Should've made last year's list:
EST (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) - Strange Place for Snow (Diesel/Sony)
This year's release "Seven Days of Falling" is pretty good, but it's no match for last year's product. Even my jazz-hating wife likes this album and will listen to it over and over. The way this group combines the classic with the modern is so wonderfully inspired it's no wonder they are one of Europe's top rated acts in the genre.
Thank goodness for filesharing:
Pan Sonic live bootlegs
Somehow the subtleties and excellence of Pan Sonic's minimalist music is transformed into something far greater when amplified and distorted. There's some great recordings floating around out there.
Next year:
So far, I'm looking forward to new releases from Kristofer Åström, Cobolt, C.Armeé, Sahara Hotnights, Soundtrack of Our Lives, Tiger Lou, Weeping Willows and of course, KVLR to name a few. There's also an album in the pipeline from The Hives that's sure to be hyped beyond belief. And then there's the international promotion of José González and The Concretes to look out for, as well as who knows what other flavor-of-the-month they might try to sell you. As always, you know where to come if you want to hear about it first.
There's some new pics of Broder Daniel up at Rockfoto.nu.
Nicolaidunger.tk, Nicolai Dunger's official fansite, is now collecting questions for a Q&A session to be published online in the near future. If you have any questions to ask him, head on over. Nicolai will also be DJing with Grasshopper from Mercury Rev at Debaser in Stockholm and Cafe Mono in Oslo on January 7 and 8 respectively. In case you didn't already know, Nicolai's forthcoming album (and recent single "Hunger") was produced by Mercury Rev and will be out next month.
Reminder: Tomorrow is the day I publish the It's a trap! year-end best-of roundup. Is it worth getting excited for? Probably not, but if you're like me, you probably enjoy reading these things anyway.
The Wire's top 50 of 2003 list includes Jaga Jazzist and Noxagt: http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/charts/2003_Rewind.html
Sondre Lerche has a new web diary entry where he recounts his favorite records of the year.
Norweigan hardrockers We are currently in Hangaroundsounds studio in Oslo with American producer Chris Goss (Masters of Reality, Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss). Read more: http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/2003/12/770191.shtml (in Norweigan)
There's also some pics from the proceedings posted on their website: http://www.werock.org/
Supertanker takes a look back at this year's Roskilde festival: http://www.rosa2.dk/artikler/art009-roskilde-december2003.htm
A scant two Scandinavian entries in the Pitchfork top 50 of 2003:
#50: Supersilent - 6
#36: Junior Senior - D-D-Don't Stop the Beat
This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:
01. The Rasmus - First Day Of My Life
02. Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
03. Tim Christensen - Whispering At The Top Of My Lungs
04. Moneybrother - It's Been Hurting All The Way With You Joanna
05. Redrama - Hang It Up
06. Eskobar - Love Strikes
07. Erik Faber - Century
08. Outlandish - Aicha
09. Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
10. Fattaru feat. Masayah - Ton för ton
11. Paperboys - Hey Man
12. Beats & Styles - Dynamite
13. C21 - One Night In Bangkok
14. Christian Kjellvander - Portugal
15. The Latin Kings - Cashen Dom Tas
16. Negative - The Moment Of Our Love
17. Carpark North - Wild Wonders
18. Slow Train Soul - In The Black Of Night
19. Fintelligens - Vaan Sil On Väliä
20. Hardcore Superstar - Still I´m Glad
Challengers:
01. Eagle Eye Cherry - Don´t Give Up
02. Junior Senior - Shake Your Coconuts
03. Safri Duo feat. Clark Anderson - All The People In The World
04. Briskeby - Halleluja
05. Christine Milton - Superstar
06. Majid - Boys And Girls
07. September - We Can Do It
08. L.O.C. - Undskyld
Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.
The folks at Digfi have published their year-end best-of lists: http://digfi.com/digfi/digfi?action=se.two4hr.digfi.main.appl.PageChronical&id=4221