Today's top 10 is from Swedish singer/songwriter/webmaster Johan Bergqvist. Check it.
Again, if anyone is interested in contributing their own top 10 list, I'm all for it. My plan is to run a special reader-contributed list of the top 10 Scandinavian albums from 2004, so send in your recommendations!
Add some excellent industry drama to your day: Mattias Alkberg BD tells the Swedish Grammy jury to fuck off and refuses to accept the nomination: http://www.itsatrap.com/index.php?article=40
Aftonbladet is now carrying the story, too: http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/noje/story/0,2789,576468,00.html (in Swedish)
German webzine Handle Me Down interviews The Je Ne Sais Quoi: http://www.handlemedown.de/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=246
Silence has announced that they'll be releasing new albums from Chick Habit, Fint Tillsammans and Dub Sweden next year, along with reissues of Bo Hansson's two 70s-era classics "Mellanväsen" and "El Ahrairah". Read more on the new Fint Tillsammans single "Min Fender" here: http://www.silence.se/nyheter/fint.htm
In other Silence-related news, Mattias Hellberg's debut solo album has licensed for release in Europe by the French label Fargo. More info to come.
Finnish electronic artist Lackluster now has his own online store: http://www.lackluster.org/shop/
The Tiny will be back in NYC for a couple shows in early January:
01/04 - Joe's Pub, NYC
01/05 - Livingroom, NYC
Burning Heart Records founder Peter Ahlqvist talks to the UK's Big Cheese magazine about how his label got started, The Hives legal fiasco and more: http://www.burningheart.com/news/article.php?id=170
Here's this week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart, the final one for the year:
01. Saybia - I surrender
02. Nephew - Superliga
03. Mando Diao - God Knows
04. Clemens - Raptus
05. Bertine Zetlitz - Fake Your Beauty
06. Nightwish - Wish I Had
07. The Hives - Two Timing Touch & Broken Bones
08. Dhani - Girl Talk
09. Jonna - Sateen Jälken
10. Black Belt - All to You
11. Melody Club - Baby (Stand Up)
12. Eskobar - You Got Me
13. Burhan G - Take U Home
14. Ayesha - Squaffie
15. Sahara Hotnights - Who Do You Dance For
16. Promoe - Long Distance Runner
17. Ana - Don't Cry For Pain
18. Infinite Mass - Fire Fire
19. Margaret Berger - Lifetime Guarantee
20. Lambretta - Chemical
Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.
After spending the last half of the year or so doing various side-projects (Holiday With Maggie, Meleeh), Monastir reports that they will be starting preproduction on a new album in January.
Here's the final top 10 Nordic video chart from YLE/Morjen for the year:
01. Negative - In my heaven (FIN)
02. Apocalyptica - Bittersweet (FIN)
03. Smak - Hallanvaara (FIN)
04. Melody Club - Baby (SWE)
05. Nephew - Superliga (DK)
06. Kevin - Theme from forever (FIN)
07. Kapasiteetti- yksikkö - Usko parempaan (FIN)
08. Searching for Nurmes - Halti (NOR)
09. The Confusions - Window (SWE)
10. The Soundtrack of our lives - Bigtime (SWE)
New challengers return on January 13.
Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Lasse Stefanz - Röd Chevrolet
02. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
03. Carola - Jul i Betlehem
04. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
05. Uno Svenningsson - Ett andetag från dig
06. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
07. Markoolio - Bäst off
08. Marie Fredriksson - The Change
09. Björn Afzelius & Mikael Wiehe - 1993 - Malmöinspelningarna
10. Lasse Berghagen - Jul i vårt hus
11. Peter Jöback - Storybook
12. Arne Domnérus - Best of Dompan
13. Stefan Nilsson - Så som i himmelen
14. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Bao!
15. Ulf Lundell - OK Baby OK
16. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
17. Totta Näslund - Totta 7: Soul!/På drift
18. Titiyo - Best of
19. The Refreshments - Easy to Pick Up, Hard to Put Down
20. Gyllene Tider - GT25 live
Chalksounds has posted yet another early Christmas present for y'all: two brand-new mp3s from Ellis the Vacuumchild off their upcoming debut album "Peace by extermination": http://chalksounds.com/downloads.php
The band also has a new website: http://www.ellisthevacuumchild.com/