Swedish skatepunks Millencolin will tour the UK in September:
09/23 - Academy, Birmingham
09/24 - Academy, Bristol
09/25 - LA 2, London
09/26 - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
09/27 - Rock City, Nottingham
09/28 - Academy 3, Manchester
09/29 - Garage, Glasgow
Billie the Vision and the Dancers are now offering their latest album "I used to wander these streets" as a free download: http://www.billiethevision.com/music.php
Note that they also provide wire information should you decide to pay them something in return.
Swedish electronic duo Valutan is giving away their new album "Blame the voters" as a free download via Pitch 9: http://www.pitch9.com/
I still need to spend more time with it, but a cursory listen reminds me a bit of later-era Ulver.
PopMatters reviews the new Studio disc "Yearbook 2": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/reviews/article/60059/studioyearbook-2/
Also covered, the new Mats Morgan Band album "Heat beats live": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/reviews/article/59707/mats-morgan-band-heat-beats-live/
Norwegian noisecore act White Tiger Prepade has a couple new tracks on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/whitetigerprepade
Check out a live video of Mockingbird, Wish Me Luck performing live while walking down the street in Bristol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRMZb2cC5Zs
Superfamily has now posted the previously only-available via Norwegian iTunes track "Swimsuit" on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/superfamily
Said track is a leftover from the Warszawa" sessions that was never 100% completed.
Download the Håkan Lidbo remix of the new Soviac single "Mallorca": http://www.soviac.com/mallorca/
Swedish lounge-metal act Hellsongs will release their album "Songs in the key of 666" on June 27 throughout GAS. Expect tourdates to follow.
I got a lot of new music while traveling around Sweden, but the main thing I was on the prowl for was old Swedish postpunk vinyl. I only found one Cortex record (the "Animals" 7") as Nostalgipalatset in Stockholm (tack igen for the recommendation Joakim!), but I did manage to put together quite a stack of other albums from my list: Commando M. Pigg, Camouflage, Reeperbahn, Lolita Pop, Ståålfågel and so on, as well as the "För fulla segel" LP from Abcess Exil. They're not a band I know much about, but I know their tracks on the 4-way split with Cortex, Mystikens Vacuum and Bumsen Muss Mann are great, so I figured why not? It's not as if I'll ever stumble across it again here in the US. I'm glad I did too because it's pretty great classic dark Swedish postpunk/new-wave, though the record does veer a bit towards new romantic pop at times, sometimes even reminding me a bit of early INXS (not necessarily a bad thing). It's hard to pick a good song to represent the whole, but I like "Stormens öga", the first track on side two, because of that sinister synthbass pulse and the heavy percussion breakdown so that's the song you get today. However, should you be curious the hear more, I suggest you head over to Med Denna Verkliga Kniv because they just posted a quality rip of the full album a few days ago. Thanks for saving me some work!
Abcess Exil - Stormens öga
Pitchfork reviews the new Sally Shapiro remix album "Remix romance vol. 2": http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/51288-remix-romance-vol-2
Also at Pfork, an interview with Finnish act Circle: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/51383-column-show-no-mercy- (at the bottom)
Danish postrock act Slaraffenland will release the new EP "Sunshine" this coming fall via Rumraket. Listen to the track "I'm a machine" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/slaraffenland
Stereo Test Kit has a new track from We Are Soldiers We Have Guns posted for free download: http://www.stereotestkit.com/files/sounds/we_are_soldiers-november.mp3
The new album "Get up, get out" is out on June 30.
The latest newsletter from the Swedish Music Information Centre (MIC) is now available for download: https://www.stim.se/avd/Mic/Prod/bilagor.nsf/dl/SMIC_08-2.pdf/$file/SMIC_08-2.pdf
Topics include the transition of the Swedish MIC to its own entity separate from STIM (but still under the same ownership) and the latest releases from in-house label Phono Suecia such as Georg Riedel and Britta Byström.