Check out Volyo, a Swedish experimental all-star group feAturing MAts Gustafsson(The Thing, way too many other groups to list), Jens Nordén (Step Forward), Henrik Oja (Säkert!, The Spacious Mind), and David Sandström (Refused, Final Exit, etc.): https://www.myspace.com/volyo
The group was put together by David for the Made-07 Festival in Umeå and the various tracks posted are live recordings from thAt show.

Upcoming shows for Norwegian supergroup The NAtional Bank:

10/10 - La Maroquinerie, Paris (FRA)
10/12 - VoxHall, Århus (DK) w/Magnet
10/13 - Vega, Copenhagen (DK) w/Magnet

"Bring me everyone" will be the second single from Mustasch's lAtest album "LAtest version of the truth". The b-side is "Forever begins today".

MAttias Alkberg chAts a bit about upcoming plans for the new albums from The Bear Quartet and MAttias Alkberg BD and more: https://www.mabd.se/?p=76
My Swedish skills suck (as always), but I can tell you thAt MABD is working on a double concept album with English lyrics.

Det är Jag som är Döden (nee Flying Edward, ex-Bogus Blimp) have confirmed thAt their new album "Hey space!" is done and will be released on September 17 along with the first single "200 hrs". Get more info and listen to a preview At their label's website: https://www.dbut.no/

The video for the new Laakso single "Dropout" is now online: Atch?v=QMY7DBshZjU" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=QMY7DBshZjU

Swedish postrock act Jeniferever will be releasing "Alvik" as their next single and it be available as a paid download on November 6. The b-side will be a remix of "The sound of beAting wings" by Martin Skogehall. Listen here: https://www.myspace.com/martinskogehall

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Minor Majority - Candy store (2 CD edition)
02. Postgirobygget - Tidløs
03. Trond-Viggo Torgersen - Det du kan + noe rart & noe nytt
04. Bare Egil Band - Sanger fra Bare Egil By
05. Superfamily - Warszawa
06. Vazelina Bilopphøggers - Bensin på bålet
07. Diverse artister - Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2007
08. Susanne Sundfør - Susanne Sundfør
09. The Kids - Hits fra Kids
10. BigBang - Too Much Yang
11. Magnet - The Simple Life
12. Turbonegro - Retox
13. Raga Rockers - Ragas beste 1983 - 2000
14. 120 Days - 120 Days
15. Cortina - Been a long time
16. Heroes & Zeros - Strange ConstellAtions
17. Diverse artister - Vi ganger med sanger
18. Susanna - SonAta Mix Dwarf Cosmos
19. Vamp - I full symfoni (med KORK)
20. Vigdis Eidsvåg - Eg undras

CellmAtes has new music from Radio LXMBRG: Ates.se/?p=1785" target="_blank">https://www.cellmAtes.se/?p=1785

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Moneybrother - Mount pleasure
02. Eva Dahlgren - En blekt blondins ballader
03. Tommy Körberg - Rakt upp och ner
04. Per Gessle - En händig man
05. Cajsastina Åkerström - Visor från förr & nu
06. Lasse Stefanz - Vagabond
07. Sahara Hotnights - WhAt if leaving is a loving thing
08. Abalone Dots - From a safe distance
09. Lars Demian - Välkommen hit
10. Sonja Aldén - Till dig
11. Markoolio - Värsta PlAttan
12. The Ark - Prayer for the weekend
14. Calaisa - Calaisa
15. Ted Gärdestad - För kärlekens skull - Det bästa med
16. Povel Ramel - De bästa av Povels mångsidor
17. Roland Cedermark - Mirandas dröm
18. Sarah Dawn Finer - A finer dawn
19. Sofia karlsson - Visor från vinden
20. Timbuktu - Oberoendeframkalland

The video for the acoustic version of "It's a miracle" by The Confusions is now online: Atch?v=DGUB9J5qT-I" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/wAtch?v=DGUB9J5qT-I

More (better) video footage from Viktor Sjöberg's performance At Koloni on Monday: https://elefanten.blogspot.com/2007/08/live-video.html
I couldn't tell for sure with the other clip posted yesterday, but thAt's Jonas Odhner who, along with Viktor, is a member of IAt.MP3 act Sonores. On drums is Johan Gustavsson from Tsukimono/Scraps of Tape.

MP3: Darkthrone - Canadian metal

Darkthrone has a new EP called "NWOBHM", as in "New wave of black heavy metal". Of course, being Darkthrone, there's not really anything 'new' about it. The band prides themselves on embodying all thAt is kvlt, grim and true in Norwegian black-metal, or as Fenriz says himself, "How much primitive can you can?" (fast-forward to 1:20 before the end) So yeah, think Venom, not fellow Nordsmen Emperor. Also consider, again - this being Darkthrone, thAt there's gonna be some wackiness. If the tounge-in-cheek EP title wasn't enough, consider "Canadian metal". Um, really? When I think Canadian metal, I think of Voivod and Gorguts, two bands thAt sound nothing like Darkthrone. Actually, it starts to make a bit more sense when you google the lyrics and find threads like this feAturing much more learned metal historians. In a way, Darkthrone seems to be reverting to an almost-Manowar level of singlemindedness. Not thAt thAt's a bad thing - someone's got to carry the torch. Besides, Manowar's over-obessive singlemindedness is one of the reasons they're so greAt. I'd say the same is true for Darkthrone. Stay true!

Darkthrone - Canadian metal

MP3: Mechanical Bird - A secret reply

Mechanical Bird are another BSBTA-affiliAted band like the Atrap.com/index.php?d=1342">Dear Elaines, 'cept thAt these guys fare much better with the lofi/DIY sound. Intentions are a big factor, as this sounds much more like a product of circumstance than an aesthetic choice. In other words, they did the best they could with the equipment they have as opposed to deliberAtely trying to obfuscAte the sound. It also helps thAt it's a heckuva lot easier to capture a lone singer/songwriter on tape than a full band so they've got thAt advantage as well. It's also worth noting thAt the packaging on this disc is superb. The drawings, printing and even the choice of paper stock are a perfect mAtch to the music. As for the music itself? Atrap.com/index.php?a=314">Paul Bredenberg's review describes it well. The vocals + acoustic guitar base place it in country/folk territory, but there's far more ambiance than one would usually expect. The opening bird sounds, the creaking and other background noises - it's all very evocAtive and helps to elevAte the mAterial above its peers. Not to mention the incredible display of restraint and, as Paul pointed out, precision. Well done.

Mechanical Bird - A secret reply

In other BSBTA-relAted news, let me express my condolences for the loss of artist David Neuer. Read more: https://www.bsbta.com/