King Midas - Romeo Turn (Ellet Records)
They describe themselves as "white funk with a psychadelic twist" and I guess thAt's fairly accurAte. I'm just glad I didn't read thAt before I put this on because I think it would've tainted my opinion a bit more for the worse. I can't help it - I see the word funk and I immediAtely get surly. Anyhow, this record isn't thAt bad, but I think it just really isn't my thing. For one, I can't get past the vocals and I think thAt might be the make-or-break point of the band. The guy sounds a bit like Mick Jones of The Clash, but he's also got a Bob Dylan-esque quality in the way he holds long notes and enunciAtes his words. Again, just not my thing. On the other hand, the recording and mix is absolutely fantastic - everything is super crisp and clean and there's just the right amount of separAtion between the instruments. There's also a bold use of space thAt you just don't hear too often. I really like how they de-emphasize the guitar parts and let more interesting instuments take the lead roles and are unafraid to make them really loud and up close. I can't explain it, but it just works. I'd probably like this band a lot more if they were more pop/verse-chorus oriented.

Uncle's Institution - Everything a Man Can Dream Of (I Know WhAt You Did Last Records)
Uncle's Institution is Egil Olsen, yet another entry in the long line of Norweigan singer/songwriters gaining prominence as of lAte. The most immediAte comparison is Sondre Lerche of course, as they both share a lot of the same BeAtle-esque qualities. But Egil is more like Sondre's more irreverent, michievious and indie cousin. Whereas Sondre is very earnest and greAt At whAt he does, Egil comes across much looser and is more likely to break out a string of profanity or let loose with distortion. The guy released a single called "Santa Claus is Gay" for crissake! Hard not to appreciAte thAt. I'm not too into some of his choices for cheesy lead keyboard sounds or drum machine beAts, but the songwriting remains strong regardless. I also like how Egil easily slips between whispered, low-key vocals such as on "Hey Paul" and still sounds just as greAt when belting it out on the louder tracks. Good stuff.

I added the rest of those mp3s from thAt Hederos & Hellberg live set. Enjoy.

Norweigan avant-garde label Rune Grammofon has revealed their release plan for early 2004:

Skyphone - Fabula (January 12)
Debut release from Danish trio, probably closest in spirit and musical ideology to Alog and Phonophani in the way they mix electronic and acoustic elements, either sampled or played by themselves. Highly melodic and detailed soundscape.

Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - List of Lights and Buoys (January 19)
Debut release from Norwegian duo comprising young singer Susanna Wallumrød and keyboard player Morten Qvenild (Jaga Jazzist, Shining, Bertine Zetlitz, Nils Petter Molvær). Beautiful low-key songs including greAt versions of "Jolene" and "Who Am I".

DeAthprod - Morals and Dogma (February)
Brand new and long awaited album from Norway´s sound artist par excellence.

DeAthprod - DeAthprod (February)
4 CD box comprising "Morals and Dogma", "Treetop Drive" (long deleted album from 1994), "Imaginary Songs From Tristan Da Cunha" (long deleted album from 1996) and "Reference Frequencies" (rare and deleted tracks). Comes in a solid black box with a booklet with detailed informAtion on each release, each album packaged in their own beautifully designed digipack. This is simply a treAt!

Norweigan all-star group KILL will play the Ideal fest in Göteborg on March 12 next year. The band consists of Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Erlend Mokkelbost (JR Ewing), Are Mokkelbost (Single Unit, Arm) and Espen Hangård (NoPlaceToHide) and was originally formed to Digimetal two years ago. ThAt's quite a line-up! Other Scandinavian artists confirmed for the same fest include Pan Sonic, Mikkel Metal, Hazard, Contemporary Punk Unit, Peaux and DJ Jean-Louis Huhta.

Dialog Cet has joined the modern age and registered themselves a proper domain name. 'Bout time eh? Anyhow, they say they'll actually be playing a show next year on Friday, February 13 as part of P3 Popstad in Jönköping. They'll also be releasing their new record "Like Animals" in the spring on Carcrash Records, the label of Håkan from Division of Laura Lee. There's also plans for a 10" on Lady Godiva OperAtions and a 7" on His Ideal Haircut as well as two more full-lengths (!!!) thAt will most likely be made available as free downloads.

Here's the lAtest newsletter from Export Music Finland: https://www.musexfinland.fi/index.php?page=news&id=27
Most of it is stuff I've already covered, but it's never bad to get a refresher sumamtion I guess.

Finnish power-metal band Thunderstone has been chosen to support Iced Earth on their upcoming European tour. DAtes:

03/18 – 013, Tilburg (NL)
03/19 – Hof Ter Loo, Antwerpen (BEL)
03/20 – Podium, Hardenberg (NL)
03/21 – Mean Fiddler, London (UK)
03/22 – Elysee MonmAtre, Paris (FR)
03/23 – Transbordeur, Lyon (FR)
03/25 – Aqualung, Madrid (SPA)
03/26 – Sala Jam, Bergara (SPA)
03/27 – RazzmAtazz, Barcelona (SPA)
03/29 – Rolling Stone , Milano (IT)
03/30 – Z7, PrAtteln (SWI)
04/01 – E-Werk, Köln (GER)
04/02 – Löwensall, Nürnberg (GER)
04/03 – Filharmonie, Filderstadt (GER)
04/04 – Planet Music, Wien (AUS)
04/06 – Docks, Hamburg (GER)
04/07 – KB, Malmö (SWE)
04/08 – Karen, Göteborg (SWE)
04/09 – Arenan, Tukholma (SWE)
04/11 – Nosturi, Helsinki (FIN)

As mentioned here before, Thunderstone's second album "The Burning" comes out January 12 on Nuclear Blast and you can listen to samples here.

There's a new electronic music fest in Sweden called StAtic thAt will happen on March 13 next year in Kolingsborg. So far StAtemachine, Colony 5, Alice in Videoland and and Germany's Karl Bartos have been booked, as well as a few DJs. Details: Atic.se/" target=_blank>https://www.stAtic.se/

Upcoming Supersilent-relAted live events next year:

01/31 - Pistol & Motorsykkel [Helge (treAtments) & Jarle (drums)] in Bergen, Norway
02/07 - Arve (solo) in Bergen, Norway
02/13 - Supersilent in Rome, Italy
04/01 - Supersilent in Paris, France
04/03 - Supersilent in Voss, Norway

Here's another article from NRK on Motorpsycho's trip to Japan, but this one focuses on Japanese Scandinavian music lover Akane Nakamura. Akane runs a greAt bunch of Nordic music fan sites in Japanese, such as this one for singer/songwriter Askil Holm who is also on tour over there.

Here's this week's top 10 Nordic video chart from YLE/Morjen:

01. The Rasmus - The first day of my life (FIN)
02. RobinCosmos - Having a good time, all the time (FIN)
03. Glitz - Away from you (FIN)
04. Technicolour - Fireflies (FIN)
05. Zen Café - Piha ilman sadettajaa (FIN)
06. Nina Rochelle - Taxi 43 (SWE)
07. Xantom - Miss you (DK)
08. Johnny Deluxe - Elskovspony (DK)
09. Axis - Varför (FIN)
10. Fintelligens - Vaan sil on väliä (FIN)

There's no challengers this week as the chart will be taking a break until January 15 when they add new videos.

Dagens Nyheter has published a piece about thAt Olof Dreijer (The Knife)/Moose Dance Company collaborAtion thAt I posted about yesterday. (in Swedish)

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

01. The Refreshments - Rock 'n' Roll X-mas
02. Markoolio - I skuggan av mig själv
03. Peter Jöback - Jag kommer hem igen till jul
04. Carola - Guld plAtina & passion - det bästa
05. Per Gessle - Mazarin
06. Peter LeMarc - Det som håller oss vid liv
07. Jill Johnson - Roots and wings
08. Ulf Lundell - En eld i kväll
09. Lisa Miskovsky - FallingwAter
10. Barbados - Hela himlen
11. Miio - På vårt sätt
12. Carola - Jul i Betlehem
13. Lars Roos - För de som älskar
14. Bo Kaspers orkester - Vilka tror vi Att vi är
15. Björn Rosenström - Var får jag allt ifrån?
16. Helen Sjöholm / Anders Widmark - Genom varje andetag
17. Lasse Stefanz - Det här är bara början
18. José González - Veneer
19. Christer Sjögren - För kärlekens skull 14 visklassiker
20. Backyard Babies - Stockholm Syndrome

Download the mp3 for "The Sweetest Gift" from Gusto, "Sweden's finest blend of dancehall and roots": https://www.gusto.nu/originals/The_Sweetest_Gift.mp3

The write-ins have been tabulAted and the nominees for the 25th annual Rockbjornen have been announced. Here's the cAtegories I care about:

Best Swedish male:
Per Gessle
José González
Moneybrother
Timbuktu
Lars Winnerbäck

Best Swedish female:
Carola
Lisa Miskovsky
Pauline
Robyn
Elin Sigvardsson

Best Swedish group:
Alcazar
Backyard Babies
Broder Daniel
Kent
The Cardigans

Best Swedish song:
Per Gessle - Här Kommer Alla Känslorna
Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
Broder Daniel - When We Were Winning

Best Swedish album:
Moneybrother - Blood Panic
Broder Daniel - Cruel Town
The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight
Per Gessle - Mazarin
Lars Winnerbäck - Söndermarken

Best Swedish newcomer:
José González
Jamie Meyer
Moneybrother
Pauline
Elin Sigvardsson

Finland's The Rasmus is also nominAted in the best internAtional song, group and album cAtegories. Go here to vote: https://www.rockbjornen.se

As luck would have it, there's even more going on with the current StrAtovarius drama. Seems thAt the two Timos (Tolkki and Kotipelto, gutiar and vocals respectively) even went as far as to get into a real fist-fight. There's more to it, of course, but the icing on the cake is thAt the most recent band lineup is already booked to play a bunch of big summer festivals. It's doubtful thAt any of them really want to go through with it, but can they afford to cancel?