The blog Warmer Climes has started posting mixtape playlists from various artists whereupon they list their 10 favorite tracks and explain a little about them and two of the first contributors are Daniel Bellqvist from Eskobar and Swedish electro artist Fredrik Carlsson.
IAT.MP3 artists The Grand Opening are hard at work on their third album and report that 10-15 songs have already been tracked. All material is brand new except for the song "Cease fire" which TGO frontman John Roger Olsson has been known to play solo over the last few years. No release date yet, but they say to expect it sometime in early 2010 via Tapete Records. And in related news, keep an eye out for a BRAND NEW NETRELEASE from TGO-related act Hearts No Static later this week!
Malmö-based doom/hardcore act Crawl Back In have posted their debut 10" "Hang all hope from the nearest tree" for free download: http://www.crawlbackin.com/
Heavy stuff! My initial impression is quite positive.
My in-laws are in town, so I'm taking the day off to hang with them. Lucky for you, contributor Vasilis Panagiotopoulos sent me an mp3 to share so your Friday won't go empty-handed...
This is the first sample of new material from Oslo's twee-popsters My Little Pony after the brilliant "Think too much" of 2008. Their influences remain very close to Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obscura, but the Norwegian ponies are developing their sound even further by keeping the girl/boy dynamics and adding well-arranged strings, good hooks, and a much better production. This track will appear on the "Oslo 2" compilation, set to be released on November 2 via Spoon Train Audio.
My Little Pony - Capital of Norway
The second part of Dungen's tour diary for Under the Radar is now online: http://www.undertheradarmag.com/blog/dungen_tour_diary_part_21/
Swedish slowcore/pop act Brothers of End have added a third track to myspace called "Beats for you": http://www.myspace.com/brothersofend
Mattias Friberg (Logh) will be playing a one-off show in NYC before embarking on tour with Fever Ray at Piano's on September 23.
Nö Music reports on Norwegian skweee and the upcoming skweee showcase at Numusic: http://www.nomusicmedia.com/2009/09/10/numusic-how-skweee-came-to-stavanger/
In addition to the 40th anniversary concert mentioned earlier, MNW is also releasing a book and 4CD collection for their birthday called "Ljud från Waxholm" featuring interviews, rare pictures, 250 album covers and 68 tracks from the label's history. As they say themselves, "från Björn Afzelius till Ebba Forsberg." The release date is October 14. And that's not all- they will also apparently be doing a few special anniversary reissues from their 70s back-catalogue and have also put together a tribute comp entitled "Retur Waxholm" featuring current artists covering classic MNW songs. That one comes out October 7 and here's the tracklist:
01. Kajsa Grytt - Gunga bergets topp (Babylon Blues)
02. Kjell Höglund - Men bara om min älskade väntar (Nationalteatern/Bob Dylan)
03. Annika Norlin (Hello Saferide/Säkert!) - Jag vill inte suddas ut (Sånger om kvinnor)
04. Johan Johansson - Vårdsjuk blågul fanblues (Smutsiga Hundarna)
05. Stefan Sundström & Fjodor - Tvivelaktig kurtis (Gunder Hägg)
06. Pernilla Andersson - Huvudet högt (Eldkvarn)
07. Plura - I hajars djupa vatten (Blå Tåget)
08. Sanna Carlstedt - Vem kan man lita på? (Hoola Bandola Band)
09. Jonas Kullhammar - Badidoom (Archimedes Badkar)
10. Asha Ali - Kärlek (Röda Bönor)
11. De Lyckliga Kompisarna - Törnrosa (Marie Selander)
12. Toni Holgersson - Kort vals till min älskade (Peter LeMarc)
13. Love Antell - Samma vindar samma dofter (Contact)
Jazzland Records has posted preview clips for the new Vidar Johansen Quartet album "Lost animals": http://www.jazzlandrec.com/latest/vidar-johansen-lost-animals-2.html
For anyone who still hasn't heard it yet, here's an e-card for the new Bear Quartet album "89" that let's you stream many of the tracks: http://lixgraphics.se/bq89/
Danish act Choir of Young Believers will be coming to North America for a number of dates in October:
10/17 - Media Club, Vancouver BC
10/18 - The Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
10/19 - Holocene, Portland, OR
10/20 - Rickshaw Shop, San Francisco, CA
10/21 - Spaceland (Club NME Night), Los Angeles, CA
10/22 - Piano's, New York, NY
10/24 - Le Poisson Rouge (Ghostly International CMJ Showcase), New York, NY
10/25 - Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto (ONT)
10/26 - Schubas Tavern, Chicago, IL
PopMatters reviews Finnish act The Gentleman Losers and their 2nd album "Dustland": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/110643-the-gentleman-losers-dustland/
Here's a teaser for the upcoming Raison d'Être album "The stains of the embodied sacrifice": http://raisondetre.coldmeat.se/
Sounds way heavier and more intense than his last studio release "Metamorphyses" which was far more quiet/creepy/ambient. Anyhow, am definitely looking forward to hearing it as I'm sure it will be great. Also, be sure to check the streaming player on the site for a few more new audio samples.
Marybell Katastrophy will be doing a number of international dates in December:
12/02 - Ponyhof, Frankfurt (GER)
12/05 - Cantina Mediterraneo, Frosinone (ITA)
12/06 - Zuni, Ferrara (ITA)
12/10 - Baciccia, Piacenza (ITA)
12/11 - Officina 49, Cesena (ITA)
12/12 - Veronika Club, Parma (ITA)