Popsicle Recordings has posted 10 volumes of Swedish/Scandinavian pop samplers for free download: http://www.popsiclerecordings.com/samplers/
These were originally distributed as freebies with orders to Popsicle's distro, but since the bottom has fallen out of the CD market (for most of us), they are no longer being made.
Torpedo has a new song in an Audi promotion: http://microsites.audi.com/a1onlinespecial/html/popup.html
Atlas Losing Grip are doing a short Euro tour in January:
01/13 - Rote Flora, Hamburg (GER)
01/14 - Sputnikhall, Münster (GER)
01/15 - The Sojo, Leuven (BEL)
01/16 - Le Pixi, Paris (FRA)
01/17 - De Slekke, Kortrijk (BEL)
01/18 - De Rots, Antwerpen (BEL)
Steso Songs has a new video for the song "The worse": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B99jjjvCOGw
Her new album "Now it's dark" comes out February 17 via .
Swedish pop-punk act The High Hats are now streaming a new (old) Christmas tune at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/highhats
Still in SF, still lacking the time and resources to post new music, but we've got an It's a Trap! Clubnight at Debaser Malmö coming up this weekend, so that gives me a perfect excuse to post a track from headliners Sator. For those who are unfamiliar with the group, I'd suggest taking a look at the extensive biography they have posted on their website. As you can see, the band is a tremendously important part of Swedish music history and I'm thrilled they're playing, even if I can't be there myself. But you're going, right? If you're anywhere near Malmö, you really have no excuse.
"Escape from Pigvalley Beach" is a more recent track from the band and it comes off their 2006 album "Basement noise". Compare it to some of their older work and you probably won't notice much of a difference, aside from the production. Live, I'm sure it fits in just fine.
Sator - Escape from Pigvalley Beach
Hey, look! Another new track from the recently reborn Le Sport: http://www.lesportmusic2.tk/
The first half of Pitchfork's top 50 albums of 2009 are posted and Scandinavian artists featured so far include jj (#35) and Röyksopp (#30): http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7744-the-top-50-albums-of-2009/
Check out the new Lorentz & M. Sakarias video for "Lever min dröm" (feat. Newkid): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMxPehgUHto
El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees are touring the US together next year:
02/14 - World Café, Philadelphia, PA
02/16 - Le Poisson Rouge, New York City, NY
02/17 - Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
02/19 - Cambridge Family YMCA, Cambridge, MA
02/20 - Il Motore, Montreal, Quebec
02/21 - The Mod Club, Toronto, Ontario
02/22 - Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
02/23 - Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, MN
02/26 - The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
02/27 - Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver, British Columbia
02/28 - Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
03/02 - Café du Nord, San Francisco, CA
03/03 - Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA
The Silent Ballet reviews the new Midaircondo album "Curtain call": http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/2962/Default.aspx
Is that a TST cover I see on the new Kristofer Åström EP? Look: http://www.soundpollution.se/product.aspx?id=32386
Check out a short video presentation on the new solar-powered musical creation invented by artist Mats Björk and released in a (very) limited edition by the label : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSod4s1OSfY
More info: "Connected to a pair of headphones, you one can choose to listen to one of the two parts this composition basically consists of. With the lid open, the circuit (that also makes out the musical score) with its oscillators, is carefully tuned for broad daylight to capture the intense piercing and powerful energy, here manifested in the mantra of a clear but uncertain six tone chord. Slowly shifting in pitch as the sun wanders the sky and occasionally hides behind a small cloud, this part of the composition lets you sink in to the relations between the tones themselves and between light and tone. By more actively interacting with the sun, or exploring the sounds of artificial light, the piece moves into its more chaotic experimental phase and you as a listener approach the role of the musician. Like zooming in on the exploding fire bursts of the solar surface, the experience of minimal noise clusters, related to all kinds of light, is revealed."