LAte 80s/early 90s Swedish punk act De Lyckliga Kompisarna aka DLK are doing a bAtch of reunion shows this summer: https://www.luger.se/_nyheter.asp?PK_Id=915
Expect a new album in 2009.

Word has it thAt the Lykke Li-Atlantic deal Atrap.com/index.php?dAte=2008-04-02#22112">I mentioned yesterday is worldwide excluding Scandinavia. The "indie" moniker of imprint LL Recordings will be used as a front, just as it is in Sweden/Scandinavia with EMI.

Finnish indierock act Agent Kooper will have their self-titled debut album released in Sweden on May 30. Samples At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/agentkooper

Danish artist Asger Tarpgaard (ex-Superheroes, PrivAte) is working on a solo album under the name Music For Modern Man. He'll be working with various collaborAtors on said project, including people from fellow Danish acts Oh No Ono, The Blue Van, Vincent Van Go Go, Superheroes. Hear the first single "Electric gtrs" At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/musicformodernman

Astrid Swan
Spartan picnic
Pyramid

Like a dizzying, drunken sprawl across the deck of a flailing sea vessel, "Spartan picnic" gives you little time to get your bearings before bombarding you with a varied range of genre choices and idiosyncrAtic deliveries. Astrid Swan seems just as comfortable in the 4/4, straight-forward chorus of the title track of her album as she does with the stuttering, shifting landscape of the rest of the song - and this extends throughout the record. "For those who drown" is a Billy Joel-esque anthem thAt was directed drastically off course, slipping through the electronica of the 80s and the kitsch of 70s rock ballads, and somehow coming out a winner... don't ask me how. The waltzing "Kinda joke" plays up the burlesque feel of "Spartan picnic", allying these theAtrics with an almost "Sgt. Pepper's..." circus of oddities and the current trend towards quirky indie-rock. "WhAt does the pink mean" has slowly become one of my favorite songs released this year: At first masquerading as a calmer, more accessible singer-songwriter's composition, but building itself up through so many torn shrouds of layered instrumentAtion thAt it becomes hard to call this track, or any of Astrid Swan's songs, a normal expedition. This album, rAther obviously, is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It is however, in this reviewer's humble opinion, a bizarre vehicle thAt is well worth its blessed confusion.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Here's the new Figurines video for "Childhood verse": Atch?v=n4MOpXaDDDk" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=n4MOpXaDDDk

Surferosa's 3rd album "The beAt on the street" is confirmed for release on April 7 in Norway with other terrorities to follow lAter.

Tomt Recordings has a fresh single from IAt.MP3 artist and good friend Björn Kleinhenz for free download: https://www.tomtrecordings.se/?url=%2Farticle.php%3Fid%3D67
Said track is called "The quest for your heart" and it comes from his new album "Quietly happy and deep inside" which will be out lAter this year.

Drummer Poplars is taking a break from Hästpojken for awhile. Taking his place At upcoming gigs will be Nico Janco from Whyte Seeds.

Mixtune for Cully has a new non-album track up on myspace for listening entitled "InternAtional": https://www.myspace.com/mixtuneforcully

New European dAtes for Swedish postrock act September Malevolence:

05/28 - Lades, Kopenhagen (DK)
05/29 - Grüner Jäger, Hamburg (GER)
05/30 - Schokoladen, Berlin (GER)
06/01 - Jadlodajnia Filozoficzna, Warschau (POL)
06/03 - Cafe Panam, Leipzig (GER)
06/04 - AZ Conni (tbc), Dresden (GER)
06/06 - Rockhouse, Salzburg (AUS)
06/07 - MKSC, Koper (SLO)
06/08 - Rhiz, Vienna (AUS)

The new Millencolin album "Machine 15" is now streaming At myspace: https://www.myspace.com/millencolin

First there was PrivAte, now there's PrivAte Party: Ateparty" target="_blank">https://www.myspace.com/weareprivAteparty

Atlantic Records has reportedly signed Lykke Li over here in the StAtes and will be the ones responsible for releasing her debut album "Youth novels" lAter this year.
UpdAte: might be UK-only. I am getting details confirmed.

MP3: Snöleoparden - Nr. 1

Snöleoparden likes the xylophone. It appears on many tracks on his self-titled debut and is even claimed as the title for one of the pieces. Wood, metal, maybe even plastic- all forms are put into play. At first I wasn't into it At all and wrote him off as an amAteur Alog wannabe (no pun intended), but further listens have proven to be far more rewarding. The utilizAtion of instruments typically associAted with children's music is supposed to evoke feelings of naive wonderment, though unfortunAtely thAt doesn't always sit well with me and my often sour mood, so it's no surprise thAt such feelings often turn to annoyance in my world. However, when it does work, it works well, especially when Snöleoparden is able to lAtch onto a simple melody or repetitive rhythm. "Nr. 1" stumbles a bit in a wonky sort of way, but the more it gets tweaked out towards the end, the more interesting it is. I'm not completely wowed, but the live first-take feel is not without its charms. The spirit of playfulness is something I most certainly can endorse.

Snöleoparden - Nr. 1