A new video from the much-hyped, Spellemann-nominated act Team Me. Look for the band's album "To the treetops!" to be released in Europe on February 24 with the UK/US to follow on March 5.

Rumble in Rhodos' latest single "Carve visage", the 3rd off their 2011 Spellemann-nominated release "Signs of fervent devotion", is out now on a 7" with a b-side remix by Center of the Universe and a DVD containing the video.

I have been following P3 Guld/P3 Gold, Sveriges Radio/Swedish Radio's annual awards ceremony, for a long time now, almost as long as the event has existed. Which also happens to be about as long as I've been seriously following Swedish/Scandinavian music and running this site. There's no doubt that SR has been a huge part of my Swedish musical education over these years, both due to their outstanding website and online streaming offerings, but also because of their devotion to quality programming and the promotion of domestic acts. Of course, Sweden's outstanding music scene makes the latter a no-brainer, but you know that if someone's gonna mess it up, it's gonna be a state-run institution. Anyhow, I usually try to listen in to the show's audio broadcast every year (Swedish Television/SVT's live stream is blocked for international users), but never in my life did I ever expect the opportunity to attend in-person. The idea never even occurred to me. So as soon as I received an email asking me if I wanted to go, I immediately jumped at it. Who wouldn't? Even with a scarce one-week notice, I would be a fool to pass up the offer.

So off I went, spirited halfway 'round the world in some sort of fever-dream, all for a gala previously thought unaccessible. But before we get into my personal experience of the event, let us first take a history lesson.

P3 Guld was started by Swedish Radio nine years ago, evolving out of and superceding the then-current Popstad (Pop City) live music event. "So we have Grammy awards in Sweden as well and this was a year that there was some controversy surrounding them," says SR's Pia Kalischer, the official "mother" of P3 Guld, "They said they would no longer have anything to do with quality, they would only be based on sales and we thought that was kind of dumb so I saw a gap in market and I figured, well we should do something that's an event that will have to do with new music and also live music, as we broadcast a lot of concerts [see P3 Live for example]. So I figured it would be fun if we could do something that was open to an audience with live music and let's throw in a few awards to have a reason to throw this thing."

"Today I'm the Commissioner of Music and Events at Sveriges Radio, before that I was Head of Music for P3 for ten years. I was also a program manager and before that I was a producer and I've always had my heart in the music and for as long as I was working as Head of Music, I was continuously working with the P3 brands musically so that it would be connected to new Swedish music. That was the whole idea that people would associate P3 with new Swedish music."

And so P3 Guld came to be. The first year was small and humble, taking place at a tiny theater in Växjö (home of The Ark, Melody Club and uh, Birdflesh) before relocating permanently to its current home in Göteborg, Sweden's second city. Pia explains: "The city of Gothenburg came to us and said, "Please, come over, we'll help you. We have a very strong music scene in this city and all kinds of genres as well." It's the home of Swedish heavy metal and also lots of indiepop and also hip-hop, it's got everything basically. And a good organization within the city that helped us to get connected with the venues, the arenas, the people... so we grew from a small theater to a little bit of a bigger theater which seated 900 people, to [another] which seated maybe 1000 and then suddenly our partners said "Let's do this big" so we went to Scandinavium which is a huge arena that usually has hockey games. So went from 900 to 3000 people in a couple years. And we did that for 2 years in Scandinavium and that was huge." This year, however, the event has been scaled back and moved to the slightly smaller Lisebergshallen at the Liseberg amusement park. Seating approximately 2,500 with the complex, multi-tiered stage setup to allow for quick set changes, this is the first time the event was slated to include a standing audience. As to whether it was a fully conscious choice or rather the result of Scandinavium being booked for the European handball championships, nobody seemed too daunted or disappointed by the switch. "I personally feel that it was wonderful and it was fun and it just suddenly exploded, but for me," says Pia, "I've always wanted the P3 Guld to be sort of intimate. I want it to have a club feel so that audience gets closer to the bands and the bands get close to the audience. When the bands and audience connect that's when you get that certain electrical feel that really makes for good radio and good television. When it's real. That sounds so trite, but I really mean it."

All the same by me, as a newcomer to the P3 Guld live experience. I'm more than happy to play the part of the humble guest, letting myself get shuffled here and there for whatever pre-arranged activities my hosts have in mind. Well, except for the P3 Live-sponsored pre-pre-party on Friday night -- I really don't need to see some (ex?) cokehead pop-music producer's feeble attempt at playing in a rock band, so I opted out for a quality evening with my local friends, exploring the exciting, burgeoning world of Swedish craft beer. So then on Saturday, after a slow day of recovery and light window-shopping around Haga, we're spirited away to the official pre-party at the Brew House, a swirling mess of tabloid photographers snapping shots of the various pop artists who decide to make an appearance, mixed in among far greater numbers of industry reps and hanger-ons. I say hellos to the few folks I recognize and am introduced to many more, including a project manager from Music Export Norway down from Oslo to check things out (Øyvind, I'm ready to come over anytime!). Then there's also Watain, lurking on the fringes, looking seriously bummed and out of place. And intimidating -- no way am I going to attempt to introduce myself though a picture with the band would've surely been awesome. My fellow guest DJ Grace and I do a short interview on the air for the pre-show (I manage to be coherent enough to give props to the year's current best single, "Coming from you" by Paper) and we're off again, following a trail of torch-wielding sentries on our way to the venue.

As for the show itself, the live broadcast (on both P3 and SVT) demands a strict schedule. Pia has prepared us: "Some other award shows like the Swedish Grammis they have 21 prizes to give out. So you have to sit there for what? 3 hours? And they can only fit in 4 or 5 musical acts. So we do it in 90 minutes, 9 prizes and I think we have 10 bands this year. So it's very fast-paced. And there are always some of the big acts [who] really like to debut new songs... we don't only do the big hits of last year, we want them to play new music." Once things start moving, they stay moving and there is no downtime whatsoever.

The actual array of categories at P3 Guld is an interesting sidenote. Unlike every other music award, there are very few niches. "P3 Guld is really just a segment of the Swedish music business because we felt that we wanted to do something that reflects the music format of P3," Pia tells me, "The Grammis also gives out awards for, y'know, new children's music, classical music, jazz, every genre... which I really personally think is great. I think they should concentrate on being a very grand prize. And we basically do a rock show. [laughs] So it's pop, rock, some soul and hip-hop, some heavier stuff, but it's one piece of the cake of the whole musical landscape. So there's no jazz award, there's no opera award." And more importantly, there's also no longer an award based on gender. "We used to have two prizes for the best female artist of the year and the best male and we changed that two years ago," Pia informs me, a decision that apparently did not come without unintended consequences. "Last year we got lots of criticism because [P3 Guld] didn't feature enough females. Now it's hard for us to change the recording business where men seem to have an easier time than women, but we really tried to think about that this year. We really worked very hard to change and we also decided to joke around a bit with it." As we would later discover. Furthermore: "Part of the reason I'm afraid that we didn't have enough women solo artists last year, because not a lot of women released records. Or rather there were so many men last year who released records that were really good, that it was hard. But this year there are more females that have had a stronger... that have put their foot down I suppose."

"Is that just on stage or behind the scenes as well?" I ask.

"Well the thing is with P3 Guld is that behind the scenes, it's 98% women. I think that's due to me actually. Without thinking about it I appointed a female producer, we have female bookers and one of the TV producers is a woman and so in the production team, as it comes to the people who make the decisions, 70% are women."

"So do you think that's reflected in other parts of Sweden or do you think that this is a special thing you've created?"

"I don't know, I just know that... of course I'm a feminist. Yes I am. But I'm maybe not the most conventional one, I don't always count heads. I think that there's different ways of gaining equality, but I do think it was a good thing we were criticized last year and I do think we've really shaped up. There's a big discussion and I think the discussion in itself makes for change. What's been interesting is that you've seen all these women who've gone solo, women in the indie bands like Jenny Wilson, Sophia Somayo. They've decided to do everything by themselves as a way of being empowered and I think that's interesting. So that's kind of specific to the Swedish scene -- lots of women working and doing everything every step of the way, writing the songs, into the production, and gaining full control of the final product. Which I think is amazing."

Not to mention artists such as Marit Bergman and Robyn, I might add. The intersection of gender and music is an ever-evolving, fascinating subject, so it's especially interesting to see a prominent event such as P3 Guld tackle the issue head-on.

Which doesn't mean I could necessarily follow the discussion every step of the way during the actual show. I could understand when Howlin' Pelle of The Hives awarded Robyn the Guldmicken for Sweden's "2nd best" live act, I could understand host Kitty Jutbring's recurring references to Ace of Base thanks to the musical cue, but as far as gender-relations go, I could only really pick up on Kitty's vagina dress and her coinciding use of the word "fitta", which apparently is totally acceptable for broadcast. Not that I wasn't fully entertained. Like I said above, the show was action-packed and unrelenting and my language barrier did little to interfere.

Local fave Håkan Hellström kicked things off in style with "River en vacker dröm".

Säkert! performed an exceptional take on the song "Influensa".

Those Dancing Days killed it with "Reaching forward", as previously mentioned.

Awards were given, speeches were made. There were also a few surprises, a rarity for such a highly-scripted, high profile event. The biggest and most obvious: This Is Head winning Best Pop over Robyn. Another: Skudge winning Best Dance over the far more popular Swedish House Mafia, though it must be reiterated, P3 Guld is not necessarily a popularity contest. While some categories are decided by audience votes, the specialist genres are done by jury. Once again, Pia gladly fills in the details: "We have one jury that takes out the nominees for the audience to vote for and those are made up of the music editors that work within P3 and a couple of people from outside; we have one person from SVT [Per Sinding Larsen], so he's with us to do the five open categories. And then when it comes to specialist juries, there's a head of jury who's always that person who has that type of specialist program [at P3] and the brief to them was to select people that are experts in their field. So it's either very senior music editors and music journalists or very genre-specific experts [so we] have quality before the quantity or sales, which is not a parameter in this at all. But of course sometimes those things sort of match." As is the case with Robyn, who has deservedly won almost every award she's been nominated for this year.

Another highlight: the unexpected collaborations. Hello Saferide and Detektivbyrån from 2009 is a definite standout in my memory, Pia cites Anna Ternheim's collaboration with Max Peezay as hers. She says, "I like all the stuff that really goes under your skin and becomes exclusive for this event, things that touch people." As for 2011's best song medley by Orup and Spiderdogs, well, it was certainly nothing I expected, though I'm not so sure it will go down in history. What was far better however, was Tove Styrke doing "Million pieces" together with Familjen:

See, now that's the kind of perfect collaboration I'm talking about.

As with all major events, P3 Guld comes in three stages. We had the pre-party, the party itself and then of course, what remains at last is the after-party. Once Robyn brought the house down with her 3-song medley/finale (thankfully, rumors of a surprise Roxette appearance did not come to pass), we gathered our coats and made our way back through the cold to the Hotel Elite where, as with most large gatherings in Sweden, I felt like a fish out of water and about a foot shorter than everyone else, a feeling most easily remedied by the consumption of alcohol. Which is exactly the point -- the post-show party is when everyone finally starts to relax and feel comfortable enough to simply hang out and enjoy themselves. Free from expectations, they were all smiles and I was excited to reacquaint myself with numerous people I have met on previous trips over the years, or merely communicated with via email. And rub elbows with bonafide Swedish popstars: somehow I ended up getting my picture taken with a member of Kent, no fooling. Not at all what I expected, but more than welcome. Beyond that, what goes on at the after-party is off the record as far as I'm concerned, though it's not as if anything scandalous went down in my presence (besides the telling of tales from previous years). Perhaps everyone was holding out for the after-after-party, but with me scheduled for an early flight home only hours away, that was not even a remote possibility. The bar shut down, I went to bed, I was happy. Even if I never get a chance for a repeat visit, I'm more than content with my experience.

01. Håkan Hellström - 2 steg från paradise
I like all of Hellström's albums but his previous one had about 3-4 songs that I loved, so I was a but surprised that "2 steg..." turned out to be his best album of his career.

02. Masshysteri - Masshysteri
Pure melodic punk perfection. A darn shame they've split up.

03. Robyn - Body talk
A bit disappointing that all the talk of 3 albums turned out to be 15 new songs in total, but thankfully some of the songs were killer ones!

04. Monty - 2010
A great album that I believe didn't get the attention it deserved. Montt Mardié in Swedish sounded excellent.

05. Johan Heltne - Sara,
This is what Kent would sound if they were still good (plus if they were a bit more into jazz).

06. CEO - White magic
With no new The Tough Alliance we had to do with CEO, which was just fine, just fine.

07. jj - jj n° 3
A lot of people weren't that keen on jj's second album but I really liked it. Shame they're so terrible live though.

08. The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a scheme
Another boring live band, although I don't care as long as they release albums as brilliant as this.

09. Ludwig Bell - Jag har försökt förklara
Some of it a bit too cheesy perhaps, but some of the songs on Bell's album are pure pop masterpieces.

10. Orup - Född i november
The big Swedish comeback of the year? Orup delivered a great personal album, oddly enough with lyrics not written by him.

Fantastic songs in no particular order

Supergruppen - Farsta centrum by night
Ludwig Bell - Silvertejp
Oskar Linnros - Ack, Sundbyberg
Masshysteri - Dom kan inte höra musiken
Robyn - Dancing on my own
Håkan Hellström - Man måste dö några gånger innan man kan leva
Museum of Bella Arts - Who do you love
Säkert! - Dansa, fastän

Best cover of the year:
jj - My life

Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Albums (in no particular order, except for "You're a wasteland...""):

"You're a wasteland, honey" Robert Svensson (my album of the year)

"Let this be the last night we care" Alcoholic Faith Mission (my only other 10/10)

"Trilogi" Fredrik

"This wilderlessness" Yamon Yamon

"In never out" Pg.lost

"Conscious castle" Another Nation's National Anthem

"s/t" EP, Night Minutes

"Dada bandits" Rubik

"White mountain" Kiki Pau

"Clinging to a scheme" The Radio Dept.

mp3:
"The sound and the sore" Cut City

Laura Studarus

Jónsi: Go -- Not just my top Scandinavian album, but my top album of the year. Period. There's so much emotion in this one that the first time I heard it (a lo-bit stream over crappy computer speakers) I cried. The fact I also happen to be a noted wimp should in no way stop you from checking this out.

Club 8: The people's record -- Yet another in a long string of reasons why Johan Angergård (Club 8/Legends/Pallers/Acid House Kings) should continue on his quest for world domination. (Or failing that, musical domination.) So many bands lose their way after so many albums -- their attempts to infuse their sound with new elements as convincing as a child's Halloween "scary" costume. And then there's Club 8 -- who has mixed afro/Cuban beats in with their sweet pop, and created a delicious hybrid beast...all without sacrificing an iota of their identity along the way.

Jens Lekman: Sure he didn't put an album out this year, but he played a one-off gig in Los Angeles that had everyone swooning. One of the best performers working today. Full stop.

Ólafur Arnalds: ...And they have escaped the weight of darkness -- Second in emotional resonance only to Go. It can be difficult to write about experimental instrumentals without sounding foolish -- so at the risk of sounding increasingly stupid, this album will recalibrate your perception of beauty.

The Radio Dept.: Clinging to a scheme -- It's about time! Back and better than ever. Welcome.

Casiokids: Topp stemning på lokal bar -- Are these "kids" playing near you? (Given their touring schedule it's a real possibility.) Go! Go! Go! Are you currently at a Casiokids concert? Dance! Dance! Dance!

Seabear: We built a fire -- Another gloriously dreamy album from the Icelandic collective. This is nostalgic chamber pop ready to soundtrack new memories.

Kaskas: In the meanwhile -- Finland's Yo La Tengo blending influences and styles with grace. A side-project that -- if the world is just and good -- will become a full-time gig.

Söder tea: If this were music, it would be a perfect ten. I'm starting to feel like a junkie asking my friends in Sweden to hook me up. No I can't quit any time I want, and of course, I don't have a problem.

Sambassadeur: European -- Classic pop with an orchestral flair. Why these guys haven't caught on stateside is one of life's great mysteries. (Then again, I'm from the country that just nominated Justin Bieber for a Grammy, so what do I know?)

While "City building" features the delicious urgency of driving strings, the descriptor that could best be applied to the majority of the album is glacial, which, it should be noted, is used as a compliment. Jóhannsson teases out his undercurrent of sadness through thirteen tracks, underscoring it with pervasive wistful highlights such as "Rainwater" and "The gift". Thematic, without falling into Philip Glass repetition, spare without becoming dull, Jóhannsson's pristine sensitivity and light touch has the power to elevate both film and life alike.
- Laura Studarus
Rating: 8

Expect more folk discoveries and other new (to me) tunage in weeks to come.

03/28 - San Francisco Jazz Festival
03/31 - Merkin Concert Hall, NYC

More info here: http://player.ecmrecords.com/gustavsen

In case you missed it, The Bear Quartet were nominated for a Swedish Grammy and they have refused the "honor", issuing the statement above (translation here). It's not like it's the first time, so yeah, I'm not surprised. Still Sweden's best indie act and also the most contrary. Anyhow, it's not as if the prospect of BQ going up against the likes of Takida and Europe isn't ridiculous enough by itself, it hardly matters because you know that fucking Kent will win everything, whether you think they deserve it or not (I still haven't heard "Röd"; I'm sure it's fine, but I just don't care). So they are stepping aside and good for them. The Bear Quartet continues to do as they see fit.

On a similar token, the band has another new EP on the way to accompany the album "89" and of course it bares their willfully difficult streak. The song is "Carry your weight" and the EP comes with 3 b-side versions: a killer Spaghetti Western remix from Strange Maps aka Petter Granberg of Park Hotell, a psyched-out take by Malmö-based experimental artist VED and most importantly, the version I give to you today as performed by Finnish cult artist M.A. Numminen (performed together with longtime collaborator Pedro Hietanen on accordion). I can't remember where exactly I first heard of Numminen, but his intentionally annoying weirdness is a perfect match for BQ and yet another example of the band doing their best to aggravate their fans. Personally, I think it's hilarious, even if it's pure novelty. But most importantly, it makes perfect sense. The "Carry your weight" EP comes out December 11, the same day as The Bear Quartet's final concert of the year in their hometown Luleå where they will perform songs from "89" for the very last time.

Múm have played over the years a very influential role in the Icelandic music scene -- sonically and ideologically -- and are undoubtedly one of the country's biggest music exports to date. With a brand new album in their sleeves ("Sing along to songs you don't know"), the band will soon be coming to the US for a series of gigs. Co-founder Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason gives It's a Trap! an all-inclusive interview about Baltic choirs, changing Icelandic values, the IMF, and balloons.

In what way is "Sing along to songs you don't know" different to "Go go smear the poison ivy"?

Well it's two years younger. It's quieter, more easy-going, more relaxed and maybe more untangled. In "Go go smear the poison ivy" there were so many layers and so many things going on. This one is much simpler.

Was it easier to write as well?

I think so, yeah. It was mostly technically easier. On both albums the songs came out really quickly.

What do you mean with technically easier then?

On "Go go smear the poison ivy" we used approximately 160 channels. On this one a lot of the songs were really simple, we had one with only just vibraphones, strings and voice. And another one with only marimba, strings and voice. We've never really done stuff like that before and it was really fun to do.

It was apparently recorded in many different countries, Iceland, Estonia and Finland. I read something about Latvia as well.

We could actually say five different countries. Hildur recorded a lot of her vocals in Berlin and a lot of the early stuff like pianos were done in New York. But actually not Latvia. Well, there's a story about this: we went to Estonia to record the album and we needed a choir for few of the songs. But we hadn't actually contacted any choir before going to Estonia. We talked to some people and they started making phone calls in order to get us one. And all of a sudden we ended up having two choirs instead of none! One was a Latvian (Balsis) and one was an Estonian choir (Suisapäisa). Eventually we decided to use the Estonian one for the album and in parallel to do some recordings of old Múm songs from "Finally we are no one" and "Summer make good" with the Latvian choir.

What are you going to do with these recordings then?

As soon as we're done with the tour we will start thinking about releasing them, because they sound really good.

What do the songs on "Sing along to songs you don't know" talk about?

The lyrical part hasn't really changed throughout the albums. There's always this dream world-theme. But there are maybe more love songs on this one.

Are there any other projects in the pipeline?

Well, we might do some live stuff with the Balsis choir as well. We've been doing some radio theatre pieces. We did one last Christmas in Iceland and that one has just been nominated for the European Prize for Radio Theatre, so we are doing another radio theatre this autumn. Radio theatres are definitely one of our favourite things to work on.

Are there any artists you would like to collaborate with in the future?

I don't know, maybe. The thing is, we mostly like working with our friends. We live in a very local community and we keep on doing it like that.

What's the mood in Iceland right now after the protests?

There's a lot of disappointment in the air. People had many hopes. They felt something was changing. Thing is, we wanted real change, not just a change in government, just bring in new parties that act exactly the same way like the old ones. Actually we wanted a new constitution. But as soon as a new government was put in place everything went forgotten. So people are disappointed.

Do you feel something has been achieved?

Yes, I feel people now know that they have the power to change at least something. There has been a little bit of a change in the people's attitude from since the banking crisis happened, which is very good. A lot of the former materialistic thinking is not as highly-regarded now. Before there was only one rule in Iceland: money. It was getting extreme. You couldn't talk about any values or any ideals. The only thing that validated you as a person was how much money you earned.

What do you think still needs to be done?

We need a new constitution and a new way of thinking about democracy in Iceland. On the other hand, we shouldn't have entered the IMF programme and we should have been able to deal with Icesave in a better way. This makes no sense. We cannot pay this sort of loan. Normal people never saw this money. We never came close to it, but we end up paying it.

How everything that has happened has influenced the artistic creativity in Iceland?

Energy is always released when something changes. This definitely has a big impact on any creative thing.

And Múm in particular? Were you influenced artistically?

That's a really hard question. We wrote three songs in January while the protests were happening, but they weren't necessarily in any way connected.

The Icelandic music scene is thriving. Initiatives like Kitchen motors in the past, the creation of Iceland Music Export, and now Gogoyoko and Brak Records are interesting steps. What would you like happening in the future?

More of these collaborative things. Getting together and doing different stuff. And also being spontaneous. The best thing is when you don't know what's going to happen the next year. And actually these initiatives become boring when people know what to expect from them.

How does the Múm collective work?

In a non-structured way. There is no system. We keep the way we work very deconstructed. We just see what happens, we never had any plans. A lot of changes happen on their own. And this is definitely how we are keeping it.

What does the future hold for Múm?

We can't really see beyond the tour. We have a couple projects lined-up. Like I said, the radio theatre and the choir thing. When you're touring it's like being inside a balloon. You can't see anything outside.

Words and pictures by Vasilis Panagiotopoulos

01. Ricochets - Cold outside
02. TALK 1
03. Shining - Winterreise
04. Britta Persson - Winter tour
05. Svenson - In the snow
06. Weeping Willows - Christmas in prison
07. TALK 2
08. The Tiny - No money (for X-mas)
09. Kompjotr Eplektrika - Blikktztunddonner
10. The Knife - Reindeer
11. TALK 3
12. Hello Saferide - iPod X-mas
13. January Jaunt - Stuck in glaziers
14. Darkthrone - Too old, too cold
15. TALK 4
16. Sällskapet - Nordlicht
17. E.S.T. - Strange place for snow
18. Sort Mel - Det grønne flesket
19. Notre Dame - A scrooge tale
20. TALK 5
21. Kristofer Åström & Hidden Truck - Winter moment
22. Syster Lycklig - Bilden till snöstorm
23. The Book of Daniel - 3rd of December
24. TALK 6
25. Samuraj Cities - Cold feet
26. Amandine - Silver bells
27. Logcabin - View of frost
28. Silverbullit - Winter coat
29. TALK 7
30. In Flames - December flower
31. Viktor Sjöberg - On a winters day
32. The Bear Quartet - Blizzard
33. TALK 8
34. Brick - Gray day
35. Laakso - Merry Christmas
36. Strayfolk - Another year before the mast
37. TALK 9

Don't forget to vote for Sirius Blog Radio at the Plug Awards! Vote here: http://www.plugawards.com/general_vote.php
We are nominated under the category "Media (Obsessive) > Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)".]]> Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:47:25 -0500 news sirius http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20602 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20602 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20602#comments José González, Jens Lekman and Loney, Dear are all nominated for NPR's All Songs Considered top albums of the year: http://www.questionpro.com/akira/TakeSurvey?id=833977
Loney, Dear is also brought up in this piece on new music trends spotlighting artists from Canada and Sweden.]]> Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:24:36 -0500 news general awards http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20538 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20538 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20538#comments Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. The Bombettes - I wanna
02. TALK 1
03. Anna Järvinen - Helsinki
04. Leütenhaven - Still life (trompe l'oeil)
05. Pay TV - Fashion report
06. TALK 2
07. Timo Räisänen - My valentine
08. Jonna Lee - And your love
09. José González - Killing for love
10. The Bear Quartet - It only takes a flashlight to create a monster
11. TALK 3
12. Kristofer Åström - The dark
13. Munck//Johnson - The streets
14. Bertine Zetlitz - Draggin' me down
15. Dieter Schöön - Warm hearts
16. TALK 4
17. Superfamily - The radio has expressed concerns about what you did last night
18. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Ashen like the sky
19. Kazakstan - Song to the past
20. TALK 5
21. Marvins Revolt - Bugs in time
22. Menfolk - Ghosts
23. Pelle Carlberg - I love you, you imbecile
24. TALK 6
25. Sambassadeur - Subtle changes
26. Stina Nordenstam - So Lee
27. Tobias Hellkvist - Abomination
28. TALK 7
29. Marybell Katastrophy - Slabiak
30. Sinikka Langeland - Høstnatt på Fjellskogen
31. David Åhlén - Wasted breaths
32. Printer - Minds out
33. TALK 8
34. Montys Loco - Wasteland
35. Lampshade - Fjäril
36. NEI - Trip to Luleå
37. Laakso - Hang me in the Christmas tree
38. TALK 9
39. Honey Is Cool - Drums and boys

Don't forget to vote for Sirius Blog Radio at the Plug Awards! Vote here: http://www.plugawards.com/general_vote.php
We are nominated under the category "Media (Obsessive) > Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)".]]> Sat, 08 Dec 2007 14:04:01 -0500 news sirius http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20228 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20228 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20228#comments It's a Trap! isn't nominated for a Plug Award, but Blog Radio on Sirius Left of Center sure is. Vote here: http://www.plugawards.com/
Look under "Media Catergoies (Obessive) > Specialty Show Of The Year (Commercial Radio)". Otherwise, check out other Scandinavians nominated for various categories such as José González (Americana, male artist, video), Jens Lekman (male artist), Watain (metal), The Field (electronica/dance) and Prins Thomas (DJ album).]]> Fri, 16 Nov 2007 12:53:41 -0500 news sitenews general http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20182 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20182 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/20182#comments Danish metal act Hatesphere has announced that Jonathan Albrechtsen (Scarred By Beauty, Mudslide) is their new vocalist. The new lineup will make their live debut at the upcoming Danish Metal Awards on November 16 where they are nominated for five categories.]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:15:34 -0500 news general http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1116 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1116 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/1116#comments The Eardrums music blog has a nice feature on the various music videos nominated for the 30th Norwegian Short Film Festival: http://eardrumsmusic.com/2007/06/11/music-on-film-norwegian-music-videos-nominated-for-the-30th-norwegian-short-film-festival/
Featured artists include Lionheart Brothers, 120 Days, Hanne Hukkelberg, Thomas Dybdahl, Draumir, Superfamily and more.]]> Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/2553 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/2553 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/2553#comments Grammy-nominated remix artist Bill Hammell has posted his version of Asleep's track "I lost you" on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/billhamel]]> Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/27849-mp3-sir-eric-beyond-and-the-avant-garde-democracy http://www.itsatrap.com/n/27849-mp3-sir-eric-beyond-and-the-avant-garde-democracy http://www.itsatrap.com/n/27849-mp3-sir-eric-beyond-and-the-avant-garde-democracy#comments Sir Eric Beyond's "Democracy" was first released as a single in 2005, but since it was also an album track in 2006, it qualifies for my best-of-the-year list. I guess you could call this "protest-rock", a genre woefully lacking today despite the current world situation, but really - it's so, so much more. If you haven't heard it yet, it's probably best that I let you stumble in unaware because Sir Eric defies easy explanation and the element of surprise works in his favor. Can you believe that this was actually nominated for a P3 award?]]> Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500 mp3s http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3437 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3437 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3437#comments Swedish indiepoppers The Carny have a new Christmas single up for free download entitled "This Christmas (If you come back)": http://www.thecarny.com/
Strangely enough, it seems that last year's Yuletide single "This Christmas (I'll be staying here with you" is the one getting the most attention - it was recently nominated as "the best new Christmas song" by Swedish radioshow Morgonpasset.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3689 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3689 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/3689#comments The Knife is nominated for a couple different categories at this year's PLUG awards: http://www.plugawards.com/general_vote.php]]> Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4157 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4157 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/4157#comments Swedish singer/songwriter Tom Levin is nominated for "Best hot AC male artist" at the New Music Weekly awards, alongside big names just as James Blunt, John Mayer and Daniel Powter. Winners will be announced November 18.]]> Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26307-the-soundtrack-of-our-lives-a-present-from-the-past-universal http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26307-the-soundtrack-of-our-lives-a-present-from-the-past-universal http://www.itsatrap.com/n/26307-the-soundtrack-of-our-lives-a-present-from-the-past-universal#comments TSOOL are famously prolific, so no one's surprised that this b-sides/rarities compilation is a two-disc set (or that it was nominated for a Swedish Grammy). TSOOL are also famously talented, so there are songs here that other bands would love to have as a-sides or at least album tracks. B-sides often sound like afterthoughts, thrown together at the last minute. There are a few in that category on this release, like the sitar-noodling instrumentals "Playstation bordello" and "Cleaning session raga". But happily they're the exception, not the rule. Drawn-out rockers "Dow Jones syndrome" and "Galaxy gramophone" showcase frontman Ebbot Lundberg's ability to shift from a world-weary voice to a defiant yell and back as the songs dictate. I'm baffled as to how the brass-tinged epic "We're gonna get it right" wasn't/isn't a single, and the previously unreleased "Side effects" is a good softer, acoustic song with dreamlike synth playing from Martin Hederos. What's next from the group? "Origin, vol. 2", as originally intended? Hopefully something sooner rather than later.
- Matthew W. Smith
Rating: 0

Best electronica album: Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band - "Your New Best Friends"
Best pop album: Annie - "Anniemal"
Best metal album: Enslaved - "ISA"
Best jazz album: Lars Horntvedt - "Pooka"
Best video: Kings of Convenience - "I’d Rather Dance With You"
Best song: Euroboys - "One-Way Street"
Best hip hop/rap album: Jaa9 & OnklP - "Sjåre Brymæ"
Best rock album: WE – "Smugglers"
Best live band: WE
Best newcomer: Annie
Alarmjuryens pris: Jim Stärk

For a full list of everyone who was nominated, go here: http://www.nrk.no/magasin/upunkt/musikk/4316676.html
Don't forget that both WE and Jim Stärk are featured on the "It's a trap! reader's companion" compilation which can be had for a mere $6. More info on the right.]]> Mon, 07 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25433-statement-mattias-alkberg-responds-to-his-swedish-grammy-nomination http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25433-statement-mattias-alkberg-responds-to-his-swedish-grammy-nomination http://www.itsatrap.com/n/25433-statement-mattias-alkberg-responds-to-his-swedish-grammy-nomination#comments To nominate Mattias Alkberg BD in the best male category is either stupid or chauvinistic. Mattias Alkberg BD is a group. It's a mystery to us how anyone could have missed that, especially if someone is prepared to give us an award. The alternative is that we would be a male group. Which we are Not. We do not have especially manly songs and we do not work towards an all-male audience. We think that that kind of music is uninteresting and can basically fuck off. What irritates us most is how anyone can think that we would accept this without any kind of reaction. The music we make have nothing to do with the imperialistic industry that the Grammys represent. We, if anyone, are against that view of culture, the one that treats music as a commodity and thinks artists and musiclovers as idiots. We understand that by being nominated we are giving the Grammy awards some kind of alibi. Forget it, we are not interested. If we have been appealing to anyone in this rotten industry that thinks that we should pay a lot of money so that they can pat us on our heads ... we're sorry. it was not our intention. We did not make "Tunaskolan" for you, we made it in spite of you, we made more or less against you. We understand that some people will be happy to see us nominated or that some poeple that are nominated will be happy, and that's ok. Just don't involve us. Because what it all boils down to is that we are DISGUSTED by this. We want nothing to do with that world. We do not accept this nomination. You can keep you shit for yourselves.

Original Swedish:

Att Grammisjuryns trappor inte går ända upp kan man lätt räkna ut. Att nominera Mattias Alkberg BD i kategorin Årets pop manlig är antingen korkat eller chauvinistiskt. Mattias Alkberg BD är en grupp. Hur det kan ha undgått någon är ett mysterium, speciellt om denne någon på fullaste allvar är beredd att dela ut ett pris till oss. Alternativet är att vi skulle vara en manlig grupp. Det är vi inte. Vi har inte specifikt manliga låtar, inte heller riktar vi oss till en specifikt manlig publik. Vi tycker till och med att musik som görs inom sådana parametrar är helt ointressant och kan dra åt helvete. Det som irriterar oss, Mattias Alkberg BD, mest är ändå hur någon kan tro att vi skulle acceptera detta utan att reagera. I den musik vi gör finns ingenting som säger att vi skulle vilja ha med den imperialistiska industri som Grammisgalan representerar att göra. Vi är om något en reaktion mot den kultursynen, den som behandlar musik som en handelsvara, och artister och musikälskare som lallande idioter. Vi förstår att vi är nominerade för att skänka något slags alibi till den här galan. Glöm det. Vi är inte intresserade. Har vi tilltalat någon i den här ruttna branschen som tycker att vi borde betala en massa pengar så att de kan klappa oss nedlåtande på huvet så ber vi om ursäkt. Det var inte meningen. Vi gjorde inte "Tunaskolan" för er. Vi gjorde den trots er. Vi gjorde den mer eller mindre mot er. Kanske kan man tävla i musik, det är en annan diskussion, antagligen kan man det inte. Självklart är det roligt att bli uppskattad och om andra tycker det känns trevligt att bli nominerade så är det roligt för dem. Vi unnar vem som helst att bli glad över vad de nu kan tänkas bli glada av. Men blanda inte in oss. För vad det till syvende och sist handlar om är att vi känner oss aningen äcklade av det här. Vi vill inte ha med den världen att göra. Vi avböjer den här nomineringen. Ni kan behålla er skit för er själva.


]]> Thu, 16 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0500 articles interviews http://www.itsatrap.com/n/12585 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/12585 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/12585#comments Norwegians Leif Ove Andsnes and Jan Garbarek are nominated for Grammies in the 'Chamber Music Performance' and 'Contemporary Jazz Album' categories, respectively.]]> Wed, 08 Dec 2004 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/13208 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/13208 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/13208#comments New releases from Norwegian avant label Rune Grammofon:

Food - Last Supper
The fourth album from this quartet and quite possibly their very best. Brilliantly performed and recorded, it´s highlighting the delicate balance between Ballamy and Henriksen´s melodic and lyrical playing and the electronic soundscapes they fully started to explore on "Veggie". Which speaks volumes when we know that "Veggie" was nominated for a Norwegian grammy and received some outstanding reviews, "this is remarkable, visionary music" (Jazz UK), "a very important work" (Milkfactory, UK). And lets not forget Mats Eilertsen and Thomas Strønen, one of many excellent rhythm sections currently working in Norwegian jazz.

v/a - Runeology 2
Dressed in a Kim Hiorthøy designed slim cardboard sleeve, this 10 track 70 minute collection includes tracks from current albums by Deathprod, Arve Henriksen, Phonophani, Strønen/Storløkken, Scorch Trio and Food as well as tracks from forthcoming releases from Nils Økland, Alog, Shining and Archetti/Wiget. The price is only NOK 49,- (appr EUR 6,-) if you order it at the same time as a you order any ordinary Rune Grammofon cd. Please make a note in the message box at the bottom of the Shop page if you want to add it to your order. Please note that when the total postage is calculated, it counts as an ordinary cd.]]> Mon, 18 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/13378 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/13378 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/13378#comments The nominees have been announced for the MTV Europe awards. Maria Mena, Saybia, Sahara Hotnights, Sondre Lerche and The Hives are up for the "Best Nordic act" prize. The Hives are also nominated for "Best alternative" and The Rasmus are up for "Best new act". Go here to vote: http://ema.nordic.mtve.com/ema2004/]]> Wed, 06 Oct 2004 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/14021 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/14021 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/14021#comments In somewhat silly news, the remixed 5.1 surround sound version of Refused's classic album "The Shape Of Punk To Come" has been nominated for 'Best Multichannel Reissue' at the Surround Music Awards. The competition:

Outkast - Stankonia
George Harrison - Live In Japan
Steely Dan - Gaucho
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on August 31. Read more about the awards here: http://www.surroundpro.com/articles/publish/article_217.shtml]]> Wed, 18 Aug 2004 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/16636 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/16636 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/16636#comments Dead Frog recording artists Holden will contribute the songs "God is good" and "Every Exit" from their self-titled album to the soundtrack of the upcoming movie "Strandvaskaren". The film is currently being made by Best Foreign Film Oscar-nominated director Mikael Håfström ("Evil") and is due out this summer.]]> Wed, 04 Feb 2004 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17283 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17283 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17283#comments The BBC has chosen Supersilent's "6" as one of their nominees for experimental album of the year. Go here to cast your vote. Other Scandinavians acts nominated for the award include EST (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) in the jazz category and Plej in the dance category.]]> Wed, 17 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17329 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17329 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17329#comments The Göteborgs-Posten is reporting that Swedish rock superstars Kent are working on a new CD: http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=286&a=147795 (in Swedish)
Gotta do something when you're only nominated for one mere Rockbjornen.]]> Mon, 15 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17355 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17355 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/17355#comments The write-ins have been tabulated and the nominees for the 25th annual Rockbjornen have been announced. Here's the categories I care about:

Best Swedish male:
Per Gessle
José González
Moneybrother
Timbuktu
Lars Winnerbäck

Best Swedish female:
Carola
Lisa Miskovsky
Pauline
Robyn
Elin Sigvardsson

Best Swedish group:
Alcazar
Backyard Babies
Broder Daniel
Kent
The Cardigans

Best Swedish song:
Per Gessle - Här Kommer Alla Känslorna
Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd
Broder Daniel - When We Were Winning

Best Swedish album:
Moneybrother - Blood Panic
Broder Daniel - Cruel Town
The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight
Per Gessle - Mazarin
Lars Winnerbäck - Söndermarken

Best Swedish newcomer:
José González
Jamie Meyer
Moneybrother
Pauline
Elin Sigvardsson

Finland's The Rasmus is also nominated in the best international song, group and album categories. Go here to vote: http://www.rockbjornen.se]]> Fri, 12 Dec 2003 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/18666 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/18666 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/18666#comments The 'Long List' of nominees for the Shortlist Music Prize have been announced. The award is chosen by a panel of respected artists and industry people and the music they select usually reflects their eclectic taste, crosses many genres, and leans heavily towards the indie world. Better than the Grammies, that's for sure. Anyhow, the first list of nominees gets released and then it gets whiddled down to a top ten in early September before the final winner announced on October 16 at a concert/award ceremony. The Nordic picks this year: Royksopp - "Melody AM" (nominated by Josh Tyrangiel), Sigur Ros - "()" (Spike Jonze), Sondre Lerche - "Faces Down" (Josh Tyrangiel), Soundtrack of our Lives - "Behind the Music" (Pete Yorn), The Sounds "The Sounds" (The Neptunes), and Turbonegero "Apocalypse Dudes" (Josh Homme).]]> Tue, 12 Aug 2003 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19130 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19130 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19130#comments Added a new mp3 today from Last Days of April. Their latest album "Ascend to the Stars" just came out over here in the US and the track "Playerin" is easily my favorite from that release. In fact, it was my favorite summer single last year. Y'know those songs you sometimes hear on the radio around this time of year that seem to embody the essence of summertime? That song fits the bill perfectly. And as for this year, my pick (so far) would probably have to be "Reconsider Me" from Moneybrother. I figure y'all were just dying to know.

Otherwise, there's probably not going to be much news today as everyone is at Hultsfred fest it seems. Wish I was. Check out the Dagensskiva special on the event. Oh, and check out www.hultsfred.tv for more, too.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
02. Outlandish - Guantanamo
03. A-Teens - Perfect Match
04. Turbonegro - Fuck The World
05. The Cardigans - You´re The Storm
06. Kashmir - Rocket Brothers
07. Her Majesty - F.U.N.E.R.A.L
08. C21 - She Cries
09. The Sounds - Rock n´ Roll
10. Da Buzz - Alive
11. Equicez - Live From Pass It
12. HIM - Funeral of hearts
13. Mando Diao - Sheepdog
14. Antique - Moro Mou
15. Melody Club - Cover Girl
16. Darude - Music
17. The Narcissists - Fanatik R.I.P
18. Jon - This Side Up
19. Dallas Superstars - Fast Driving
20. The Klerks - Shame

Challengers:
01. Paula Lobos - Fuss & Fight
02. User - Do You
03. Ingrid Marguerite - Everything I Need
04. Bad Cash Quartet - Dirty Days
05. Superheroes - Someone Else

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your favorite.

Download the free, electronic Diskodiktator single for the track "Just Say 'No' to Democrazy!". A video for the song, his first one ever, is in the making. The full-length album "The World According To..." isn't out quite yet, but is already available for preorder.

Voidfaith Netzine has posted an interview with my pals KVLR. (in Swedish)

The Alpine, Moi Caprice, Baal, and Figurines are a couple of the bands confirmed for the Sydslesvig-Rocks in Schleswig, Germany on August 23.

Here's the full schedule for this weekend's Norweigan Wood Festival.

Norweigan jazz vocalist Silje Nergaard has been nominated for the Edison Jazz Award, which will be presented at the upcoming North Sea Jazz Festival on July 11-13. Other nominees for the award include Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall and Jimmy Scott. More info here: http://www.edisonaward.nl/Jazz/

And speaking of Norweigan jazz, acclaimed saxophonist Jan Garbarek will be on the BBC's Radio 3 Jazz on 3 radio show tomorrow at 11:30pm local time.

Since they didn't manage to send it to me yesterday as planned (ahem.), here's the rest of the playlist from the Galaxy Gramophone DJ night:

11. Raveonettes - Attack of the Ghost Riders 12. Cato Salsa Experience - In Case You Need Deep Love 13. Nicolai Dunger - What Tomorrow 14. Sparks of Seven - Move Me On 15. TSOOL - Independent Luxury 16. Singapore Sling - Overdriver 17. Union Crabide Productions - Golden Age 18. Backyard Babies - Made Me Madman 19. Citizen Bird - Joy 20. DOLL - Need To Get Some 21. DOLL - We've Been Planning This For Years 22. Isolation Years - Arctic Zone 23. Cardigans - Communication 24. Whyte Seeds - Slow Motions 25. Motorpsycho - Dr. Hoffman's Bicycle 26. TSOOL - Nobrainer 27. Turbonegro - Turbonegro Must Be Destroyed 28. Union Carbide Productions - Mr. Untitled 29. Caesars - Sort It Out

30. Sahara Hotnights - Push On Some More 31. Hardcore Superstar - Rock n Roll Star 32. Concretes - You Can't Hurry Love 33. Hives - What's That Spell? Go To Hell! 34. Raveonettes - Great Love Sound 35. TSOOL - Still Aging (request) 36. Isolation Years - Open Those Eyes 37. Bear Quartet - I Remember... 38. Broder Daniel - Dark Heart 39. Jan Martens Frustration - Get Along Get Together 40. Hellacopters - By the Grace of God 41. Motorpsycho - Glow 42. TSOOL - Impacts & Egos 43. Bear Quartet - Fuck Yr Slow Songs 44. Heikki - All I Needed 45. TSOOL - Hang Ten 46. Nicolai Dunger - Something In the Way 47. Bjorn Olsson - selections from the new CD to close the bar....

They also pass along word that they are encouraging more people to send them music to play, along with t-shirts to wear while spinning and whatever. Um, so like, send your goods to me and I'll make sure they get them, right? But seriously - if you're interested in sending stuff just drop me a line and I'll put you in touch.

Lambgoat.com reports that The Great Deceiver (Tomas from At the Gates/Skitsystem + members of Diabolique) will be touring Europe in October/November along with Swedish metal-wannabees Darkest Hour.

Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:

01. Carola - Guld platina & passion - det bästa
02. Tomas Ledin - I sommarnattens ljus
03. Pugh Rogefeldt - Pughs bästa
04. Tommy Körberg - Gränslös - det bästa med
05. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
06. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
07. Da Buzz - More than alive
08. Alcazar - Alcazarized
09. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
10. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
11. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
12. Moneybrother - Blood panic
13. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
14. Style, Sandelin & Ekman, Freestyle - Samlade hits
15. Cornelis Vreeswijk - Cornelis Vreeswijks bästa
16. v/a - Fame factory visor
17. Martin Nilsson - En del av mig
18. Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
19. Eddie Meduza - Live(s)!
20. v/a - Fame Factory volym 5

Entombed has been forced to cancel their appearance at the BW&BK 6-Pack Weekend in Cleveland, Ohio on June 13-14 after drummer Peter Stjärnvind's wife was hospitalized. The cause of her ailments are still undiagnosed and of course Peter wishes to remain with her at this time. Guitarist Alex Hellid commented, "Peter is really upset by this. He doesn't want to be the cause of us not playing. We all know how important this show is/was. We are really sorry, for the fans and for ourselves, because we really wanted to play." Alex and frontman L.G. Petrov still plan to be in attendance at the fest to sign autographs and meet with fans. Other bands still scheduled to play include Evergrey, Trouble and Candlemass.

Nightwish has added a second date to their short US/N. American itinerary. After playing the ProgPower Festival in Atlanta on September 5 and at The Medley in Montreal, Canada on September 6, the band will play L'Amour in Brooklyn, NY on the 7th.]]> Thu, 12 Jun 2003 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19173 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19173 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19173#comments Did you sign up for the newsletter yet?

Homy's debut album "Music Box" comes out May 15 in Sweden. The single "Bus Stop" has already been receiving college radio airplay in the US and was released in Sweden just this past week. Look for the band to hit the festival circuit this summer.

Johan Bergqvist has announced a new pair of gigs in Sweden:

5/3- Mondo, Stockholm
5/17 - Diezel, Halmstad

Ulver has decided to push back the release of the upcoming "A Quick Fix of Melancholy" EP so it does not interfere with promotion of the "1st Decade..." remix comp. No exact date yet, but you can download a sample exerpt to whet your appetite.

Ex-Haunted frontman Peter Dolving has reportedly rejoined with his old bandmates in Mary Beats Jane to write and record a new album. Read more. (from Blabbermouth)

The Rasmus are making a bid for a wider European audience by signing to MotorUrbanDefJam Group in Germany, a division of Universal Music. The first single "In the Shadows" comes out this summer. "I look forward to working together with the nice people at MotorUrbanDefJam Group, they seem to know what they are doing and they are already totally in love with the music," says Lars Tengroth, the band's A&R rep at Scandinavian label Playground Music.

Cult of Luna have been nominated for 'Best Underground Act' at the 2003 Metal Hammer Awards along with Opeth, Arch Enemy, Satyricon and lone Americans Shadows Fall. More info and voting instructions are here. CoL also recently wrapped up the filming of a video for "The Watchtower" with Pete Bridgewater and George Steel at HemnMagasinet. More info about that when I get it.

HIM shot a video for the song "The Sacrament" at Ploskovice Castle near Prague last weekend. It was shot on 33mm film stock and should be edited and ready by sometime in mid-May. View pictures from the shoot here.

Car Crash Records has announced that they have signed C.Aarmé to their label. Look for a full length this fall or check out the just-released 7" on Deleted Art. A sample mp3 of the track "Tu puta mi casa" is available here.

How timely is this? Here's a MIC Norway profile on Jaga Jazzist. Look another big feature in May's issue of The Wire.

More from MIC Norway, here's some info about the upcoming Music Under Oslo Festival (MUO) which takes place in the city's subway stations. Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. The entrance fee is only the cost of a regular token. Artists scheduled to play include Fox&Wolf, Thomas Dybdahl, Thulsa Doom, and more.

From the Finnish Music Information Centre (FIMIC), check out Finland's 2002 year-end wrap-up.

Aftonbladet has a review and samples of the long-awaited debut from The Concretes.

Finland's Bangkok Impact has the album of the month over at Jockey Slut magazine.

If you can't get enough of that high-quality Swedish garage-rock, The Dandelions are heading over to London for a number of dates at the end of May:

5/22 - Gaz's Rockin' Blues
5/23 - Dragon Bar
5/24 - Cobden Club
5/27 - Eyelash at Pop

They've also got quite a few mp3s over at their site if you're interested.

Vote for "Playboy's Sexiest Women of Indie Rock" featuring the Sahara Hotnights. Um, whatever. And yeah, the link is safe for work.]]> Fri, 25 Apr 2003 00:00:00 -0400 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19221 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19221 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19221#comments A new song from Marit Bergman on the right today. She was kinda vanilla to me at first, but the album has really started to grow on me. Nothing mindblowing, but still a good listen.

Curious about the new Bjön Olsson album that comes out today? Read all about it.

Check out this video of Supersilent playing live from The Wire's website.

Randy will do five dates in their native Sweden before heading out on the road across Europe in support of their forthcoming album. The itinerary so far:

4/24 - Melkweg Amsterdam (NL)
4/25 - W 2 Den Bosch (NL)
4/26 - Groezrock Meerhout (BE)
4/27 - Live Music Hall Cologne (GER)
4/29 - Logo Hamburg (GER)
4/30 - Columbia Fritz Berlin (GER)
5/01 - Musikzentrum Hannover (GER)
5/02 - Alter Stadsbanhof Schweinfurt (GER)
5/03 - Exil Trier (GER)
5/04 - Backstage Munchen (GER)
5/06 - Conrad Sohm Dornbin (AUT)
5/07 - Arena Vienna (AUT)
5/08 - Orpheum Graz (AUT)
5/09 - La Gabbia Bassano (IT)
5/10 - Leoncavallo Milan (IT)
5/13 - Kaserne Basel (CH)
5/14 - Remise Wil (CH)
5/15 - Abart Zurich (CH)
5/16 - MJC Lyon (F)
5/17 - Mephisto Barcelona (ESP)
5/18 - Gruta 77 Madrid (ESP)
5/20 - Roxy Valencia (ESP)
5/21 - Nashville Vigo (ESP)
5/22 - Cafe Albenitz Gijon (ESP)
5/23 - Atzavara Girona (ESP)
5/24 - Le Fuzz La Roche Sur (F)
5/24 - Mondo Bizarro Rennes (F)
5/26 - Festival Tours (F)
5/28 - Wedgewood Room Portsmouth (UK)
5/29 - Academy Birmingham (UK)
5/30 - Josephs Well Leeds (UK)
5/31 - King Tuts Wah Hut Glasgow (UK)
6/03 - Garage London (UK)

Here's the official press release regarding Håkan Hellström's departure from Broder Daniel.

Johan Bergqvist started recording a new single for the song "This Could Be Our Time" this past weekend. He may even film a video for it, too. Candidates for b-sides include "Waiting" and "Endure", but nothing has been decided yet. Look for it around May.

Sahara Hotnights are doing the Carson Daly show on February 27. Wanna be in the audience? The show tapes that Thursday afternoon at 30 Rockefeller Center in NYC. It's free, but also first-come-first-served, so send an email to lastcallaudience@nbc.com with the subject 'Hotnights' plus your full name, age and number of tickets desired in the body. Oh, and it's limited to people 16 and older.

Finland's HIM have set what they declare to be the final tracklist for the new album "Love Metal":

01. Buried Alive By Love
02. The Funeral of Hearts
03. Beyond Redemption
04. Sweet Pandemonium
05. Soul on Fire
06. The Sacrament
07. This Fortress of Tears
08. Circle of Fear
09. Endless Dark
10. The Path

A limited edition version will include the bonus track "Love's Requiem". The album comes out on April 14 for most of Europe.

Norweigan singer/songwriter Askil Holm gets to have about a minute of his music featured in the new film "Agent Cody Banks" directed by Harald Zwarts. It stars Frankie Muniz of "Malcolm in the Middle" fame and premieres March 8 in LA.

Here's the winners of the Spelleman Awards which took place in Norway on Saturday:

Best Spellemann: Röyksopp
Pop group: Ephemera - "Balloons and Champagne"
Best newcomer: Gåte - "Jygri"
Electronica: Salvatore - "Tempo"
Best video: Röyksopp - "Remind Me"
Metal: Satyricon - "Volcano"
Pop soloist: Thomas Dybdahl - "That Great October Sound"
Rock: Madrugada - "Grit"
Hip-hop: Paperboys - "No Cure For Life"

A full list of winners can be found here.

No, Soundtrack of Our Lives did not win a Grammy and I'm really not surprised. The competition was tough and Coldplay won the 'best alternative album' category. Still, it's pretty cool that they were even nominated. Next time, eh?

"SATANIC! SICK! UGLY!" Arch Enemy's Michael Amott has posted a new studio report on their website. Check it out.

Crystal Committee just released their new album and the response has been great, including record of the week on Swedish student and national radio. They're also planning on doing a full Swedish tour in spring, but for now you can check 'em at these two dates in Stockholm:

3/1 - Debaser
3/11 - Kafe 44

From Timo Isoaho / Sonera Plaza Kaista by way of Blabbermouth:

Swedish high-energy thrashers The Haunted have fulfilled their contractual obligations to Earache Records and have no intentions of re-signing with the label, according to frontman Marco Aro. "Earache are lying to us all the time," he told Finland's Kaista. "According to them, we have sold only ONE thousand copies of the last album in the States even though we've done headlining tours over there. You know, Earache doesn't keep any records that would reveal how many albums have been pressed and so on, so we have no idea how many albums we have actually sold.

"When we signed to Earache, we actually [inherited] At the Gates' old contract [as per the leaving member's clause in the agreement]," he added. "So when we got some royalties from our first album, all that money went to pay back the debts that At the Gates had with the label.

"Entombed's situation with Earache was the 'funniest'," Aro continued. "Earache was built from the money that they made by selling the early records from Napalm Death and Entombed. Anyway, [former Entombed drummer] Nicke Andersson saw some of the Earache guys when he was doing a show in London with The Hellacopters, and he asked them if he should perhaps be collecting some money from them in back royalties. The Earache guys were like, 'Yeah, sure.' Guess what Nicke got from them later? 25 pounds and one 'Monkey Puss' live video! (laughs)"

According to Aro, it was Earache's unwillingness to properly fund the group's recently-released DVD, "Caught On Tape", that resulted in the final product not being of the high standard that the band had hoped for.

"Well, it's ok, there's two shows and everything," Marco said of the DVD. "But it could have been better, too. We were supposed to get really good digital video camera from our record company when we went to tour US with Cannibal Corpse and Dimmu Borgir. We were supposed to shoot some material for the DVD... Well, we got that camera when there was two shows left in the tour. And then, when we asked if we could shoot some material from the summer festivals with that camera, we were told that this was not OK and we had to return the camera to the record company. By the way, our first idea was to release the live DVD and live album in one package at a special price. But that was not OK with Earache..."

Of course, this really shouldn't sound all that new to you if you follow the metal scene. Earache Records has been notorious for ripping bands off in the past and many, many allegations have been tossed their way. I was under the impression they were trying to make up for past mistakes, but I guess that's not the case. I only hope that other promising, young bands like Cult of Luna don't get crushed by the label.

Speaking of jumping labels, In Flames is apparently shopping around for a new contract now that they've furfilled their obligation to Nuclear Blast. Do I see a major in their future? I don't doubt it - the band is really doing quite well over here in the States. Expect negotiations to be wrapped up around spring they say. In other news, the band is currently filming a video for the track "Trigger" and plan to have it ready by the end of March.]]> Mon, 24 Feb 2003 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19236 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19236 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19236#comments El Presidente for Turbojugend St. Pauli

Check out a profile on Norweigan jazz group 1300 Oslo right here.

This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Spitts - That´s my girl
02. Jon - Right Here Next To You
03. Last Days Of April - All Will Break
04. The Lungz - It´s Alright
05. Christian - Min Fremtid
06. Madrugada - Majesty
07. Caesars Palace - Candy Kane
08. Kent - FF
09. Bombshell Rocks - On My Way

Challengers:
01. The Rasmus - In The Shadows
02. Thomas Rusiak - Spinning
03. The Mo - The Mo
04. Acorn - One Day
05. User - You Belong

Go to the MTVE.com site to watch and vote for your faves.

Big surprise: Kent won the Music Control Airplay Award for 'Most Played Swedish Artist'.

Randy has revealed that they are finished with their new record "Welfare Problems" and passed the whole thing off to Burning Heart to get in pressed. It's still not due out until April, but here's the track listing:

01. Dirty Tricks
02. A Man in Uniform
03. Bad, Bad, Bad
04. We're All Fucked Up More or Less
05. Cheap Thrills
06. X-ray Eyes
07. Welfare Problems
08. Cheater
09. Ruff Stuff
10. My Heart, My Enemy
11. Devilish
12. Dirty and Cheap

Seven Feet Four have a new album called "Departure/Arrival" coming out on Coalition Records in March, but you can preview the track "Auto Emotion" now. The band will be touring Scandinavia beginning late March and then heading out across Europe in April with JR Ewing.

This time we are heading for the ultimate and so far it sounds very promising. The new material is pretty diverse but in general the songs have more POWER. Hard-hitting and straight forward, with more natural flow. So that the energy and force comes straight back to you.

That's bassist Magnus Olsfelt of the The Crown discussing the songwriting progress on the new album. The band, now reunited with original vocalist Johan Lindstrand after one album utilizing the services of Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates, Skitsystem), have booked time at Studio Fredman in May for their next album. Look for it around early September on Metal Blade Records.

In Flames will be touring the US with Ministry and Mudvayne in March. Dates soon. In other news, Aftonbladet has posted the streaming video of the band's performance from the Rockbjörnen: Real / Quicktime

The Sounds are doing a number of Scandinavian shows before they head over to America for SXSW in March. The dates:

2/7 - Växjö, Kaskad Folkets Park, Popstad
2/8 - Luleå, Kåren
2/12 - Oslo, So What!
2/13 - Sogndal, Mejeriet
2/14 - Bergen, Kvarteret
2/15 - Stavanger, Folken
2/20 - Århus, VoxHall
2/21 - Köpenhamn, Stengade30
2/22 - Roskilde, Gimle
2/26 - Halmstad, Kåren
2/27 - Eskilstuna, Blå
2/28 - Kinna, Överlida
3/1 - Älmhult, Balders Hage

"Batter Check" will the next single from Millencolin, due out in March. The band also has some new dates lined up for around the same time:

3/13 - Stockholm, Arenan
3/14 - Skelefteå, Folkparken
3/21 - Göteborg, Kåren
3/22 - Lund, Mejeriet
3/23 - Oslo, Rockefeller

Esteemed British music mag NME has nominated The Hives for 3 categories in its 2003 Carling Awards. They are 'Best International Band', 'Best Live Band' and 'Best Dressed'. The full list of nominees is here.

The upcoming KVLR tour is coming together quite nicely! Stop by and say hi, why doncha?

3/7 - Santa Cruz, CA - Drop-In Center w/Science of Yabra, The Yellow Press
3/8 - Redding, CA - TBD w/The Yellow Press
3/9 - SF, CA - Club Galia w/Low Rise
3/10 - Huntington Beach, CA - Liquid Den w/The Yellow Press, Taint
3/11 - Phoenix, AZ - Red Room w/The Yellow Press
3/12 - Albuquerque, NM - Burt's Tiki Lounge
3/13 - Austin, TX - SXSW, TFT Records/Better Looking Records Showcase
3/14 - Flagstaff, AZ - Soul Kitchen
3/15 - TBD]]> Tue, 04 Feb 2003 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19256 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19256 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19256#comments The good people over at Parasol have got a sale on their top picks of 2002. Lots of great Swedish imports worth checking out, among many other fine releases. Can't go wrong with Citizen Bird/Silverbullit, that's for sure. And like they say, be on the lookout for the US release of "Inland Traveller" from Isolation Years coming up soon. A brilliant album.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy have the 'Album of the Day' over at CMJ.com with the "Bigger Cages, Longer Chains" EP. If you've never heard them before, they've got two songs you can sample.

The new EP from Whyte Seeds will be out February 10. I haven't heard them yet, but their keyboardist was the guy who filled in for Martin Hederos on the last US Soundtrack of Our Lives tour.

The new album from Randy will be called "Welfare Problems". Look for it in April on Burning Heart.

The Ark is busy doing promotional work in Germany this week. Check out their schedule here.

The exact release date of the new Fireside album has been announced as April 7.

Look for features on Cult of Luna in upcoming issues of Kerrang, Terrorizer, Rocksound and Metal Hammer. The new album "The Beyond" comes out February 10 on Earache. As for now, you can preview the lyrics here.

Download the song "Sensory Pleasures" from the upcoming HGH album "Seb's Hotel". It comes out February 1 in Norway, February 24 elsewhere.

Christian Kjellvander's excellent album "Songs From a Two-Room Chapel" will be released in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands and Luxemburg next week. Fans of moody roots music such as 16 Horsepower or recent Neko Case should check him out.

The New Mess will be interviewed on P3 Rock January 22. As stated before, the band's debut five song CD-EP just came out on Kasual Records.

The debut album from hip-hop group Advance Patrol comes out March 24.

Read a review of the new Cardigans single here (in Swedish). I heard the song on P3 yesterday and wasn't blown away, but it wasn't bad either. It actually reminded me quite a bit of A-Camp, Nina's recent solo project, with its heavy use of acoustic guitars. Anyhow, listen to the radio and hear it for yourself. I'm sure it'll be huge no matter what. Look for it in stores February 17.

Röyksopp are nominated for "Best International Group" in the Brit Music Awards. More info here.

Interested in performing contemporary classical music from Swedish composers? STIM (Swedish Music Information Centre and Swedish Performing Rights Society) has published a large catalogue of music they have available (in PDF format).

The US release of "Living In America" from The Sounds will be in May on James Iha's (ex-Smashing Pumpkins) Scratchie Records. As stated here before, the band will also be making an appearance at this year's South by Southwest Festival. In other news, the new single for the track "Seven Days a Week" comes out on the 20th with the b-side being a demo version of the song "Go!"

Hammerheart Records is reissuing Necrophobic's 1993 album "The Nocturnal Silence". The label will also be releasing a limited edition "Tour EP 2003" for the band's current tour featuring a song from each album and five select cover tunes.]]> Tue, 14 Jan 2003 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19262 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19262 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19262#comments Dismember bassist Richard Cabeza recently got married in Las Vegas to a woman he met while on tour with Dark Funeral. The name of the lucky bride and the time of the wedding are unknown, but you can view the proceedings for yourself in its full, Vegas-style glory.

Jean-Pierre De Sade has decided to leave Notre Dame right in the middle of recording their new album. Some of his tracks will remain, but the rest of the guitars will be covered by ND's multitalented mainman Snowy Shaw. Of course, this also means the band now has an opening. If you feel like you've got what it takes, send your pic, bio and demo to:

S.O.S management
gamla tuvevägen 16
417 05 gothenburg
Sweden

The Soundtrack of Our Lives are nominated for a U.S. Grammy! The album "Behind the Music" got the nod in the 'Best Alternative Music Album' category. See the rest of the list here.

Here's some of the nominees for the Spellemannsprisen, the Norweigan version of the Grammies. Read the full list here. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on February 22.

Rock
AI Phoenix - "Lean That Way Forever"
Gluecifer - "Basement Apes"
JR Ewing - "Ride Paranoia"
Madrugada - "Grit"
Vidar Vang - "Rodeo"

Metal
Immortal - "Sons Of Northern Darkness"
Red Harvest - "Sick Transit Gloria Mundi"
Satyricon - "Volcano"

Pop
Dadafon - "Visitor"
Ephemera - "Balloons And Champagne"
Minor Majority - "If I Told You, You Were Beautiful"
Popium - "Permanently High"
The Margarets - "What Kept You?"

Electronica
Biosphere - "Shenzhou"
Kim Hiorthøy - "Melke"
Salvatore - "Tempo"

Open Class
Mari Boine - "Eight Seasons"
Sidsel Endresen and Bugge Wesseltoft - "Out Here, In There"
Jaga Jazzist - "The Stix"
Nils Petter Molvær - "nP3"
Ulver - "Lyckantropen Themes"

Song:
"Forever Not Yours" - a-ha
"Mysteriet Deg" - Bjørn Eidsvåg
"My Lullaby" - Maria Mena
"Barcelona" - Paperboys
"Remind Me" - Röyksopp

Black metal-turned goth-electronica act Kovenant has their new album "S.E.T.I" (The Search For Extraterestial Intelligence) coming out in Europe March 31 on Nuclear Blast Records.

Northside Records reports that Mari Boine and Frifot will both have new records coming out soon in the new year.]]> Tue, 07 Jan 2003 00:00:00 -0500 news http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19299 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19299 http://www.itsatrap.com/n/19299#comments Kent won the "Best Nordic Act" prize at the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards in Barcelona. The other acts nominated for the category were The Hives, Saybia, The Crash and Röyksopp. In a short interview with MTV Europe, Markus Mustonen had this to say when asked if they were pleased to be the best band in Northern Europe:

Yeah, extremely pleased actually because the bands in this category are really, really good. We love Röyksopp and The Hives of course, they´re old friends of ours. We´re really pleased and very, very happy!

Mustonen went on to say that the band currently out on the road and will soon hit Stockholm with support acts The Sounds and Melody Club. Watch or read the rest of the interview here.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy have a "Your Choice Live" album out. More info here.

Misconduct have a new MCD entitled "New Beginning" coming out on their own Side by Side Records. A video is being filmed for the title track and the band promises to post it on their website by the end of the month.

Arch Enemy is postponing the first leg of their upcoming European tour, so now the first show will be at Eindhoven on November 29th. Ticketholders are advised to hold onto their tickets, as the shows will probably still happen in January. A full statement on the matter is expected on Monday.

If you didn't already know about it, Export Music Sweden is sponsoring a show in Paris on December 19th with Weeping Willows, Hederos & Hellberg, and The Sounds. It might be H&H's last show, so check it out if you can.

In even more news about The Sounds, they were invited by the Foo Fighters to open for them in Oslo and Köpenhamn in early December. They also got a write up in Aftonbladet (Swedish only). Gee, think someone's on their way up or what? I suspect we'll continue to hear a lot about this band in the future.]]> Fri, 15 Nov 2002 00:00:00 -0500 news