Silverbullit will be releasing a series of 12" remix singles starting with "Once upon a time" as done by Simeon of Silver Apples. More info to come.

Aftonbladet has the video for Silverbullit's "Only gold": http://www.aftonbladet.se/atv/index.html?catID=29&clipID=501

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

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

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

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

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

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

Upcoming tourdates for Dungen:

04/15 - Jyrock 2005, Jyväskylä (FIN)
04/16 - Hapna Festivalen, Stockholm (SWE)
04/18 - Mosebacke, Stockholm (SWE)
04/29 - Lisebergshallen, Gothenburg (SWE) w/TSOOL, Silverbullit
05/06 - Zodiac, Oxford (UK) w/The Go! Team
05/08 - Academy 2, Birmingham (UK) w/The Go! Team
05/09 - Liquid Room, Edinburgh (UK) w/The Go! Team
05/11 - Waterfront, Norwich (UK) w/The Go! Team
05/12 - Electric Ballroom, London (UK) w/The Go! Team
05/13 - Barfly Club, London (UK)

New mp3 today from Strip Music, the synthpop group that rose from the ashes of Yyvonne. As Nick already stated in his review, the sound is melancholic, yet epic and uplifting- a description I agree with 100%. Unlike many other bands of their ilk (The Killers, The Bravery, etc.), Strip Music never comes off sounding too self-conscious or like they're trying too hard. It doesn't hurt they have a healthy appreciation of Einstürzende Neubauten either (they have a song entitled "Halber Mensch" fer crissakes, ring any bells?). Just like countrymates Silverbullit, they use the sounds that most people associate with the 80s, but you'd be hard-pressed to call the end result "retro". The song I've posted today is one of the record's mellower tunes. I love that the drummer doesn't play anything more than a steady kick thoughout the entire song. And check out those synths - they're so warm and fuzzy they envelope your brain like blanket. Fans of M83 take note and be sure to stick it out for the full outro.

The winners of the 2005 Manifest awards:

Pop/rock: Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
Hard-rock/punk: Haunted - rEVOLVEr
Hip-hop/r&b/soul: Ison & Fille - s/t
Post-rock/electronica: Andreas Tilliander - World Industries
Dance/house/techno: Andreas Tilliander - World Industries
Folk/worldmusic: Ale Möller Band Bodjal
Singer/songwriter: Nina Ramsby & Martin Hederos - Visorna
Jazz: Peter Asplund Quartet - Lochiel's Warning
Best live: Silverbullit
Best newcomer: Jens Lekman - When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
Best music media: Rockfoto.nu

Read more: http://www.musikindustrin.nu/mi/smpage.fwx?page=198&NYHETER=5441 (in Swedish)

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. The Ark - State of the Ark
02. Daniel Lindström - Daniel Lindström
03. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
04. Lasse Stefanz - Röd Chevrolet
05. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
06. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
07. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
08. Uno Svenningsson - Ett andetag från dig
09. Arne Domnérus - Best of Dompan
10. Björn Afzelius & Mikael Wiehe - 1993 - Malmöinspelningarna
11. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Bao!
12. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
13. Marie Fredriksson - The Change
14. Totta Näslund - Totta 7: Soul!/På drift
15. Soundtrack of Our Lives - Origin vol. 1
16. Markoolio - Bäst off
17. Melody Club - Face the Music
18. Ulf Lundell - OK Baby OK
19. Blacknuss - Gold
20. Silverbullit - Arclight

PopMatters reviews the latest Amorphis album "Far from the sun": http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/a/amorphis-farfrom.shtml

The Soundtrack of Our Lives have rescheduled their UK dates:

02/21 - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth (UK)
02/22 - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham (UK)
02/23 - King Tuts, Glasgow (UK)
02/24 - Liquid Room, Edinburgh (UK)
02/26 - Univ Stanley Theatre, Liverpool (UK)
02/27 - Cockpit, Leeds (UK)
02/28 - Concorde 2, Brighton (UK)

The new single "Heading for a Breakdown" comes out February 9 and an animated video from directors Andreas Nilsson and Johannes Holm (The Knife, The Plan, Hell On Wheels, Silverbullit) will be airing shortly.

Mando Diao, Sator and Silverbullit are the first bookings for this summer's Peace & Love Festival in Borlänge, Sweden on July 8 and 9.

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. The Ark - State of the Ark
02. Daniel Lindström - Daniel Lindström
03. Lasse Stefanz - Röd Chevrolet
04. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
05. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
06. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
07. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
08. Uno Svenningsson - Ett andetag från dig
09. Björn Afzelius & Mikael Wiehe - 1993 - Malmöinspelningarna
10. Marie Fredriksson - The Change
11. Arne Domnérus - Best of Dompan
12. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
13. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Bao!
14. Soundtrack of Our Lives - Origin vol. 1
15. Agnetha Fältskog - My Colouring Book
16. Totta Näslund - Totta 7: Soul!/På drift
17. Markoolio - Bäst off
18. Peter Jöback - Storybook
19. Silverbullit - Arclight
20. Ulf Lundell - OK Baby OK

Danish folk/country duo Spildt Mælk have an album's worth of material available for download on their website: http://www.spildtmaelk.dk/
They plan to travel to Malmö to record their first proper record in March.

The nominees for the 2004 Manifest Awards have been announced. Here are a few of the categories:

Pop/rock:
David Sandström - "The Dominant Need of the Needy Soul Is to be Needed"
Jens Lekman - "When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog"
Stina Nordenstam - "The World Is Saved"
Silverbullit - "Arclight"

Hardrock/punk:
C.Aarmé - "C.Aarmé"
Dismember - "When Iron Crosses Grow"
Haunted - "rEVOLVEr"
Koma - "Tsunami"
Totalt Jävla Mörker - "Människans ringa värde"

Hip-hop/R&B/soul:
Helt Off - "Helt Off"
Ison & Fille - "Ison & Fille"
Promoe - "Long Distance Runner"
Snook - "Vi vet inte vart vi ska men vi ska komma dit"
Rico Wondahman - "Takin' Over"

Post-rock/electronica:
Backlash - "Heliotrop"
Andreas Tilliander - "World Industries"
Sophie Rimheden - "Miss"
Hans Appelqvist - "Bremort"
IC1 - "The Birth of Industrial Cool"

Dance/house/techno:
Quant - "Getting Out"
Andreas Tilliander - "World Industries"
Sophie Rimheden - "Miss"
Hird - "Moving On"
Ernesto's - "Album"

Solo/singer/songwriter:
Stina Nordenstam - "The World Is Saved"
Florence Valentin - "Johnny Drama"
Billie the Vision & The Dancers - "I Was So Unpopular in School"
Tobias Fröberg - "For Elisabeth Wherever She Is"
Nina Ramsby & Martin Hederos - "Visorna"

Best live:
Existensminimum
Mattias Alkberg
Silverbullit
Svenska Akademien
Jens Lekman

Best newcomer:
Tiger Lou - "Is My Head Still On?"
Nanook of the North - "The Täby Tapes"
Fatboy - "Steelhearted"
Jens Lekman - "When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog"
Cirera - "Honestly, I Love You *Cough*"

The Manifest Awards are considered an alternative to the Swedish Grammy in the same way that the Alarm Prize is regarded in Norway. Winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held February 1 at Nalen in Stockholm. More info: http://www.som.a.se/manifest/index.html

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

Top 10s for 2004: Mikael Månsson (Kasual Recordings)

New top 10 from Andreas Nilsson of Silverbullit. Be sure to check it out. Don't forget to listen to the live set I have posted from them, too.