It's a Trap! Scandinavian music journal

Timelines gets release date

Swedish rappers Supersci have set September 20 as the release for their new album "Timelines".

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart

This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:

01. Hellbillies - Leite etter lykka
02. Contrazt - Ser på verden
03. Motorpsycho - Timothy's Monster
04. Susanne Sundfør - The Brothel
05. Alexander Rybak - No Boundaries
06. Jan Toft - Alle e aleina
07. Vestlandsfanden - Livets Glade Plommer
08. Kvelertak - Kvelertak
09. Aasmund Nordstoga - Friaren
10. Guren Hagen - Alle de beste
11. Roy Lønhøiden - Tilbake i tid - de beste sangene
12. Karpe Diem - Aldri Solgt En Løgn
13. Knutsen & Ludvigsen - Dum og Deilig - Knutsen og Ludvigsen
14. Trond Granlund - Sanger jeg lærte av faren min
15. Lars Vaular - Helt om natten, Helt om dagen
16. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
17. Elg - Storm
18. Diverse artister - Go'natt
19. Madrugada - Industrial Silence
20. Celine - Jentekveld

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Robyn - Body talk pt.1
02. Kent - En plats i solen
03. Lisa Nilsson - 20 - En jubileumssamling
04. Oskar Linnros - Vilja bli
05. Eric Saade - Masquerade
06. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
07. Lars Winnerbäck - Tänk om jag ångrar mig och sen ångrar mig igen
08. Brolle - Best of
09. Lasse Stefanz - Texas
10. Håkan Hellström - Samlade singlar 2000-2010
11. Salem al Fakir - Ignore this
12. Mikael Wiehe - Ta det tillbaka!
13. The Playtones - Rock'n roll dance party
14. Kalle Moraeus - Underbart
15. Eric Gadd - Rise up!
16. Eddie Meduza - Rockabilly rebel
17. Kent - Kent box 1991-2008
18. Amanda Jenssen - Happyland - International version
19. Cookies n Beans - Beg, borrow and steal
20. Timoteij - Längtan

New Kristian Anttila single next week (redux)

The new Kristian Anttila single "Magdalena (livet före döden)", the 2nd off his forthcoming record, will be released on August 23.

Lots of new releases from iDEAL

iDEAL Recordings has announced that they will be releasing the debut 7" "Warm and damp/Damp and warm" from Dungeon Acid, a new project from Swedish postpunk/experimental pioneer Jean-Louis Huhta. They'll also be putting out a 7" from GBG-based minimal techno artist/DJ Dimitrios K ("The D/This our that") plus a new ultra-limited cassette comp and a few other tidbits. Read more: http://idealrecordings.com/news#rel114

Friendly Noise #7

Issue #7 of Friendly Noise is now online: http://www.friendlynoise.se/fzn/7
This issue is more than a webzine, it's also an audio compilation. Recommended!

MP3: Ludwig Bell - Kärlek slutar alltid med bråk

xxx: Ludwig Bell sounds so lame
xxx: Like fucking Jumper
me: hahha
xxx: it sounds exactly the same
me: wow
me: it does
xxx: swindie was not always amazing

It's true: Ludwig Bell really does sound a lot like Jumper, though I disagree with my friend's implication that it's not that great. Yes, prime-era 90s Swindie really wasn't always top-notch and sure, maybe Jumper are justifiably relegated to the list of also-rans, but I really don't mind them at all and neither do I mind Ludwig Bell. It's not "amazing", but it's still good pop music as far as I'm concerned. Probably helps that I didn't grow up subjected to the stuff though; chances are high I might not be so charitable in such a case. But who knows? I find myself enjoying a lot of music I once hated as a surly teen.

Ludwig Bell - Kärlek slutar alltid med bråk

EP's Trailer Park to get UK release

Swedish indie/folk act EP's Trailer Park will see their album "Scissors and knives" released in the UK on October 20 via Folkwit Records: http://folkwit.com/ep.htm

Cloudberry interviews The Merrymakers

The Cloudberry Records blog is back with a new interview with David Myhr of Ant-Mansson/The Merrymakers: http://www.cloudberryrecords.com/blog/?p=540

Sator + Norrlands Guld

Apparently this is the first time Sator has allowed their music to be used in an advertisement.

Villebråd
Ultrarapid
Transubstans Records

There are some nice musical moments on this, the second full-length release from the Uppsala crew, although they're sadly few and far between. It's a decent enough album, but the one thing that I've come to realize over the course of at least half a dozen run-throughs of "Ultrarapid" is that this works much better as background music than it does as something that you would put on to actually listen to. The songs are such that you wouldn't skip over one if it played as a random selection on your iPod but, by the same token, you would rarely find yourself deliberately giving any of them a spin. Well, apart from one, maybe. "Feberdröm", it must be said, is a sublime creation and easily the best on the album. It's uplifting and vibrant and is one of those songs that finds you playing it back-to-back on each pass. Production-wise, the vocals are so high in the mix that they undermine a lot of the positive aspects of the album -- the actual music. But, even though a lot of the music on here is good, it does border on the pretentious at times. Sometimes it's quite close to a progged-up, guitar-driven A-ha and, with "Scoundrel days" remaining one of my all-time favourite albums, those moments do serve as highlights, if only for a false sense of nostalgia. A strange one to see on the Transubstans roster and, disappointingly, one that doesn't do the label any favors.
- John Norby

Can't we just skip ahead to the grunge revival?

Is 80s AOR on the way back? Check out new Swedish act Houston, a collaboration between vocalist Hampus "Hank" Erix and drummer Freddie Allen aka Fredrik Hultgren (Hello Saferide, Fibes, Oh Fibes!, Ludwig Bell, etc.): http://www.myspace.com/houstontheband
The band's new single "Truth slips" comes out August 18 and will be followed by their self-titled full-length debut on September 3.

I'm Kingfisher album gets release date, single

Thomas Denver Jonsson's new album "Arctic", his first to be released under the new moniker I'm Kingfisher, has officially been confirmed for release on October 18 via Playground Music. The first single "Willing night plants" will be released on September 20 and will be accompanied by a video directed by Nicholas Wakeham.

New Lighthouse Project full-length in October

Finnish hardcore act Lighthouse Project report that they have signed with KHY Suomen Musiikki Oy and they will be releasing the CD version of their new album "Atonement" in October; Rabbit Ilsn Records and 7 Ply Records will be doing the vinyl. Hear a couple samples at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/lighthouseproject

The Sounds cancel in South America

The Sounds have scuttled their upcoming South American tour due to a scumbag promoter: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=3087303&blogId=538391000