Here are the winners of the 2012 Manifest award, Sweden's indie/alternative Grammy:
Folk/Ballad: Siri Karlsson - Gran Fuego ()
Experimental: Hanna Hartman - H ^ 2 ()
Punk: Obnoxious Youth - The Eternal Void ()
Dance: Jonsson/Alter - Samlad årsproduktion ()
Hardrock: Opeth - Heritage ()
Rhythm: Simone Moreno - Planetas ()
Singer/Songwriter/Country/Americana: Ane Brun - It All Start With One ()
Rock: Pascal/Mattias Alkberg - Allt det här ()
Best Unsigned: Death By Armborst
Jazz: Jonas Holgersson - Snick Snack ()
Hip-Hop: Mofeta & Jerre - Briljanter & Smaragder ()
Synth: Necro Facility - Wintermute ()
Pop: Azure Blue - Rule of thirds ()
Best live act: This is Head ()
SKAP/Manifest Prize for best lyrics: Philip Ekström - Det Vackra Livet ()
SKAP/Manifest Prize for best composer: Maria Lindén - I Break Horses ()
Manifest Prize for best indie: Popkollo
A new video from director Andreas Nilsson is almost always worth checking out. Not nearly as dark as a lot of his other work, but far more crowd-pleasingly entertaining.
"Sun on stone" b/w "Illumination", a brand new two-track single from IAT faves The Goner. More of an anxious rock sound than their earlier folk/drone work, but very cool all the same.
Finnish John Carpenter-worshipping synth-rockers Nightsatan finally did the inevitable and recorded a movie soundtrack. Listen to the theme from "Outro" here: http://soundcloud.com/solinarecords/nightsatan-outro
Watch I Used to be a Sparrow, the duo of Dick Pettersson (In These Woods) and Italian expat Andrea Caccese (Songs For The Sleepwalkers), cover an old tune by Appleseed Cast. Look for the band's debut album "Luke" to be released in April via .
is teaming up with French label to release the self-titled debut full-length album from Death and Vanilla. 300 copies on yellow vinyl, 150 CDs; preview some older tunes at Bandcamp: http://deathandvanilla.bandcamp.com/
I Break Horses will be spending a lot of time on the road in coming months:
02/03 - Molotow, Hamburg (GER)
02/04 - Grammatikof, Duisburg (GER)
02/05 - Gleis 22, Münster (GER)
02/06 - Comet (Karrera Klub), Berlin (GER)
02/10 - Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL)
02/11 - La Flèche d'Or, Paris (FRA)
02/12 - Rotonde, Brussels (BEL)
2/16-18 - By:Larm Festival, Oslo (NOR)
04/22 - Fillmore, San Francisco, CA *
04/25 - Roseland, Portland, OR *
04/26 - Neptune, Seattle, WA *
04/27 - Vogue, Vancouver, BC *
04/29 - In the Venue, Salt Lake City, UT *
04/30 - Ogden, Denver, CO *
05/01 - Granada, Lawrence, KS *
05/02 - Pageant, St Louis, MO *
05/04 - Vic, Chicago, IL *
05/05 - Majestic, Detroit, MI *
05/06 - Sound Academy, Toronto, ON *
05/07 - Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY *
05/09 - House Of Blues, Boston, MA *
05/10 - Terminal 5, New York, NY *
05/11 - Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA *
05/12 - 9:30 Club, Washington, DC *
05/14 - Buckhead Theater, Atlanta, GA *
05/15 - Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN *
05/17 - House of Blues, Houston, TX *
05/18 - Stubb's, Austin, TX *
05/19 - Granada, Dallas, TX *
05/21 - Crescent, Phoenix, AZ
05/22 - Casbah, San Diego CA
05/23 - Echo, Los Angeles, CA
05/25 - Sasquatch Festival, The Gorge, WA
05/29 - Lincoln Hall, Chicago, LA
05/30 - Mercury Lounge, New York, NY
Gaffa is reporting that there's a new Swedish "supergroup" called Fas 3 put together by Michael Alonzo of KSMB/Stockholms Negrer featuring Sören "Sulo" Karlsson (Diamond Dogs), Nicke Andersson (Imperial State Electric, The Hellacopters, etc.) and Inge Johansson (The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Totalt Jävla Mörker, etc.): http://gaffa.se/nyhet/57070
The new band's debut single "Dansa som en fjäril" will be released on Inge's label very soon and the band will make their live debut in Stockholm in 2 weeks.