Check out Simon Envall Ryman, a Swedish singer/songwriter associated with the guys in Tiger Lou and Torpedo: https://www.myspace.com/simonenvallryman

This week's Pitchfork feature is on Norwegian music: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/features/weekly/05-10-10-big-outside-of-norway.shtml
First off: "nobody is writing about metal in any critical way." That is complete and utter bullshit. Pfork might ignore all things heavy, but there are certainly TONS of great writers out there covering the scene. I've pared down my metal coverage because there's so many others doing it far better. But, Nick Sylvester does namedrop some decent acts even if he reviles some good ones in the process. Oh-well, so it goes - you can't have it all I suppose.

Cake On Cake US tourdates:

11/17 - Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh, PA
11/18 - Swathmore College, Philadelphia, PA w/Ian Thomas
11/19 - Bard College, Red Hook, NY
11/20 - AS220, Providence, RI
11/22 - SUNY Purchase College, Purchase, NY
11/23 - Zeitgeist Gallary, Boston, MA w/The Brute Choir
11/25 - Sin-e, New York, NY
11/26 - Warehouse Next door, Washington, DC w/Ryan Newmyer of The Winter Set
12/02 - Earlham College, Richmond, IN w/Elephant Micah and On Fire
12/03 - The Church, Bloomington, IN w/Elephant Micah, Drekka and Volmar
12/04 - Secret Location, Indianapolis, IN w/Red Queen Hypothesis
12/14 - Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
12/15 - Radio Cherokee, St. Louis, MO
12/16 - Murphy's Pub, Memphis, TN w/Antique Curtains
12/18 - Night Light, Chapel Hill, NC
12/21 - Rudyard Kipling, Louisville, KY

Cake On Cake's debut album "I see no stars" will be November 8 on Desolation Records in the US and in Sweden next January.

For the Eardrums shines a spotlight on Swedish singer/songwriter Juni Järvi: https://eardrums.blogspot.com/2005/10/juni-jarvi.html

Chalksounds, one of my favorite labels, is drawing its final breath and has announced that The End Will Be Kicks will be their absolute final release. It's a bittersweet time, but as we all know, the record industry is in dire straits and many small indies are suffering badly. Read the full statement: https://www.chalksounds.com/shownews.php?show=71
The flipside of this is that label honcho Magnus is starting a new enterprise called (The Method of) No Method. I'll be sure to keep you posted on their progress.

Jens Lekman is doing a DJ set at Cakeshop in NYC on October 15 with Matthew from Fluxblog, among others. See the flyer: https://homepage.mac.com/mperpetua/.Public/ipdp1.jpg

Danish post-rockers Efterklang on tour in Scandinavia with American labelmates Grizzly Bear:

11/17 - Feber, Oslo (NOR)
11/18 - Trondheim (NOR)
11/19 - Touscene, Stavanger (NOR)
11/22 - Vega, Copenhagen (DK)
11/23 - Rytmeposten, Odense (DK)
11/24 - Studenterhuset, Aalborg (DK)
11/25 - Voxhall, Aarhus (DK)
11/26 - Upcome, Silkeborg (DK)
11/29 - Katalin, Uppsala (SWE)
11/30 - Nalen, Stockholm (SWE)
12/01 - Herrgårn, Linköping (SWE)
12/02 - Stenhammarsalen, Göteborg (SWE)
12/03 - KB, Malmö (SWE)

Trust Me has set a February 2006 release date for the debut EP from Norwegian post-punk act Monomen.

Norwegian hardcore act Amulet has posted the video for the song "Warpriest": https://www.amulet.no/files/amulet-warpriest.mp4

Via Bates Motel, here's some live tracks from the Norwegian all-female Motorpsycho cover act Trio Søt: https://motorpsycho.fix.no/musicbox/audioclips/triosoet/triosoet.html

Finnish electronic artist Karri O. has a new website: https://www.karri-o.net/

"Fall at your feet" will be the first proper single from the new Magnet album "The tourniquet" and will include the exclusive b-side "This bird can never fly". A video was filmed on Devil's Island, outside Bergen recently and should be out sometime around mid-November, the same time the proper single is released.

The Aversionline mp3 blog posts some tracks from Swedish black-metal act Naglfar: https://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2005/10/embracing-apocalypse.html

This week's top artists for the It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group:

01. Death Cab for Cutie
02. The Decemberists
03. The Strokes
04. Hello Saferide
05. The Arcade Fire
06. Mew
07. The Libertines
08. Broken Social Scene
09. Sufjan Stevens

Top songs:

01. Laakso - In my blood
02. Mew - Special
03. The Strokes - You Only Live Once
04. The Decemberists - We Both Go Down Together
05. I'm from Barcelona - The Painter
06. Broken Social Scene - Stars and Sons
07. Hello Saferide - If I Don't Write This Song, Someone I Love Will Die
08. Hello Saferide - Get Sick Soon
09. Death Cab for Cutie - Lightness

Again, I'd like to encourage all regular readers to join up so we can get a better idea of what we're all listening to. It's fun! Go here: https://www.last.fm/group/itsatrap/

Danish hardcore thrash act Blindfault will tour Europe next spring. Here's the tentative schedule:

04/06 - Germany
04/07 - Germany
04/08 - Germany
04/09 - Germany
04/10 - Germany
04/11 - Germany
04/12 - Germany
04/13 - Germany
04/14 - Benelux
04/15 - Luxemburg
04/16 - Benelux
04/17 - UK
04/18 - Carringtons Nightclub, Harrogate (UK)
04/19 - UK
04/20 - UK
04/21 - UK
04/22 - Scotland
04/23 - Scotland
04/24 - Scotland
04/25 - UK
04/26 - UK
04/27 - UK
04/28 - Germany / Benelux
04/29 - Germany
04/30 - Denmark