Finnish pop metal act Lullacry will enter the studio in May to record their next album, tentatively due next September via Spinefarm Records.
Check out the cover art for the new Meshuggah album "Catch 33": http://img153.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img153&image=catch33cover3pl.jpg
Finnish doom metalers Swallow the Sun report that they have completed work on their new album. The first single "Forgive Her..." comes out April 13 and a video for the track "Descending winters" is due out soon as well.
SVT's Musikbyrån finally has a new web site: http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=32531
There's not a lot there yet, but I've been told that they are planning to update the videos regularly with a new theme every week or so. Also, as a reminder, the last show for the season is tonight at 22:30 featuring Frida Hyvönen and Jenny Wilson.
Speaking of Jenny Wilson, the First Floor Power vocalist will release her debut solo single "Summer time - The roughest time" on March 18 via Rabid Records. Her full-length album "Love and youth" is set to come out April 6.
I've decided to get with the times and have started an Audioscrobbler group: http://www.audioscrobbler.com/group/itsatrap
I know I'm resistant and a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to embracing new trends online, but this thing actually seems pretty darn cool. Audioscrobbler is a media player plugin that tracks your listening habits, creates charts and helps you find new friends with similar tastes. It might seem like a marketer's fantasy, but so far it seems quite honest and straightforward. So yeah, join up and find out what your peers are listening to. It'll be fun, trust me.
This would also be a good time to remind everyone that mp3 ID tags are very, very important. If you aren't properly tagging your tracks, you are making a big mistake.
Check out the video for the Ulver/Upland collaboration "Lost in moments": http://www.upland.no/mp3s/upland-ulver_lost-in-moments.mpg
The Virtues will be throwing a free record release party for their new EP "Idiot box" at Club Thorells Syndrome at Mondo in Stockholm on March 17. Well, free if you show up before 9pm.
The world premiere for the stage adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" has been set for Toronto in Spring 2006 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien beginning to write the trilogy and follows the 50th anniversary of the publication of said trilogy. As mentioned before, this is revelant to IAT because Finnish folk group Värttinä cowrote the music for the production with A.R. Rahman and Christopher Nightingale. Press Night is set for March 23, 2006 at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre, with preview performances from February 2 througn March 22, 2006. Public tickets go on sale on May 16, 2005 via lotr.com. The London premiere is now set for Autumn 2006.
Denmark's experimental noise collective Noisejihad now has a netlabel for live recordings. The first two splits from Mag Necro/Ultimate Combat Noise and Ryfylke/Danny Kreutzfeldt are already up for download: http://www.noisejihad.dk/netlabel/index.htm
Up next is a release from Massaccesi, Drop The Lime, End and Pol Mod Pol.
Updated tourdates for Kristofer Åström:
04/08 - Mejeriet, Lund (SWE)
04/14 - Nebraska, Gävle (SWE)
04/15 - Droskan, Umeå (SWE)
04/16 - Pinkerton, Skellefteå (SWE)
04/21 - Klubb Jukebox/Harrys, Eskilstuna (SWE)
04/22 - Hugo, Norrköping (SWE)
04/23 - Kulturhuset/Studion, Jönköping (SWE)
04/28 - Garage, Oslo (NOR)
04/29 - Nalen, Stockholm (SWE)
04/30 - KF Roxy, Visby (SWE)
05/04 - Klubb Kaliber, Mariestad (SWE)
05/05 - Katalin, Uppsala (SWE)
05/07 - Sticky Fingers, Göteborg (SWE)
05/08 - Klubb Söndag, Örebro (SWE)
05/10 - Logo, Hamburg (GER)
05/11 - De Helling, Utrecht (NL)
05/12 - Botanique, Brussels (BEL)
05/13 - Gebäude 9, Köln (GER)
05/14 - Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg (GER)
05/15 - Nachtleben, Frankfurt (GER)
05/16 - ISC, Bern (SWI)
05/17 - BOA, Luzern (SWI)
05/18 - Atomic Café, Munic (GER)
05/19 - Magnet, Berlin (GER)
05/20 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
05/21 - The Tivoli, Helsingborg (SWE)
05/29 - Popaganda Festival, Stockholm (SWE)
Dolores Recordings will be putting out a ton of vinyl in April. First up on April 15 comes the gatefold LP version of The Caesars' latest "Paper tigers" in a 500 copy limited run. On that same day they'll also release a trio of singles: Björn Olsson - "Partille", Robyn - "Bum Like You" and Broder Daniel - "Luke Skywalker (Demo'93)". And that's not all - Dolores will also be releasing vinyl editions of both their "Who will buy these wonderful evils?" compilations on April 25. Only 300 copies of those, so you might need to act fast if you want one. As always, order 'em through Hotstuff.se.