Viola always does something entertaining for their April track-of-the-month and their latest is no exception: http://www.violamusicclub.com/2011-04-elaman-iskelma
Last year was black metal, this year it's... Finnish schlager. Needless to say, I love it.
Swedish female-fronted indie act Francis have a brand new song called "Time is on our side" that they are giving away as a free download: http://francisishere.com/?p=251
Look for the band's full-length debut "Lekomberg, we were kin" to be released this coming spring.
Sissy Wish reports that the new single "Dance all night with you" will be released "soon" and that it "will be the coolest song I have ever released." As for the long-rumored new album "Happy monster", apparently it will be out later this year.
Kind of off-topic, but screw it: Fenriz' band of the week is local-to-me heavy metal rippers Christian Mistress: http://www.bandoftheweek.net/
Stoked to be seeing on them on Saturday and will hopefully be able to grab the vinyl reissue of their 4-song demo. Not that I don't already have the OG, but gotta collect em all, y'know?
Kvohst of Hexvessel has assembled a podcast mix of evil psychrock gems for Club Mega Therion blog: http://clubmegatherion.blogspot.com/2011/03/world-without-us.html
Covering Bruce Springsteen is generally a low risk-to-reward kind of thing to do, assuming you don't totally blow it. Thankfully, Danes The Boombox Hearts pull it off with enough of their own sad-sack/slowcore style to make it plenty worthwhile. Look for the band's new EP "Monte Carlo" to be released on April 25 via , a new sublabel of .
has announced the signing of Mescalin, Baby and will be releasing the band's full-length debut "Air air" on May 23: http://www.targetrecords.dk/news.php?id=66
PopMatters gives high marks to the new Peter Bjorn and John album "Gimme some": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/136159-peter-bjorn-and-john-gimme-some/
Also reviewed, The Sounds' new album "Something to die for": http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/138633-the-sounds-something-to-die-for/
Is this a Hedwig reference? I certainly hope so. The Friend's new album "Athletic girls" is out now via and you can preview a couple other tunes here.
Swedish indierock act Frantic Sunday have a new single called "The city is listening" which can now be streamed at SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/franticsunday/the-city-is-listening
Under the Radar interviews hyped Swedish pop duo Niki and the Dove: http://undertheradarmag.com/interviews/niki_and_the_dove
Avant-garde Metal went to London to cover the landmark Zweizz/Virus/Ulver gig and has posted an extensive report: http://www.avantgarde-metal.com/content/stories2.php?id=213
Alx Reuterskiöld of Set Fire Run has some sort of new solo pop thing called Son of a Kid, the first taste of which you can hear here: http://soundcloud.com/sonofakid/like-you
It won't be out until May 11, but here's a sample tune from the upcoming Necro Facility album "Wintermute". Listen to another one here.