Pistol Disco are heading out on a European tour with their friends PWR in late August and have posted preliminary details at myspace: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=143852819&blogId=501767427
Swedish act Sail a Whale in the Pitchfork Forkcast: http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/13154-see-you-inside/
The brand new Swedish "filthrock" act Iron Lamb (feat. members from Dismember, General Surgery, Repugnant, Tyrant, more) will be releasing their debut 7" via Greek label Nuclear Winter Records this coming fall. The band is also working on their live debut which will happen on August 22 at Hornstull Strand as part of Stockholm-based tattoo parlor Swahili Bob's 4-year anniversary party with Poison Idea (thee Kings of Punk!) and Henry Fiat's Open Sore, who will apparently be debuting "a new style," whatever that means (speculation is not positive from what I've seen). Listen to demo tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ironlambofficial
Stream the new Kings of Convenience single "Boat behind": http://www.emi.no/nyheter/2009/juli/hor_den_nye_kings_of_convenience-laten_boat_behind.aspx
"Happy without the boy" directly confronts all old maid/independent woman stereotypes, prejudices and presumptions to say that, yes, a woman can be happy by herself. She does not need a man to complete her, nor does it make her gay or weird or anything else. Absolutely nothing worth fretting over. Of course, people talk and let's not even get into women who decide to forgo children, that's a whole 'nother rat-hole. Cilihili (aka Cecilia Nordlund from Souls/Monkeystrikes, also live w/Fever Ray) has always been a strong, pro-female artist both on and off stage (she also works with Popkollo for instance), but even better that she lays it out in song in no uncertain terms. Better than that, it's by far the highlight of her album "Not listening".
Cilihili - Happy without the boy
Burst will be coming to the US for the first time in September to play the Planet Caravan fest and also to do some support dates for Gojira:
09/19 - Planet Caravan Festival, Asheville, NC
09/21 - Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
09/22 - Ottobar, Baltimore, MD
09/24 - The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
09/25 - The Hangar, New Orleans, LA
09/27 - Warehouse Live, Houston, TX
10/02 - The Social, Orlando, FL
10/05 - Valarium, Knoxville, TN
10/06 - Pop's Nite Club, St. Louis, MO
10/07 - The Rave Bar, Milwaukee, WI
10/09 - The Pearl Room, Mokena, IL
Swedish act Smalltown will be coming to the US to play The Fest 8 which is happening in Gainesville, FL from October 30 through November 1. Details: http://www.thefestfl.com/fest8/
MI reports that Spotify is aiming at a US launch before the end of the year: http://www.musikindustrin.se/artikel/972/Spotify_siktar_pa_USA.html
If anyone out there wants to hook me up with an American ambassador invite, I won't say no. I'm too lazy to deal with proxies.
There's a couple new Lögnhalsmottagningen tracks up at myspace, both rough mixes of material from the international group's forthcoming record: http://www.myspace.com/lognhalsmottagningen
Jong Pang's delayed sophomore album "Love" is now set for release on August 10 via Tigerspring.
Rolling Stone Magazine's David Fricke likes Danish act Choirs of Young Believers: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/07/21/frickes-picks-choir-of-young-believers-spiritual-awakening/
There's a big promo for the US release of Kleerup's self-titled album on myspace: http://music.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.artistalbums&artistid=4085433&albumid=12118518
There's a new Baby Woodrose track streaming at myspace called "Countdown to breakdown": http://www.myspace.com/babywoodrose
The band's new self-titled album will be released on September 14 via Bad Afro.
Check out a trailer for the upcoming Final Exit discography LP/live DVD coming out this fall via Monument Records: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtdX70084a8&fmt=18
Steso Songs, the stage alias of Karolina Stenström, will be releasing her debut full-length album this coming fall via her own label Lyckan.