Quit Your Dayjob are running some new contest: http://www.quityourdayjob.org/
Check out "The ultimate fix", a teaser single from the upcoming Ugress album "Unicorn": http://ultimate.ugress.com/
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Secret Garden - Inside I'm singing
02. Jan Werner - Eg veit i himmelrik ei borg
03. Madcon - So Dark the Con of Man
04. Celine - Bæstevenna
05. Hellbillies - Spissrotgang
06. Vidar Johnsen & Peter Nordberg - Ord & Øgonblick
07. Bertine Zetlitz - In my mind 1997-2007 Best of
08. Anne Grete Preus - Om igjen for første gang
09. Kurt Nilsen - Push push
10. BigBang - Something Special - The Best
11. Diverse artister - Idol 2007
12. Barnas Supershow - Musikken fra julekalenderen
13. Maria Arredondo - For a moment
14. Ole Paus - Den store norske sangboka
15. Henning Kvitnes - Stemmer i gresset
16. CC Cowboys - På Svalbard uten strøm
17. Åge Kvalbein/Iver Kleive - Julemeditasjoner
18. Marian Aas Hansen - It's beginning to look a lot like christmas
19. D.D.E. - 15 år live
20. The Source - The Source of Christmas
Candlemass will tour the US next year with support from Daylight Dies:
05/19 - Jaxx, Springfield, VA
05/20 - B.B. King Blues, New York, NY
05/22 - Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
05/23 - Peabody's, Cleveland, OH
05/24 - The Pearl Room, Mokena, IL
05/25 - Station 4, St. Paul, MN
05/28 - Studio Seven, Seattle, WA
05/29 - Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR
05/30 - Slim's, San Francisco, CA
05/31 - Galaxy Theater, Santa Ana, CA
06/01 - Whisky a Go Go, West Hollywood, CA
06/06 - Scout Bar, Houston, TX
06/07 - Ridglea Theater, Fort Worth, TX
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Carola - I denna natt blir världen ny - Jul i Betlehem II
02. Jill Johnson - Music Row
03. Björn Skifs - I2I
04. Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden
05. Magnus Uggla - Pärlor åt svinen
06. Peter Lemarc - Kärlek i tystnadens tid
07. Amy Diamond - Music in motion
08. Lars Winnerbäck - Daugava
09. Martin Stenmarck - Det är det pojkar gör när kärleken dör
10. Sven-Bertil Taube - Alderville Road - Ord och toner av Evert Taube
11. The Refreshments - Christmas spirits
12. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Bao 3
14. Christer Sjögren - Älskade andliga sånger
15. Louise Hoffsten - Så speciell
16. Eva Dahlgren - Petroleum och tång
17. Peter Jöback - Människor som du och jag
18. Måns Zelmerlöw - Stand by for...
19. Thorleifs - Våra bästa år
20. Mats Bergmans - Jubileum
The first batch of artists are confirmed for next year's Emmaboda Festival: http://www.emmabodafestivalen.se/
The 3rd edition of the Ghost Sessions trilogy featuring Richard Wilson from Swedish alt.country act Racingpaperplaces is out now. It's entitled "When does your life start" and will only be availabe in super limited quantities, so act fast if you want a copy. Listen to samples: http://www.myspace.com/ghostsessions
Another day, another top 10 - today's list comes from Joachim Dahlberg of Closer and includes the message that the band is, sadly, no more. RIP. Otherwise, for those that might've missed it, check out our own top album picks for 2007 right here and listen to our top tracks of 2007 podcast.
MP3: Bröderna Lindgren - En hund som jag
I make no secret of my appreciation for children's music. "Bamses dunder hits!" still gets regular airplay in my house and no, I have no children of my own and my dogs hate singing and dancing so it's definitely not for their benefit. Naturally, when I heard about the new Bröderna Lindren record "Vuxen barnmusik!" ("Children's music for adults!"), I knew I needed to have it. Factor in the all-star cast of guest vocalists (Kristofer Åström, Ebbot Lundberg and Asha Ali, to name a few) and a backing band featuring drummer Fredrik Sandsten from The Soundtrack of Our Lives and I. If you're of a certain age (an adult?), you'll probably feel the same as it harkens back to the kind of songs I/we grew up on on Sesame Street, Schoolhouse Rock, The Muppet Show and so on: classic rock/pop that's happy and easygoing with plenty of opportunities for singalongs. Now, as for the track I've selected today, it features Mattias Alkberg from The Bear Quartet/MABD and is one of the more balladesque numbers. Not only is it one of the best vocal performances I've heard from him in awhile, it's also about dogs (more or less), so I'm all about it. Enjoy!
Bröderna Lindgren - En hund som jag (ft. Mattias Alkberg)
Mattias Bärjed
Upp till kamp!
Razzia Records
If you've seen the TV miniseries, this soundtrack is the perfect companion piece. If not, your appreciation depends on how much you can get down with retro rock that aims to recreate the sounds of the late 60s/early 70s. As to any complaints that the music here seems all too familiar, especially the full-band material, that's because it's supposed to. Creating something fresh and original is besides the point - this is a retro piece, plain and simple. The music is composed to fit the era and it is remarkably successful at doing just that. However, what's even better are the interstitial/instrumental pieces. Again, the sound is engineered to fit the setting/time period of the film, but the music is allowed more room to breath. These are the tracks that make the record shine, as they are far more evocative and atmospheric, as opposed to purely being set pieces, written solely to move the plot forward.
All in all, The Soundtrack of Our Lives guitarist Mattias Bärjed must be commended for excelling at doing exactly what was needed to make this work. It does lose something when divorced from its visual counterpart, but it's not a deal-breaker. Now, as to my criticism of the show, well let's just say that this soundtrack is by far one of the best things about it and leave it at that.
- Avi Roig
Norwegian rockers Pirate Love have confirmed that their full-length debut "Black vodoun space blues" will be released on February 4 via Kong Tiki Records.