Direct competition for myspace.com/tacktacktack" target=_blank>TTT? SoNorsk is the name of a new Norwegian club night to take place at the Beachclub in London on January 16. Appearing on the inaugral date will be singer/songwriters Kaya and Kari Kleiv plus the band Brainchild. Read more: mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2006010611252288653696" target=_blank>https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2006010611252288653696

Pitchfork on the latest Circle record: media.com/record-reviews/c/circle/forest.shtml" target=_blank>https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/c/circle/forest.shtml

Check out an ecard for the new Raunchy album, due out soon on Lifeforce Records: m/ecardraunchy.htm" target=_blank>https://www.lifeforcerecords.com/ecardraunchy.htm

Fuzzorama Records has signed a deal with US label meteorcity (Hermano, Atomic Bitchwax) to cooperatively release the third pressing of Truckfighters' excellent album "Gravity X" worldwide. Look for it on February 7 in the US, late march in Europe. Highly recommended for fans of fuzzed-out stoner rock.

MP3: Nicolai Dunger - We left us

By the time I discovered Nicolai Dunger he was already on his third album, the excellent "This cloud is learning". "Soul rush" came out soon after (I was already late with the previous record) and the combined grandeur of those two records sealed it: I was impressed. So of course I started to poke around his earlier discography and was moved considerably by what I found. The musician I thought was a retro-folkie/Donovan-throwback was actually a formidable experimental musician, willing to dabble in many genres and play around with all sorts of interesting textures and arrangements. It's no wonder he never got much attention until he toned it done with the records I heard first - this is not accessible pop. It's not so surprising for people getting into Dunger today; his experimentations are now well-known and celebrated - the upcoming Edith Södergran tribute is just one example. I can't say that all his dabblings have been successful to my ears, but I applaud him for trying. It's much more risk than most musicians are willing to take on. So today here's a track from his first record "Songs wearing clothes". The guitars are distorted and King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp lends his patented 'Frippertronics' to the proceedings. Even if you're not into that sort of thing, it's worth listening to just to experience Dunger's expanse of talent.

Nicolai Dunger - We left us (ft. Robert Fripp)

Intrepid IAT reporter Jason Christie ran into Noel Gallagher of Oasis at the airport earlier today and he said that he still rates TSOOL, can handle the Hives, thinks Caesars are "ok" and likes "some other Swedish band called Kashmir." He meant Danish, but well - you know...

Finnish folk/vocal group Värttinä has a new website: m/" target=_blank>https://www.varttina.com/

Swedish rockers Wired for mono have a new website: mono.com/" target=_blank>https://www.wiredformono.com/

Norwegian industrial/metal act Red Harvest will enter multimono Studio this coming June to record their next album.

Tobias Benstrup is offering up his entire album "Re-animate me" for free download in January: m/fanclub/freeanimate.html" target=_blank>https://www.tonightrecords.com/fanclub/freeanimate.html

Swedish screamy hardcore act The Smackdown has posted two new songs for download on their website: mackdown.com/" target=_blank>https://www.the-smackdown.com/
The band's new album "Someone has to kill the headwriter" will be out in April on Goodfellow. Also, upcoming European tourdates:

01/18 - Casiopaia, Berlin (GER)
01/19 - Zoro, Leipzig (GER)
01/20 - mKNZ, Ilriska Bistrica (SLO)
01/21 - tba, Sladki Vrh (SLO)
01/22 - m.I.K.K., murska Sobota (SLO)
01/23 - Shotoklub, Izola (SLO)
01/24 - Traffic, Rome (ITA)
01/25 - Capolinea - Baraonda, Faenza (ITA)
01/26 - Bunker, Bolzano (ITA)
01/27 - Triebwerk, Wiener Neustadt (AUS)
01/28 - ACT, Cakovec (CRO)
01/29 - mochvara, Zagreb (CRO)
01/30 - Club Orlando, Dubrovnik (CRO)
01/31 - Süss fel nap, Budapest (HUN)
02/01 - Stadtwerkstatt, Linz (AUS)
02/02 - 7, Prague (CZ)
02/03 - tba, Poznan (POL)
02/04 - Zentrum, Schleswig (GER)
02/05 - The V.E.B, Lübeck (GER)

Updated tourdates for Swedish singer/songwriter Christian Kjellvander:

01/26 - Kulturkeller, Fulda (GER)
01/27 - Ville de Dudelang, Luxemburg (LX)
01/28 - Unperfekthaus, Essen (GER)
01/29 - Prime Club, Köln (GER)
01/30 - backstage, munchen (GER)
01/31 - E-Werk, Erlangen (GER)
02/02 - Kaserne, Basel (SWI)
02/03 - Planet music, Wien (SWI)
02/04 - El Lokal, Zürich (SWI)
02/05 - Rockhouse, Salzburg (AUS)
02/07 - Kulturinsel Halle Saale, Halle(GER)
02/08 - Gleis 22, münster(GER)
02/09 - Quasimodo, Berlin(GER)
02/10 - Knust, Hamburg(GER)
02/12 - Forum, Bielefeld (GER)

His latest album "Faya" will getting a wider European release at the end of January. Look for UK dates this spring.

Finnish label Next Big Thing has announced the signing of ex-Killer vocalist Siiri Nordin. Look for a new single this spring with an album to follow sometime before summer.

Check out "Clarissa", the b-side to the new Housewife Lovers single "Pandavision": m/clarissa.mp3" target=_blank>https://hwl.longingboy.com/clarissa.mp3

The new album "Welcome to hope" from Holiday for maggie will be released this coming march.