Yet another new track from Millencolin's upcoming anniversary collection "The melancholy connection".

Besides their upcoming festival, Millencolin will also be celebrating their 20th anniversary with the release of a new b-sides collection called "The melancholy connection", due out May 28 via Epitaph Records. Billed as a follow-up to the 1999 comp "The melancholy collection", the disc will feature cuts from 2000's "Pennybridge pioneers" through today, including two new previously unreleased tracks and a 90m DVD with all sorts of extras.

1. Olivia, my second child was born in June.
2. Soundwave Festival in Australia with Millencolin. Sick line-up and loads of fun.
3. All 6 records we've managed to release this year on my label De:Nihil Records.

#4-10 in no particular order.

· Skizophrenia "This Fucking Skizophrenia! Still A Raped Ass" 7"
· Graveyard "Hisingen Blues" LP
· Fucked Up "David Comes To Life" 2xLP
· Craft "Void" 2xLP
· Tom Waits "Bad As Me" LP
· Night Birds "The Other Side Of Darkness" LP
· Mad Men "Suspiria" 7"

Working on now and 2012.

Got a couple of cool releases coming up on De:Nihil Records such as this awesome project involving The Skull Defekts, Bo Cavefors & Pär Strömberg.
We're also co-releasing Uppsala based oldschool hardcore kids Agent Attitude.

Millencolin are celebrating 20yrs as a band 2012!
We've got a few great surprises on the way there. We'll record some new stuff Dec/Jan for different releases plus more stuff coming up.

With Kvoteringen we'll record new mangel attacks very soon I hope and we've got some liveshows planned as well.

---------------------------
http://www.millencolin.com/
http://denihilrecords.blogspot.com/
http://kvoteringen.blogspot.com/

04/14 - E Werk, Cologne (GER)
04/15 - Hirsch, Nurnberg (GER)
04/16 - KC Vltavska, Prague (CZ)
04/17 - Arena, Wien (AUS)
04/18 - Muffat Halle, Munchen (GER)
04/19 - Kofmehl, Solothurn (CH)
04/20 - Garage, Saarbrucken (GER)
04/21 - Skaters Palace, Munster (GER)
04/22 - Groezrock, Meerhout (BEL)
04/23 - Melkweg, Amsterdam (HOL)
04/24 - Monster Bash Festival, Berlin (GER)
04/25 - Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg (GER)
04/26 - Schlachthof, Bremen (GER)

Atlas Losing Grip will be heading out on an extended European tour to support the release of their new album, due out in May via Black Star Foundation:

03/30 - Logo, Hamburg (GER)
03/31 - tba, Hannover (GER)
04/01 - Roots Club, Mönchengladbach (GER)
04/02 - Ant Attack Festival, Dillingen/Saar (GER)
04/13 - Wild at Heart, Berlin (GER)
04/14 - Zimmer 04, Regensburg (GER)
04/15 - Backstage, München (GER)
04/16 - Overdrive Festival, Kapfenberg (AUS)
04/17 - Arena, Wien (AUS) w/Millencolin
04/18 - Orto Bar, Ljubljana (SLO)
04/19 - Lazzaretto, Bologna (ITA)
04/20 - Palazzo Granaio, Settimo Milanese (Milano) (ITA)
04/21 - tba
04/22 - tba
04/23 - tba
05/12 - Villa, Rotenburg (GER)
05/13 - Volxbad, Flensburg (GER)
05/14 - tba (GER)
05/15 - Panda Bar, Ulm (GER)
05/16 - Kulturcafe, Mainz (GER)
05/17 - tba (BEL)
05/18 - The Frontline, Ghent (BEL)
05/19 - Sojo, Leuven (BEL)
05/20 - Sputnik Cafe, Münster (GER)
05/21 - Das Zentrum, Menden (GER)
05/22 - tba (GER)

04/14 - E Werk, Cologne (GER)
04/15 - Hirsch, Nurnberg (GER)
04/16 - KC Vltavska, Prague (CZ)
04/17 - Arena, Wien (AUS)
04/18 - Muffat Halle, Munchen (GER)
04/19 - Kofmehl, Solothurn (CH)
04/20 - Garage, Saarbrucken (GER)
04/21 - Skaters Palace, Munster (GER)
04/23 - Melkweg, Amsterdam (HOL)
04/24 - Schlachthof, Bremen (GER)
04/25 - Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg (GER)

09/09 - Envol Macadam Festival, Quebec City, Quebec (CAN)
09/10 - Ritual, Ottawa, Ontario (CAN)
09/11 - Club Soda, Montreal, Quebec (CAN)
09/12 - Phoenix Theatre, Toronto, Ontario (CAN)
11/06 - Teatro Teleton, Santiago (CHL)
11/07 - Teatro Colegiales, Buenos Aires (ARG)
11/11 - Bar Opinao, Porto Alegre (BRA)
11/12 - Master Hall, Curitiba (BRA)
11/13 - Capital Disco, Santos (BRA)
11/14 - Carioca Club, Sao Paulo (BRA)
12/09 - tba, Mexico City (MEX)
12/11 - tba, Panama City (PAN)
12/12 - tba, San José (CRI)

04/15 - Sala Heineken, Madrid (ESP)
04/16 - Incrivel Almadense, Lisboa (PT)
04/17 - Capitol, Santiago de Compostela (ESP)
04/18 - Rockstar, Bilbao/Barakaldo (ESP)
04/19 - Le Bris Glace, Lyon (FRA)
04/20 - Kofmehl, Solothurn (CH)
04/21 - Estragon, Bologna (ITA)
04/22 - Viper club, Florence (ITA)
04/23 - Salzhaus, Winterthur (CH)
04/24 - Orpheaum, Graz (AUS)
04/25 - Durer Kert, Budapest (HUN)
04/26 - E Werk, Erlangen (GER)
04/27 - Capitol, Hannover (GER)
04/28 - Stahlwerk, Düsseldorf (GER)

03/07 - Opera House, Toronto, ONT
03/08 - tba (CAN)
03/09 - Club Soda, Montreal, QC
03/10 - Imperial Theatre, Quebec City, QC
03/11 - Blender Theatre At Gramercy, NYC, NY
03/13 - El Rey Theatre, Hollywood, CA
03/14 - Soma, San Diego, CA
03/15 - House Of Blues, Anaheim, CA
03/16 - Downtown Brewing Co, San Luis Obispo, CA
03/17 - Slim's, San Fransisco, CA

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

01. Christer Sjögren - Jubileum 40 år med Christer Sjögren
02. BWO - Pandemonium - The singles collection
03. Håkan Hellström - För sent för Edelweiss
04. In Flames - A sense of purpose
05. Oh Laura - A song inside my head, a demon in my bed
06. Millencolin - Machine 15
07. Ane Brun - Changing of the seasons
08. Amy Diamond - Music in motion
09. Linda Bengtzing - Vild & galen
10. Streaplers - Rakt av
11. Tingsek - Too many feelings at the same time
12. Pugh Rogefeldt - vinn hjärta vinn
14. Nordman - Djävul eller gud
15. Monica Zetterlund - Sakta vi gå genom stan - Det bästa med Monica
16. Maia Hirasawa - Though, I'm just me (new edition)
17. Veronica Maggio - och vinnaren är...
18. Takida - Bury the lies
19. Markus Krunegård - Markusevangeliet
20. Caracola - This is Caracola

10/07 - Tower, Bremen (GER)
10/08 - Zak, Dusseldorf (GER)
10/09 - Kofmehl, Solothurn (CH)
10/10 - ISC, Bern (CH)
10/12 - Posthof, Linz (AUS)
10/13 - Condrad Sohm, Dornbirn (AUS)
10/14 - Forum, Trier (GER)
10/15 - AKW, Wurzburg (GER)
10/16 - Tacheles, Berlin (GER)
10/17 - Knust, Hamburg (GER)
10/18 - Gleis 22, Munster (GER)]]> Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/395 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/395 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/395#comments Millencolin will be entering Sound Lab studios on November 1 to begin work on their next record. Expect a Q208 release.]]> Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/726 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/726 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/726#comments Swedish hardcore act Kvoteringen (featuring members from Totalitär, Millencolin, Krigshot and tons more) recorded some new tracks over the weekend for an upcoming 7". More details to come, but in the meantime, listen to older material here: http://www.myspace.com/kvoteringen]]> Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1559 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1559 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1559#comments Millencolin frontman Nikola Sarcevic is taking his solo act to Canada:

06/01 - Call The Office, London, ONT
06/02 - The Drake Hotel, Toronto, ONT
06/03 - The Underground, Hamilton, ONT
06/04 - Café Dekcuf, Ottawa, ONT
06/05 - Club Lambi, Montreal, Quebec
06/06 - Imperial Theatre (The Casbah), Quebec]]> Mon, 07 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1788 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1788 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1788#comments Check out the microsite for the new comp "Ge Fan I Våra Vatten", a benefit to raise money for fish/water restoration: http://www.sportfiskarna.se/gefan/
Many of the contributing acts such as Erik Ohlsson from Millencolin and Kimmo Kirvesmäki of Voice Of A Generation/The Accidents are sport fishermen themselves, so consider this a labor of love. Other contributing acts include The Hives, The Hellacopters, Millencolin, Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Backyard Babies, Moneybrother, Weeping Willows and Randy. It comes out on May 18.]]> Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3027 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3027 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3027#comments Millencolin frontman Nikola Sarcevic has replenished his myspace profile with four new solo tracks from "Roll roll and flee": http://www.myspace.com/nikolasarcevic
Buy the album: [click here]]]> Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3110 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3110 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3110#comments Franky Lee, the new band fronted by Mathias of Millencolin, has posted their debut single "The world just stopped" on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/frankyleeband]]> Wed, 10 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3360 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3360 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3360#comments Millencolin frontman Nikola Sarcevic will be doing a solo tour of Australia in February:

02/21 - The Zoo, Brisbane (AU)
02/22 - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast (AU)
02/24 - Annandale Hotel, Sydney (AU)
02/25 - Annandale Hotel, Sydney (AU)
02/27 - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle (AU)
02/28 - Waves, Wollongong (AU)
03/01 - Green Room, Canberra (AU)
03/02 - The Corner, Melbourne (AU)
03/03 - Enigma Bar, Adelaide (AU)]]> Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26122-nikola-sarcevic-roll-roll-and-flee-burning-heart-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26122-nikola-sarcevic-roll-roll-and-flee-burning-heart-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26122-nikola-sarcevic-roll-roll-and-flee-burning-heart-records#comments Millencolin (Sarcevic's band) has always been more about killer melodies than any Dostoyevsky-like lyrics, and one problem with Sarcevic's first solo album was that the lyrics appeared naïve and awkward, being laid so bare with only an acoustic backdrop. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked Millencolin's lyrics - they work well with the music - but in a The Descendents sort of way, not in a The Mountain Goats way. This time around, Nikola Sarcevic's lyrics have really improved. The overtly simple rhymes from "Lock-sport-krock" shine with their absence. The music itself has also improved, the album feels much more “natural” and less stilted this time around. It's still of the same singer/songwriter school as his debut though, but just much more solid and … better! Hopefully Sarcevic will bring along all this progression to the next Millencolin album.]]> Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 reviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/27890-mp3-nikola-sarcevic-love-is-trouble http://www.itsatrap.com/n/27890-mp3-nikola-sarcevic-love-is-trouble http://www.itsatrap.com/n/27890-mp3-nikola-sarcevic-love-is-trouble#comments I hereby decree that the 2006 most improved artist award goes to Nikola Sarcevic for his album "Roll roll and flee". The Millencolin frontman's first solo album "Lock-sport-krock" in 2004 sounded like little more than a few leftover songs from his main band, slowed down and performed acoustically. It felt much more like a vanity project as opposed to an artist struggling to break free from the expectations and constraints of his regular band. However, all that has changed with the new record - Nikola has finally discovered the nuance required to take his material to the next level. He sounds much more comfortable performing in a country/folk idiom, never forced or contrived. I can't say whether or not he'll have a strong solo career ahead of him like his peer Kristofer Åström (who released his first solo record "Go, went, gone" in 1998 after four albums with Fireside), but listening to songs like the one I've posted today, it's not hard to imagine. I'm impressed.]]> Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 mp3s http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25612-profile-franky-lee http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25612-profile-franky-lee http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25612-profile-franky-lee#comments Name: Franky Lee

From: All over Sweden

Sounds like: Catchy, punky rock'n'roll

Listen: Solitary

Discography:
2007 - tba (Burning Heart)

Links:
www.frankylee.com
www.myspace.com/frankyleeband

It's only natural that someone who's been in the same band for many years will begin to feel like branching out. Such is definitely the case for Millencolin guitarist Mathias Färm, so it should come as no surprise that he's decided to branch out and front a band of his very own - Franky Lee. So far there's only one song been made public (see link above), but considering the involvement of ex-Peepshows guitarist Magnus Hägerås and Randy drummer Fredrik Granberg, one can surely expect greatness. Burning Heart thinks so - the band's already been signed with the debut album due out early next year. Mathias was kind enough to answer a few questions:

Why start a new band? What made you decide you wanted to do your own thing and why did you choose those two particular dudes to play with?

Well, I have a lot of songs just laying around so why not do something useful with them! I always wanted to try to sing in a band and now when I had the opurtunity to do it with Magnus and Fredrik, I thought I'll give it a go. Magnus is a great guitar player and also my guitar tech with Millencolin and Fredrik, he's just one hell of a drummer...

I imagine you guys are all pushing 30 or thereabouts now - do you still consider yourself a punk-rocker? how has your opinion of punk changed over the years?

I've never really considered myself punk (well, maybe as a teenager I tried to be one). For me punkrock has always been a way to to what you wanna do with no rules. That's why I respect all kinds of music even if it's Madonna or Sex Pistols.

It seems to me (at least here in the US) that a lot of people get into pop-punk when they are teenagers and then grow out of it. Is it the same in Sweden? Or do you think that your audience has aged with you?

Hmmm, our crowd is younger than us, especially here in Sweden. Outside of Sweden it's more accepted to be into pop-punk (or what you wanna call it). Since Sweden is such a small country everything is very trend-oriented here. If hip-hop is the new cool, all the kids are into hip-hop or if the new thing is punk everyone is into that. I've never grown out of the music I love, hope I'm not the only one.

You've got a lot of tattoos right? What's your most embarassing one? Who's got the worst tattoo in the band?

I got my first tattoo back in 93', It's a tattoo that I named "my grunge compas." It looks terrible, but now it's hidden inside my other stuff...puhhh!

What's the best thing about being in a band?

Well for me it's always been when you're up on stage and are having a good gig, also that I get a lot of time off!!!

If you weren't playing music, what do you think you'd be doing?

No idea, maybe working in my studio recording and producing bands!

Tell me about the last book you read.

Last book I read was "Stalingrad" by Anthony Beevor, life wasn't easy back in those days. I'm really interested in WW2, terrible stuff that happened in a terrible time... not that long ago!

What's the future look like for Franky Lee?

Great.. We're gonna start with a couple of secret gigs around Sweden. The album will be released early next year followed by massive touring around the world!!!!

]]> Mon, 18 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0700 articles interviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4476 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4476 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4476#comments Millencolin frontman Nikola Sarcevic has posted a brand new solo track on his myspace profile: http://www.myspace.com/nikolasarcevic]]> Fri, 15 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4484 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4484 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4484#comments Nikolai Sarcevic of Millencolin will release his new solo album "Roll roll and flee" on October 23. Head to myspace for tourdates: http://www.myspace.com/nikolasarcevic]]> Fri, 08 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4599 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4599 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4599#comments Franky Lee, the new solo/sideproject of Mathias from Millencolin, finally posted a song on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/frankyleeband]]> Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4619 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4619 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4619#comments Franky Lee, the solo side-project of Mathias from Millencolin, will finally unveil their official website on Friday: http://www.frankylee.com/]]> Wed, 30 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6051 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6051 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6051#comments This year's Where the Action Is travelling festival tour in Sweden will feature Millencolin, The Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Soundtrack of Our Lives and The Hives. Dates:

07/27 - Strömstad
07/28 - Huskvarna
07/29 - Linköping
07/30 - Örebro
08/03 - Malmö
08/05 - Göteborg
08/08 - Söderbärke
08/09 - Stockholm

Tickets go on sale Friday.]]> Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6092 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6092 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6092#comments Curious as to what the guys from Millencolin are up to? Check it:

Nikola has just entered the studio in Gothenburg for a recording of a new solo album. Mathias is in our Sound Lab Studios producing the legendary Swedish punk band Asta Kask's new album! Mathias has also recorded some stuff with a side project of his called Franky Lee. Larzon has also recorded new stuff with his crust band Kvoteringen. Erik is doing some various artwork and photography and hanging out with his dog Colin. The Kingwood World tour will end in August with some summer festivals! After this summer the writing process of a new album starts! (Hopefully also the making of the new DVD!)]]> Fri, 21 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6306 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6306 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6306#comments Millencolin frontman Nikola Sarcevic will be releasing a new solo album on Burning Heart later this year, his follow-up to 2004's "Lock-Sport-Krock". In other Millencolin sideproject news, guitarist Mattias Färm is fronting a new project called Franky Lee also featuring Fredrik Granburg from Randy on drums and Magnus Hägerås from The Peepshows on guitar and bass. They'll be releasing their debut album this fall and some samples should hopefully be online soon.]]> Wed, 05 Apr 2006 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6565 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6565 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/6565#comments Millencolin has posted a video clip from their recent South American tour: http://www.millencolin.com/tourmovies/]]> Fri, 17 Mar 2006 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7411 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7411 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7411#comments Old-school Swedish skate-punks No Fun at All will do a reunion show at this year's Millencolin Open Festival, taking place February 24-25 in Örebro, Sweden. More details: http://www.millencolin.com/millencolinopen/index.htm]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7865 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7865 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7865#comments Millencolin will tour South America in March:

03/08 - Victor Jara, Santiago (CHI)
03/09 - Funchal, Sao Paulo (BRA)
03/10 - Claro Hall, Rio De Janerio (BRA)
03/11 - Alvarez Cabral, Vitoria (BRA)
03/12 - Master Hall, Curitiba (BRA)]]> Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7967 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7967 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/7967#comments Here's the Swedish nominees for this year's Rockbjörnen:

Female artist:
Amy Diamond
Anna Ternheim
Laleh
Lena Philipsson
Robyn

Male artist:
Darin
Håkan Hellström
Lars Winnerbäck
Moneybrother
Timbuktu

Group:
Bodies Without Organs
Cardigans
Kent
Millencolin
The Ark

Song:
Darin - Step Up
Laleh - Live Tomorrow
Robyn - Be Mine
Thåström - Fanfanfan
Timbuktu - Alla Vill Till Himmelen Men Ingen Vill Dö

Album:
Darin - Darin
Håkan Hellström - Ett Kolikbarns Bekännelser
Kent - Du Och Jag Döden
Laleh - Laleh
Robyn - Robyn

Newcomer:
Amy Diamond
Bodies Without Organs
Darin
Hello Saferide
Laleh

Vote here: http://www.aftonbladet.se/ettor/webb/2805_normal.html]]> Fri, 09 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26351-eastpak-antidote-tour-live-the-astoria-london-12-02-2005 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26351-eastpak-antidote-tour-live-the-astoria-london-12-02-2005 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26351-eastpak-antidote-tour-live-the-astoria-london-12-02-2005#comments Randy always blow me away when I see them play live and I'd recommend everyone to try and catch them if they happen to come to play anywhere near where you live. Their show on this night was no exception to above statement (even though the crowd participation was pretty "tame"). It's the first time I've seen Randy play songs from their last album, hopefully they'll come back soon to do a proper headline gig. Whereas the people watching Randy didn't seem that interested, in Millencolin's case it was Nikola Sarcevic – their singer – who appear quite aloof (the kids didn't seem to care though and went nuts, as always when Millencolin are in town). This didn't bother me too much though since when I walked into the venue I bumped into an acquaintance of mine, whose company combined with some beers made the whole night (Millencolin's show included) a fun experience.]]> Sun, 04 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0800 reviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26385-satanic-surfers-taste-the-poison-bad-taste-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26385-satanic-surfers-taste-the-poison-bad-taste-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26385-satanic-surfers-taste-the-poison-bad-taste-records#comments Millencolin, Randy and now Satanic Surfers, it feels like I'm 12 years old again. Fortunately, none of these bands sounds like they did in the beginning of their careers, which is cool since it means that I can think of myself as 'mature' instead of 'old' (I hope that makes sense; perhaps you need to be 25+ to understand). Anyhow, aging paranoia aside, Satanic Surfers' new album is not as emo, poppy, or sugary sweet as their last great album ("Unconsciously confined" from 2002), but it's still as good as Satanic Surfers always have been. If you've never heard SS, think of something like As Friends Rust at their best (early EPs), but less hardcore and more melodic (it's basically melodic punk rock). It's very comforting that that a lot of these Swedish (melodic-) punk veterans that I've sort of grown up with still got what it takes, without me having to shield myself behind some dire nostalgia while listening to them.]]> Sun, 06 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0800 reviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/8782 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/8782 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/8782#comments Millencolin's video for their new single "Shut you out" will premiere online tomorrow at this location: http://www.millencolin.com/news/newspics/shutyouout.htm]]> Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/9427 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/9427 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/9427#comments Millencolin will be releasing "Shut you out" as their next single. A new song called "Ratboy's masterplan" will be included as a b-side and will also appear on Thrasher Magazine's upcoming "Skate rock" comp. In other news, Millencolin has purchased Soundlab Studios, the studio run by Mieszko Talarczyk of Nasum who tragically passed away in the tsunami disaster. Guitarist Mathias Färm used to co-own the studio with Mieszko many years ago. And in even more news, Dan Swanö is remixing and remastering the first three Millencolin albums that he recorded ("Same old tunes", "Life on a plate" and "For monkeys") for eventual rerelease.]]> Thu, 18 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25484-festival-report-hultsfred-festivalen-05 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25484-festival-report-hultsfred-festivalen-05 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25484-festival-report-hultsfred-festivalen-05#comments

I'm at the age now (I LOVE that phrase!) where I belong to the older sphere of people who attend music festivals (aged 25 and upwards). This is nothing that bothers me, I'm pretty used to going to gigs where everyone is half my age (and length), but what I find silly is how people indulge in saying how they're "too old" for festivals, as if ageing by itself gives you specific attributes that automatically make you hate being among large groups of young people and seeing bands play live outdoors. Personally, I think that I've enjoyed going to festivals more and more the older I've got. Take this for example, the first festival I went to was the Hultsfred Festival around when I was 16 or so, and that time I saw 40-50 bands, didn't have a shit for 5 days (did I just say that?), nor a shower (oooh, I sure was a hit with the ladies), and every day I had crappy noodles cooked on a crappy portable stove that took ages to clean afterwards. The last festival I went to was also the Hultsfred Festival (16-18th June). This time I "only" went to see 16 bands, had a shower every day, and ate good properly cooked food, (constipation was never an issue). So far I've always camped when I've gone to a festival, although this will soon change. Basically, what I'm saying is that festivals are ace if you got a monthly salary, can get drunk without having to spend your life savings on a bottle of dodgy vodka mixed with water and dirt, got a car (or a friend with one) so that you can bring all the extra necessities you might need (boots, raincoats, extra beer, tons of mixtapes, etc), and it's also good when you've seen a lot of the bands on the festival before so you can spend a large amount of the time sitting around with your mates in the sun getting drunk (and not crazy "teenage" drunk, only pretty goddamn drunk). I didn't mind being a teenager and "wild", but if I'm going to a place where the beer is flowing like wine and the general mindset among people is that of the citizens of Sodom and Gomorra, I rather be a bit older and boring than totally senseless (and end up being taken by the cops because the security guards assume you're on drugs because you act a bit "wild", something that might have happened to me a long, long time ago).

Anyway, I went all the way from London to go to this festival determined not to miss out on any of the bands that I REALLY wanted to see, but also to drink some beer and meet up with some old friends. Hultsfred is not the easiest place to get to though, me and my girl drove for three hours to get there, which would have been fine if we weren't manoeuvring a mobile sauna (a.k.a. a Nissan Micra without AC). It also took some time to get our festival passes and such, but since we were finally out of the car, and there was beer to drink and a sun to stand in the shadow of – it was all F I N E.

After setting up our tent we went to check out Jason Ringenberg who turned out to be some sort of Homer Simpson version of a country artist, so we left after three songs - unimpressed. The line up to Hultsfred 2005 got some very big bands in it, such as The Magic Numbers, The Mars Volta, System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot and Mastodon, but the reason why I was so excited about the festival was all the Swedish bands playing. Not only did some of Sweden's biggest bands (The Hives, Millencolin, Moneybrother, etc) play, but lots of the best "indie" bands were also playing, much to my delight since I hardly get a chance to catch these bands live due to me living in London. The first Swedish band I saw at the festival was The Lovekevins who played on the Rookie stage where all unsigned bands get the chance to churn out their unsigned songs. The Lovekevins play harmless, melodic twee music, that's pretty well crafted and lovely to hear live, especially on a sunny afternoon next to a pretty lake. After this nice outdoors twee concert, I headed indoors for a super nice indoors twee concert – by the magnificent El Perro Del Mar, who makes great little songs that sort of twist and turn their way into the back of your head with no intention of leaving, but in a good way (sort of like having the best sex of your life, in a coffin). I think she might, and I hope she does, become really big all over the world. At this stage I started to get really drunk, but not so drunk that I could enjoy Le Tigre (now a sort of pastiche of their former selves) or Sean Price, but drunk enough to really like David Sandström Overdrive's gig and feel like I've taken ecstasy at M.I.A's blistering show. I wish I'll get another chance to see David Sandström though, sober.

On Friday I woke up with a hangover from hell that took half day to get rid of, and I was even feeling a bit ropey when The Acid House Kings turned their rather slow recorded material into a furious blast of melodic pop. When they played "Say yes I if you love me" and "We are The Acid House Kings" I thought I was going to explode (not from the hangover but from euphoria). It was a shame to start the day on such a high note, none of the rest of the bands I saw this day were as goods as The Acid House Kings were. I had quite high expectations on the two bands I saw next (Immortal Technique and Richard Buckner) but none of them were nearly half as good as I thought they were going to be. Frida Hyvönen, who has released one of this year's best albums, played at 8pm and she did fortunately deliver the beautiful set that I had hoped for. She did a support gig for The Concretes a while ago in London, but I missed her then, but thank god I turned up in time this a round (I must confess that I for some unknown reason dragged my girlfriend away from the gig halfway through). After piano-driven balladry, it was time for some modern beat-driven music – in the shape of former pop-soul queen Robyn. The first five songs she played were all from her new fresh and stunning album, and at this time of the show I thought I was witnessing one of the best concerts in my life, but then Robyn started doing older songs, songs that aren't nearly half as good as her new material. It was sort of like going out for a meal at a fancy restaurant, having a gorgeous dessert, and then end up with a bowl of brine for your main meal. I left the Robyn gig feeling very disappointed, and it might have been this frustration that ruined the next show for me, because I just didn't enjoy Mattias Alkberg BD at all. I love both his albums, and I thought this would be one of the highlights of the festival, but instead it was just boring. Seeing Snoop Dogg turn up really late to do a rubbish set didn't really do much to raise my spirits either. So what to do now after a day of rain with so many of my dreams being crushed? Going to see The Tough Alliance of course! TTA – maybe the most exciting band to come out of any Scandinavian country ever – would surely pick me up and make me want to party all night. But no, my favourite band would of course turn out to be appalling live. I sort of should have seen this coming, TTA have stirred up some controversy in Sweden by not singing live, but only to mime along to their tracks and often being drunk off their heads. I just couldn't dig their performance, perhaps I wasn't drunk enough, but it just came across as too absurd and weird for me. A damn shame!

On Saturday I proposed to my girlfriend so this was nothing but an excellent day, even though the previous day's many busted hopes continued with hyped Swedish band Vapnet playing songs that failed to convince. In almost every interview I've read about Vapnet it's been about how subversive they're by mixing lyrics with swear words (Jesus Christ!) and twee music. Too bad their music is so contrived and if it wasn't for them not being funny, I would have thought it was a joke. As I said previously, it was for the smaller bands that I went to Hultsfred, so on the last day of the festival at 6.30 I ventured to the biggest stage (Hawaii) for the first time, and got to see Sweden's own Håkan Hellström, who just must have ADD or something, charm everyone out of their pants. I was stupid not to stay for the whole set and instead go and see another of my favourite bands, The Hidden Cameras, once more prove that they're one of those bands, just like TTA I guess, that are better on record than live. After The Hidden Cameras I went for a rather long beer drinking session at the camping area with some friends, and got the opportunity to witness an exciting but unfortunate ruckus. After a while though I felt a bit guilty for not seeing any bands, so I grabbed my girl and went to see Loop Troop. What a great decision that was! I've seen Loop Troop play many times, but tonight they seemed to burn even brighter than they usually do. One of the three MCs, Supreme, appeared to emulate Håkan Hellström's behaviour by running left and right on the stage continuously, which was pretty fun to watch. It was most definitely the perfect ending for a splendid festival. Hope next year's line up will be as good, if not I guess I will have more time drinking beer in the sun with my girl and friends (the ones that haven't turned "too old", all of a sudden, that is).

Text by Simon Tagestam, pictures by David Robertson

10/31 - Academy, Glasgow (SCO)
11/01 - University, Leeds (UK)
11/02 - Astoria, London (UK)
11/04 - Academy, Birmingham (UK)
11/05 - Academy, Manchester (UK)
11/07 - AB, Brussels (BEL)
11/08 - 13, Tilburg (NL)
11/09 - Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen (GER)
11/10 - Le Bataclan, Paris (FRA)
11/11 - Le Transbourder, Lyon (FRA)
11/12 - Apollo, Barcelona (SPA)
11/15 - Xtra, Zurich (SWI)
11/16 - Gasometer, Vienna (AUS)
11/17 - Landshalle, Erlangen (GER)
11/18 - Messehalle, Trier (GER)
11/19 - Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg (GER)
11/20 - Trägårn, Gothenburg (SWE)

Tour site coming soon: http://www.antidotetour.com/]]> Tue, 21 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10036 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10036 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10036#comments PopMatters reviews the latest Millencolin album "Kingwood": http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/m/millencolin-kingwood.shtml]]> Tue, 21 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25480-top-fives-2005-so-far http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25480-top-fives-2005-so-far http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25480-top-fives-2005-so-far#comments Avi Roig's top five across the board, plus one more for good measure:

01. Three EPs that prove Swedish indierock is still as strong as ever:
Convoj - s/t
Seven Feet Four - To kill is easy
Torpedo - Declare despair

02. Best single, hands down:
C.Aarmé - We are the world
Don't you know who we are? You do now.

03. The two best live sets I saw:
Silverbullit @ Umeå Open - Absolutely transcendent. Not only did the band give it their best, but the crowd was amped too.
The Ark @ The Troubadour in LA (ExMS Swedish Showcase) - Where did all those gayboy Ark fans come from? I was probably just as shocked as the band. Well worth the six hour drive each way.

04. The top four albums I can't stop listening to:
Isolation Years - Cover the distance
Logh - A sunset panorama
Desert Planet - Mario built my hot rod
Det Gamla Landet - s/t

05. Three reasons to keep an eye on Denmark:
Lack, The Psyke Project and The First Miles
I don't know why, but those Danes kick ass when it comes to both hardcore and Americana.

06. Two best non-Scandinavian albums:
Dredg - Catch without arms
Jesu - s/t
Two amazing albums from two of the world's best intelligent heavy rock acts.

Simon Tagestam:

01. Randy – Beware (song)
If the forthcoming album is as good as this (I doubt they got Fat Mike on any of the songs though), I'll forgive them for their last album (their only non-amazing release to date, according to me).

02. Robyn – Robyn
How would have thought it? An ex-soulpop girl making an album better than anything that inspired her to make it (i.e. The Knife, Kate Bush etc)

03. Frida Hyvönen – Until death comes
A colleague of mine thinks Frida can't sing and tries to get me into Joni Mitchell. Unfortunately Joni will never appeal to me as much as "Until Death Comes" does.

04. Mattias Alkberg BD – Jag ska bli en bättre vän
I haven't had this album too long, but at the moment it feels as it might be a contender for "album of the year"! That's right!

05. The Tough Alliance – The new school
This was not as good as I wanted it to be, but it's still crammed with excellent songs.

Navy Keophan's top five injuries sustained at shows for the first half of 2005:

01. Broken glasses, Millencolin show May 21: My eyesight is pretty bad (apparently, even worse than I thought) so when I took a hit from some crowd surfer that knocked them off my head, I was surprised I even made from Hollywood back to Long Beach safely.

02. Bruised shins, The Chinese Stars @ Koo's Feb. 6: Being in the front to take semi-decent pictures of one of your favorite bands = good. Having the crowd behind you push you into the shin-high stage for over 30 minutes = bad.

03. Bruised shins (again), Death From Above 1979 March 26: Again, much like the CS show, I was up front. Combine the thing that happened at that show with unexplainable moshing, another two weeks of pants-wearing.

04. Sore shoulders, Millencolin show May 22: Fist-pumpin' fun equated to arm cramps for the entire week.

05. Sore elbow, Millencolin show May 21: Damn moshers.

Kevin Renick:

01. Ephemera - Monolove
Every music lover should have one band they worship, one band that truly makes a difference in their life. For me, it's Norway's girl-pop trio Ephemera. I regard them not as mere musicians, but absolute creative Goddesses.

02. Bol - Silver sun
This jazz-poptronica trio from Trondheim have made a masterpiece with their second CD, a formula-defying journey up a river of humanity where heartbroken souls line the shore. 47 minutes of incandescent musical brilliance.

03. Hanne Hukkelberg - Little things
What a stellar debut! Norway's brightest new chanteuse delivers a rhapsodic set of tunes with constantly surprising arrangements, sterling production and her delightfully exuberant, upfront singing-which seems to reflect not only a zest for life but a playful "I'll try anything" approach.

04. Schtimm - The alcoholovefi collection
Although "Featuring" is actually their 2005 release, "TAC" is probably the best album by this mysterious Norwegian band, and I only heard it recently. Something about their music makes me think of haunted houses, as if you got trapped in a spooky mansion but found that the spirits of the place were only too happy to make music for you.

05. Efterklang - Tripper
The cutting-edge electronica from this Danish band has earned them rave reviews. Technology makes their intricate music possible, but they aspire to such a heaven-bound sound that you end up not thinking about the glitchy, twitchy elements in the mix at all, only the reverence you feel for the emotionally stirring, organic flow. Efterklang are one of today's most important and distinctive new bands, showing the uninitiated that there are sparks of magic shooting through the skies of Scandinavia.

Honorable mention: The State of Floral Beings - We know you love us and that's why we do this

Matthew W. Smith:

01. The Lionheart Brothers - Colour contrast context EP
Understated, bittersweet symphonic pop from Norway, featured on the "It's a Trap! Reader's Companion Vol. 1"

02. Kings of Convenience live at the Iota in Arlington, Virginia, February 2005
A no-frills, quiet performance that showcased Eirik and Erlend's guitar plucking, tight harmonies and sense of humor in front of a packed, respectful Iota.

03. Sharif - Lost causes, causes lost
Melancholy in both mood and lyrics, this well-constructed album signals a welcome return for this Swedish quartet.

04. Loopy - Smile back home
Leiv Aasen's vocals and a subtle blend of guitar pop and shoegazer on this debut make this tri-national band one to watch.

05. The Raveonettes - live at the Black Cat in Washington, DC, May 2005
See my review for more details, but the Danish outfit oozed 50s cool and blasted supersonic levels of guitar fuzz; the cover of "My boyfriend's back" provided a nice contrast to "Attack of the ghost riders".

One wish:
- I hope that Jennie, Johanna, Maria and Josephine from Sahara Hotnights have already recovered their missing gear and guitars or will soon!

Five things to look forward to for the rest of the year
- A new album quite soon from Icelandic band Leaves.
- The third album from Norway's purveyors of lowdown garage rock, Cato Salsa Experience.
- A successful trip to Connecticut for Tiger Lou, who will mix his sophomore album there with Peter Katis (Interpol, Denali) and hopefully release the results in the fall.
- More Danish success in North America, as The Blue Van continue to tour and Loopy has its album released stateside.
- Another new record from the rejuvenated Cardigans, who have already finished recording the follow-up to the fantastic "Long gone before daylight".

Simon Thibaudeau's top Scandinavian five:

01. Det Gamla Landet

02. EST - Viaticum

03. The Now

04. Spacious Mind – Rotvalta

05. Sayyadina - Fear Gave Us Wings

Per Apelqvist:

01. Moving back to Europe after 11 wonderful years in the US

02. Moneybrother live at the Barfly

03. David Fridlund - Amaterasu

04. 2 friends turning 30 and inviting over a hundred people to High Chaparal, the country western theme park in Sweden

05. Kent - Klaparen

Jason Christie:

01. [ingenting] - Allting ni gör
By way of "Songs we have learned to sing". Quite clearly the best I have heard in an age – still to learn though...

02. Sharif – You don't know
This track arrived at a tricky time, and then time tunnelled me back to the Basement club, Brighton circa 1995. Trust, that’s enough.

03. Pelle Carlberg – Oh no! It's happening again
A great writer, great vocalist and father of 4!

04. Café Alhambra – Clapham Common, SW4
Serving some of the finest

05. Chelsea Football Club
Where were you when they were rubbish?

]]> Thu, 09 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0700 articles top10s http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10301 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10301 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10301#comments Millencolin will tour Australia in September. Dates:

09/18 - Metro City, Perth
09/20 - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
09/21 - Festival Hall, Melbourne
09/22 - The Big Top, Sydney
09/24 - Riverstage, Brisbane]]> Tue, 31 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26540-millencolin-live-henry-fonda-theater-hollywood-ca-5-21-05-and-house-of-blues-anaheim-ca-5-22-05 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26540-millencolin-live-henry-fonda-theater-hollywood-ca-5-21-05-and-house-of-blues-anaheim-ca-5-22-05 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26540-millencolin-live-henry-fonda-theater-hollywood-ca-5-21-05-and-house-of-blues-anaheim-ca-5-22-05#comments Millencolin has been on the West Coast and I, being the requisite fan, was looking forward to seeing them. Something about seeing a band two nights in a row sounds kinda boring but it was nothing but. The bands that opened for Millencolin on their little trek across the West were Roses Are Red, A Thorn For Every Heart and Boys Night Out. I wasn't really impressed with seeing three bands that were all five-pieces and it was really hard to decide if it was a cruel joke of sorts. Oh well, at least some of the kids there were into them.

Then came the headliners.

Millencolin burst onto the stage with energy and the crowd responded accordingly. They played about four songs off of their latest release "Kingwood" and also peppered the a-little-over-an-hour long set both nights with songs from "Same old tunes", "Life on a plate", "For monkeys and "Pennybridge pioneers". In-between song banter between guitarists Erik Ohlsson and Mathias Färm and bassist Nikola Sarcevic were lively and entertaining. I'm not sure how many times my neck became a target for crowd surfers during the Henry Fonda show but it was worth being up close and personal with the band. The crowd for both shows were very different. For some reason, all the idiots that throw stuff at bands during their set decided to show up for the Anaheim show. Whatever. I had fun meeting them on Saturday, having my glasses knocked off and smashed to bits, getting a random drunk guy putting his arm around me after that show and seeing them put up with flying shoes and water bottles on Sunday. Good times all around.]]> Mon, 30 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 reviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10351 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10351 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10351#comments Here's this week's YLE/Morjen top 10 Nordic video chart:

01. Smak - Nousen (FIN)
02. Vink - Triathlon (FIN)
03. Technicolour - Teach me love (FIN)
04. Discore - Rautakahle (FIN)
05. Korpiklaani - Hunting song (FIN)
06. Apocalyptica feat. Lauri Ylönen - Life burns! (FIN)
07. Millencolin - Ray (SWE)
08. Kent - Palace & main (SWE)
09. Anniina - Who's about to cry (FIN)
10. @junkmail - Hyvä minä (FIN)

Challengers:
11. Maija Vilkkumaa - Kesä (FIN)
12. Robyn - Be mine (SWE)
13. Turbonegro - High on the crime (NOR)]]> Thu, 26 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10420 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10420 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10420#comments Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Kristin Frogner - Stars Above My Head
02. Looptroop - Fort Europa
03. Millencolin - Ray
04. DAD - Scare Yourself
05. Smak - Nousen
06. Carpark North - Human
07. Sara Nunes - Simon Can't Sing
08. Ane Brun / Ron Sexsmith - Song No. 6
09. Swan Lee - Love Will Keep You Warm
10. Jaqee - Karma
11. Chick Habit - Rule The World
12. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street
13. Eskobar - Even If You Know Me
14. Humane - Wish God Was A Woman
15. Prominent - Let's Talk It Over
16. Radio LXMBRG - It's Cruel Up North
17. Paperboys - Wiggle It
18. Nick & Jay - Kan Du Hora Hende Synge
19. PH3 - Det Där
20. Max'C - Time 2 Get It On

Challengers:
01. Ayesha - The Rose
02. Tiger Tunes - Highly Invisible
03. Paris - 60 Minutes
04. Darin - Why Does It Rain
05. Jori Hulkkonen - Lo Fiction

Go here to vote for your favorite.]]> Mon, 23 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10456 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10456 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10456#comments Here's this week's YLE/Morjen top 10 Nordic video chart:

01. Millencolin - Ray (SWE)
02. Smak - Nousen (FIN)
03. Vink - Triathlon (FIN)
04. Discore - Rautakahle (FIN)
05. Korpiklaani - Hunting song (FIN)
06. Anniina - Who's about to cry (FIN)
07. Feiled - Lost (FIN)
08. Carpark North - Human (DK)
09. @junkmail - Hyvä minä (FIN)
10. Apocalyptica feat. Lauri Ylönen - Life burns! (FIN)

Challengers:
11. Technicolour - Teach me love (FIN)
12. Kent - Palace & main (SWE)
13. Clemens - Dans med döden (DK)]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10506 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10506 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10506#comments Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Millencolin - Ray
02. Carpark North - Human
03. Marie Miller - Playground
04. Kent - Max 500
05. Kristin Frogner - Stars Above My Head
06. Sara Nunes - Simon Can't Sing
07. DAD - Scare Yourself
08. Smak - Nousen
09. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street
10. The Similou - Ladykillers
11. Radio LXMBRG - It's Cruel Up North
12. Jaqee - Karma
13. Looptroop - Fort Europa
14. Chick Habit - Rule The World
15. User - Miss Wanted
16. Humane - Wish God Was A Woman
17. Prominent - Let's Talk It Over
18. Swan Lee - Love Will Keep You Warm
19. Eskobar - Even If You Know Me
20. Nick & Jay - Kan Du Hora Hende Synge

Challengers:
01. Paperboys - Wiggle It
02. PH3 - Det Där
03. Ane Brun / Ron Sexsmith - Song No. 6
04. Anneli Drecker - You Don't Have To Change
05. Max'C - Time 2 Get It On

Go here to vote for your favorite.]]> Mon, 16 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10537 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10537 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10537#comments Here's this week's YLE/Morjen top 10 Nordic video chart:

01. Millencolin - Ray (SWE)
02. Smak - Nousen (FIN)
03. Apocalyptica feat. Lauri Ylönen - Life burns! (FIN)
04. Korpiklaani - Hunting song (FIN)
05. @junkmail - Hyvä minä (FIN)
06. Vink - Triathlon (FIN)
07. Feiled - Lost (FIN)
08. Carpark North - Human (DK)
09. Anniina - Who's about to cry (FIN)
10. Disco Ensemble - We might fall apart (FIN)

Challengers:
11. Discore - Rautakahle (FIN)
12. Caesars - We got to leave (SWE)
13. Sophie Rimheden & Håkan Lidbo - Främling (SWE)]]> Thu, 12 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10610 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10610 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10610#comments Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Millencolin - Ray
02. Marie Miller - Playground
03. Carpark North - Human
04. Angu - Red Light
05. Kent - Max 500
06. Sara Nunes - Simon Can't Sing
07. Smak - Nousen
08. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street
09. Kristin Frogner - Stars Above My Head
10. The Similou - Ladykillers
11. Radio LXMBRG - It's Cruel Up North
12. Saybia - Bend The Rules
13. Chick Habit - Rule The World
14. Nick & Jay - Kan Du Hora Hende Synge
15. Clemens - Dans Me Döden
16. User - Miss Wanted
17. Kurt Nilsen - Never Easy
18. Eskobar - Even If You Know Me
19. Humane - Wish God Was A Woman
20. Prominent - Let's Talk It Over

Challengers:
01. Looptroop - Fort Europa
02. Raymond & Maria - Redan Idag
03. DAD - Scare Yourself
04. Swan Lee - Love Will Keep You Warm
05. Jaqee - Karma

Go here to vote for your favorite.]]> Mon, 09 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10653 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10653 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10653#comments Here's this week's YLE/Morjen top 10 Nordic video chart:

01. Smak - Nousen (FIN)
02. Feiled - Lost (FIN)
03. Carpark North - Human (DK)
04. Korpiklaani - Hunting song (FIN)
05. Apocalyptica feat. Lauri Ylönen - Life burns! (FIN)
06. Anniina - Who's about to cry (FIN)
07. Disco Ensemble - We might fall apart (FIN)
08. YOR123 & Skandaali - 99% (FIN)
09. Kent - Max 500 (SWE)
10. Jori Hulkkonen - Lo-fiction (FIN)

Challengers:
11. @junkmail - Hyvä minä (FIN)
12. Vink - Triathlon (FIN)
13. Millencolin - Ray (SWE)]]> Thu, 05 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10726 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10726 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10726#comments Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Millencolin - Ray
02. Carpark North - Human
03. Marie Miller - Playground
04. Kent - Max 500
05. Angu - Red Light
06. Saybia - Bend The Rules
07. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street
08. Radio LXMBRG - It's Cruel Up North
09. Chick Habit - Rule The World
10. Nick & Jay - Kan Du Hora Hende Synge
11. Kristin Frogner - Stars Above My Head
12. Clemens - Dans Me Döden
13. User - Miss Wanted
14. Kurt Nilsen - Never Easy
15. Smak - Nousen
16. Sugarplum Fairy - Far Away From Man
17. Eskobar - Even If You Know Me
18. Humane - Wish God Was A Woman
19. Prominent - Let's Talk It Over
20. Span - Cut Like Diamonds

Challengers:
01. Sara Nunes - Simon Can't Sing
02. Madcon - Infidelity
03. The Similou - Ladykillers
04. Schack - Don't Choose Today
05. Lambretta - Anything

Go here to vote for your favorite.]]> Mon, 02 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25471-interview-peter-ahlqvist-burning-heart-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25471-interview-peter-ahlqvist-burning-heart-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25471-interview-peter-ahlqvist-burning-heart-records#comments Way back in mid-March I took a roadtrip with my friend Kelly down to LA for the Export Music Sweden Swedish Showcase. As has already been posted, I got the chance to sit down and talk with Anders from Moneybrother before the show. Well, I also got a chance to sit down with Peter Ahlqvist, big cheese for Burning Heart Records. And I do mean big, dude is like eight feet tall. Anyhow, we grabbed a table in the barroom while Deportees finished up their soundcheck nextdoor and had ourselves a little chat. Here's how it went:

(note: Kelly was mostly busy sending text messages to her fake boyfriend, but she does chime in towards the end)

Avi: So let start with congratulations on a #1 record.

Peter: Yeah, it's good! Actually had one before, but it was in Norway and doesn't really count the same way.

A: Oh? What #1 in Norway?

P: Turbonegro

A: Oh, right right.

P: Three weeks in a row or something. Big band over there.

A: Oh yeah and they have that new one coming out. That's probably going to be a big record...

P: I hope so. It's good. Better than the last one.

A: So how is Moneybrother doing now with that Kent record out? Is it still holding on?

P: No, uh (laughs). They released it the last day of the week because they wanted to have a #1 that first week and the next week. They said they sold like half a million records on the last one.

A: So like how people are there in Sweden and how many records?

P: It's great actually how big they are.

A: Right.

P: I'm not sure actually that that's just Sweden, I think that's Scandinavia total, but they're still big in Sweden. But it's good, we're happy we're #2 at least. So that's good, as good as it can get.

A: But still y'know, you look at the cover of Sonic and see Anders is on the cover and Kent is down a ways.

P: But still they are such a mainstream popular band.

A: I don't think they're quite the talk as much as...

P: But you like them personally?

A: I haven't heard the new one yet, but I thought the last one was kind of mediocre.

P: Uh huh, that's the biggest one of course. But I like some of the old stuff.

A: Oh yeah, me too. I mean, the last one isn't bad. I'm curious about the new one, but in no rush to hear it.

P: No, same here. (laughs)

A: So now that you have this big success, what's next? What are you working on?

P: We're always working on tons of records, not just big ones.

A: You're not just concentrating on the pop stuff?

P: No no, I think the majority of our bands are punk bands in one or another. There's always a punk angle to the bands we are signing. Even Anders was in punk bands and Monster. I think everyone has some punk thing going. We're doing Turbonegro, we're doing Millencolin, new Looptroop. And that's all coming out in spring.

A: Right, all pretty big records.

P: Yeah, all big. And then we have Lost Patrol Band and Club Killers which is a cool band. Have you heard of them?

A: I think I've heard the name.

P: It's basically three of the guys from Moneybrother. They're all here actually, but not the trumpet guy.

A: Oh, were they on the comp? That live track, that's right.

P: They are a live band who are like a project... they're a real band now. Basically they play a club in Stockholm - Debaser - every second week or every month. They play ska, rocksteady; only covers. And they have fifteen people in the lineup and then they invite a lot of guests like Håkan Hellström, someone from The Hellacopters, Sahara Hotnights, Weeping Willows, everything. They have guest vocalists for all the songs.

A: So that's what the recording's gonna be like?

P: Yeah yeah, totally. It's like Buena Vista Social Club, but more indie/ska and in Sweden. It's started to become pretty popular - they have some great festival gigs last summer. This will be the first release, live at the club. It was recorded live during several nights or whatever and then put together.

A: Is it all ready to go?

P: Yeah, it'll be out in May.

A: So actually will be appearing on it then? The people you mentioned already?

P: Yeah, Håkan Hellström, Magnus Carlsson, Maria from Sahara, some hip-hop guys, Moneybrother's on two tracks. Then they have their own singer which is a girl, Anna Maria EspinosaModer Jords Massiva.

A: Kind of the all-stars, eh?

P: Yeah, I hope they're gonna develop into a real band.

A: And actually tour and everything?

P: Uh-huh. And write their own stuff. Which they want to do, but I don't know if they can get the time because of Moneybrother.

A: Are they going to do any festivals this summer?

P: Yeah, but they are also subject to what they can do because of Moneybrother. The drummer is also from Weeping Willows, the horn section is from a lot of bands.

A: Of course Moneybrother will in-demand this summer I imagine.

P: Yeah, right. It's gonna be tough for them. It's an interesting thing and of course if Moneybrother plays a festival they might also play the same festival.

A: Yeah, as long as none of the other bands are doing anything else?

P: Yeah. So that's what we're releasing this spring. And we've got tons of new stuff in the autumn actually.

A: What else you working on?

P: Sara from INC, a new band called The Vicious. We're doing that. That's more the Dead Boys kind of punk-rock.

A: So not going back to like the Doughnuts metalcore thing?

P: (laughs) no no... So that's a good one. And then we have a band called The Accidents.

A: Oh yeah, I have their record.

P: Yeah, it's more rock n' roll.

A: Yeah, that's another kind of all-star band in some ways.

P: Yeah, but some of the band members are from Voice of a Generation who just broke up. So now they have the bassplayer from VOAG and it's totally his band.

A: So they're going full-out now? Not like a side-project?

P: Yeah, also because one of the guys from VOAG who left and split up the band - he works for Burning Heart. That's why he wanted to quit. And he's still in The Accidents as well, but he's only gonna be on the record. He's not gonna tour.

A: Right. Now what does he do at Burning Heart?

P: He's running the publishing. He works for the publishing company which is part of Burning Heart in a way.

A: Right.

P: It's a different company that does the publishing for Refused, The Hives, whatever, a tons of bands.

A: Yeah, it's a lot of work I would imagine.

P: It's a lot of work, so it's tough.

A: Right. So how do you go about discovering new bands then? Do you go out to a lot of shows? Demos?

P: It's not demos really, it's more recommendations and usually we sign bands that already have a reputation.

A: Yeah, all those bands seem to have people that are already established.

P: Yeah, and live shows - yeah, I go to live shows, but not that many. It's hard - I don't travel a lot. If there's a band I really want to see and want to sign, of course I go. Usually I hear about a band through others and then go to the show. But it's not often you see a band that blows you away.

A: Has that ever happened to you?

P: Yeah. In a way I see that sometimes. Like I saw Flogging Molly on the Warped Tour a couple years ago. I really liked that because I thought it was excellent live and then we licensed them for Europe. But otherwise, thinking about it - it's not often I see a band live and go wow, this is something I have to work with. It's more like I heard about the band and then I see them live.

A: So nobody out of the blue then?

P: Not really. Flogging Molly I would say is the only one.

A: Is that different from the way you used to do things when you first started the label?

P: Of course, that was more demos actually at the beginning. And we started to sign a few bands that developed into others or started new bands or people recommended.

A: Well and Fredrik Holgren might accuse you of stealing his bands.

P: Ahhh yeah, but he was not involved in doing that deal with Refused. But that's the way - it's hard in the beginning. We signed the demos for a lot of the bands like No Fun At All, Millencolin. I did the first Refused EP which was basically me and Fredrik had around the same time, but he - initially he had a deal with the band and then I put out the EP. But all these bands, the early bands Millencolin, 59 Times the Pain, Breach and so on, that was through demos. Lately, it's not the same way now. That was part of the punkrock, hardcore way. And that was what Burning Heart was at the beginning, sort of a more punkrock hardcore thing.

A: Do you consider yourself a different kind of label now?

P: In a way. It's a more established label. It's not the same way. We don't pick demos with bands, there's not the same amount of good new bands around. It's not the scene. It's not something happening at the moment that you can relate to in the same way. On the other hand, I mean, sometimes you hear stuff like I heard a demo from Regulations I wanted to do. I dunno if you're familiar with them?

A: I've heard the name.

P: It's punkrock basically. It's gonna come out on Dennis' own label. Dennis and Stefan from Randy are gonna put it out. And maybe hopefully I'll be able to work with it later on. Vicious also, but that was also because I know Sara was in the band. You always have something. In the beginning it was different. I think we are still the same kind of label, though we are more established and we can work with more bigger bands.

A: So you think the scene has changed then?

P: Totally.

A: Do you think the DIY thing isn't going quite as strong or?

P: It wasn't much of a DIY thing at that point. It was because everyone started their punkrock label, but no - I wouldn't say it's as strong these days. It's definitely not as strong as it was when Refused and all those bands came. Then there were a lot of smaller Swedish punkrock labels established. And they were all gone after a few years, but a lot of them started and managed to do some okay things. A lot of indie labels sold a lot of records. Today there aren't that many.

A: Why do think that is?

P: I think there was an over-establishment at some point, in a way. But now... I think there was a boom in the scene and something new that came with Offspring and Green Day that totally changed. The kids were totally into it and there was a lot of new things about snowboarding and skateboarding.

A: The pop-punk explosion?

P: Yeah, it was - and the hardcore explosion followed. It was the same kind of thing. But now I don't see the same explosion in any scene. Y'know, for many years we had a lot of Swedish bands that wanted to sound like the Hellacopters and Backyard Babies. A lot of new bands started with that. And then if you go into that, maybe you have your own scene in a way, but you don't start booking shows. You don't bring bands from... It's a different thing. When the punkrock thing came a lot of people did their own thing with bands. That is pretty much gone. I would say of course there are many left, but it was such a big thing back then. I don't see any Swedish bands like that. There are mostly indie ones and very few hardcore ones.

A: So what do think's gonna happen in the future? Where do you see it going?

P: I don't know. I've been doing punkrock since 1980 when I did my first fanzine. I've seen so many changes, but it's always - I think there will always a place for something like harder music or extreme music. I don't see it as going away, but I don't see anything happening now that I can say oh, that's gonna happen in two years or Labrador Records is gonna be huge or whatever. They're a label that's got some cool things going on, even though they don't sell that much.

A: Yeah, they're very well known. Even here in the States you hear a lot of people talking about them.

P: Yeah, but otherwise I don't see any hardcore coming back. I see a lot of punk bands coming up. A lot of the bands, especially up north and so on - a lot of people are going back to playing punkrock. Everyone plays in a punkrock... as opposed to hardcore, they play punkrock influenced by all the American hardcore like Black Flag or Circle Jerks and also early Swedish punk or early English punk or whatever. And then there's a lot of oi! bands. That scene is also happening in a way. You never know, maybe there will be something.

A: Have your tastes changed as you've gotten older? Are you still into that stuff and following it?

P: I think I listen to the same type of music now. I mean, you get a little bored with only listening to punkrock. I don't pick up tons of new records and fall in love with them, but every now and then something comes along that I really like. For me, I think I've heard most of the good punk. I think it's been done in the past. I think there's always some good bands. I try to pick up good new bands I hear on other labels every now and then, but really - I'm not that excited about it. I'm still excited if I put on Minor Threat or if I put on...

A: The classics?

P: The classics, totally! I still listen to old oi! and that stuff and of course all the hardcore as well, or maybe some Hatebreed or something like that, but I don't pick new hardcore angry bands or melodic skatepunk bands or whatever. It's just not interesting anymore. I mean, there's always good bands.

A: So what do you listen to then?

P: I listen to everything. It's a lot of punkrock, a lot of indie bands. I still buy a lot of records.

A: Name some names that you've been hearing

P: Isolation Years is a great band. I like a band like Anti-Flag. Once more, I don't listen to that much new stuff I don't think.

A: So are just listening to more like the oldies?

P: No, really I buy a lot of stuff, but I'm not that really...

A: Nothing's been too terribly exciting?

P: I like Bloc Party. It's good. I like Libertines a bit, but it's not the classics. I like the old bands. I'm into stuff I've heard before, like Radio Dept. - I rather listen to something old like Ride.

A: You'd rather listen to the original?

P: Yeah, in a way. But still, it's hard to say that. Yes, it sounds sad, but... I like Koma. You know them? I like that record.

A: Yeah, they're on my comp that I put out.

P: Great band. But I don't see anything special that I really, totally am devoted to. My main preference is old ska. I listen to a lot of old ska, but it's hard to get new stuff in that genre that is good.

A: So then let's switch gears here...

P: It sounds bad, I want to be able to say "ah, this band's fantastic." But of course it's hard to be excited about music. I tried to put out good new stuff, but I can't say that I have to check out the new electro-punk scene from this place. It's not like that. I'm not into a special genre. I try to stick with what I really like. Before I could maybe buy everything on Revelation or everything on this label, but it's not like that anymore.

A: Right. So you're bringing Moneybrother over to the States. Do you think you have a good chance of getting him a break over here?

P: I hope so. I don't know - it's so hard to say. From a business point of view, I think he's a great artist and if people saw him live I'm sure he would be enormous. He's a great live act. You never know how things will work out in the US. There's already a lot of interest. If that's real interest, I don't know. I hope people check him out.

A: Are you hearing it from industry people or from like, the streets?

P: I would say only industry people so far because we haven't really done anything on the street market. He's such a new artist. I mean, it's only happening in Sweden. A few people know about Burning Heart, but maybe it's a bit out of the... it's a little bit different from what we used to put out so maybe, our original audience maybe doesn't...

A: Well you're not going to be licensing it to Epitaph then I guess?

P: No, I don't think so, but you never know. They're here, they're gonna listen. It could be something for Anti, but they usually only work with established artists. I don't want to say it - I hope it's going to work in the US. I can't say this is an American-style artist or this is something that will definitely go down in the US, but at the same time, no one thought that The Hives would work in the US and no one thought that this and this band would work in the US. It's all a matter of timing or whatever happens.

A: Are you really pushing on it? Do you think it's worth it?

P: We're over here, so yeah. We're trying to get something going. It's so hard to get things established in the US, it's such a big market. But I think every Swedish artist, since we are such a small country and only have a home market of 9 million people; every Swedish artist wants to go here. They sing in English because they have to to get over here and go to England and make it. We'll see. We're not depending on it. Of course it's everyone's dream to make it in the US somehow.

A: So, anyone else on Burning Heart you thinking of maybe bringing over? Or that you would like to?

P: Yeah. Of course Millencolin is doing their thing.

A: Well they're doing the Warped Tour this summer right?

P: Yeah, they're doing their thing. It's been running for what, 10 years or whatever. And Turbonegro is probably gonna come over and tour a lot more on this record. They are more, um, in-shape these days. (laughter)

Kelly: So they won't be so hard to look at?

(laughter)

P: Hank?

K: I don't know - it was just a naked man with a big bushy mustache was on my living room wall.

P: Yeah, that's Hank. Actually, on the new CD there's an extra added DVD with a workout video with Hank. So he's fit now.

(more laughter)

K: That's hilarious! Does he have a lot of enthusiasm like Jane Fonda on his workout tape?

P: No... I mean, I don't know if it's even funny, but it's cool to have it. (laughs) I would say that people who train for real will go "Oooh, he doesn't do anything right." It isn't exactly strict and all that stuff, so we'll see.

A: Yeah, I remember when Turbonegro played at Punx With Presses... that must've been like '96 or '97. That was ages ago.

K: I vaguely remember.

A: I remember when they came through and was like "Turbonegro? That's a funny band name." I missed the show, stupidly. Everyone else the next day was like "You missed the best show ever!"

P: It's a funny band. They were supposed to called - they changed it after a week of something- their first name was Nazi Penis. They took Turbonegro instead.

K: Flaccid penis?

A&P: Nazi.

K: Anyway...

P: Yeah, it's a funny band. But they are going to tour.

A: So you think there's a good future for importing bands over?

P: It's tough of course because of the cost of touring and of course bands, if really want to make it in the US they have to dedicate a lot of time. A lot of the bands that old don't have that time. They have their families. But we trying some newer bands that I really hope we can do more - we're signing a lot of "baby bands", younger bands. Hopefully we can get them over here. At the same time they need to develop in Europe as well. It's more important for us to have them touring in Europe than to come over here.

A: Have you ever thought of establishing a Burning Heart office in another country?

P: Not in the US. We were thinking of it before when we started to work with Epitaph. They were some plans to maybe have someone work for Burning Heart, but it hasn't really turned out that way. We haven't really pushed it either because it demands a lot of work.

A: Would it worthwhile for the benefits you'd get out of it?

P: Not now, if it was done five, six years ago maybe it would've been something. But then you would've needed some person who's really working it over here. We have an office in Germany. It's just one person actually, but he does the markteting and promotion there. We tried to sign a German band, but it was failed in the very last minute. They were on a label and their manager had the label and then he was picked up by Roadrunner, the whole label.

A: Which band was that?

P: Days in Grief. Has a bit of a Refused thing going, but more melodic maybe. At the Drive In, Refused with more melody.

A: So are there other bands outside of Scandinavia that you've thought about picking up?

P: We're talking to a band called Hell Is For Heroes.

A: Aren't they from New York?

P: No, they're English. They used to be on EMI in the UK. They sold a lot of records over there, but now they left EMI and want to do more of a Dischord thing on their own.

A: Oh, they're starting their own label then?

P: In the UK. They put it out in the UK, but then we're going to come along and do it for the rest of the world.

A: So you're going to license it not just for Scandinavia, but for everywhere?

P: For everywhere. And on the next record we're probably doing to do everything, even the UK. They are more of a post-hardcore, Fugazi/Refused/emo, but it has both the old and the new in there somehow. That's a band we really think is good and we're going to try to work hard and also try to get over here.

A: You've never limited yourself to local bands?

P: No, but still - the majority - it so much easier to be closer to your band. We try to sign American bands amd license American bands to do them over in Europe. but most of the time it's hard because they only want to sign for one album. They want to have a major deal over here and then we are out of the picture. So they say "You can only do one record."

A: Who have you been interested in?

P: Well we did Flogging Molly and then they started their own label. We only did one record and we wanted to work with them more and then they did their own, their label here started up in Europe and so they got a very good deal. We did Midtown. We did Give Up the Ghost, but they broke up.

A: Yeah, I do remember that. They broke up like right before they were supposed to tour?

P: Yeah, their second. What else? We still do Samiam.

A: I forget that they're still around. Living in the Bay Area, that's a band I grew up with.

P: They're actually in Europe now on a tour.

A: They do pretty well over there I'd imagine?

P: I don't know - it's been three or four years. I hope it's good, but the last record didn't do as good as the others. I think if they could do a another great new record I think they could do pretty okay because there was a lot of excitement for the tour.

A: Yeah, it's strange because over here, Samiam are hasbeens. (to Kelly) Would everyone even show up if they played you think? Do you remember them?

K: I remember them from like 10 years ago, but I haven't heard anything. I think that people would go.

A: I dunno. It's hard to say.

P: It's hard, I understand. They've done some really good records.

K: I feel like their records are always in people's record collections.

A: I see them along the same lines as J-Church - they're a band that people kind of don't really appreciate, but they persist. And they keep going and people go "Oh? Is that band still around?"

P: Yeah, maybe here. In Germany...

A: Yeah, that whole genre just seems to do a lot better in Germany.

P: Yeah yeah, but they were too early with that stuff. They're too old. If they were a little bit younger and nicer looking they would be really...

A: That is true. They aren't necessarily posterboys.

P: Yeah (laughs)

]]> Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700 articles interviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10836 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10836 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10836#comments Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Millencolin - Ray
02. Carpark North - Human
03. Kent - Max 500
04. Angu - Red Light
05. Marie Miller - Playground
06. Saybia - Bend The Rules
07. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street
08. Chick Habit - Rule The World
09. Bertine Zetlitz - Ah-ah
10. Radio LXMBRG - It's Cruel Up North
11. Kristin Frogner - Stars Above My Head
12. Darin - Money For Nothing
13. The 69 Eyes - Lost Boys
14. Clemens - Dans Me Döden
15. The Ark - Clamour For Glamour
16. Kurt Nilsen - Never Easy
17. User - Miss Wanted
18. Sugarplum Fairy - Far Away From Man
19. Nick & Jay - Kan Du Hora Hende Synge
20. Prominent - Let's Talk It Over

Challengers:
01. Span - Cut Like Diamonds
02. Humane - Wish God Was A Woman
03. Smak - Nousen
04. Scoob Rock - Da Massive
05. Eskobar - Even If You Know Me

Go here to vote for your favorite.]]> Mon, 25 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10873 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10873 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10873#comments This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Kent - Du & Jag Döden
02. Nanne - 20 år med Nanne
03. Freddie Wadling - Jag är monstret
04. Totta Näslund - Totta 8: Greatest Hits!
05. The Real Group - In the Middle of Life
06. Sofia Karlsson - Svarta ballader
07. Moneybrother - To Die Alone
08. Grymlings - Grymlings
09. Darin - The Anthem
10. Christer Sjögren - Love Me Tender
11. Jill Johnson - Being Who You Are
12. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
13. Laleh - Laleh
14. Hammerfall - Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken
15. Jimmy Jansson - Som en blixt
16. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
17. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
18. Frida Hyvönen - Until Death Comes
19. Millencolin - Kingwood
20. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen]]> Thu, 21 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10941 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10941 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10941#comments Here's this week's MTVe UpNorth video chart:

01. Millencolin - Ray
02. Angu - Red Light
03. Kent - Max 500
04. Marie Miller - Playground
05. Moneybrother - They're Building Walls Around Us
06. Carpark North - Human
07. Christian Walz - Never Be Afraid Again
08. Saybia - Bend The Rules
09. Bertine Zetlitz - Ah-ah
10. Darin - Money For Nothing
11. Madrugada - The Kids Are On High Street
12. Melody Club - Boys In The Girl's Room
13. The Ark - Clamour For Glamour
14. Kurt Nilsen - Never Easy
15. Chick Habit - Rule The World
16. Sugarplum Fairy - Far Away From Man
17. Hammerfall - Bloodbound
18. The 69 Eyes - Lost Boys
19. User - Miss Wanted
20. Strip Music - 24 Hrs

Challengers:
01. Radio LXMBRG - It's Cruel Up North
02. Kristin Frogner - Stars Above My Head
03. Nick & Jay - Kan Du Hora Hende Synge
04. Clemens - Dans Me Döden
05. Prominent - Let's Talk It Over

Go here to vote for your favorite.]]> Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10983 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10983 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/10983#comments Millencolin has a blog now: http://www.millencolin.com/blog/]]> Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11106 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11106 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11106#comments Here's this week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) K-OS - Crabbuckit
02. (02) De Stijl - Queen Midas
03. (06) Amerie - 1 Thing
04. (NY) Britta Persson - Found at Home
05. (NY) Faith Evans - Again
06. (15) The Similou - Ladykillers
07. (16) The Killers - Mr Brightside
08. (05) Hot Hot Heat - Goodnight Goodnight
09. (NY) Gavin DeGraw - I Don´t Want To Be
10. (12) Basement Jaxx - Oh My Gosh
11. (19) Kleerup - Medication
12. (NY) Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God
13. (10) Jenny Wilson - Summer Time
14. (11) Hello Kinski - My Baby Should Be Home By Now
15. (20) Diplo - Newsflash
16. (NY) Audioslave - Be yourself
17. (NY) The Raveonettes - Love In A Trashcan
18. (09) Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
19. (04) Lo-Fi-Fnk - ...And The JFG
20. (NY) Emiliana Torrini - Sunny Road

Leaving the chart: 22 Pistepirkko, Rilo Kiley, New Order, Stereophonics, Radio Luxemburg, Embee ft. José González and Millencolin]]> Wed, 30 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11173 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11173 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11173#comments This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (10) K-Os - "Crabbuckit"
02. (01) De Stijl - "Queen Midas"
03. (02) 22 Pistepirkko - "Rat King"
04. (05) Lo-Fi-Fnk - "... and the JFG"
05. (07) Hot Hot Heat - "Goodnight Goodnight"
06. (19) Amerie - "1 Thing"
07. (NY) Rilo Kiley - "It's a Hit"
08. (03) New Order - "Krafty"
09. (09) Maximo Park - "Apply Some Pressure"
10. (06) Jenny Wilson - "Summer Time"
11. (04) Hello Kinski - "My Baby Should Be Home By Now"
12. (11) Basement Jaxx - "Oh My Gosh"
13. (08) Stereophonics - "Dakota"
14. (ÅT) Radio Luxemburg - "It's Cruel Up North"
15. (NY) The Similou - "Ladykillers"
16. (NY) The Killers - "Mr Brightside"
17. (16) Embee med José González - "Send Someone Away"
18. (20) Millencolin - "Ray"
19. (NY) Kleerup - "Medication"
20. (18) Diplo - "Newsflash"

Leaving the chart: Psycho Sonic Cindy, Chick Habit, Moby, Kristofer Åstrom & Hidden Truck and Doves.]]> Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11219 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11219 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11219#comments The latest Scandinavian music reviews from Sellfish:

The Jessica Fletchers - Less sophistication
Millencolin - Kingwood]]> Mon, 21 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26601-millencolin-kingwood-burning-heart-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26601-millencolin-kingwood-burning-heart-records http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26601-millencolin-kingwood-burning-heart-records#comments Millencolin since I was 14 and heard their first EP "Use your nose" (they were really my first love, well them and Jakob Hellman). I think their two first albums are classics, whereas the third one ("Music for monkeys") and their fourth one ("Home from Home") have never rotated that much in my stereo. With their fourth album ("Pennybridge pioneers") they got Brett Gurewitz (Bad Religion) to produce and the result was a heavier sound (heavier as in still soft but more edgier than their previous super poppy sound), which suited them well and it sort of made it appear as if they had matured a bit and musically "evolved". I was very relieved to hear then that with "Kingwood" (their sixth album) they have once again gone "heavier" and decided to write some less wimpy songs than before. It's still melodic new school punk we're dealing with though, melodic new school punk of the finest variety! Most people don't like this sort of stuff, or at least none of my friends do (there is of course no reason for this), but if you like your Blink 182, Green Day, Descendents, Lagwagon, NOFX and so on, you should definitely give this a listen.]]> Sun, 20 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 reviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11232 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11232 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11232#comments Somehow Millencolin found the time to record five new songs recently. It's unsure where they'll end up, but look for more information to come soon.]]> Fri, 18 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11266 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11266 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11266#comments This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (04) De Stijl - "Queen Midas"
02. (01) 22 Pistepirkko - "Rat King"
03. (19) New Order - "Krafty"
04. (NY) Hello Kinski - "My Baby Should Be Home By Now"
05. (02) Lo-Fi-Fnk - "... and the JFG"
06. (08) Jenny Wilson - "Summer Time"
07. (05) Hot Hot Heat - "Goodnight Goodnight"
08. (ÅT) Stereophonics - "Dakota"
09. (07) Maximo Park - "Apply Some Pressure"
10. (NY) K-OS - "Crabbuckit"
11. (10) Basement Jaxx - "Oh My Gosh"
12. (NY) Psycho Candy Cindy - "Hey Hey Hey"
13. (NY) Chick Habit - "Rule the World"
14. (ÅT) Moby - "Lift Me Up"
15. (ÅT) Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck - "The Good You Bring"
16. (09) Embee med José González - "Send Someone Away"
17. (ÅT) Doves - "Black and White Town"
18. (06) Diplo - "Newsflash"
19. (NY) Amerie - "1 Thing"
20. (NY) Millencolin - "Ray"

Leaving the chart: Timo Räisänen, Wolfmother, The Donnas, Estelle, The Postal Service, Radio Luxemburg, Logh, Beck, The Lovekins and Maxim.]]> Wed, 16 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11408 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11408 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11408#comments Check out the video for the new Millencolin single "Ray": hi / low]]> Tue, 08 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11452 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11452 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11452#comments Millencolin has been confirmed for this year's Warped Tour. No dates confirmed yet, but tickets are set to go on sale March 15.]]> Fri, 04 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11505 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11505 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/11505#comments Burning Heart has posted the brand new Millencolin track "Biftek supernova" for download: http://www.burningheart.com/_lib/util/stream.php?p=/7/218/2270.mp3&f=Millencolin-Biftek Supernova.mp3]]> Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:00:00 -0800 news