Wasted Sounds is releasing the debut 7" from The Vicious, the new band from Sara of t(I)NC/Doughnuts along with members from Tristess, Regulations, DS13, Cult of Luna and Dead Ones. The band is set to release their debut full-length through Burning Heart later this year, but here's where you can hear 'em first. Check out a sample track: http://www.wastedsounds.com/mp3/Vicious_-_Suspicions.mp3
For ordering info and more new Norrland punk releases such as Auktion, Reign of Bombs and Disconvenience, go here: http://www.wastedsounds.com/

Photo:Henrik has updated with pics of Cult of Luna, Andreas Tilliander, Ane Brun, El Perro Del Mar and Jenny Wilson, all from Hultsfred: http://www.photohenrik.com/

Music for Robots posts a track from Cult of Luna: http://music.for-robots.com/archives/001002.html

Cult of Luna put on a great show last night. It was a very energetic and intense performance, way more invigorating than when I saw them at Umeå Open. I guess a few weeks on the road does that to you. They say they're gonna try and come back later this year before their work visas expire, so I'll be sure to keep you posted as soon as I hear anything.

Tonight: Cult of Luna at Bottom of the Hill in SF. It's the last show of their US tour, so hopefully there will be shenanigans.

Oh. My. God. That had to be the longest trip home ever. I left Umeå late Sunday to head back to Stockholm and then got about an hour sleep before I had to run back to Arlanda to catch my flight to Paris. As luck would have it, the flight to Paris was delayed just enough for me to miss my connection flight to San Francisco, leaving me standed in France for an additional 24hrs. Merde! Thankfully the airport put me up at a local hotel, but let me tell you - it's scary to be a vegetarian at a Parisian buffet when there's so many little googly eyes staring back at you. I didn't realize pork came in so many forms. So anyhow, I survived and finally made it back home yesterday only to discover that my computer was kaput. Awesome. Still, it's so nice to be back in my own house with my wife and dogs and to sleep in my own bed, especially after such a draining journey.

Okay, day three of Umeå Open. My talk went okay even though I imbibed quite a bit the night before and the audience was somewhat unresponsive in typical Norrlandic fashion. That's pretty much what I expected, so I can't really complain. I suspect I could've prepared a little better, but it's far too late for those kinds of thoughts now. The shows that night were fantastic. Cult of Luna kicked things off down in the basement and actually played slower live than on record. Good stuff. I ran out of there at just the right moment to find Isolation Years taking the stage upstairs at the main auditorium. Again, quite nice. Both bands suffered a bit from being the first ones out for the evening, but both the bands and the crowd warmed up nicely by the end of their sets. After that I sat for a bit and relaxed before heading off to see a bit of El Perro Del Mar who was much, much better than I expected. I've thought that her recordings were kind of mediocre, but she really had a great voice live. Then it was back downstairs for Silverbullit who were easily the highlight of the entire festival. Such an awesome band, both live and on record. I took it easy after that until Moneybrother closed the show with a fantastic performance with his full band, including strings. It's interesting to see how much more he talked and related to the audience in Sweden than when I saw him a few weeks ago in LA. Both were good shows, but Anders was obviously much more comfortable in his home country, using his own language.

Huge thanks to everyone who put me up and put up with me. Thanks to everyone at Umeå Open and ExMS for making my trip possible and I'll be trying my best to thank you all personally in the next few days as I catch up on email. I had an awesome time and met so, so many great people. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'll be back in Sweden once again. I just won't go through France next time. Pictures soon! Once my home computer gets fixed. Oh, and if anyone finds my address book, please send it back to me. I'll cover the postage.

The latest album from Umeå's The Perishers is finally out in the US and you can preview it here: http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/perishers/878768/album.jhtml
Apparently drummer Thomas Hedlund has quit his other bands The Deportees and Cult of Luna to work with these guys full time and I can't say I blame him. Who could pass up a huge tour with Sarah McLachlan? They also have a new US website right here: http://www.theperishersmusic.com/
Sorry to say it, but that has to be one of the worst, most annoying flash-based sites I've seen in quite some time.

Okay, I survived Umeå Open day two and actually managed to get up and give my seminar this afternoon at 1. There weren't a ton of people there, but I can't blame them considering how much beer was being consumed the night before. As I said, I barely made it there myself. Firefox played at the same time, too. I'm bummed I didn't get to see her.

Anyhow, the bands I got to see last night were all really, really good. The Tiny kicked things off perfectly and were followed by Tiger Lou. Having only seen Rasmus perform solo before, it was reelly exciting for me to finally hear him with a full band. They played my favorite song "The war between us" along with a couple new tracks, so I was 100% satisfied. I screwed up and totally missed the next few bands while I hung out with friends, but I made sure I got to see The Ark. What can I say? They were amazing. They better come back to the US. Soon.

Tonight I have see Cult of Luna, Isolation Years, Silverbullit and Moneybrother. So many great bands, all at the same fest. And Rasmus from TL is doing guest vocals with CoL, too. Can't wait!

Cult of Luna has a new flash-heavy website: http://www.cultofluna.com/

Cult of Luna will finally be coming over to the US in May supporting Mastondon with Death by Stereo. Sadly, they don't seem to be hitting the West Coast this time out, but I get to see 'em at the Umeå Open so I'm cool. Anyhow, here's the dates:

05/02 - Rave Bar, Milwaukee, WI
05/03 - Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
05/06 - Harpo's, Detroit, MI
05/07 - Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
05/09 - Theatre Of Living Arts, OH
05/10 - Saratoga Winners, Latham, NY
05/11 - Palladium, Worcester, MA
05/12 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
05/13 - Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
05/14 - Recher Theatre, Towson, MD

Callisto, Finland's version of Cult of Luna, will support High on Fire on tour in the UK:

03/26 - Woughton Centre, Milton Keynes (UK)
03/27 - Cavern, Exeter (UK)
03/29 - Met Lounge, Peterbroough (UK)
03/30 - Rios Club, Bradford (UK)
03/31 - Nice 'N' Sleazy, Glasgow (UK)
04/01 - Hop & Grape, Manchester (UK)
04/02 - Central Station, Wrexham (UK)
04/03 - Liverpool University, Liverpool (UK)
04/04 - Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
04/05 - Bar Academy, Birmingham (UK)
04/06 - The Garage, London (UK)
04/07 - West End Centre, Aldershot (UK)

The group's most recent album "True Nature Unfolds" will be getting a worldwide rerelease via Earache Records in Europe and Australia on March 28 and the US on April 3.

I had a feeling this might happen: Magnus Lindberg will be taking over on drum duties on the upcoming Cult of Luna European tour as Thomas Hedlund is busy working with his other projects The Deportees and especially The Perishers. He'll still remain a member of the band, but he's got his other priorities.

Go here to download a couple sample tracks from Finnish heavy post-rock act Plain Fade: http://www.kolumbus.fi/e.salmi/records.html
The band sounds like a mix of Isis, Cult of Luna and Magyar Posse and will release their debut album "Lies, sanctions and cruise missiles" very soon. Even though the sound clips are short, I definitely like what I hear and am eager to check out more. Be sure to listen to the dramatic vocals on "Cerebellum" - it's good stuff. (via)

Top 10s for 2004: Niklas Åström (And the Sound)

View Magazine recommends eight overlooked records from 2004 including stuff from Cult of Luna and Nasum: http://www.viewmag.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2597