Laakso lucked out and was joined by hyped UK act Comet Gain at their show in London last night. Apparently one of the other acts got in an altercation of sorts with the club and was given the boot from the bill.
Chalksounds has officially announced that Vinyl Junkies will be releasing the Moonbabies' latest album "The Orange Billboard" in Japan. There's no release date yet, but the new version will include two new bonus tracks, "In the banshees" and "Umbrella meets the sky". I've heard the first one and of course it's great. Otherwise, the band has already started work on their next album and will be playing a couple festival gigs this summer.
Kristofer Åström and The Fine Arts Showcase/Gustaf Kjellvander both have records of the week over at Aftonbladet with samples and reviews: http://www.aftonbladet.se/noje/musik/musik.html (in Swedish, on right)
Meshuggah is heading to the UK for a few dates in mid-June. Here's everything they have scheduled right now:
06/17 - Hultsfredsfestivalen, Hultsfred (SWE)
06/19 - Provinssirock, Seinäjoki (FIN)
06/26 - Furyfest, Nantes (FRA)
06/27 - Mean Fiddler, London (UK)
06/28 - Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
07/02 - Roskilde, Roskilde (DEN)
07/16 - Arvikafestivalen, Arvika (SWE)
07/31 - Gates of Metal, Hultsfred (SWE)
The preliminary release date for the band's new EP "I" is set for July 13 in the US. European details should be confirmed soon.
PopMatters reviews Komeda: http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/k/komeda-kokomemedada.shtml
Even though frontman Gaahl was recently sentenced to 18 months in prison, the search is still on for a new Gorgoroth drummer. Folks interested in applying should contact guitarist Infernus at infernus@nietzsche.zzn.com for more info.
KVLR is now confirmed for the Blowupapanda Festival. They are also working on dates for the UK in August, but nothing has been confirmed quite yet. If you can help out, please be sure to get a hold of me.
I am unbelievably stoked: Supersilent and Jaga Jazzist are playing a show together at the SF Jazz Festival on November 4 at the Great American Music Hall. I'm not sure when tickets go on sale, but I'll most certainly be in attendance. Look for more California dates to be announced soon.
Norway's The Ricochets have signed a new record deal with Germany's Glitterhouse for a special release of the excellent album "The Ghost Of Our Love" across Europe. The new edition will contain not only "The Ghost....", but also the debut record "Slo-mo Suicide" for the price of one album. Look for it on August 30.
Prime STH will be releasing their record "Beautiful Awakening" win Japan on Sepetember 5 through Wood Records.
This week's top 10 Nordic video chart from YLE/Morjen:
01. Nightwish - Nemo (FIN)
02. Uniklubi - Rakkautta ja Piikkilankaa (FIN)
03. Nina Rochelle - Stockholm kommer förstöra mig (SWE)
04. Petter - Fredrik Snortare och Cecilia Synd (SWE)
05. The Rasmus - Funeral song (FIN)
06. Finntroll - Trollhammaren (FIN)
07. Labrador - Freeway to Mars (DK)
08. Eskobar - Bring the action (SWE)
09. Sofia - You know what to do (FIN)
10. Infinite Mass - No 1 svartskalle (SWE)
Challengers:
01. Dallas Superstars - Crazy (FIN)
02. Teddybears Sthlm - Hey boy (SWE)
03. Mannhai - Rock to the top (FIN)
Here's this week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:
01. HIM - Solitary Man
02. Kashmir - Aftermath
03. The Rasmus - Funeral Song
04. Promoe - These Walls Don´t Lie
05. Sondre Lerche - Two Way Monologue
06. Paleface - Colgate Soulmate
07. C21 - All That I Want
08. Tungtvann - Slepp Dae Laus
09. Bergman Rock - Jim
10. Beats And Styles - Allstars
11. Blue Foundation - End Of The Day
12. Grand Avenue - This Is Not An End
13. Infinite Mass - No.1 Swartskalle
14. Winta - I Want You
15. Whyte Seeds - Black Key Song
16. Tim Christensen - Jump The Gun
17. Venke Knutson - Scared
18. Alcazar - This Is The World We´re Living
19. Petter - Fredrik Snortare och Cecilia Synd
20. Cheek - Avaimet Mun Kiesiin
Challengers:
01. Christian Walz - Maybe Not
02. Nik + Jay - Pop Pop
03. The Mo - The Right World
04. Lost Soul Division - Castaway
05. A-Teens - I Promised Myself
06. Petter - Repa skivan
Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.
Tiger Lou will see the release of his most recent album "Is My Head Still On?" in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on June 1 via V2. It's also going to get a proper Australian release on July 26.
Defectors bassist and founding member Torben "Tobber" Skovgaard has decided to leave the band citing 'exhaustion-related health problems' following their US tour. The band's statement:
We have had the best of times with Torben, on tour and at home. He provided the low-end foundation for our performances, and as a craftsman, he played a key role in the construction of Cairo HiFi, our recording studio. He will be sorely missed.
Joining the band for all live dates this spring and summer will be Morten Elley who they say is a 'very diverse player with loads of touring and recording experience' and 'cool as cats' as well. He's not being made a permanent member at this point, but the group is glad to have him on board for the time being.