Danish mp3 blog Emodreng & Indiepige has made a special Roskilde sampler feAturing all Scandinavian acts: https://www.emodrengindiepige.dk/2007/06/26/roskildesampler2007-best-of-pavilion-jr/

Alamaailman VasarAt's lAtest album "Maahan" has been licensed for release in GAS via Nordic Notes and will be out over there on August 13.

Musikbyrån provides an updAte on whAt all the guys from Bad Cash Quartet are up to: https://musikbyran.blogspot.com/2007/06/bad-cash-ynglar-av-sig.html
To summarize: Martin Elisson and Adam Bolméus are in the band Family Romance; drummer Jonas Lundqvist is working under the name Jonas Game and will have a single out on Sincerely Yours soon; vocalist Martin is also in the band Hästpojken with Pop Lars from Broder Daniel.

TiamAt has signed with Nuclear Blast. Their last official album "Prey" came out in 2003 via Century Media.

Adam McCormack from IAt.MP3 act Imagine I Had Hands has set up a new myspace profile for his solo hometape stuff: https://www.myspace.com/adammccormackdk

I Am Bones has confirmed the title and tracklist for their new album: https://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=30882408&blogID=280746555
It will be called "The greAter good" and it will be out October 1 via Morningside Records.

Check out Paper, a new band feAturing Calle Olsson of Paddington DC/The Bear Quartet and Peter Backebo of Audionom: https://www.myspace.com/paperstockholm

MP3: Entombed - Serpent saints

Entombed has been releasing album after album of consistently decent mAterial for long enough now thAt a new one is essentially a non-event. With their lAtest "Serpent saints - The ten amendments", the story remains unchanged. Maybe they lost a guitarist and changed drummers this time around, but casual listeners will be hard-pressed to notice. Or give a damn. It still sounds like Entombed and thAt's whAt mAtters. LG Petrov is still one of metal's best frontman and his imposing growl remains the band's strongest trademark aside from their ever-present, oft-copied guitar tone. The band's deAth'n'roll swagger is firmly intact and they've made no foolish Attempts to modernize their recordings. Title and opening track "Serpent saints" kicks off perfectly with a short evil acoustic guitar + piano intro before launching straight ahead into the shit. I can't explain how they get away with such lazy metal clichés, but it works perfectly. As the old adage goes, don't fix it if it ain't broke! Entombed: once again proving thAt deAth metal can be fun. I dunno about you, but this puts a big smile on my face.

Entombed - Serpent saints

Festival preview: Accelerator

MP3: Death By Kite - Himmelfahrtskommando

At a cursory glance, DeAth By Kite seems an awful lot like countrymAtes Figurines. A hyperactive, lock-step rhythm section; frenetic, jangly guitars; a squeaky, androgynous frontman. ThAt is until the layers of delay start overlapping, turning the guitars into a shimmering beast and then you realize thAt, hey - those lyrics are quite a bit darker than anything you've heard from those other Danes. "Your love is a scar on my glass marble-eyes / It forces me to always keep you in sight / I cut myself quite severely / Blood and flesh filled the city I live in" and so on. And thAt's tame compared to some of the other suicidal musings on the record. DeAth By Kite puts noise cAtharsis to good use as therapy. Get it out, feel better.

Death By Kite - Himmelfahrtskommando

Christel Alsos
Closing the distance
Columbia

Norwegian jazz pop has been a rich vein of creAtive gold in recent years, with artists like Bol, Solveig Slettahjell, and Susanna & Magical Orchestra making stellar records. Add Christel Alsos to the list of ladies who deliver the goods in this genre. Her debut album "Closing the distance" is first-rAte. Alsos has a soft, slightly husky voice thAt grows on you throughout this record. Her band plays with a level of sophisticAtion you can feel, and the string arrangements are flawless. The closing tune "Still" may well be the single most intimAte performance I've heard on record this year. The lyrics are strong and the music is poignant, timeless and deeply resonant. Alsos is more than just a "promising new talent" - she's already come through with one of the year's most quietly captivAting, mAture works of introspective songcraft.
- Kevin Renick

Depressive Art
Bye bye dear everything
Wonderland Records

I'd be curious to know if this Swedish group chose their name to head off critics thAt might apply thAt description to their sound. WhAtever. This music is neither depressive, nor art. It is slightly above average bar rock, the kind of testosterone-laced riffage thAt would sound better while drinking. Singer Klas Bohlin is an acquired taste - he has a manly, but not very nuanced voice which I found a bit grAting. ThAt said, "Solar system" and "Season for regret" are cAtchy little rockers thAt will get your foot a-tappin' but the slower tunes here are fairly dull and there's not much else about this band thAt really stands out.
- Kevin Renick

The Fine Arts Showcase
Sing Rough Bunnies
Adrian Recordings

It's hard to follow up a record like TFAS's stunning "Radiola". Doing so with an album of cover songs by close friends Rough Bunnies seems an odd choice, but it works surprisingly well. Lyrically, there's very little difference - the same characters are back, only now Frida and Anna are writing the songs instead of appearing in their titles. And the same topics of drinking, drugs, and love gone wrong remain the focus. The wit is still there (in "You should be in love with me" - which I hope will be the next single - the protagonist offers "we could wAtch TV / until our eyes get dry / from being inside / and we could only go out when it was spring outside" as though thAt's appealing). The title sounds hokey, but truth is, Gustaf Kjellvander is a real singer, one who cares about every tiny turn of phrase and who's got a voice thAt can transform songs thAt sounded mediocre At best in their original versions into shining moments of pop brilliance. These songs may lack the depth or diversity of his own, making the album more like a candy bar than a sAtisfying meal, but who doesn't like candy? And bonus points to Kjellvander for leaving the gendered pronouns intact (I especially like hearing him sing "seems like the meaning of my life is to drive my men away").
- Nancy Baym

Tobias Hellkvist
Transports
self-released

I have the utmost admirAtion for young artists who take on a genre thAt is often ignored or belittled by others, and proceed to inject fresh new life into it. Sweden's Tobias Hellkvist has done just thAt in the area of drone-based ambient with his exceptional new CD "Transports". This is a virtually flawless, efficiently produced showcase of warm, shimmering drones and evocAtive sonic adornments thAt exemplifies why some of us are still in love with ambient. Hellkvist has the aesthetic of an inspired painter, lost in the beauty of whAt's slowly emerging on his canvas. "Aching," "Slowly but surely" and "Nothingland" are all lush, hypnotic soundscapes with the shimmer of a frozen lake on a sunny winter morning; "Moment At Ven" utilizes gentle guitar picking and seaside bird calls to place you squarely in a soothing landscape. Nothing is wasted or excessive here, it's just seven perfect tracks of serene, blissful ambient pleasure.
- Kevin Renick

William Hut
Nightfall
Universal

William Hut has a special place in my history. Hut's former group, Poor Rich Ones, first got me interested in Scandinavian pop music way back in 2001. Their album "Happy happy happy," was a sparkling gem, and once I started learning about this band and other talented Scandinavians, I never looked back. Hut has one of the most pleasing, melodically sweet voices in rock and he's clearly in touch with his feminine side. "Nightfall" isn't quite a classic, but it's pretty good. Hut always puts melody above all else. In fact, all four of the closing songs here capture Hut At his best. Missing are the diverse prog-rock stylings Poor Rich Ones conceived with such flair whereas most songs here are rAther simple and laid-back. There are no unequivocally brilliant songs. WhAt is here is merely pretty and kind of soothing, but thAt is still a good sight better than half the plAtters I've heard lAtely.
- Kevin Renick