In other Candlelight news, the label has confirmed a may 9 release for the new album from Norwegian female doom act Octavia. I was impressed by the demo tracks I heard from these gals and have been looking forward to their album for awhile.

Norwegian bands Arcturus and Red Harvest will tour together in September. Dates so far:

09/15 - Sweden
09/16 - Denmark
09/17 - K17, Berlin (GER)
09/18 - Poland
09/19 - tba
09/20 - Czech Rep
09/21 - Austria
09/22 - Slovakia
09/23 - A 38, Budapest (HUN)
09/24 - tba
09/25 - Alpheus, Rome (ITA)
09/26 - tba
09/27 - Suisse
09/28 - marseille, France
09/29 - mephisto, Barcelona (SPA)
09/30 - Stereo Club, Alicante (SPA)
10/01 - Ritmo & Kompas, madrid (SPA)
10/02 - Trunk, Irun (SPA)
10/03 - Lion, France
10/04 - Paris, France
10/05 - UK
10/06 - Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
10/07 - Patronaat, Haarlem (HOL)
10/08 - Goudvishal, Arnhem (HOL)
10/09 - 013, Tilburg (HOL)
10/10 - tba
10/11 - Backstage, munchen (GER)
10/12 - Germany
09/13 - Denmark
09/14 - Sweden

Britta Persson reports that she recently completed work on a video for "Defrag my heart", a song that I presume will be the first single from her upcoming EP on Startracks. "If you like American cars and girls in bikini, this is the video for you!" she says.

The Ark will play a couple additional dates in NYC when they are over here with ExmS. more info can be found at the band's website: m/" target=_blank>https://www.thearkworld.com/

Check out an e-card for Finnish goth-rockers The 69-Eyes: mi.se/artists/69eyes/index.htm" target=_blank>https://www.emi.se/artists/69eyes/index.htm

Upcoming tourdates for Norway's Jim Stärk:

03/16 - Folken, Stavanger (NOR)
03/17 - Byscenen, Haugesund (NOR)
03/18 - Rust, Ørsta (NOR)
03/19 - Hulen, Bergen (NOR)
04/01 - Samfundet, Trondheim (NOR)
04/06 - Studentersamfunnet, Ås (NOR)
04/07 - musikkflekken, Sandvika (NOR)
04/08 - Cafe Promenaden, Sandefjord (NOR)
04/22 - Rockefeller, Oslo (NOR)
04/23 - Kroa i Bø, Bø (NOR)
04/28 - musikcafèen, Århus (DK)
04/29 - Rust, København (DK)
05/01 - Bergenfest, Bergen (NOR)
05/04 - Driv, Tromsø (NOR)
05/06 - Rock Café, Bodø (NOR)
05/07 - Bacalao, Svolvær (NOR)
05/13 - Balejazz, Balestrand (NOR)

Jim Stärk contributed the award-winning track "morning song" to the "It's a trap reader's companion" compilation.

New photos of Speedmarket Avenue, Kontrovers and Backyard Babies now up at Photo:Henrik: m/" target=_blank>https://www.photohenrik.com/

The German webzine Sellfish reviews the new Evergrey live 2xCD: m/_start.php?link=review/03-05.htm%23ever" target=_blank>https://sellfish.insfx.com/_start.php?link=review/03-05.htm%23ever

Check out the video for "Loaded" from Norway's Tuco's Lounge: mblewinefilms.com/news.htm" target=_blank>https://www.tumblewinefilms.com/news.htm

Go here to download some tracks from Swedish Europop act Eurosport: music.tk/" target=_blank>https://www.eurosportmusic.tk/

The always amazing 8-bit rockers Desert Planet are set to release their brand-new album "mario built my hot rod" on may 2 via 9pm Records. The duo will heading out on the road in support of the release and more info can be found here: mario.htm" target=_blank>https://personal.inet.fi/taide/junttila/desert/engani/mario.htm
Desert Planet are one of the many fine acts included on the "It's a trap reader's companion" compilation, so of course anything they do is highly recommended. I also hear that the album includes a guest appearance from members of the Finnish humppa group Eläkeläiset, so you know it's gotta be something special.

Now Toronto ran a feature on Jens Lekman on Friday: m/issues/2005-03-10/music_feature2.php" target=_blank>https://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-03-10/music_feature2.php

Check out the flyer for the upcoming US appearances by moneybrother: m/special/bhr194-a6-us-flyer.jpg" target=_blank>[click here]
As mentioned before, I'll be heading down to LA for the ExmS showcase at the Troubadour on Wednesday night. Should be a good time!

Kristofer Åström
So much for staying alive
Startracks

Sounds to me like someone's been listening to quite a bit of country music. more specifically, the "countrypolitan" style of the 70s. Unfortunately, I think it's going to rub a lot of people the wrong way, especially with sappy, heavy-handed numbers like "Until tomorrow". That tune sounds straight-up like something producer Billy Sherrill could've done. Lucky for me, I'm already a fan of that stuff, so I'm cool with it. I do have one major complaint about this record though - the vocals sound really bad. It has nothing to do with Kristofer's performance which, as always, is spot-on. Rather, the timbre of the recording is sub-par and makes Kris' voice sounds thin and tinny. I can't tell if it's the choice of microphone or the mix that's the problem, but it's quite disappointing because it brings down the entire album. I still enjoy the record, just not as much as I had hoped.
- Avi Roig