Cosmic back in Looptroop
After a three-year break, Cosmic is now once more a member of Looptroop Rockers: http://www.looptrooprockers.com/cosmics-back-in-looptroop/
Johannes Heldén to release album via iDEAL
has announced the signing of Stockholm-based artist Johannes Heldén and will be releasing his new album "Title sequence" in 3-4 weeks. Hear a sample clip at his website: http://www.johanneshelden.com/
Cats on Fire back to Germany
Cats on Fire will be heading back to Germany in August:
08/12 - Comet Club, Berlin
08/13 - die naTo, Leipzig
08/14 - Dockville Festival, Hamburg
Two White Horses - Eyes of the noble (video)
Simply gorgeous, in every way. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClsSUlBicKo
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Timoteij - Längtan
02. Titanix - Drömmar får liv
03. Scotts - Vi gör det igen
04. The Ark - In full regalia
05. Salem al Fakir - Ignore this
06. Anna von Hausswolff - Singing from the grave
07. Anna Bergendahl - Yours sincerely
08. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
09. H.E.A.T - Freedom rock
10. Pain of Salvation - Road salt one
11. Mikael Wiehe - Ta det tillbaka!
12. Johnossi - Mavericks
13. Rolandz - Jajamen
14. Mojje - Att leka i finrummet
15. Cookies n Beans - Beg, borrow and steal
16. The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a scheme
17. John Norum - Play yard blues
18. Familjen - Mänskligheten
19. Dan Berglund - Tonbruket
20. Björn Skifs - Da capo
"Ghost of a chance" to get expanded rerelease
No doubt hoping to capitalize on the recent Tiësto remix of "Trouble is", Danish act Turboweekend will be rereleasing their excellent "Ghost of a chance" album in a special 2CD edition featuring said remix added as a bonus track along with "De brikker der aldrig faldt på plads", a Danish-language duet with Steffen Brandt, a few other remixes and some live tracks from the band's show at Vega last April. The official release date for the new disc is June 7.
Torsten Larsen
The big payoff
Morningside Records
The subtitle to "The big payoff" should adequately prepare you for the contents of Torsten Larsen's (of Larsen & Furious Jane) album: "A collection of low-fidelity demos 2005-2008". This three-year period covers the time Larsen & Furious Jane spent on their exceptional album "Zen sucker". Demo recordings are typically the territory of diehards, those who want to hear the evolution of an artist's or a band's songwriting from the early drafts to the finished product, and there is an element of this on "The big payoff" -- the bare bones of tracks like "Tisminton" and "Oh, Perrey Reeves" may well prove only beneficial to serious Larsen & Furious Jane converts -- but there is also a decent amount of material that feels misplaced. Opener "Surrender" is among the strongest of these recordings, and one can't help but feel disappointed that it never found its way onto "Zen sucker". It's difficult to be terribly critical of "The big payoff": at its worst the recording acts a rough prequel to a fantastic album and at its best it feels like a collection of solid b-sides. The fact that is offering "The big payoff" for free doesn't hurt either.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
Popfest = new Norwegian festival
Kristiansand, Norway will play host to a new festival this year in June, the self-explanatory Popfest. Confirmed artists include Hypertext, Moddi, The New Wine, Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson and others. Read more: http://www.popfest.no/
Fenriz approved: Black Magic
Seems like it's been awhile since Fenriz selected a Norwegian act as his "band of the week", but that's no longer the case with today's selection of Black Magic: http://www.myspace.com/bestialpurity
Robyn - Dancing on my own (video)
This is retarded: has blocked international viewers from watching Robyn's new video on YouTube, but luckily it's also available on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/11925060
Why do major labels shoot themselves in the foot like that? Makes no sense.
Lucy Swann - Undercover (video)
Check out Norwegian artist Lucy Swann and her new video for the song "Undercover": http://vimeo.com/11883828
Service to publish a book
is branching out from the record business and will be publishing a book: http://srvc.se/service/fula-edith-en-dag-blev-vi-stora
More here: http://fulaedith.blogspot.com/
Preview "The people's record"
is streaming the new Club 8 album "The people's record" in its entirety: http://www.labrador.se/people_lab130_free/
Ström presents "Musiken från framtiden"
"Musiken från framtiden", the new future music compilation put together by Håkan Lidbo and the folks at P2 Ström, will be officially released on June 2 and you can now read about the various artists' individual thoughts behind each and every track over at Håkan's website: http://hakanlidbo.com/archives/1272
For a direct link to preview Håkan's own robot-inspired contribution "Xbot DXC VS MC Monstrux / Euroasian Warzone Cronicle", visit the link above or hit it directly right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8VrZt-_FcM
I received a preview download with most of the collection earlier this week and, like all of Ström's previous comps ("Musiken vi hatar", "Musik för främmande civilisationer", "Ny musik för landssorg"), the results are very interesting and worth checking out.