Photo:Henrik has updated with pics of Cult of Luna, Andreas Tilliander, Ane Brun, El Perro Del Mar and Jenny Wilson, all from Hultsfred: https://www.photohenrik.com/

This week's top Norwegian albums:

01. De Lillos - Festen er ikke over det er kake igjen
02. Lene Marlin - Lost in a moment
03. Div Art - Melodi Grand Prix Jr.2005
04. Åge Aleksandersen - To skritt frem
05. Madrugada - The deep end
06. Sandra - Døgnvill
07. Magnet - The tourniquet
08. Div Art - Idol 2005
09. Turboneger - Party animals

Denmark's Halph has finished a new album and should be releasing it sometime around late August/early September via PonyRec.

Noisedfisk interviews Finland's Ultrasport: https://noisedfisk.com/2005/06/23/an-interview-with-ultrasport/

MIC Norway on Maja Ratkje and "the end of music": https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2005062315015187545433

Stop the presses! Uncritical updates twice in one week, today with a Kin Lijdverblijf remix of the Sophie Rimheden and Håkan Libdo cover of Carola's 1983 dance hit "Främling": https://extr.aneo.us/uncritical/2005/06/unfinished-thoughts.html

Music Export Finland (MUSEX) and the Finnish Music Information Centre (FIMIC) has issued a 3xCD intro to Finnish music entitled "What about Finland", each disc covering a different genre: one for nujazz/electronica, one for pop/rock and one for metal/hardrock. Check out the list of acts here: https://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/4db06e0d5f74a1ddc2256f08002d21ba/d97962ed44b45ff8c225702900244307!OpenDocument

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. CajsaStina Åkerström - De vackraste orden
02. Musikal - Mamma Mia
03. Amy Diamond - This Is Me Now
04. Robyn - Robyn
05. Carola - Störst av allt
06. Ulf Lundell - Högtryck
07. The Hellacopters - Rock & Roll Is Dead
08. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
09. Kent - Du & Jag Döden
10. Pandora - 9 Lives
11. Nanne - 20 år med Nanne
12. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
13. Ted Gärdestad - Sol vind & vatten - Det bästa
14. Di Leva - Själens krigare: samlade sånger 1980-2005
15. Arvingarna - #8
16. Totta Näslund - Totta 8: Greatest Hits
17. Laleh - Laleh
18. Electric Banana Band - Electric Banana Band och Trazan & Banarnes bästa
19. Jill Johnson - Being Who You Are
20. Bodies Without Organs - Protoype

Dusted reviews the reissue of Efterklang's "Springer" EP: https://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2183

Aftonbladet has the video for the new Moneybrother single "Blow him back into my arms", my favorite track from the most recent album "To die alone": https://www.aftonbladet.se/atv/index.html?catID=29&clipID=1357

Norwegian hardcore act JR Ewing has updated their website with soundsamples from the new major-label debut album "Maelstrom": https://www.thejrewing.com/
The band is currently in negotiations for an international release and hopes to have it out all over the world by the fall. More details to come soon.

The new In Flames album has wrapped up mixing at Tonteknik in Umeå and will now be called "Come clarity", not the aforementioned "Crawl through knives". It comes out this fall via Nuclear Blast.

Arcturus has revealed that "Sideshow symphonies" will be the title of their new album, tentatively due in September through Season Of Mist.

It took me awhile to appreciate Washington. I got their album "A new order rising" quite some time ago and initially wrote it off as generic mid-tempo melancholy. Y'know, that whole bloated genre populated by bands like Kent, Coldplay, Doves and countless others following in their wake? How much of that stuff do we need, right? But when I heard that Glitterhouse had licensed the record for a full European release (due out June 27), I figured I should probably give 'em another shot. So of course I went back and revisited it and found out my initial opinion was premature. There is a lot to like about this band, it's just that the record is really mellow and subtle, so it can take awhile to connect. For instance, the song I'm posting today is about as uptempo as these guys get. They spend a lot of time in more of an ethereal/folky mode and that doesn't always make for gripping listening experience. Yeah, they borrow quite a bit from Radiohead and Travis, but I think they add enough of their own touches to make it worthwhile. I especially like the use of pedal steel and what I believe is 12-string guitar on this track. Good stuff.

The winners of The Virtues CD giveaway are Uwe Jähnichen of Liepzig, Germany and Ellen Ernhill of Umeå, Sweden. I totally meant to announce it yesterday, but I forgot. Anyhow, your CDs will be sent off in the next day or two. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Swedish hip-hoppers MBMA (Mobbade Barn Med Automatvapen) have a new website: https://www.mbma.se/