Check out the video for the new Promise and the Monster single "Light reflecting papers": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4kskz8oYi4
Very recommended!

"Light reflecting papers" by Promise and the Monster will be released as a proper single on May 14.

Pitchfork reviews Imperial Recordings artist Promise and the Monster: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48816-transparent-knives

Celebrate the 21st anniversary of Mellotronen with the Melloboat Baltic cruise festival March 8-9. Acts confirmed include Anekdoten, Opeth, Mats & Morgan All Star Team ft. Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah), Ia Eklund (Freak Kitchen) and Lasse Hollmer (Samla Mammas Manna), Bo Hansson, Promise and the Monster, Comus, Katatonia and more. Go here for more details: http://www.myspace.com/melloboat

Imperial Recordings act Promise and the Monster will tour Europe in April:

04/16 - Apolo 2, Barcelona (ESP)
04/17 - Neu! Club, Madrid (ESP)
04/18 - Centre Culturel Suédois, Paris (FRA)
04/19 - Theatre Garonne, Toulouse (FRA)
04/22 - La Lune des Pirates, Amiens (FRA)
04/23 - Le 6par4, Laval (FRA)
04/24 - Chapelle Saint-Jacques, Vendome (FRA)

Promise and the Monster's excellent album "Transparent knives" will be released in Belgium and Holland on February 4 via the label Lowlands.

The playlist for my radio show this week featured all of my favorite songs from 2007:

01. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
02. TALK 1
03. Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle
04. The Skull Defekts - The secret
05. Ted Gärdestad - Räcker jag till
06. TALK 2
07. CS Nielsen - Black spots
08. Kornstad - Turkey, Texas
09. Moonbabies - Take me to the ballroom
10. The Bombettes - I wanna
11. TALK 3
12. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
13. Repoman - Chemically obsessed
14. The Bell - I am history
15. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt
16. TALK 4
17. Mainliners - Olivia
18. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
19. Karin Ström - Ordlös
20. TALK 5
21. Fun - I've got a truck
22. Tobias Hellkvist - Moment at ven
23. Juvelen - Hanna
24. TALK 6
25. Laakso - Worst case scenario
26. Closer - Sensing the wake
27. Asha Ali - A promise broken
28. TALK 7
29. Paper - My life is going under
30. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
31. Lukestar - White shade
32. TALK 8
33. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg
34. Aerial - You will all die, all things will
35. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
36. TALK 9

Next week (12/29) I'm doing another special theme show on Swedish postpunk.

Promise and the Monster
Transparent knives
Imperial Recordings

There is often a saturation point with music for me. I can only own so many 'types' of albums - lonely, rambling narratives of singer-songwriters, the dancefloor-bound energy of a new generation of post-punk bands, the aural nostalgia of the 80s throwbacks. The first few moments of Promise and the Monster's "Transparent knives" had me nearly pigeonholing this album as another longing, echo-laden proclamation of emptiness and lack of direction. Luckily for me, I pushed on, returning over and over to examine the strata of guitars (not completely unlike José González's deft finger work) and accompanying instrumentation, Billie Lindahl's fragile, beautiful voice soaring easily over her dreamscape compositions. Had I not already submitted my Top 10 of 2007 list, "Transparent knives" would at the very least warrant a 'notable mention' spot there, if not a proper place. An absolutely masterful album that is at home with comfortable isolation as it is with desolate, sorrowful artic wastelands, whose guitar work is as poetic as Lindahl's unique voice and lyrics, unveiling new layers through repeated listening, and, more often than not, leaving the listener awestruck and hopeful instead of disheartened or darkly introspective.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Soviac - I got the ribbah
02. TALK 1
03. Downstairs - Peephole city
04. Moonbabies - At the ballroom
05. Tar... Feathers - You are lucky to have nothing
06. TALK 2
07. Truckfighters - Atomic
08. Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Corny waltz
09. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
10. TALK 3
11. Norma - The dark
12. Karin Ström - Klaustrofobi
13. Vapnet - Tjernobyl
14. TALK 4
15. Montt Mardié - The windmill turns all the same
16. Motorpsycho - Hyena
17. Musti Laiton - Tämän iltainen
18. Holiday Fun Club - Hamburg in the night
19. TALK 5
20. Rigas - It's a shame
21. Repoman - Jawbone night
22. Iisole - The words
23. TALK 6
24. The Fine Arts Showcase - Modern love
25. Kasper Bjørke - Back & spine (Fidel Astro remix)
26. Promoe - Headache
27. TALK 7
28. Viola - Imaginary times
29. New Decade - While tonight still is
30. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
31. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Choking on teeth
32. TALK 8
33. Totalitär - Nej vi ska inte ha nåt
34. Him Kerosene - Whatever get you by
35. The Social Services - Up in arms
36. Jens Lekman - The opposite of hallelujah
37. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
38. TALK 9
39. Maia Hirasawa - And I found this boy

MP3: Promise and the Monster - Sheets

Promise and the Monster in a word: haunting. For awhile, I had her CD sitting on my desk next to Kongh's "Counting heartbeats" and it's amazing how similar the cover art for the two albums are. Kongh, a band on Trust No One (the label run by Switchblade drummer Tim Bertilsson), play loud, crushing doom which of course is far from the quiet, reserved sounds of Promise and the Monster, but they both evoke similar feelings of despair. The dark woods, the serif font, represent it well. As the best doom bands know, heaviness is not always related to volume and distortion. It's the space between that's often darkest.

Promise and the Monster - Sheets

Swedish acts confirmed for EuroSonic: I'm from Barcelona (official opening act for EuroSonic 2008), Detektivbyrån, Those Dancing Days, Promise and the Monster, Lykke Li, Cult of Luna, Miss Li, Little Dragon, Moonbabies, Taxi Taxi, Friska Viljor, Burst and Andi Almqvist. The festival, one of Europe's preeminent platforms for new music, will feature a special focus on Sweden and takes place in Groningen, the Netherlands, on January 10-12. More info: http://www.noorderslag.nl/

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. The Bombettes - Dating scene
02. TALK 1
03. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
04. Dieter Schöön - Warm hearts
05. Kasper Bjørke - Back & spine (Fidel Astro remix)
06. TALK 2
07. Come Sleep - Be the end
08. Promise and the Monster - Trials
09. Immanu El - Home
10. TALK 3
11. Lukestar - Lake Toba
12. Marit Bergman - No party
13. Mando Diao - Never seen the light of day
14. TALK 4
15. Jonas Game - ADHD
16. Kornstad - Turkey, Texas
17. Josse - You had a plan
18. The Hives - You dress up for Armageddon
19. TALK 5
20. Randy - Freedom song
21. Ted Gärdestad - Så mycket bättre
22. Motorhomes - Into the night
23. TALK 6
24. Laakso - Västerbron
25. The Bear Quartet - Hunchback
26. Susanne Sundfør - The dance
27. TALK 7
28. New Moscow - Turbonegro must be destroyed
29. The Bell - Target group
30. Vaiping - The great polar expedition
31. TALK 8
32. NEI - City of gold
33. Asha Ali - Fire, fire
34. My Enemy - My time coming (Johan Formeijer remix)
35. TALK 9
36. CS Nielsen - Black spots
37. David Sandström Overdrive - The Fatville Treaty
38. C.Aarmé - Golden retriever
39. TALK 10
40. Aerial - My god, it's full of stars!

Digfi has posted a studio session with Imperial Recordings artist Promise and the Monster: http://www.digfi.com/default.aspx?id=11240
Recommended!

The playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Boys of Scandinavia - Beautiful as a person
02. TALK 1
03. Don't Be A Stranger - Perfect problem
04. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
05. Promise and the Monster - Sheets
06. TALK 2
07. Deathbed - When hope leaves a body
08. Closer - Sensing the wake
09. TALK 3
10. The Tarantula Waltz - Two arrows
11. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
12. Anna Järvinen - Götgatan
13. TALK 4
14. Eric Malmberg - Slutet på en epok
15. Mustasch - Bring me everyone
16. September - Until I die
17. TALK 5
18. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
19. Frode Haltli - The latter
20. Lykke Li - Little bit
21. TALK 6
22. Downstairs - Peephole city
23. The Cardigans - Don't blame your daughter (Diamonds)
24. Paris - When I laid my eyes on you
25. TST - We are the kids
26. TALK 7
27. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
28. Mikko Singh - Palmun juurella
29. Audionom - Dc2
30. TALK 8
31. Ulver - Solitude
32. The Psyke Project - I get paralyzed
33. Silverbullit - Winter coat
34. TALK 9
35. Bodies Without Organs (BWO) - Let it rain
36. Icos - On my own
37. Torpedo - Hang me high
38. TALK 10
39. Graveyard - Satan's finest

FYI, in case you missed my announcement: next week will be a spooky Halloween-themed program.

DJ Martian has the heads-up on a new progrock cruiseboat festival called Melloboat 2008 - 21st Anniversary Schizoid Boat: http://djmartian.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html#499307491658828382
It leaves Stockholm on March 8 and will feature artists such as Opeth, Katatonia, Mats & Morgan All Star Team, Anekdoten, Bo Hansson feat. Eric Malmberg and Niklas Korssell, Promise and the Monster, Emma Nordenstam, Martin Axenrot and more as well as a record convention and cult films.