Peter Svensson on "En Kväll Med Luuk"
Peter Svensson from The Cardigans is one of the guests on Swedish talkshow "En kväll med Luuk". Peter will be appearing on the first show of the season, which will be recorded on April 3rd at 16.00 at TV4 in Stockholm. Call +46-(0)8-4594640 if you would like a ticket for the show. Tickets are free.

Twigs album reviewed in Popöga
The first reviews of Norwegian poppers Twigs (SunSpot) debut album 'No More 24' appeared today. Swedish fanzine Popöga was one of the first to put theirs up on the web - check it out.

Cloudberry Jam sends their love from the US
Cloudberry Jam (NONS), who are on tour in the US at the moment, took a few minutes of their time today to send their love and a short report back to Scandinavian Indie. Here's a rough translation:

"Hi!
It's a bit hard to get (especially for us five blue-eyed jaw-dropping people
from Östergötland) that we're in Minneapolis. We played at the club where
Prince recorded Purple Rain once earlier tonight and it was a great gig.
Played in Austin on saturday, and tomorrow we're in Chicago.

Everyone says hi, and prepare for lots of stories when we get back home.

Umeå Open festival - more bands
The northern festival (April 3-4 in Umea, Sweden) adds even more names to the already impressive line-up (complete info here):

Antiloop (Stockholm) - Grammy award winners delivering new Swedish dance music. Swinging and gold selling. Slated for the friday night (3rd).

Caesar's Palace (Dolores) - Rome wasn't built in a day and this unholy alliance didn't pop up like a fungus from the ground either. The constallation has building blocks like Claes Ahlund (former Teddybears). Their new album "Youth Is Wasted on The Young" shows that the band is one of the most interesting ones in Sweden today. Saturday (4th).

Doktor Kosmos (NONS) - The Doc will perform the rock opera "Stjarnjerry" (otherwise performing in Stockholm only) at the festival.

Fly (Dolores) - Sweden's newest and hottest band. From the ashes of what once used to be the legendary band Easy, rises Fly and pop-Sweden is knocked out. With the recently released album "Green Lights", Fly is heading for higher heights. Nordica stage on saturday (4th).

Hultsfred festival - even more bands added
The Hultsfred festival (June 11-13 in Hultsfred, Sweden) management revealed even more bands today, and it looks like the Danish Roskilde festival will have a hard time bringing something exclusive this year... Take a look at the latest Hultsfred-ready bands (complete info here):

Coal Chamber (US), Garbage (US/UK), Grand Tone Music (S), HIM (SF), Life Of Agony (US), Misery Loves Co (S), Neurosis (US), Sideshow Bob (S).

Garbage at Provinssirock
The way the festivals in Scandinavia are booking their bands, we can probably expect to see the headliners in whatever country we live/want - ie. eliminating the need for traveling somewhere else. None of us travel for the music alone anyway (right?) so it's just ridiculous. Seems like the only "exclusive" acts at each festival are the domestic ones. Provinssirock (June 12-14 in Seinajoki, Finland) have these in common with Roskilde (DK) and Hultsfred (S) (from the 9 booked so far - (complete info here):

Black Sabbath with Ozzy (UK), Dimmu Borgir (N), Garbage (US/UK), Kent (S), Misfits (US).

Roskilde festival heavy update
The Roskilde festival (June 25-28 in Roskilde, Denmark) revealed one hundred (100) new artists and bands yesterday. To spare you the trouble of locating the new "big" names - they are (complete info here):

Steve Earle & The Dukes, Iggy Pop, Marilyn Manson, Morrissey, Pizzicato Five, Portishead, Pulp, and Rammstein.

Lollipop festival on the move
The Lollipop festival (July 24-25 in Stockholm, Sweden) arrangers have finally started to work on their website, which today tells us they are going to release the first names on April 15th (complete info here).

P3 on Monday next week (March 30th)
Monday night on Swedish National Radio Channel P3 is Swedish to the extreme. The "Musikjournalen Pop" show between 7-9pm is (as usual once a month) broadcasted live from venue KB in Malmo, and this week's guests are Robot (Starboy, playing live), Fly (Dolores), Space Age Baby Jane (Warner) and Sobsister (Absurd). Between 9-10pm, The Wannadies (BMG) play live.

Komeda planning a US tour
Komeda will go back to the US for a tour in May. Dates, cities and venues have not yet been revealed, but the number of gigs are eight (8).

Anouk (NL), Antiloop (S), Dance Hall Crashers (US), Dead Moon (US), Düreforsög (DK), Embrace (UK), Hultsfreds Storband (S), Ingy (S), Langhorns (S), Liberator (S), Regina Lund (S), The Verve (UK).

Twigs are rolling people
Recovering from their SunSpot debut album release party at Playground in Gothenburg last week, where the sound technician should have been ... umm, 'removed', Twigs are now getting a lot of attention from the media. Katy Penny (vocals, bass) has been interviewed on the morning and evening radio in Norway the last week, their single 'Postscript To Her Letter' has received airplay on National Radio in both Sweden and Norway with following good reviews in magazines and papers (see examples below). Now they're waiting for the album reviews to drop in, and while they're doing that, they celebrate with another release party - this time in their home town Bergen in Norway on March 21st at Hulen. On March 25th they play in Bø i Telemark at venue Kroa.

Check out -> Single of the Week in Popöga, review in Magazine Groove: "Norwegian-British Twigs with singer and front person Katy Penny are playing pop close to the vein of The Wedding Present and Sonic Youth. Postscript To Her Letter has, even though it does not present anything new, a chance to be a smaller radio hit. A frail verse and then the fat layer of guitars kick in. Best of the songs on the single is To Way Muzzle with wriggling Sonic Youth guitars and playful passages that end in an abyss." And finally, there's an article in Magazine Groove.

Presenting the Popcore festival 98
The 1998 Popcore festival takes place at the University and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm on March 28th. The festivities starts at both places at 7pm (19.00) and ends at 1am (at KTH) and 3am (at the University) and bus transport between the two 'venues' is available. Tickets can be bought at Mega Skivakademin, Pet Sounds, KTH and the University in Stockholm and price is 220 SEK (180 SEK for students).

The bands then: Scott, Yvonne, Blue For Two, Weeping Willows, Elephant, Freewheel, Merrymakers, Grand Tone Music, Honeycave, Pineforest Crunch, Speaker, Wannadies, Nomads, Fireside, Playground Int., Cloudberry Jam, Mismates, Monostar, Buddha Supreme, Caroline Af Ugglas, Mazarine Street + a whole bunch of great DJs. Check out the complete schedule.

Shallow Soundwave without lead singer
Scandinavian Indie favourites Shallow Soundwave needs a new singer. Annica Silvonen is no longer a part of the band for reasons we do not know, but the rest of the band, David and Nicolas, are on the move as things are starting to shape up pretty neatly for them. Therefor they are looking for a new female lead singer! If you happen to sing as beautiful as Liz Fraser, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox or Katherine Blake - you're hired! The band is based in Gothenburg, but it doesn't matter if you live there or not. So, if this sounds interesting, please contact them immediately. Check out their homepage where you can find their contact information, or send e-mail directly to shallow.soundwave@swipnet.se -or- call David: +46-(0)70-660 48 91 now!

And Aquadays are also without lead singer!
Lead singers never quit or leave bands one and one. They do it in packs. Seriously, Aquadys' Sarah Assbring has left the band, which means they're once again without a lead female singer. Remaining members Martin and Lisa have not yet decided whether to look for a new lead or to go ahead on their own. Hopefully both previous leads (ie. original lead Klara Albinsson as well) will at least be there when the band's debut album is to be recorded, or the fourteen songs already written can't be used without serious changes.

Praised in LA: Ray Wonder
This week's shortie but sweetie: Bek David Campbell, more known as Beck 'Where It's At' Hansen, went to see Ray Wonder (NONS) play in Los Angeles last week, and then told them that they were the best thing he had seen in years!

e-pop III release party
Eskilstuna based label E-Pop, previously known as Strawberry Songs, are back with their third Eskilstuna unsigned bands CD EP compilation! The release party is held at venue Blå in Eskilstuna on March 28th and everyone is welcome. The previous two compilations (released 1996 and 1997) contained songs by Carlson, Hamilton, Divin, Panic, S:t Moores, Coaster, and Carve. The new features Deasyway, Panic, Traci in Heaven, and The Snails - and is produced by Kee Marcello. The compilation can be ordered directly from the label, contact Hans Lindell for more information at: hans.lindell@rockfile.se

Finnish tour: The Wellmeant + Tunaflakes + Flannelmouth
As previously reported in the news, Huskvarna poppers The Wellmeant are rehearsing for their upcoming April gigs in Finland. 24/4 in Tampere and 25/4 in Turku. What we didn't mention was that they will play together with Finnish bands Tunaflakes and Flannelmouth, on the last leg of their tour of Finland. Both bands release their debut CD EP:s in April. Tunaflakes' is called 'She'll Be Made Up' and is released on their own label 'Guar Records'. Flannelmouth's is called 'POP-OUT' and is released on _their_ own label 'Popvirus Records'. Also worth noting is that Antti, singer in the sadly no longer active old-time Scan-Indie favourite band Dada Girl, is playing bass in Tunaflakes (as their regular bass player is in England).

Fidget with new material
Gothenburg's pride Fidget has now completed the recording of their new demo. Seven songs - Golden Neolife, My Mind's Elastic, Radiator, Living on Video (Fidget's synth cover of the phantoms of the 80s Trans-X), Rock'n'Roll Is Back Again (which I personally can guarantee is the best freaking song you'll ever hear), Road Rage, and Mirrors. The band has included some of these songs in their live sets lately, and they rock! So with this new demo together with the last one, Fidget are once again giving record labels and companies the chance to sign a really great band. Interested? Check out their new and utterly cool website.

International Kent
One of the most domestically popular Swedish bands, Kent (RCA/BMG), have translated and re-recorded the material on their latest platinum album 'Isola' to English. In February, they were awarded with two Swedish Grammies - one for Best Group and one for Best Album. Their international launch is now just a question of time - in May they will be touring the UK together with The Supernaturals from Scotland.

Jay-Jay Johanson - the unknown
Almost completely unknown in his own country (Sweden that is) but establishing a big name for himself in France is Jay-Jay Johanson (Commando!/BMG Music Pub.) His chanson-inspired mini-album 'Whiskey' has earned him cult status there and in 1997 he has completed sold-out tours and seen countless radio and TV performances. The album has been, or is being, released in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. Jay-Jay's new full-length album is planned for April. Meanwhile, he is also in demand as a model for designer Jose Levy in France.

P3 Norwegian indie special
On monday next week (March 23rd) - Musikjournalen Pop on Swedish National Radio channel P3 will broadcast their special on Norwegian Indie! Finally! What to expect? Well, host Magdalena Wäpnargård went to Norway about a month ago and met up with the scene there. Hopefully there's an interview with Breeders/Lush-esque favourites Twigs and something from the new records released by Velvet Belly. Other than that - listen! Monday, March 23rd, Channel P3, from 7pm to 9pm.

The Wellmeant in Finland
Scandinavian Indie favourites The Wellmeant from Huskvarna in Sweden are soon on the road again! This time they take a trip to our eastern neighbors Finland for a couple of gigs. On April 24th, they play in Tampere (Tammerfors) and on April 25th in Turku (Åbo). Dates may be added! If you're interested in booking the band - check out their homepage.

P3 Live schedule this week
The P3 Live (Swedish National Radio Channel P3 - Mondays to Thursdays between 9.03pm to 10pm) Schedule for this week looks like this:

16/3 The Charlatans - Hultsfred Festival -97 17/3 Tarika - Nämforsen Folkfesten -97 18/3 Maas - Göteborg Vågen -97 19/3 Machine Head - Stockholm Cirkus -97

For more information about these (and other upcoming broadcasts as well as links to pages on the web for the featured artists and bands), check out the upcoming area.

New records from a Shrine on the way
a Shrine's new single called '(Can you) feel it?' (WeCD 151) which includes the extra track 'I can feel it' will be released March 9th. The new album 'Dark Words, Gentle Sounds' is set for release on March 25th. 'You will find a band that have moved futher into soul music.'

Penniless People of Bulgaria changes name
In the summer of 1997, the third Alisaari-brother joined the band. After that, Finnish band Penniless People of Bulgaria changed their name to just 'Penniless'. A new album, entitled 'Joe', will be released in April 1998. The single 'Avalanche' (WeCD 154) will be released on March 16th. A video for the single will also be made.

The cool Umeå Open festival
On April 3-4, the northern town of Umeå in Sweden will transform into a festival extravaganza-place- to-be. Tickets can be bought now from Biljettcentrum in Umeå and from BiljettDirekt. Apart from a couple of seminars about music, a bunch of professional DJs, dance and theater performances, there are bands playing (of course, what did you think?). Here's the fantastic and mindblowing full line-up:

a Shrine, Ates, Bear Quartet, Company Flow (US), Doktor Kosmos, Drive South, Eppy, Franny (Musik Direkt-97 winner), Friend + Jonas Knutsson, Grand Tone Music, Heed, Honey is Cool, Kevlar, Komeda, Lucy Fair, MetalWorkers, Monotone, NollKoll, Randy, Rebecca Törnkvist, Refused, Scared, Separation, Spencer (Rock SM-97 winner), Starmarket, Teenage Fanclub (UK), The Perishers, The Supernaturals (UK), Wannadies, Ward J + Loosegoats, Weeping Willows.