Norwegian instrumental/post-rock act Tuna Laguna recently released their new album "Ripples and swells", so they've decided to make their 2004 EP "It's a fudge" available as a free download. Check it out: m/" target=_blank>https://www.tunalaguna.com/

Foxy Digitalis reviews Tobias Hellkvist and his new self-released album "Transports": m/foxyd/reviews.php?which=2357" target=_blank>https://www.digitalisindustries.com/foxyd/reviews.php?which=2357
It truly is an excellent piece of work and I'm sure you'll be hearing more from me about it in the very near future.

Listen to a track from Danish indierockers Robert Green: myspace.com/greenrobert" target=_blank>https://www.myspace.com/greenrobert
The band's debut album "Sleeping at a 100 mph" will be out on may 7 via CPH-Sound.

Carcrash Records has added Chronic Heist to their family and has rereleased their album "Fake this dream" as a paid download via iTunes.

Pitchfork reviews international all-star improv act Original Silence: media.com/article/record_review/42461-the-first-original-silence" target=_blank>https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/42461-the-first-original-silence

Alphabeat
s/t
Copenhagen Records

The opener "10,000 nights of thunder" is the kind of music that seems effortlessly conjured up. It's a healthy dose of ABBA, a touch of Scissor Sisters, some 60s pop and lots of enthusiasm mixed together while drenched in sass and fun. Add some delightful dueting between singers Anders and Stine, hooks that could capture a great white shark and we're looking at an instant spreader of joy, not to mention a song impossible to sit still to! But there is a problem. The album never again reaches the same dazzling heights. Instead of uplifting retropop, it sometimes loses its way with prolonged songs about rubber boots and macintoshes. Or songs lacking energy and spark, songs that merely become hollow shells of retro fascination. However, when it works (and to be honest it work more than it doesn't), like the fabulously bouncy "Fascination", or the Stine-lead anthem "Boyfriend", then Alphabeat is an instant sunny cure to icy spring chills. A giddy party cocktail from the best of the 60s and 70s that may not change your world, but at least brighten it.
- Hanzan

The Ark
Prayer for the weekend
Roxy Recordings

The Ark are representing Sweden in the Eurovision contest (taking place in Finland in about two weeks time) and I really want them to win. Not because I'm a fan, nor due to them and me sharing the same country of birth. The truth is that I have bet £10 that they'll win and if their silly "The worrying kind" manages to fool the jury, I'm going to be £80 richer (drinks are on me if they win and you see me the next day). It can't have been easy for their management to pick a song for Eurovision, almost all songs on this album sounds like they could have been contenders (against horrible songs by sad Swiss DJs and loopy Icelandic divas). "Prayer for the weekend" went straight to the top spot on the Swedish album chart when it came out and it'll probably stay there for a little while longer. It's good music for kids, and if my 4 year old nephew likes to shake his tiny feet to these songs, that's fine, but I wouldn't recommend this unoriginal mishmash of theatrical pop with mass sing-a-long choruses to anyone older than him. Perhaps Sweden's full of very nice parents who spend their heard earned money on their children's musical preferences? Let us close our eyes and pretend that this is the case.
- Simon Tagestam

Kristofer Åström
Live @ Skylten, Linköping, 04/26/07

During a brief period in my life one could say I was in it way over my head. In the centre of things was, of course, this girl. Well, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, so, there I was, heartstruck and miserable. That's when I found salvation. In the form of Kristofer Åström. The front man from legendary swedish emo/rock band Fireside has had a very special place in my heart ever since. Perhaps that's why I'm so disappointed tonight. Expectations are dangerous things. "RainawayTown" is the name of the new Kristofer Åström album, the gig in Linköping being the second stop on the Rainaway-tour. One major change in the live lineup of 2007 is that The Hidden Truck now is but a memory, with The Rainaways (including members from Nationalteatern, among others) filling up the void. The result is... below my expecations. Even though "RainawayTown" might be the best album since "Northern blues", or perhaps even better, the songs have problems transfering from record into live format. Sadly, I'd say it's mostly because of Kristofer himself, he seems quite out of shape this evening. He forgets lines, rearranges the setlist to everyones confusion, and seems generally unfocused. Then again, this is only the second gig ever with The Rainaways - I'm sure everything will run much smoother a couple of more gigs into the tour.
- Christian Stenbacke

The Concretes
Hey trouble
Licking Fingers

If someone had suggested to me that The Concretes' new album is their best album to date, before I've heard any of the songs, I'd have found it very hard to believe them. I'm a big fan of the band and when I heard the news that Victoria Bergman gone solo, I seriously thought The Concretes were over and done with. How wrong I was! Drummer Lisa millberg has now taken over vocal duties, and she's fabulous at it, not to mention perfect for the band. It's quite a bold move by producer Jari Haapalainen to put her vocals so high up in the mix, but it works very well. I like all the songs on this album, although some of my favourites are the very melodic "Are you prepared?", the chorus to "Keep yours", the first single "Kids", and the last song of the album, the slow and pretty "Simple song". If you're also a fan, and were worried that the band would lose their edge or whatever without the loopy Bergman behind the mic, you can finally relax – The Concretes seem to have ended up an ever better band without her.
- Simon Tagestam

The End Will Be Kicks
Ass of a friend EP
Premonition Records

The title track kick-starts this EP with typical, charismatic TEWBK-sounds. Crooked, skewed guitars over driven drumbeats and cynical lyrics sung by singer Niklas Quintana and, yeah, I could easily say I've heard it before ('cause I have), but this is too good to be true. When the chorus sets in ("This I do just to piss you off"), it is once again so sad that this band is still one of Sweden's best kept secrets. Not to the enlightened readers of It's A Trap! though - both Avi and I are dedicated fans. "Top fuel motorsåg" (for the non-Swedes, "motorsåg" is Swedish for chainsaw) is, in all its charm, somewhat a tribute to my Bloody Valentine and "medicine and airbags" (previously released on the "It's a trap! Readers companion volume two"-comp.) administers the heritage of Him Kerosene in the finest way possible. According to rumours, I've heard this EP is just a teaser for a full-length coming in a near future. And what a teaser it is!
- Jonas Appelqvist

The Lovekevins
VS. the snow
Songs I Wish I Had Written

One thing I like about this this album is that it's a grower, I just don't seem to be able to get bored of it, no matter how many times I play it. The lyrics are also worth their word count in gold. "Tamagotchi freestyle", for example, contains the superb lines "For what it's worth I know it's hard to stay, every day we miss you, Leila K". Lovekevins sound a bit like the love child of The Tough Alliance and The Radio Dept., which isn't as freakish as it sounds. No, it's very catchy, fresh, pleasant and I think now is the time for you to go and visit myspace.com/lovekevins" target=_blank>their myspace page and give them a little listen (before you buy this CD).
- Simon Tagestam

Viola
Wonderabilia
Jupiter

There's an unnatural beauty in darkness, in bleak moments spent looking out over cities that once held such magic, and reviewing events, now etched into memory, longing for cities we've long since departed, friends we haven't seen in years, and for that vibrant cord that seemed to tie us energetically to the unfolding events of the world around us. Viola's most recent release, "Wonderabilia", is a complicated portrait of barren expanses, of isolation, and of the beauty that is so often crafted within the shadows. While the album is based around a few simple mechanisms – dark pop sensibilities, electronic atmospherics, and powerful, building arrangements – "Wonderabilia" isn't an 'easy' record. There are songs that are immediately appealing, such as the openers "Unreal life" and "Stay unknown", but there are also songs that are difficult to fully appreciate on the first listen, or are, at the very least, augmented and better understood with repeated listens. During my first few run-throughs, I felt almost distracted by the glittering layer of electronics in a few of the songs, but the depths present themselves as I became more acquainted with the tone of the record and the songs themselves. This isn't at all to say the record is flawless, very few records are, but as a whole "Wonderabilia" functions extremely well. Viola have crafted a solid album from the fragments of daily unhappiness, from the influences of bands like Depeche mode and New Order, and incorporated these splinters deftly into their own unique, flowing sound.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Sophie Zelmani
Memory loves you
Sony/BMG

On Sophie's sixth album, intimacy comes first. Her band could be playing right there in the room with you, as Sophie sits and whispers into the listener's ear. While her musical palette has basically been the same reflective songs for dusky autumn days since 98's "Precious burden", "memory loves you" pours a bit of light and optimism into the melancholia. A light that gives the album an identity and feel of its own. A feel that Sophie finally seems comfortable in facing her audience, by baring herself in songs like the gorgeous stripped down "I got yours". Album highlight "Love on my mind" even dares to climax with a piano that's straight out of ABBA. A few times, the strings cross over from beautiful to saccharine, but mostly the songs wrap the listener up in a tender embrace. Letting us know that spring is on the way, and that there is a tender beauty even in the bleakest rooms.
- Hanzan

Profile: Agent Simple

MP3: Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom

The difference between the "Reader's companion" version of the moonbabies track "At the ballroom" and the final album version are very subtle. It gives you a good idea of the kind of studio wizardry that Ola Frick is capable of, but it's not the full story. Prior to receiving the approved song that ended up on my comp, I was sent two other mixes, the first being drastically different from either of the ones made public. It's still very much the same song, but the arrangement is much more sparse and heavy on the snare backbeat. It makes me hopeful that someday they will put out a collection of demos and outtakes because I'm sure it would be fascinating. As for my favorite pick of the litter, I must bow to the band's sensibilities and agree that the newest, full-album version is by far the best. It's such a lush and gorgeous piece of pop beauty. I daresay it's almost perfect, but I suspect that Ola could still whip up an even better take that would blow me away.

Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom