Here's what I know: The Lovable Tulips are two ladies from Stockholm who recorded some tunes with Mr. Jari Haapalainen of The Bear Quartet. They made a video for one of those tunes and you can see it above. I dig it! Hear more at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theloveabletulips
Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eAbYElz4pY
Swedish yacht-rock act The Sonnets have a new video: http://www.vimeo.com/14996262
SMFF, aka Svenska Musikförläggarna aka the Swedish Music Publishers Association, have announced their nominees for their annual awards show:
Composer:
Salem Al Fakir (Pompadore Publishing/EMI Music Publishing Scandinavia)
Nadir "RedOne" Khayat (Sony/ATV Music Publishing Scandinavia)
Martin "Max Martin" Sandberg/Johan "Shellback" Schuster (Maratone/Kobalt Music Scandinavia)
Oskar Linnros (Universal Music Publishing)
Lyrics:
Johan "Familjen" Karlsson (Hybris/Air Chrysalis Scandinavia)
Markus Krunegård (Peermusic)
Melissa Horn (Manus)
Oskar Linnros (Universal Music Publishing)
Song:
"What's the point?" - John Engelbert (Johnossi) (Manus)
"Keep on walking" - Salem Al Fakir (Pompadore Publishing/EMI Music Publishing Scandinavia)
"Bad romance" - Nadir "RedOne" Khayat/Stefani "Lady Gaga" Germanotta (Sony/ATV Music Publishing Scandinavia)
"Från och med du" - Oskar Linnros/Christian Olsson (Universal Music Publishing)
Newcomer:
Johan Moraeus (Air Chrysalis Scandinavia)
Johanna Söderberg/Klara Söderberg (First Aid Kit) (Warner/Chappell Music Scandinavia)
Anna von Hausswolff (Manus)
Andreas "Grega" Östeman (Astmabeat Publishing/EMI Music Publishing Scandinavia)
Full details and all categories: http://www.smff.se/?id=8&cid=3197
Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John) and Jens Lekman will be doing poolside performances at the Mondrian Hotel in LA this fall: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mondrian-Sessions/153718254657992?v=info&ref=ts
Both shows are free, but require RSVP in advance -- see the Facebook link for details.
Danish artist Our Broken Garden will release her sophomore album "Golden sea" on October 18 via in the UK and at home. Hear the first single "Garden grow" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ourbrokengarden
Don't know why I didn't mention it last week when I first found out: bassist Anna Knutsson has parted ways with We Live in Trenches citing lack of time. There's no permanent replacement yet AFAIK, but Johan Meiton of Snakestorm has been filling in live.
Switchblade made their first live appearance as a duo last night at Kafé 44 in Stockholm and PSL was there to film it: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2010/9/15/switchblade-ar-tillbaka-som-en-duo/
Online Fandom writer and sometime IAT contributor Nancy Baym lists "Five albums you should be listening to right now" for Nerve.com, four of which are from Scandinavia: http://nerve.com/entertainment/2010/09/15/five-albums-you-should-be-listening-to-right-now
The video is a mess and the song doesn't really get interesting until minute 3, but even still, mediocre goth rock is better than no goth rock at all. Principe Valiente has potential. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g69EZnRKe0s
Rasmus Kellerman's "The 24th" is the cure-all for all creeping negativism, reminding us to mindful of all we have to be thankful for. How beautiful life can be, indeed. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1A-pNs7ywM
The Concretes return to the UK in December:
12/01 - The Lexington, London
12/02 - The Fleece, Bristol
12/03 - The Deaf Institue, Manchester
12/04 - The Arches, Glasgow
12/05 - Brighton Ballroom, Brighton
Issue #8 of Friendly Noise -- nothing directly music-related, but if you understand how much government can drive the culture (and are of voting age in Sweden), it's worth looking at: http://www.friendlynoise.se/fzn/8
Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Loney Dear
02. Kent
03. Familjen
04. Robyn
05. Håkan Hellström
06. The Bear Quartet
07. Britta Persson
08. Jonathan Johansson
09. Junip
10. The Radio Dept.
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
PopMatters reviews Junip's debut full-length "Fields": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/130614-junip-fields/
Gaffa is reporting that Hans-Erik Dyvik Husby aka Hank von Helvete (ex-Turbonegro) is set to star in the title role of "Cornelis", an upcoming Swedish bio film about beloved troubadour Cornelis Vreesvijk coming in November: http://gaffa.se/nyhet/42907
Mr. Helvete is also recording a couple Vreesvijk tunes for the soundtrack and will be doing an album with Cornelis' son, Jack Vreesvijk.