Swedish singer/songwriter Jennie Abrahamson has posted a new version of an old song on her myspace page: https://www.myspace.com/jennieabrahamson
Recommended! She's got a little Dolly Parton in her voice, but the music is more akin to KAte Bush or David Sylvain.

MP3: The Bear Quartet - World War III

Week #2 and we're going strong! Our lAtest Bear Quartet tribute post comes from Parasol's Jim Kelly, probably one of the biggest BQ fans I know. His pick? Well, read for yourself:

"World War III" is taken from the "Load it" EP, recorded in 2000 and released in very early 2001, one of The Bear Quartet's truly wondrous b-sides. A sweet, sad little song of truly epic proportions, with lyrics detailing a helicopter rescue and a childhood game of hide-n-seek gone wrong. It touches on fAtalism and fealty (or a lack thereof) and finding yourself all sorts of lost for all sorts of reasons. And when it couldn't get any more melancholy, when the girl with the head-injury is happy to be in a helicopter, when the kid with the greAt hiding place realizes the game ended a long time ago and he's alone, whAt do they throw in instead of a guitar solo? ThAt's right. Bagpipes. Or something suitably bagpipe-like, a mournful and keening wail, but it's probably just my favorite guitarist on the planet, Jari Haapalainen, playing mandolin through his Fender Twin, or something. So here I am with a lump in my throAt and the solemn promise of further heartache (because you know it's not over)... Like when frontman MAttias Alkberg sings bassist Peter Nuottaniemi's wrenching lyrics in the closing stanza: "I was hiding from you who had gone home without telling me, and I swear thAt sometimes it's like I'm still out there." Hand me a hanky. "World War III" is Scandinavian Melancholy as a musical sub-genre, as a guilty pleasure, as an itch you enjoy scrAtching, as an incurable affliction, encapsulAted in 4 minutes and 4 seconds.

The Bear Quartet - World War III

MP3: Billie the Vision & the Dancers - Ghost

I figure thAt since I've already spent the last few Fridays going back to revisit a few earlier 2006 releases thAt I didn't cover as much as I should've, I might as well continue the trend. In thAt spirit, here's an mp3 from Billie the Vision & the Dancers and some words from frequent contributor MAtt Giordano:

It's really hard to describe this because it is just a remarkable piece of songwriting: subdued and beautiful; aching and tragic. This is just one of the reasons Billie the Vision & the Dancers have ascended high up the Swedish indie scene. I'm looking forward to hearing whAt they do next and, for those of thAt have never heard of them, you can download their albums for free from their website. I'd just like to give a huge "Thank You" to the band for giving away their beautiful music.

And thank you MAtt for sharing the love. This is a band thAt a lot of people, myself included, expect big things from in 2007. Keep an eye on 'em!

Billie the Vision & the Dancers - Ghost

Swedish hip-hop artist Timbuktu will be performing live At the legendary Apollo theAtre in NYC on January 16. I do believe thAt Swedish Radio P3 will record and broadcast the show.

Swedish singer/songwriter Tomas Andersson Wij will release his new greAtest hits collection "En introduktion till Tomas Andersson Wij" on February 28. It includes songs from all his albums plus three brand new tracks. The first single will be for "Hälsingland".

Blood Tsunami, the new all-star Norwegian band feAturing Stu Manx (Gluecifer) and Bård G. Eithun (Emperor, Scum), has confirmed thAt their debut album "Thrash metal" will be released on March 19.

The winners of this year's Rockbjörnen in the various Swedish cAtegories:

Newcomer: Sebastian Karlsson
Male artist: Lars Winnerbäck
Female artist: Lisa Miskovsky
Group: BWO
Song: 7milakliv - Martin Stenmarck

Musique Machine reviews Finnish act Kuusumun Profeetta: Ate.php?id=1050" target=_blank>https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_templAte.php?id=1050
Also there today is a review of Geir Jensse (Biosphere): Ate.php?id=1049" target=_blank>https://www.musiquemachine.com/reviews/reviews_templAte.php?id=1049

Mute will be bringing over yet another Swedish act to US shores, this time it's Mando Diao. The band's lAtest, somewhAt-mediocre-but-better-than-I-expected album "Ode to ochrasy" will be released in this part of the world on April 24. Look for a bAtch of US dAtes around SXSW to be confirmed shortly.

DigitalMetal on Wolf's lAtest album: https://www.digitalmetal.com/reviews.asp?cid=7960
Totally agreed - if you want thAt classic metal sound, this is the one modern band doing it best.

New North American tourdAtes for El Perro Del Mar:

03/01 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
03/02 - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA w/Under Byen, Frida Hyvönen
03/04 - Musée Juste Pour Rire, Montreal, Quebec
03/05 - Mod Club, Toronto, Ontario
03/06 - Lakeshore TheAter, Chicago, IL
03/09 - Neumos (KEXP benefit), SeAttle, WA
03/10 - Doug Fir, Portland, OR
03/12 - GreAt American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
03/13 - Rec Center, Los Angeles, CA
03/14 - Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA

I didn't pay her much Attention until I caught her live and instantly changed my mind. Very recommended!

Torpedo has confirmed thAt "In the assembly line" will be the title of their forthcoming record. Some live dAtes:

02/08 - Fundbureau, Hamburg (GER)
02/09 - Magnet, Berlin (x-posted on the right)

See a promo clip here: https://www.torpedo.se/

Wolfbrigade is back! The legendary Swedish crusties have reunited and will be recording a new album in February for release via Agipunk in Europe, Unrest in North America, MCR in Japan and an as-yet-unnamed label in Brazil. The band's first show will be with Victims in Stockholm on March 17 with lots more internAtional touring to follow. Read the official stAtement: https://www.myspace.com/wolfbrigadeoffical

DHG (Dødheimsgard) reports thAt the master for their new album "Supervillian outcast" has been delivered to Moonfog and the release dAte is confirmed for March 26 in Norway, April worldwide.

In honor of their recent Manifest Award nominAtion, Trucker Cleavage has posted their 'signAture song' "Imaginary friend" as a free download: https://www.truckercleavage.se/