Speaking of Iceage, the intitial lineup for the 2012 edition of Chaos in Tejas has been announced and will feature the Danish wunderkunds along with Nasum and Herätys as well as a whole host of other awesome metal/punk/hardcore bands: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/12/antisect_reform.html
The new Mustasch album "Sounds like hell, looks like heaven" will be released on February 1.
PSL has the premiere of Skriet's new video "Oceandåren": http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2011/12/08/titta-skriets-ny-bara-pa-psl/
Also via PSL comes word that [ingenting] is planning to (finally!) release a new album next fall.
Line Dance Fever add a cover of "Last Christmas" to their repertoire.
There's a new episode of SVT Klubbland online today featuring José González performing with The Gothenburg String Theory: http://blogg.svt.se/klubbland/2011/12/09/43-jose-gonzalez-the-gothenburg-string-theory/
Mr. DeathThere's something intriguing about Sweden's Mr. Death that makes you want to come back for more even though you're not quite sure if you're that into their new album. Historically, that has been the mark of a damn good recording for me, with case in point being "Contradictions collapse". When Meshuggah released their debut back in '91 I had the same feeling; I wasn't quite sure if I liked it, but I kept coming back for more. Now it's one of my all-time favorite albums. I sincerely doubt that I'll be singing the praises of "Descending through the ashes" in 20 years time, but it definitely has something special for now. It's a combination of that odd sound -- like a mix of the American and Swedish deathgrinders from back in the day -- and a unique songwriting technique that's simple, yet very effective. On every listen I'm wondering if the songwriting is actually any good and I still can't put my finger on it. That it has me returning to it on a regular basis speaks volumes. It's old-school Swedish/American death metal with a production that would make Satan shit himself. Good enough for me!
- John Norby
"Your basic boring skweee track": better than no skweee at all. And besides, I am a strong endorser of the KISS principle in all realms and spaces.
has provided us with their winter/spring release schedule, as well as a couple excellent sample tunes. Listen above/read below:
Dec 23 - Tennis Bafra - Knox Harrington [digital single]
Dec 24 - Åbe - Leland [digital single]
Jan 01 - Åbe - King of Pellargonia [CD/digital]
Feb 06 - Tennis Bafra - Abulia Jubilee [CD/LP/digital]
Feb 22 - Soviac - The aack album [CD/LP/digital]
Mar 03 - Simian Ghost - Youth [LP]
Later in 2012, look for new albums from De Montevert, First Love Last Rites and Daymare.
Timely without being Christmas-themed, here's a brande new duet single from Emil Jensen and Familjen entitled "Nyår": http://www.adrianfiles.com/01.Nyar.mp3
If you don't want to bother with downloads, stream it on Spotify here.
A new video from Korallreven, directed by Marcus Söderlund.
Peter Bjorn and John are doing an Advent calendar thing and normally I wouldn't care because I'm a Scrooge, but I can't pass up some behind-the-scenes footage from their dog photo shoot: http://peterbjornandjohn.com/blog/2011/12/gimme-some-advent-calendar-7/
Loney Dear plays his Tomas Tranströmer tribute piece for PSL: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2011/12/07/musik-med-loney-dear-2/
will be releasing a 7-track mini-album from Vädret, the new solo project from Scraps of Tape guitarist Marcus Nilsson. Release date TBA.
