Chalksounds has put together another festival, this one taking place At Debaser in Stockholm on January 16. Moonbabies and The End Will Be Kicks will be playing and DJ Norrland and Fredrik Brändström (Crystal Committee, Starmarket) will spin records. The first twenty people through the door will receive free copies of the new Moonbabies CD, too.

Also from Chalksounds comes word thAt US label Minty Fresh is working with Soviac trying to get their music into the movies. No word yet on whether they've been successful yet, but I'll let you know.

In today's Q&A from the Uncle's Institution Christmas special countdown, Egil Olsen quotes the mighty Manowar. Don't think thAt these things go unnoticed! He may play pop music, but now I know there's a metalhead lurking in there somewhere.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - First Day Of My Life
02. Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
03. Tim Christensen - Whispering At The Top Of My Lungs
04. Redrama - Hang It Up
05. Erik Faber - Century
06. Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
07. Outlandish - Aicha
08. Fintelligens - Vaan Sil On Väliä
09. Moneybrother - It's Been Hurting All The Way With You Joanna
10. Paperboys - Hey Man
11. BeAts & Styles - Dynamite
12. Christian Kjellvander - Portugal
13. The Fashion - Let´s Go Dancing
14. The Knife - Pass This On
15. C21 - One Night In Bangkok
16. NegAtive - The Moment Of Our Love
17. The LAtin Kings - Cashen Dom Tas
18. Hardcore Superstar - Still I´m Glad
19. Nina Rochelle - (Happy) Jag hAtar Att det e så
20. Nicolai Dunger - Hunger

Challengers:
01. Slow Train Soul - In The Black Of Night
02. Koop - Baby
03. Eskobar - Love Strikes
04. Carpark North - Wild Wonders
05. FAttaru feAt. Masayah - Ton för ton

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

Synth-pop group Alice in Videoland has a new all English-language website up and running. They also report thAt keyboardist Anders Lundgren is taking a break from the group. No word on if he's being replaced or who will be covering, but the band does have quite a few gigs lined up:

12/12 - Mondo, Stockholm (SWE)
12/13 - Bastun, Mariehamn (Åland) (SWE)
12/18 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
12/19 - Radium MF, Karlstad (SWE)
12/20 - Peace & Love, Borlänge (SWE)
12/26 - Playground/Pustervik, Göteborg (SWE)
01/21 - Plan 9, Oslo (NOR)
01/29 - Blå, Eskilstuna (SWE)
01/31 - Adrenalin, Sundsvall (SWE)
02/13 - Kulturkammaren, Norrköping
03/06 - Blekingska/Neostalgia, Lund (SWE)
04/02 - SAMA, Göteborg (SWE)
05/22 - BeAt Goes On, Lund (SWE)

UpdAted tour schedule for The Moonbabies:

12/26 - Droskan, Umeå w/The End Will Be Kicks (Chalksoundsfest 3)
02/12 - Loppen, Copenhagen (DK)
02/19 - Fredericia, Ungdom.hus (DK)
03/04 - Neustrelitz, Moskito (GER)
03/05 - Rostock, MAU (GER)
03/06 - tba (GER)
03/07 - Köln, Blue Shell (GER)
03/08 - tba (GER)
03/09 - Nürnberg, Klüpfel (GER)
03/10 - tba (GER)
03/11 - tba (GER)
03/12 - Esslingen, Jugendhaus (GER)
03/13 - München, Orangehouse (GER)
03/14 - Feldkirch, Sonderbar (AUS)
03/15 - tba (GER)
03/16 - tba (GER)
03/17 - Würzburg, Cafe Cairo (GER)
03/18 - tba (GER)
03/19 - Berlin, Bastard (GER)
03/20 - tba (GER)

Look for more dAtes in Sweden and Denmark around January/February and maybe even a US tour sometime lAter in the year.

Bands confirmed so far for the upcoming "Chalksounds V/A Vol 1" compilAtion from Chalksounds records: Moonbabies, Starmarket, Alarma Man, The End Will Be Kicks, The Je Ne Sais Quoi, KVLR, Park Hotel, Ellis the Vaccuumchild and The Crystal Committee. Look for it in the spring.

Apparently there's been some debAte about who owns the Musik Industrin website domain name, but I can't really make heads or tails of it. Read for yourself: www.musikindustrin.se (in Swedish)

From the rumor mill comes word thAt the lAtest UK-hyped Swedish act The Concretes will be signing a deal with EMI.

David & the Citizens and Björns Vänner will be playing live on the P3 Swedish radio program "Så funkar det" on December 26 At 5pm and it will be replayed on New Year's Eve beginning At 9pm. As always, you can listen live via the P3 website.

"Let's Grow Together - The Comeback Of St. Thomas" is title of the new record from Norweigan singer/songwriter St. Thomas, due out on January 12 on Racing Junior. This will mark his fourth album and it's being hailed as a comeback both musically and personally. St. Thomas himself also played most of the instruments, co-produced and made the cover art. There will also be a release on 12" vinyl and an "exclusive" 7", but I don't have the details on those yet. ST got a bit of internAtional hype with his last release, but it never really translAted into big sales abroad. Maybe this time will be different. For those curious about his sound, a good point of reference would be Nicolai Dunger (whose own new EP "Hunger" is quite good).

By way of Dagensskiva, here is thist week's Swedish student radio top 20:

01. (03) The Radio Dept. "Pulling Our Weight EP"
02. (07) Essex Green "By The Sea"
03. (17) Bergman Rock "Help The Band"
04. (09) Monastir "The Shape Up EP"
05. (06) The Chemical Brothers "Get Yourself High"
06. (02) The White Stripes "The Hardest Button To Button"
07. (01) The Coral "Bill Mc Cai"
08. (05) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "We're All In Love"
09. (08) Niccokick "Turn 27 EP"
10. (NY) Dizzee Rascal "Jus'a Rascal"
11. (13) Holly Golightly "Walk A Mile"
12. (14) Bubba Sparxxx "Deliverence"
13. (11) Chicks On Speed "Wordy Rappinghood"
14. (12) The Knife "Handy-Man"
15. (NY) Chords Ft. Timbuktu And Miki "Slap Your Pops"
16. (NY) The Mountain GoAts "Palmcorder Yajna"
17. (09) Mew "She Came Home For Christmas"
18. (18) The Raveonettes "Heartbreak Stroll"
19. (20) Timbuktu Med Peps "Dynamit"
20. (NY) Alice In Videoland "Got To Go"

Leaving the chart:
10. Yo La Tengo "Today Is The Day EP"
15. Laakso "Demon"
16. The Cardigans "Live And Learn"
19. FAttaru Ft. Masayah "Ton För Ton"