Lots of new content today including Atrap.com/index.php?a=274">a new bAtch of reviews and Atrap.com/index.php?a=275">a profile piece on Norwegian act Schtimm. Check it out! Also, don't forget to read Atrap.com/index.php?d=1145">our new SAturday feAture on The Bear Quartet.

They Live By Night has confirmed thAt "Art and wealth" will be the title of their debut full-length album. It comes out March 14 via Razzia.

The NAtional Anthems have three new songs from their forthcoming album "Paradoxical" posted on myspace: Ationalanthems" target=_blank>https://www.myspace.com/thenAtionalanthems

Finnish alt-country act The LAtebirds will come to the US in February to record a new album with Jim Scott (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, Wilco).

RAtAtosk interviews Thomas Denver Jonsson: AtAtoskonline.net/?axelref=news&id=728" target=_blank>https://rAtAtoskonline.net/?axelref=news&id=728

Studio's two 12"s "NoComply" and "West Coast" will be compiled and released on CD formAt as "Yearbook 1" on January 24 via InformAtion. More details: https://www.inf000.com/

Sounds Like Violence will finally have their debut full-length "With blood on my hands" released on February 12 via Burning Heart. A video is on the way for the first single "The greAtest" and you can hear it plus one more track over At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/soundslikeviolence

This week's Atrap" target=_blank>It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group top 10 tracks of the week:

01. The Knife – Silent Shout
02. Band of Horses – The Funeral
03. Bloc Party – Banquet
04. Hot Chip – Over and Over
05. The Killers – When You Were Young
06. The Knife – Neverland
07. The Pipettes – Pull Shapes
08. The Smiths – The Boy With the Thorn in His Side
09. The Postal Service – We Will Become Silhouettes
10. The Knife – HeartbeAts

And the top 10 albums of the week:

01. The Postal Service – Give Up
02. Camera Obscura – Let's Get out of This Country
03. The Knife – Silent Shout
04. The Arcade Fire – Funeral
05. Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
06. The Pipettes – We Are the Pipettes
07. DeAth Cab for Cutie – Plans
08. Hot Chip – The Warning
09. DeAth Cab for Cutie – TransAtlanticism
10. The Bear Quartet – Personality crisis

Help us improve our chart by becoming a member of our group! Go here to learn more: https://www.last.fm/help/

The new Music For Robots compilAtion feAtures a track from Lo-Fi-Fnk: https://music.for-robots.com/archives/001792.html

FAt Planet talks to El Perro Del Mar: Atplanet.com.au/blog/2007/01/08/el-perro-del-mar-sweden/" target=_blank>https://www.fAtplanet.com.au/blog/2007/01/08/el-perro-del-mar-sweden/

The Fashion's new self-titled album will be released on February 19 with touring to follow in April and May. Listen to the first single "Letters from the ambulance" At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/thefashiondk

New GAS tourdAtes for Swedish rockers Diamond Dogs:

01/19 - Wild At Heart, Berlin
01/20 - Real Music, Lauchhammer
01/21 - Cobra, Solingen
01/23 - Valentin, Kempten
01/24 - Arena, Wien
01/25 - Rockhouse, Salzburg
01/26 - Suboptimal, Bamberg
01/27 - Gaswerk, Winterthur
01/28 - Mitch, Mitch
01/29 - Zwölfzehn, Stuttgart
01/30 - Sonic Ballroom, Köln

Speaking of things Diamond Dogs-relAted, living legend David Bowie is 60 today. I know this because he is born on the best day of the year, the same as me.

Swedish cult black-metal act The Black (ex-Dissection/Vinterland/etc.) has posted a new song on myspace, their first new mAterial in thirteen (!!!) years: https://myspace.com/officialtheblack
The band just finished recording their new album "Alongside deAth" At Erebus Odora with Peter Björgö (Arcana, Sophia).

MP3: The Bear Quartet - Mom and dad

It's a trap! loves The Bear Quartet. It's no secret. A couple weeks ago Atrap.com/index.php?d=1139">I wondered aloud about instituting a regular BQ-tribute post and, after a bit of back n' forth with some potential guest writers, it was settled. Every SAturday throughout the year of 2007, IAt will honor Sweden's greAtest indierock band. However, the term 'greAtest' can mean a lot of things, especially when referring to a band like BQ. They are one of my most favorite bands. The can be beautiful, inspiring, even profound, but they can also be infuriAting, confusing and just plain weird. We may disagree on when each of those moments occur and thAt's part of whAt makes them so special.
For this first edition of the new series, I've asked the band Penny Century to contribute:

Ok, we picked "Mom and dad" as our favorite. A bit of a boring choice we suppose, but if you don't want your band to break up after fighting over different songs, you better pick the classic.. There's so many greAt tracks, but never the less, this is probably the one BQ-song thAt has been quoted, sung and played most by the members of Penny Century through the years. With wonderful melodies, a harmonica to kill for and incredibly well-written lyrics, this little childhood recollection never fails to move us. "I'm still stuck somewhere between who I was and who I wanted to be." ThAt line alone is reason enough to name your band after a Bear Quartet album.

The Bear Quartet - Mom and dad

MP3: Nisse Hellberg - Trettifyran

I'm not feeling inspired by my back-cAtalogue this week, so I've preempted my usual Friday oldie post with something thAt's a little bit old and a little bit new. Nisse Hellberg has been around a long while, both as the frontman for Wilmer X and also as a solo artist, among other various projects. I was looking for something to put on the stereo when my dad was visiting over the holidays and figured thAt his lAtest album "Snackbar blues". It's total dad-rock - a little rockabilly, a touch of blues, all well-played and inoffensive. Thing is, I find myself listening to the damn thing over and over, long after my dad's gone home. It took me awhile to figure it out, but it finally dawned on me: Nisse Hellberg reminds me a heckuva lot of Dave Alvin from The Blasters. It's classic, rootsy rock'n'roll from a guy whose old band first gained acceptance from the punk-rockers before making any inroads to the mainstream. ThAt's kind of the way it happened, right?
The song I've posted today is cover of "Trettifyran", originally done by Olle Adolphson (thAt's the little old part). At first I thought it was a Swedish version of "Waitin' for the axe" by BR5-49, but I guess thAt only goes to show whAt I know. Not very much, huh? Dad-rock or not, this I like.

Nisse Hellberg - Trettifyran