I am currently in Umeå and all is well. Spring has sprung in Stockholm, but it most definitely has not reached Norrland. But hey, who am I to complain? Life is good! As I said in my newsletter last week, I'll try to keep in touch via the board if anyone's curious about what I'm up to. Cheers!

Well, the time has come and it's time for me to leave on my very first trip to Sweden. Can you believe it? It's funny, but it's true. Since I won't be posting any news for awhile I'm gonna leave you with two mp3s for the road, one from Isolation Years and one from KVLR. Both bands are from Umeå way up north in Norrland, my final destination after spending 48hrs or so in Stockholm. The KVLR track is an old tune from the "On planted streets" collection, my selection for April's album of the month. It's been over two years since we all went on tour to SXSW together and I can't wait to see tham all again. As for Isolation Years, this track is the band's bittersweet lovesong for their home country and, like everything else off their new album "Cover the distance", it is absolutely brilliant. There's been some good records released this year, but this one tops them all. Without a doubt, they are my favorite band right now. They keep getting better and better with every new album and I can't wait to see them play next week.

New reviews posted: [click here]

Spring break! Back soon! Reminder: no mailorder purchases will be processed until I return on April 11. Cheers!

I've decided that Alog is my favorite Rune Grammofon act. Supersilent, Scorch Trio and the rest of their ilk are nice, but I can't honestly say that I feel inclined to put them on all that often. I desire beats I can nod along to. I want melodies. Alog provides, albeit in an abstract way. The music is electronic in construction, but organic in sound. The track I'm featuring today starts off with the fluttering of sped-up voices and seemingly random tones, looped and layered with polyrhythmic bell tones. As with a lot of minimalist music, the effect can be disconcerning at first, but the longer it goes on, the more it settles into a groove. Once the beat drops in at 2'30" it turns to pure bliss. But it never stops building - the track flows on, adding layers of pink noise before dissolving completely into soft waves of distortion. I imagine a sunset at the seaside. Beautiful.

The Light Bulb Project will be releasing a two-song 7" on Smashing Time in the near future. More info to come.

Scandinavian acts confirmed for this year's Sonar Festival: DJ99/Guttorm Andeasen (NOR), Pellarin & Mylleager (DK), The Beautiful People (NOR), Tape (SWE), Djsos Krost (DK), Efterklang (DK) and Pharfar & Ned Flanders (DK). Full list here: https://ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid=5640226

Get Up! has signed Göteborg-based act Knutna Nävar. Check out a tune from them here: https://www.getup.se/mp3/knutna_navar-lar_av_historien.mp3
(Hint: the announcement is dated April 1)

Umeå-based crustpunks Reign of Bombs have confirmed that they'll be doing a split LP with fellow Swedes Bombstrike which should be available in time for the latter's upcoming European tour in June. As for RoB, they'll be heading out across Europe in July and here's everything they've got confirmed so far:

04/29 - Sandviken w/Uncurbed, Accidents
04/30 - Linköping w/Rambo
05/01 - First Anual Mayhem at Hamnmagasinet, Umeå w/Rambo, Vid Under, Lesra, more
06/30 - Linkoping, Sweden w/Black Star Rising
07/01 - Neubrandenburg, Germany w/Black Star Rising
07/02 - Potsdam, Germany w/Black Star Rising
07/13 - Stuttgart, Germany w/Black Star Rising, Bombstrike
07/14 - Luxenburg w/Black Star Rising
07/15 - Ankmaar, Netherlands w/Black Star Rising
07/16 - Yellowdog Festival w/BSR, TWE?, Uncurbed, Bombstrike, Infanticide, Crude BE, more

A-ha has started to confirm live dates for the end of the year in anticipation of their new album, due out in the fall. Here's what they've got so far:

11/13 - Forest National, Brussels
11/14 - Le Grand Rex, Paris
11/16 - AVO Session, Basel
11/19 - Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt
11/20 - Arena Treptow, Berlin
11/22 - Boerdelandhalle, Magdeburg
11/23 - Color Line Arena, Hamburg
11/25 - Olympiahalle, Munich
11/26 - Messehalle, Friedrichshafen
11/28 - Schleyerhalle, Stuttgart
11/29 - Messehalle, Dresden
11/30 - Stadthalle, Rostock
12/03 - NEC, Birmingham
12/04 - Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow
12/06 - MEN, Manchester
12/07 - Wembley Arena, London

The new album "Sing along with Acid House Kings" from uh, the Acid House Kings has been confirmed for an April 20 release via Labrador Records.

Here's this week's YLE/Morjen top 10 Nordic video chart:

01. Smak - Nousen (FIN)
02. Korpiklaani - Hunting song (FIN)
03. Kent - Max 500 (SWE)
04. Anniina - Who's about to cry (FIN)
05. The 69 Eyes - Lost boys (FIN)
06. Nerdee - Ivy (FIN)
07. Disco Ensemble - We might fall apart (FIN)
08. Nina Rochelle - Mörkertal (SWE)
09. Infernal - From Paris to Berlin (DK)
10. Pain - Same old song (SWE)

Challengers:
11. Humane - Wish God was a woman (FIN)
12. Gåte - Sjå attende (NOR)
13. Melody Club - Boys in the girls room (SWE)

Music blog The Suburbs Are Killing Us posts a track from Norway's The National Bank, an all-star group featuring Thomas Dybdahl and members from Jaga Jazzist: https://www.christopherporter.com/2005/03/national-bank-tolerate-national-bank.html
And also check out the link he posted for another blog covering the new Jaga Jazzist: https://www.scissorkick.com/2005/03/jaga-jazzist.html

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Kent - Du och jag döden
02. Moneybrother - To die alone
03. Jill Johnson - Being Who You Are
04. Christer Sjögren - Love Me Tender
05. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
06. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
07. Jimmy Jansson - Som en Blixt
08. Hammerfall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
09. Darin - The anthem
10. Håkan Hellström - Ett kölikbarns bekännelser
11. Viktoria Tolstoy - My Swedish Heart
12. Martin Stenmarck - Think of Me (New Version)
13. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
14. Thorsten Flinck - Vildvuxna rosor
15. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
16. Broder Daniel - No Time for Us 1989-2004
17. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
18. The Real Group - In the Middle of Life
19. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
20. Arash - Arash Arash

Uncritical has posted a track from Moneybrother: https://uncritical.blogspot.com/2005/03/i-cant-say-why-i-need-you-here.html
Chris, I think you'll be happy to know that Simon ranks the album very highly, though he still feels that lead single is the weakest track. His full album review should be up either later today or tomorrow. I agree that it's a great album and I hope it catches on over here, too.

Mando Diao has been selected to support flavor-of-the-month act The Bravery for run of show in the UK:

05/23 - Blank Canvass, Leeds
05/24 - Academy, Bristol
05/25 - Civic, Wolverhampton
05/27 - Brooks University
05/28 - Astoria, London
05/29 - Astoria, London
05/30 - Astoria, London
05/31 - Academy, Manchester
06/01 - Barrowlands, Glasgow