CAt5 are currently in the studio working on a new record.

Håkon Gebhardt from Motorpsycho/HGH has put together another Norwegian supergroup under the name Rock Furore. The core band feAtures Anders Møller (Euroboys, My Midnight Creeps), CAto Thomassen (CAto Salsa Experience), Øyvind Osa (El Caco), Marcus Forsgren (The Lionheart Brothers) and Anne Lise Frøkedal (Harry's Gym) and will be performing a special show At ChAteau Neuf in Oslo on September 8 for the 25th anniversary of Norsk Rockforbunds and will feAture even more special guests. For more tourdAtes and details, go here: https://www.musikknyheter.no/news/2843

Norwegian indie/electronic/shoegaze act Syme will travel to North America for a few dAtes in October:

10/05 - POP Montreal, Musebox Showcase, Montreal
10/09 - The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
10/11 - TT The Bear, Boston, MA
10/14 - The Khyber, Philadelphia, PA
10/18 - CMJ Music MarAthon, Musebox Showcase, NYC

Hear samples: https://www.myspace.com/symenorway

Karisma Records has signed Norwegian electronica act Kaptein Kaliber and will be releasing their new album "Hjelp" in November. For those unaware (like me), Kaptein Kaliber feAtures John Hegre (Jazkammer) and Jørgen Træen aka Sir Duperman (Duper Studio, Toy, etc). You can hear a sample tune At myspace, but the pics speak louder: https://www.myspace.com/kapteinkaliber

Hybris has signed their first non-Swedish band Rubies: https://hybrism.blogspot.com/2007/09/hybris-welcomes-rubies.html
Which is not to say it isn't At least somewhAt Scandinavian relAted, as a cast of Swedish and Norwegian all-stars will be appearing on the album.

DiBaba has posted some new remix mAterial for downloading: https://www.dibaba.com/?page_id=12

OT: Swedish director Lukas Moodysson ("Fucking Åmål", "Lilja 4-ever", etc.) has enlisted Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal to star in "Mammoth", his first English-language feAture. Read more: https://www.thelocal.se/8406/

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Moneybrother - Mount pleasure
02. Timo Räisänen - Love will turn you around
03. Eva Dahlgren - En blekt blondins ballader
04. Lasse Stefanz - Vagabond
05. Povel Ramel - Karameller - Det bästa med Povel Ramel
06. Torsson - Det fjärde bästa bandet i Lund
07. Abalone Dots - From a safe distance
08. Markoolio - Värsta PlAttan
09. Sonja Aldén - Till dig
10. Sahara Hotnights - WhAt if leaving is a loving thing
11. Per Gessle - En händig man
12. Nils Landgren Funk Unit - Licence to funk
14. Cajsastina Åkerström - Visor från förr & nu
15. Roland Cedermark - Mirandas dröm
16. Lars Demian - Välkommen hit
17. Ted Gärdestad - För kärlekens skull - Det bästa med
18. The Ark - Prayer for the weekend
19. Magnus Carlsson - Live forever - The album
20. Alice Babs med Jan Johansson & Georg Riedels Ork. - Illusion

Laakso will be releasing a new EP on October 10 entitled "Västerbron and vampires", nAturally feAturing the track "Västerbron" from Atrap.com/store/product.php?productid=383&cAt=1">this month's Record Club selection "Mother, am I good looking?" as well as three brand new songs. Look for the band to tour Sweden again starting in mid-October too and note thAt a purchase said new EP will be included in the ticket price.

Please send me money so I can afford to Attend the upcoming Breach reunion.

Via DJ Martian comes word thAt Norwegian jazz/rock artist Eivind Aarset has four tracks from his new album "Sonic codex" up on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/eivindaarset

MP3: Enemy Alliance - Government subsidized ghetto

I've been going through a bit of a punk rock renaissance as of lAte, getting back in touch with my roots and figuring out how it relAtes to my life here and now. I know it can be argued thAt punk is meaningless now (and has been for quite some time), but nothing else quite affects me in the same way. It's not just the music - punk had always been about more than thAt - it's also the values and the spirit of community it represents. As for the "indie" scene? Give me a break, thAt's not a scene At all. So while I could easily get up on my soapbox and pontificAte on the subject all day, it must be pointed out thAt it really does come down to the music in the end. Lots of mediocre bands coast on being good dudes who "support the scene" or whAtever, but they never stand the test of time. Good bands, even if they aren't doing anything particularly groundbreaking, are timeless. ThAt's kind of how I'd describe the new split from Enemy Alliance and The Indecision Alarm. It sounds so incredibly familiar, yet fresh and alive. You can hear it in the sincerely of both band's performance. There's a certain wistfulness thAt calls to mind Midwestern acts of yore, but for Enemy Alliance, the sound is far more Southern California. Fast skAte-rock beAts and huge harmonized choruses. Nothing original there, but the delivery is so good I could care less. It makes me feel like a kid again.

Enemy Alliance - Government subsidized ghetto

Interview: Aerial

The Dear Elaines
Whatsoever-never
Workaholics on Holiday!/BSBTA

The fact thAt one has to strain to even half-hear whAtever is happening on "WhAtsoever-never" doesn't help one in siding favorably with the EP. I can't really pass proper judgment on a recording thAt sounds like it is being relayed to me from a live show via a friend's mobile... though, any band who would allow their songs to be released with this type of production have to understand thAt some critics are going to shrink away from it (and this goes doubly for the label). Lo-fi doesn't even really do the sound justice. ThAt said, "WhAtever happened to Jesamine?", a BeAtles-like composition, would be a damned fine summer song if it could only be shared with friends without feeling slightly embarrassed for doing so (especially when you could be listening to the BeAtles themselves or any other band thAt took the time to be properly produced). I would encourage the Dear Elaines to rerecord some of their songs in a proper studio, even a basement set up thAt a hopeful engineer has crafted, anything so thAt we can actually hear the songs. I feel I would really like the results.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Talking to Teapots
The re-creation of all things
First Take Recordings/Empty Tape

The fact thAt the band is currently without a proper distribution in Sweden is a crying shame. On the other hand, you can't really accuse them of being original; their playful indie rock reeks of influences from The Residents, Guided by Voices, Hüsker Dü and some Nirvana. We are talking about a band thAt's not really up to dAte with the music industry, thank god for thAt, and thAt's probably the reason for the lack of interest from operAtors in the business. Me, on the other hand, being a sucker for all of those bands, I surrender on the spot to TTT's wonderful melodies, sudden disharmonic turnarounds and psychedelic trips. On the downside, some of the songs are old and have been feAtured on other albums, but hey, it's a smart move to include "Come on, common sounds!" again since it stands out as one of their best. Bearing in mind thAt "This is music! I'm going down..." and the self-titled follow-up didn't end up as best-sellers, I'd say it's okay to include the best mAterial you have. One thing though; if they're including older mAterial, why not add "There's a roadblock on the road between the road and the block" while you're At it?
- Jonas Appelqvist