The weather last night was far from perfect, but I still made the long drive up to Seattle to see Figurines. Kira and one of the Kindred Spirits had visa issues, so no other Danish acts made the bill though the remainder of the band was still in attendance. After a shambling, mediocre set from locals The Elephants, Figurines took the stage and did their thing. Let me tell you, that band is a well-oiled machine. They are a great example of what a tight band should sound like. After quietly opening with "Back in the day", they set into "The wonder" (today's mp3) and were off and running. Drummer Kristian Volden laid down a strong four-on-the-floor backbeat and joyfully sang along to himself with every song while frontman Christian Hjelm proved to be a manic, energetic frontman. The other two guys in the band (guitarist Claus Johansen and bassist Andreas Toft) were much more nondescript, but they did their job and did it well. I'm a little disappointed they had an extra musician on stage playing guitar, keyboard and percussion to help them perfectly replicate their album, but since he didn't distract from the overall experience, it's kind of a moot point. I feel that a rawer live sound would have benefitted them. Anyhow, it was a very good set and I think the audience appreciated it. A few of the midtempo songs dragged a bit due to the crowd's lack of familiarity with the material, but the fast songs caught their attention and the two slower numbers ("Silver ponds" and "Rivalry") were very engaging. The band plays Portland tonight, goes back to Seattle this weekend for a radio appearance and an in-store then travels to LA and SXSW. Look for them to be back this summer. my short interview with Christian should hopefully be online sometime this weekend.

Congrats to Piers Untersander, Olof Sjöstedt and michael Stocker. You've all won tickets to the m/" target=_blank>Spring Wonderland Festival. Thanks again to everyone who entered.

Hemstad CDs just arrived on my doorstep this afternoon. m/store.php?item=177">Get it now!

Rusty Flores has a new website to coincide with the release of their new album: m/" target=_blank>https://www.rustyflores.com/

Swedish synthpop artist Emmon (aka Emma Nylén of the band Paris) has a new website: mmon.se/" target=_blank>https://www.emmon.se/

Tolbiac, the solo project of Veli from Finnish indiepop act Red Carpet, has posted an albums worth of material for free download: m/tolbiac/music.php" target=_blank>https://hansoovoice.com/tolbiac/music.php

Finnish act Lemonator has confirmed their new album "At the presence of great beauty" for release on April 26. The first single "Will I ever find out" will be released digitally in late march.

Khoma's video for the song "medea" is now online: music.yahoo.com/ar-30655345---Khoma" target=_blank>https://uk.music.yahoo.com/ar-30655345---Khoma
The first review I've seen of their new album "The second wave" is here: movinghands.net/reviews/detail.asp?id=1040" target=_blank>https://www.movinghands.net/reviews/detail.asp?id=1040

Ink19 on The Chrysler: m/issues/march2006/musicReviews/musicC/chrysler.html" target=_blank>https://www.ink19.com/issues/march2006/musicReviews/musicC/chrysler.html

Swedish punks Kamikatzee recorded four new songs and finished mixing some earlier ones last week for an EP on Dirty Faces and has posted two of 'em for download: mikatze.se/" target=_blank>https://www.kamikatze.se/

The new Rigas album is done and just about to be sent off to press. It features guest appearances from the likes of Blood music aka Karl-Jonas Winqvist, malin from midaircondo and Pelle Lindroth from The Chrysler and will be out on April 19.

Johnossi's video for their new single "" is up for streaming: music.com/site/windowsmedia.asp?trackID=4851" target=_blank>https://se.v2music.com/site/windowsmedia.asp?trackID=4851

Check out the e-card for the new Holiday with maggie album: m/" target=_blank>https://www.wynonarecords.com/
I can't believe that website has three splash pages. Three! One is bad enough.

Umeå Open has a nice new website: meaopen.nu/" target=_blank>https://www.umeaopen.nu/

The latest music Export Finland newsletter is now online: musex.fi/mxf/news?articleId=94" target=_blank>https://musex.fi/mxf/news?articleId=94