to bring Enslaved over from Norway and have pulled the gig. Live4Metal were happy to be official sponsors of the event, but we have not even had any official notice from them and are as mystified as the support bands, anybody who bought a ticket and no doubt Enslaved themselves. All I can say is that there is a lesson to be learnt here and budding promoters should most definitely learn to walk before they try to run. Being as we are fair, we are willing to listen to the promoters' side of the story... but we are yet to hear from them.

A little bird has informed me that the new C.Aarmé 4-song 7" and The New Mess 3-song gatefold EP are now done and ready for ordering from Deleted Art.

In my continuing quest to open your ears to new music, there's some new mp3s on the right. First is Jaga Jazzist with the title track from their upcoming US debut "Animal Chin". They do a combination of jazz with electronic elements that's actually really, really cool. Normally I wouldn't expect myself to get into something like that, but they're really good. Next is three tracks from The Haunted's performance at Popstad. If you're into metal, you should already know these guys. Ex-At The Gates/Seance, total Slayer-worship. Can't go wrong with that.

Dagensskiva reports that Kamera had a bunch of gear stolen along with Ed Hartcourt's favorite leather jacket from their show at KB in Malm�. Among the missing instruments are a Mexican-made Strat, an Ibanez SG-style guitar and an Ibanez SG-style bass. Read more.

Hell On Wheels have announced that "It's Wrong Being a Boy" will be their new single out on May 8. They'll be shooting a video for the track this evening around the rural suburbs of Stockholm.

Elisa TV has posted V�rttin�'s video for "Tuulen Tunto" (To Feel the Wind) for viewing: RealMedia 1 / RealMedia 2 / Windows
It was filmed on February 28 at Aleksanterin Teatteri by Deco Media for the Finnish TV program 'Levyraati'.

Mattias Alkberg of Bear Quartet is the recipient of the Arnold R�rlings-scholarship. Read more.

Transworld Skateboarding Magazine of all places has reviewed David & the Citizens "For All Happy Endings":

Who�s got "Swedish fever"? It's time to retire your Abba records-guilt free! David & The Citizens are the best thing to come from Sweden since the bikini team. They have a unique, unclassifiable sound that's been compared to Beck, the Rolling Stones, and Belle And Sebastian. Regardless of that, it�ll make you wanna pick up your accordion and start dancing. With catchy song titles like "Now She Sleeps in a Box in the Good Soil of Denmark," how could you go wrong? Definitely a must-buy.
- J.T. Kitzmiller

NRK has posted a plethora of pictures from the Inferno Festival in Norway. Immortal, Red Harvest and Opeth are just three of the bands featured. On-demand video footage coming soon, too.

The Knife will be doing the soundtrack for Christina Olofson's upcoming film "Hannah med H" ('Hannah with an H'). The full CD will include some 30-odd tracks and should be out sometime in fall. The move premieres on December 12.

From Sam Roberts' homepage on opening for TSOOL on a few dates around the US:

Our tour with The Soundtrack of Our Lives has also sadly come to an end. They were the model of Swedish hospitality from beginning to end, and we'd like to thank the band and crew for taking such good care of a bunch of Canuck drunks.
There wasn't a single show where they didn't blow our minds- they might just be the best live band in the world. Another thing we learned about our Scandinavian brethren is that they know how to party, and we have been on a strict regimen of vitamins and lentil soup since our return.
Adios for now you crazy bastards...

For an entirely different take than Pitchfork on Turbonegro's new album, read this review from Dagensskiva. (in Swedish)

Miss Universum's (Doktor Kosmos) debut album "Selfelected" comes out May 16. Uje Brandelius helped with the songwriting and Jens Lindg�rd produced. The first single "Fertilize" comes out April 25.

P3 reports that when the Dalai Lama comes to Sweden on June 3 the following artists will be playing: Thomas Dileva, Lisa Ekdahl, Anders Widmark, Sara Isaksson, and Chime Arkhang. Tomas Ledin will host.

Looptroop, Mikael Wiehe, Bob Hansson, Kajsa Grytt and Stefan Sundstr�m are all scheduled to play a big free concert at Mondo in Stockholm on May 11 in a show of solidarity and support for everyone convicted at the EU summit riots in G�teborg back in 2001.

Some new acts confirmed for Hultsfred: Randy, Ursula Rucker, Stefan Sundstr�m, Strebers, Isolation Years, Paola, Kajsa Grytt, Johan Bergqvist and Advance Patrol.

Some of the names for the upcoming Koneisto fest in Finland seem to have been leaked. Here's what I've heard so far: Miss Kittin, T.Raumschmiere, Erlend Oye, Uusi Fantasia, Ed Rush, Ralph Myerz & Jack Herren Band, Gilles Peterson, London Elektricity, Kuusumun Profeetta, Imatran Voima, Youngsters, Didier Sound Spectrum, Datarock, Kaptein Kaliber, and Seb Fontaine. The electronic music event takes place in Helsinki 7/25-7/27.

Here's an e-card for Oslo's Bertine Zetlizt. It includes a short English bio along with 3 song samples and a video.

There's a new message board in town: https://www.itsatrap.com/wforum/index.php
I'm still working out some kinks, but it should be up and running just fine for the most part.
UPDATE: Everything is pretty much good-to-go. Whatcha waiting for? Come say hi.

Satirnine has posted their upcoming European tour itinerary:

04/24 - Amsterdam, The MAX - NL
04/25 - Den Bosch, W 2 - NL
04/27 - Cologne, Live music Hall - DE
04/29 - Hamburg, Logo - DE
04/30 - Berlin, Columbia Fritz - DE
05/1 - Hannover, Musikzentrum - DE
05/2 - Schweinfurt, Alte Stadt bahnhof - DE
05/3 - Trier, Exil - DE
05/4 - Munchen, Backstage - DE
05/6 - Dornbin, Condrad Sohm - AUT
05/7 - Vienna, Arene - AUT
05/8 - Graz, Orpheum - AUT
05/10 - Milan, Leoncavallo - IT
05/12 - Zurich - Abart - CH
05/13 - Basel, Kaserne - CH
05/14 - Wil, Remise - CH
05/16 - Lyon, MJC - F
05/17 - Barcelona, Mephisto - E
05/18 - Madrid, Gruta 77 - E
05/20 - Valencia, Roxy - E
05/21 - Vigo, Nashville - E
05/22 - Gijon, Cafe albenitz - E
05/23 - Girona, Atzavara - E
05/24 - La Rouche Sur, Le fuzz - F
05/25 - Rennes, Mondo Bizarro - F
05/26 - Tours, Festival - F
05/28 - Portsmouth, Wedge wood room - UK
05/29 - Birmingham, Academy - UK
05/30 - Leeds, Jospehs Well - UK
05/31 - Glasgow, King Tuts Wah Hut - UK
06/3 - London - Garage – UK
06/12 - Hultsfredsfestivalen
08/2 - Augustibuller

Check out this review and pictures from Logh's show in Köln. (in German)

Pitchfork covers a couple joints from the cold, cold north today. They review both Turbonegro - "Scandinavian Leather" and Jaga Jazzist - "Animal Chin". The latter is a group I've actually been listening to a lot and can definitely recommend. The former, well... the less said the better I think.

Here's a streaming video interview with The Ark in English. It includes some political discussion along with behind-the-scenes footage from an acoustic TV performance.

The Sounds US press onslaught has begun. Are they the 'next big thing'? Can they be stopped? The band reports that they have articles in Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly, FHM, In Style (Dave Grohl Quote), Jane (The Donnas review the album), and W along with the previously mentioned Paper profile. They've also finally confirmed their upcoming dates with the Ravonettes and Vue:

05/24 - Minneapolis, 7th St. Entry
05/25 - Milwaukee, Vnuk's Lounge
05/27 - Chicago, Double Door
05/28 - Cleveland, Beachland Ballroom
05/29 - Detroit, Magic Stick
06/02 - New York, Bowery Ballroom
06/03 - Boston, Paradise Rock Club
06/04 - Philadelphia, North Star
06/05 - Washington DC, 9:30 Club

And don't forget that they're doing other headlining dates in the US, too. Keep your eyes peeled.

KVLR reports they are just about done with six songs for their new album which they have been working on in the studio with Marcus and Lena from Komeda. The material has been described as "poppy." Next up, they plan to hit the road for awhile after which they'll return to the studio to record the second half of the album. Dates confirmed so far:

05/31 - Umeå @ Scharinska Villan w/Logh
06/12 - (D) Trier, Ex House
06/13 - (D) München, Atomic Cafe
06/16 - (D) Frankfurt, Cookys
06/17 - (D) Marburg, Cafe Trauma
06/18 - (D) Hannover, Bei Chez Heinz
06/19 - (D) Berli, Magnet
06/20 - (D) Hamburg, Molotow
06/21 - (D) Kiel, Kieler Woche (Delta Radio Stage)
06/22 - (DK) Fredericia, Kulturmilitzen

The Klerks' new video for the single "Shame" premieres on Wimans ZTV on Monday April 28. They've also got a couple tourdates lined up for the near future:

04/27 - Göteborg, Chalmers Cortegen
04/29 - Örebro, Festivalborg
05/7 - Växjö, Studentkåren
05/8 - Kalmar, Studentkåren
05/9 - Hässleholm, Perrong 23
05/16 - Borlänge, Borlange

Bad Taste Records has posted an mp3 of the title track from Logh's upcoming EP "The Contractor and the Assassin". Check it out. Again, that'll be out May 5.

Check out the Fireside playing live on MTV Morning Glory. The extra guitarist is apparently Calle Olsson.

The lineup for the comp in honor of the Mjuk i Mössan fest in Emmaboda has just been released. Go to rassle.org for more info. Otherwise, here's the tracklist:

01. Comet Gain - Never die
02. john.wayne.shot.me - Introducing the mechanical reindeer
03. Hank - Table 5 (and eating nachos)
04. Laakso - Sunday night
05. Speedmarket Avenue - You set the terms
06. Talking to Teapots - Me, you, Janie and Drew
07. Sagor & Swing - Popkarusellen
08. La Masa - Min megafon
09. Niccokick - I drink to get thrilled
10. Tullycraft - Miss Douglas county
11. The Radio Dept. - Lean back, lean forward
12. Björns Vänner - Tiden (egentligen "Den enda lögn du har kvar")
13. Surrounded - Exit serenade
14. Florence valentin - Haninge punks
15. Her Majesty - Rules to follow
16. Paris - Tonight
17. Bring me the fucking riot...man - Red wine riot
18. Sonny Crocket - Suppose
19. Dr. Higgins - Den vanliga människan

Misconduct just came back Studio Phlat Planet in Gothenburg with Fredrik Reinedahl (Passenger, In Flames, more) where they were working on their new album. The working title is "Fight Back" and the label describes it as "the best and most varied record Misconduct ever delivered." Also, if you preorder it now you can get a special limited edition digipack before the release date in May with extra songs, video and more. The first 250 orders also get "a Special Gift from the band," whatever that means. And as mentioned a looooong time ago, the band is heading out on the road this summer with NYC hardcore act 25 Ta Life. The dates so far:

06/12 - (GER) Bremen/Wehrschloss
06/13 - (GER) Hannover/Faust
06/14 - (GER) Chemnitz/Talschock
06/15 - (GER) Berlin/Knaack-Klub
06/16 - (GER) Tba
06/17 - (HOL) Tba
06/18 - (HOL) Leuwarden/Gloppe Festival
06/19 - (BEL) tba/tbc
06/20 - (FRA) Straßbourg/La Laterie
06/21 - (FRA) Paris/Street Fest
06/22 - (ESP) St. Feliu de Guixlos
06/23 - tba
06/24 - (POR) Lisbon/Tba
06/25 - (ESP) Madrid/Tba
06/26 - (ESP) Tba
06/27 - (FRA) Perpignan/Crockmore
06/28 - (FRA) Nantes, Hardcore Fury Fest w/Sick of it All, Suicidal, Madball,
06/29 - (FRA) tba
06/30 - (ITA) tba
07/01 - (AUS) Vienna/Arena
07/02 - (AUS) Dornbirn/Conrad Sohm
07/03 - (GER) Eisenach/Crocodiel
07/04 - (GER) Leipzig/Conne Island

Startracks/V2 has a DVD out entitled "Hidden Scenery". It features the video for "All Lovers Hell" from Kristofer Åström along with "How Come Your Arms Are Not Around Me" and "Leaving Song" from a live performance he did in Berlin back in 2002. Other artists on it include Christian Kjellvander, Eskobar plus international acts Grandaddy, Elbow, Mercury Rev and more.

Bear Quartet have been confirmed for the free Pop Dakar music fest May 24 at Gula Villan in Stockholm. Other bands scheduled to play include First Floor Power, Grand Tone Music, Radio Dept., Hell on Wheels, Paris and more.

Here's a track-by-track review of that Finnish psych comp I mentioned yesterday.

Some metal gossip for y'all: Michael Amott of Arch Enemy has revealed that he is indeed romantically involved with frontwoman Angela Gossow. Here's a short response from Angela on the subject. Personally, I could care less, but I guess lots of uptight heshers are upset as evidenced by the comments. Whatever.

"It's Finnish, it's fucked, and it's also of historical import." SF's Aquarius Records has made the comp "Arktinen Hysteria: Suomi-Avantgarden Esipuutarhureita" one of its records of the week. Check out their site for reviews, samples, and mailorder info. Also covered: Ved Buens Ende, 1349 Rykkin, Eturivi and more.

Logh is starting to put together plans for a headlining Scandinavian tour. Here's the dates so far:

5/18 - NOR Porsgrunn, Rockeklubben
5/19 - NOR Oslo, Mono
5/24 - SWE Stockholm, Debaser
6/5 - FIN Turku (Åbo), Elohopeaklubi (Down By The Laituri Festival)

Don't forget their remaining dates with Fireside, too. The new EP "Contractor and the Assassin" comes out May 5 with the full-length album "The Raging Sun" to follow later that month. More info and cover art pics on Logh's site.

Opeth has posted a number of pics from the "Deliverance" and "Damnation" recording sessions. Pretty cool.

Samon & Rourke reviews a couple demos including Ellis The Vacuumchild, whose members include Joel Borg, now also playing bass with my pals KVLR. Mp3s are there for downloading, too.

Hemmalaget.nu has put up a couple tunes for you to preview from Paragon and Ison & Fille. Check it.

The Japanese version of "Someone New" from Eskobar was released last week. It was done together with the Japanese band Natural High. More info. The band is also scheduled to play the Paléo Festival Nyon in Switzerland on July 26. Tickets go on sale April 29 and can be had from here.

Glad Påsk! Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend!

Watch the video for "Long Beach" from Laakso: high / low

Startracks has announced a new signing - their first since picking up the Loosegoats in '96. And the lucky band is Tiger Lou aka Rasmus Kellerman. He used to be in EM/Music By EM, but has now gone solo. His first show ever with a backing band is at Popaganda fest in Stockholm on May 30, but he's also hitting the road by himself:

4/21 - Lübeck D Cafe Brasil
4/22 - Oldenburg D Alhambra w/Karate, One Man and His Droid
4/23 - Hamburg D Molotow w/Me Without You
4/24 - Köln D Underground w/Karate
4/25 - Wolfenbüttel D Juz Harztorwall w/Karate
4/26 - Konzert Geschlossene Veranstaltung
4/27 - Freiburg D KTS w/NRA, Oil
4/28 - TRIER D Ex-Haus
4/29 - Aflenz A Sublime
4/30 - Wien A Shelter w/Karate
5/01 - München D Kafe Kult w/Karate
5/02 - Leverkusen D Pentagon
5/07 - Stockholm S Lava w/Lova and Dexter's Moon

Look for a 4-song EP in May/June. More info here.

For a limited time you can view the new Fireside video for the song "All You Had". Manne Lindvall filmed it and Leif Andree stars. Very entertaining.

Nicolai Dunger has booked himself a couple new gigs around the UK:

5/27 - Nottingham Rescue Rooms w/Matt Elliott (solo)
5/28 - Brighton Albert Inn (solo)
5/29 - London Union Chapel w/The Frames (band)

NorthSide Records has posted mp3s for two new albums that are coming out June 3. First is "Vettoi" (excerpt) from Hedningarna and their new CD "1989-2003", a best-of collection that includes a couple new tracks. Next is "Mikkel Per / Kus Erik" from Frifot's new album "Sluring". If you're curious about tracing the roots of Nordic music, I strongly encourage you the check this stuff out.

Uppsala Hio-hop duo Allied Forces have their debut 12" coming out soon. It'll be called "Ögon I Nacken" and will feature a guest appearance from Highwon and production from Masse.

The Sounds are now booked to play the outdoor stage at Gröna Lund in Stockholm on June 18. The rest of the acts confirmed so far for the venue this summer are:

4/30 - The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Ark, Mando Diao (view poster)
5/9 - Melody Club
5/23 - Dilba vs. Stephen Simmond

In case you weren't already aware, the pop group Alcazar worked together with the Pet Shop Boys to write some new songs. Here's an short interview/article from Expressen on the subject. (in Swedish) Oh, and feel free to catch 'em on tour too:

4/18 - Ö-vik, Parken (S)
4/19 - Höör, Jägersbo (S)
4/23 - Stockholm, Company Party (S)
4/25 - Sälen, HC (S)
5/03 - Sölden, Snowmove (Austria)
5/10 - Amsterdam (NL)
5/15 - Nurnberg (Germany)
5/24 - Jönköping, Rix FM (S)
5/27 - Stockholm, Company Party (S)
5/30 - Umeå, Festen (S)
5/31 - Gislaved, Sigges Loge (S)
6/06 - Stockholm, Gröna Lund (S)
6/07 - Eringsboda Brunn (S)
6/08 - Sätela (S)
6/18 - Neubrandenburg, NDR (Germany)
6/19 - Bad Arolsen, Festival (Germany)
6/26 - Ludvika, City Festival (S)
6/27 - Enköping, City Festival, (S)
6/28 - Klagenfurt, Cityfestival (S)
7/02 - Sundsvall, Gatufesten (S)
7/12 - Tidan, Olstorp (S)
7/18 - Sölvesborg, Hanöhus (S)
7/19 - Bergen, NDR (Germany)
7/25 - Borlänge, Rommehed (S)
7/26 - Sunne, Fryksdalsdansen (S)
7/27 - Eskilstuna, Parken (S)
7/28 - Zurich, Pride (Switzerland)
7/30 - Ellös, Parken (S)
7/31 - Bromölla, Dagarna (S)
8/02 - Stockholm, Pride (S)
8/15 - Paris, NRJ (France)
8/16 - Gothenburg, Liseberg (S)
8/17 - Berlin, NRJ (Germany)
8/30 - Östervåla, Parken (S)
9/06 - Pasewalk, NDR (Germany)
11/01 - Bryssels, Company Party (Begium)

Division of Laura Lee has a new CDS coming out May 26 for the track "Trapped In". B-sides will include the song "44" plus a live version of "Need To Get Some". Read more.

Pitchforkmedia.com has posted a review of Mika Vainio's new album "In the Land of the Blind The One-Eyed Is King". For those that don't know, Vainio is one half of the Finnish duo Pan Sonic.

Cult of Luna has unveiled their new website to match the cover art from the new album "The Beyond".

This year's pre-fest activities for Emmaboda have been cancelled due to organization problems. Here's a translated statement from the people behind the scenes at rassle.org:

Unfortunately we have some bad news. Our decision to run a pre festival fest again this year was taken in haste and we have therefore decided to cancel the event. We apolgise for this but we couldn't do anything about it as organisting it was proving more difficult than anticipated and there is not much we can do about it.

Sweden's best band? That's what Aftonbladet says. Check out these recent Fireside 4-star live reviews from the show at Sticky Fingers in Göteborg: Aftonbladet / Expressen (both in Swedish)

Here's the setlist:

Fernandez must die
All you had
Backwards over germany
Desolator
Follow Follow
Blue Monday (New Order cover)
Throw it away
Kilotin
Jerrico
Problem (to you)
Thing on a spring
Encore:
Sweatbead
Betrayer
Layer

The band will also be appearing on MTV Morning Glory this weekend, so check it out when it airs.

Kalas-touring acts Marit Bergman and Her Majesty have now both been confirmed to play the Popaganda fest in Stockholm on May 29-31. The other two new bands confirmed are Midnight Monkeys and Kaada from Norway.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
02. Jill Johnson - Discography
03. Mauro Scocco - Beat hotel
04. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
05. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
06. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
07. v/a - Fame Factory volym 4
08. The Refreshments - On the rocks
09. Buddaboys - Lost people areas
10. Fireside - Get shot
11. Fernandoz - Vem får din kärlek i natt
12. Roxette - The pop hits
13. Dilba - Revolution
14. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
15. Emil Sigfridsson - Tillbaka till igår
16. The Knife - Deep Cuts
17. Rikard Wolff - Du får mig (om jag får dig)
18. Gloria - People like you and me
19. The Sounds - Living in America
20. Wahlströms - Allt jag vill ha

What are they thinking? Empire Magazine has put out a compilation entitled "Soundtrack of Our Lives" with tracks from artists such as U2, Orbital and Ash. Are they banking on confusion over the name or just totally clueless?

Revolution #9 has announced the creation of a new pop festival to occur this summer on July 18-19 at Bulltoftaparken in Malmö. It will be called the "We & You" fest and they expect to book about 25 bands, though no names have been revealed yet. More details soon.

Here's an interview with Jimmy Tenor in which discusses his new role of fatherhood along with his musical past, present and future. His upcoming tour dates were posted on the 14th.

The good folks at Chalksounds have revealed that they will reissuing Bear Quartet's classic album "Cosy Den" on vinyl this coming September. Keep your eyes peeled.And in even bigger BQ news, the band has announced that will also be putting out a new EP called "All Your Life" in May. Some of the other tracks to be included are"No More School", "Friend Friend" and "Disappearing Act". It was recorded and produced by the ever-so-talented Pelle Gunnerfeldt (Fireside) at his Studio Gröndal. Look for a brand new full length around August.

Denmark's The Alpine will be entering a studio in Sweden shortly to record their second demo. They'll also be playing at Lava/Kulturhuset in Stockholm while over they're there. The band is already receiving regular airplay on Danish P3 radio with the track "Ground Beneath Me" so things are definitely looking up for them. Check em out live, if you are so inclined:

4/18 - Paraplyen, Vejle (DK)
4/26 - Lava/Kulturhuset, Stockholm (S)
5/5 - Stidsholt Ungdomsskole (DK)
5/23 - Skråen, Aalborg (DK)
5/24 - Kulisselageret, Horsens (DK)
5/29-31 - SPOT09 fest, Århus (DK)
6/7 - Cafe' Von Hatten, Randers (DK)
6/25 - Nibe Festival (DK)

This week's Swedish college radio chart (from Dagensskiva):

Leaving the chart:
(05) Shout Out Louds "100 Degrees"
(13) Interpol "Obstacle 1"
(15) Isolation Years "Open Those Eyes"
(17) David & The Citizens "New Direction"
(19) The Kills "Fried My Little Brains"
(20) Komeda "Reproduce"

Slow news day today. What can ya do?

Turbonegro stormed the Troubadour like Vikings on a siege, selling out two shows in under an hour and proving to one and all that all the hype is for good reason -- these guys really are the best band on the planet right now.

Read KNAC.com's entire review of Turbonegro's recent Hollywood show.

Enslaved has announced they will doing two exclusive live shows in April, one in London on the 24th at The Garage with Thus Defiled and one in Oslo at the Rock In on the 25th. In other news, the band has finally confirmed a May 12 release date for the upcoming album "Below the Lights".

Randy will be appearing on P3 Rock tomorrow, April 17 at 10:10pm.

The Sounds have a feature in the May issue of Paper Magazine talking about their experiences in New York hanging out with Melissa Auf Der Maur from Hole and Smashing Pumpkins.

HIM has launched a new UK-based website at www.himonline.tv.

Labrador Records is releasing two limited edition 7" singles on May 5. First up is Douglas Heart, who the label describes as 'dreamcore' or akin to Sigur Rós, Mazzy Star and Stina Nordenstam. Next is The Legends who are said to play "joyful and catchy C-86-motown-punk-pop."

Samson & Rourke just posted a small profile on buzz-band Radio Dept. that you might find interesting. (in Swedish)

The Confusions have apparently signed deals with record labels in Taiwan, China and Japan. No details yet, but I'll keep you updated.

Evergrey are playing a couple of dates around Europe in support of their new album "Recreation Day":

5/9 - Vosselaar (BE), Biebob
5/10 - Rijssen (NL), Lucky
5/11 - Zaandam (NL), Kade
5/12 - Paris (FR), Ellysse Monmartre
5/14 - Hamburg (TY), Markthalle

Expressen is reporting that Jocke Berg (Kent) is working with singer/songwriter Lisa Miskovsky on songwriting for her next album. At least that's what Ola Håkansson of Stockholm Records has told them. We shall see. This would be the follow-up to Lisa's successful self-titled debut album from 2001.

Special feature today on Carpet People! The new album "More Bad Weather Coming Out of the Rain" was released yesterday and I got an mp3 of the first single "A Road Leading into the Sun" for you. Great melancholic pop as only the Swedes can do. Fans of artists such as Hederos & Hellberg should take note - I think you'll dig it. But that's not all! I also have a photo album of pics taken from the record release show last Friday at Scharinska Villan in Umeå. Check it out!

Also coming out soon from Chalksounds is the new single from Soviac. The song comes off the forthcoming album "Triology Sexlife Rodeo Friscotti" and is called "Boogie Woogie", but best of all - it's FREE! I kid you not! Beginning on May 1 you'll be able to download the song plus the artwork from the Chalksounds site. I haven't really heard anything from these guys myself, but I've been told that it's gonna blow some minds. Wait and see, eh?

The kind folk over at Firesideometer.com have posted the very first reviews of the new Fireside album in English. They also review the new Kristofer Åström EP, so check that out, too.

The Caesars have finally confirmed a release date for "39 Minutes of Bliss (In An Otherwise Meaningless World)", their new collection to introduce them to the world outside of Sweden. It'll be out April 22 in the US on Astralworks, April 21 in the UK on Virgin and elsewhere around Europe around the same time, also on Virgin. They've also got a bunch more shows lined up. The dates:

4/16 - UK, London w/80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster, for XFM contest winners.
5/9 - UK, Glasgow Cathouse w/French Kicks
5/10 - UK, York Fibbers w/French Kicks
5/11 - UK, Oxford University w/French Kicks
5/12 - UK, Leicester The Charlotte w/French Kicks
5/13 - UK, London The Garage w/French Kicks
5/14 - UK, Manchester Roadhouse w/French Kicks
5/18 - Austria, Vienna Flex
5/20 - Germany, Hamburg Molotow
5/21 - Germany, Berlin Magnet
5/22 - Germany, Cologne Underground
5/23 - Holland, Utrecht Ekko
5/24 - Holland, Amsterdam Paradiso

Entombed's new label Threeman Recording just put out their very first releases, both Entombed side projects. First up is "Ravenous Murderous", Murder Squad's 2nd album. Expect old-school Swedish death metal ala Bloodbath. Next we have a live album recorded in Finland from The Project Hate who are industrial-flavored metal, if I remember right.

And speaking of Entombed, those guys are still wrapping up work on the new album "Inferno" (produced by PMA Gunnerfeldt of Fireside) but have still found time to do a couple gigs down in South Africa. Check this flier for details.

The Sounds will be filming an appearance for Last Call With Carson Daly on May 10 which will air the following week. They've got a couple gigs lined up in Germany, too:

5/5 - Berlin, Magnet
5/7 - Köln, Gebaeue 9

And as I'm sure you can guess from the Carson Daly appearance, the band will indeed be playing more shows in the States, apparently supporting The Ravonettes for most of em. Here's what I can confirm so far:

5/19 - San Francisco, CA, Bottom of the Hill (headlining)
5/24 - Minneapolis, MN, 7th Street Entry
5/25 - Cudahy, WI, VNUK's Lounge
5/27 - Chicago, IL, Double Door
5/28 - Cleveland, OH, The Beachland Ballroom
5/29 - Detroit, MI, Magic Stick
5/30 - Toronto, Canada, Horseshoe Tavern
6/2 - New York, NY, Bowery Ballroom
6/3 - Boston, MA, Paradise Rock Club
6/4 - Philadelphia, PA, North Star Bar

Christian Kjellvander is playing at Mosebacke in Stockholm on April 29.

Children of Bodom will be doing a couple dates in Sweden later in April:

4/18 - Stockholm/Arenan
4/20 - Göteborg
4/21 - Lund/Mejeriet

The new EP from Jettie entitled "Some Stories We Trust" comes out April 15 on Black Star Foundation who are distributed through Kasual Records. Check 'em out on tour while you're at it:

4/15 - Uppsala - Café Genomfarten
4/16 - Göteborg - Jord
4/17 - Gislaved - Gisleparken
4/18 - Uddevalla - Café Hvidtfeldt
4/19 - Oslo - Café Mono
4/20 - Sandviken - Kungen
4/21 - off
4/22 - Stockholm - Kaffé 44
4/23 - Lund - Smålands Nation
4/24 - Malmö - Blackstar Foundation
4/25 - Trollhättan - ML5
4/26 - Karlstad - HBFG
4/27 - Eskilstuna - Kaka Releaseparty

I neglected to mention it yesterday, but The Confusions will also be heading out on a few more dates besides those Baltic ones I already posted:

05/16 - Underground, Sundsvall, Sweden
06/02 - Underworld, London, UK, TBC
08/11 - Pärnu, Estonia, TBC

Division of Laura Lee has just announced that they will be cancelling their scheduled appearance at the upcoming Coachella Festival along with the additional US dates they had booked around the event. The full statement from singer Per Stalberg:

I'm very sorry to say Division of Laura Lee cancels Coachella festival + additional dates in the U.S.
Due to the fact that I've been suffering from grave throat-infection, coughing for the last three weeks and have been totally feeble in my body. I've been having fever for the last weeks and as I went to the doctor today for the second time in two days he adviced/ordered me to cancel the trip to U.S. as I need to recover from my illness, or this will lead to further injuries & I would seriously risk my health.
I'm indeed very sorry that we need to cancel, not only due to all the fans that bought tickets to our upcoming shows, but also it feels unfortunate towards my band comrades Hakan, Jonas & David, as they also were very excited on coming back to the U.S. on tour & especially excited about Coachella festival, meeting a lot of new people, receiving new vibes.
We'll definitely be back in the U.S. and by this fall we'll record our second album which will turn out to be The master-piece [sic]. Again I'm sorry that we had to cancel the tour, we'll be back soon.
I also want to take the chance & say THANKS to all the people that came out to our shows, bought our records and supported us in amazing letters, emails, phone-calls, live-conversations, it's been the year of my dreams.
We'll recover and come back more powerful than you could ever imagine.
Take care

Earache Records has posted the uncensored 'controversial' video for the song "D.O.A." from The Haunted on their website.

From nubreaks.com via the pHinnweb mailing list:

Riku Pentti aka Infekto comes from Finland, and when I say Finland, I mean right up in the north of Finland where it is bloody cold!. I remember travelling to a gig he was doing where we guested and it was one helluva mission to get there. Bandits on the road ready to rob you. Big ugly bears taking potshots with their paws at passing cars. Police openly taking bribes for you to proceed on your journey. Naked women just dancing in the undergrowth smeared in Marmite... okay, that was all crap, but it still was quite a drive!!!

Read the full interview: www.nubreaks.com/?dir=features/infeat0406&section=infekto_feature. Some interesting discussion on the Finnish electronic music scene, among other things.

.:REVIEWS (04/11)

The Alpine – On feel trips (Supersonic/Sony)
The Alpine sort of remind me of a sub-par version of Blur circa "The Great Escape" in that they play this sort of tongue-in-cheek pop with slick, harmonized vocals – the lead singer's bratty sneer is featured prominently all over the album and is at times, a little grating. Unfortunately, the singer's voice is not the only thing that's grating: the songs themselves are just sort of generic and uninspired which makes for a pretty shaky foundation for the band's somewhat overbearing delivery (I'm mostly referring to the dueling boy/girl vocals and liberal use of silly keyboard settings). My aversion to this album probably has much to do with the cringe-worthy lyrics (for example: "Life is so ironic/it's never what it seems" and "Mom and Dad/got pissed real bad/the day I joined the band"). If you're the kind of person that is easily turned off by bad lyrical content, avoid this album altogether. It's not to say there aren't any high points at all: "Trigger" stands out as one of the few gems in the sense that I could imagine it penetrating Top 40 radio, but I cannot conclusively say that I enjoyed this album.
- Jessica Numsuwankijkul

Envelopes – Demon (Brille/EMI)
With a promiscuous and skew approach, Envelopes hit me right in the gut. If you mixed Talking Heads with early Bob Hund, this is what it would sound like. But the more you listen, the more you discover. With an intact lo-fi sound, these guys attack with catchy melodies and a flawless recording that, to me, can be seen as a reaction on how the record industry sounds today. Cause really, if this record was released 20 years ago, it would be so up-to-date. If you're into the Sarah Records back-catalogue, Pixies and even Laakso, don't miss this record. And do check out the brilliant single "Sister in love" and the recently released single not featured on this record, "Free jazz"! Smart and joyful indiepop that deserves a wider audience. I know I'm hooked!
- Jonas Appelqvist