Top 10s for 2004: Magnus Öberg (Chalksounds/KVLR)

I was told it wasn't going public until Monday, but the cat is out of the bag now that Dagensskiva has posted it. Serves me right for being a nice guy, eh? Anyhow the big news is that Fireside is going on tour in January and taking it back to their roots by playing as a four-piece again. I don't think they're planning on recording anything new yet, but it's good to see that they're keeping the band alive. Dates:

01/13 - Mejeriet, Lund
01/14 - Slippery People @ Pustervik. Göterborg
01/15 - Club Feber, Trollhättan
01/20 - Nebraska, Gävle
01/21 - Pipeline, Sundsvall
01/22 - Scharinska, Umeå
01/28 - Accelerator @ Debaser, Stockholm
02/12 - Hotell Fjället, Björkliden

Stockholm-based instrumental post-rockers Ellis the Vacuumchild are supporting.

Chalksounds has posted a bunch of new mp3s on their site from artists such as The End Will Be Kicks, Ellis The Vacuumchild, KVLR and more: http://www.chalksounds.com/downloads.php

Chalksounds has confirmed that the upcoming Ellis the Vacuumchild album will be called "Peace by extermination". As mentioned before, it comes out January 28. Labelmates The End Will Be Kicks have taken the easy way out and decided to give make their debut album self-titled. Again, as mentioned before, that one comes out a week earlier on January 21.

Chalksounds has announced the release dates for the debut albums from both The End Will Be Kicks and Ellis the Vacuumchild. TEWBK hits first on January 21 in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Switzerland with a release in Japan and the US soon after. Ellis comes out the next week on January 28 in the same territories and again, with US and Japan to follow.

Chalksounds has revealed that their expecting to release the debut full-length from The End Will Be Kicks in October. I've heard some rough mixes and if it's anything close to as good as the MCD that's already out, you know it's gonna be a monster. Can't wait! There's gonna be a bonus 7" coming out with it as well. After that, Stockholm-based instrumental act Ellis the Vacuumchild will drop their debut album. December perhaps? Soviac is working on new demos, so they should have something in the pipeline. And lastly, look for an EP from Park Hotel sometime early next year. I haven't heard them myself, but Chalksounds CEO Magnus says they sound like New Order meets MBV. Could be really good.

Don't forget this Sunday's For the Record show at Strings in Stockholm with the always interesting Dialog Cet and recent Chalksounds signees Ellis the Vacuumchild. It's gonna be a good time, I'm sure. Here's some recent press clips about the shows: clip 1 / clip 2 (both in Swedish)

I've also been told that organizer Jason Christie will be on Rockklassiker 106.7 tomorrow at 1400 CET speaking in broken Swedish and hyping it up. Maybe he'll even get em to play some tunes from the bands that are playing. Non-locals can listen online here: http://www.rockklassiker.se/

In what's looking to be one of the best festival lineups in Sweden this summer (IMO, of course), the Blow Up a Panda Festival has now added [ingenting], The Baboon Show, Shout Out Louds, Unisex, Sons Of Cyrus and The Knife and Ape to the lineup. Other acts already confirmed include KVLR, Ellis the Vacuumchild, Tiger Lou, Last Days of April, Switchblade, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, The End Will Be Kicks, C.Aarmé and more. So who wants to fly me out? Details: http://www.blowupapanda.se/

Streaming playlist: Instrumental

Umeå's Klubb Modos is alive again. Upcoming events:

05/08 - Kamenski w/DJ Modos & DJ Fylla
05/28 - Corona w/DJ Community, Valnadi-C & Ellis the vacuumchild

In light of yesterday's news regarding brand new Chalksounds signee Ellis the Vacuumchild, here's a new mp3 from the band: http://www.loveisthedevil.com/chalksounds/summershitty.mp3

Instrumental post-rockers Ellis the Vacuumchild have posted a ton of pictures from the last year on their website.

Ellis the Vacuumchild has updated their website with a new functional design. They have also confirmed the departure of drummer Joel who left to go play bass with my pals KVLR. Martin from the band Chloe has taken his place behind the kit. They've also brought on yet another Chloe member, Johan Wilhelm on guitar.

The Monstera booking agency is presenting a free festival called Summersmithy songs at Radermachersmedjorna in Eskilstuna, Sweden on August 22-23. Bands set to play include The Concretes, Cdoass, José Gonzáles, Le Mans, Tiger Lou, Jettie, The Legends, The Search, Kristina Carlsson, and Ellis the Vacuumchild. More info: etrea.tripod.com/intro.html

Some metal gossip for y'all: Michael Amott of Arch Enemy has revealed that he is indeed romantically involved with frontwoman Angela Gossow. Here's a short response from Angela on the subject. Personally, I could care less, but I guess lots of uptight heshers are upset as evidenced by the comments. Whatever.

"It's Finnish, it's fucked, and it's also of historical import." SF's Aquarius Records has made the comp "Arktinen Hysteria: Suomi-Avantgarden Esipuutarhureita" one of its records of the week. Check out their site for reviews, samples, and mailorder info. Also covered: Ved Buens Ende, 1349 Rykkin, Eturivi and more.

Logh is starting to put together plans for a headlining Scandinavian tour. Here's the dates so far:

5/18 - NOR Porsgrunn, Rockeklubben
5/19 - NOR Oslo, Mono
5/24 - SWE Stockholm, Debaser
6/5 - FIN Turku (Åbo), Elohopeaklubi (Down By The Laituri Festival)

Don't forget their remaining dates with Fireside, too. The new EP "Contractor and the Assassin" comes out May 5 with the full-length album "The Raging Sun" to follow later that month. More info and cover art pics on Logh's site.

Opeth has posted a number of pics from the "Deliverance" and "Damnation" recording sessions. Pretty cool.

Samon & Rourke reviews a couple demos including Ellis The Vacuumchild, whose members include Joel Borg, now also playing bass with my pals KVLR. Mp3s are there for downloading, too.

Hemmalaget.nu has put up a couple tunes for you to preview from Paragon and Ison & Fille. Check it.

The Japanese version of "Someone New" from Eskobar was released last week. It was done together with the Japanese band Natural High. More info. The band is also scheduled to play the Paléo Festival Nyon in Switzerland on July 26. Tickets go on sale April 29 and can be had from here.