Kajskjul 8 Party 27/5
On Wednesday May 27th, Entertainment paper "Nöjesguiden", touring festival "Kalas", Park Lane's Magnus Albrektsson and Playground's Patrik Herrström arrange a canonical evening at Kajskjul 8 (in the harbor, next to the Gothenburg Opera) in Gothenburg. The festivities start at 8pm, and the entrance fee is 40 SEK. Bands performing are Caesar's Palace and Easy. DJs - DJ Steel and MC Nitro, together with Patrik Arve (Teddybears Sthlm) in the bar. Indoors, outdoors, the fresh summer issue of Nöjesguiden together with great music. Be there!

Limited Fireside single out on Monday
A new CD single with Emocore/pop favourites Fireside (Startracks) entitled "Let Rasputin Do It" is released on Monday May 25th. The b-side contains the unreleased "Silver Muscle Car". It is released in a very limited CD edition - only 300 copies! It will also be released in June, but then only in 7" format. This is definitely something for the collectors!

It's A Simple Formality for Komeda
As reported here earlier, the new single from Komeda (NONS) is the fantastic "A Simple Formality" - and if I understand this right, it will be released on Monday May 25th! If you haven't drooled over the song on their latest album "What Makes It Go?" yet, or perhaps rather, if you have - this single contains the Radio Edit version together with four brilliant ambient/dub/techno remixes by DOT artists Quant, Sarilou, Friend and Star. Weird, spaced out and complete. Rated: not to be missed.

Exclusive re-release of Loosegoats' "For Sale By Owner"
A new and extremely limited edition - only 150 copies - of Loosegoats (Startracks) debut album "For Sale By Owner" will be released on Monday May 25th. This version contains a bonus 4-track CDEP with acoustic songs 'Fender' (new), 'River Raffle' (new), 'Disdialogic' (new recording) and 'Lava' (new recording). The two first songs are also released on a split 7" single together with Ward J later this summer.

Now, for those of you who feel that buying yet another copy of "For Sale By Owner", just to get the bonus CDEP, sucks - Startracks know how you feel - Therefor, all you have to do to get the CDEP if you already have the album is to send the barcode numbers from your copy of it + 20 crisp SEK to Startracks, and they will in return send the EP to you at once. Their address is as follows:

STARTRACKS AB, Högbergsgatan 33 2tr., 116 20 Stockholm, Sweden

Norwegian Motorpsycho release in Sweden
Norwegian psycho/space/fuzz meisters Motorpsycho (Startracks) who no one should miss, especially live, but also their recorded material, release a new EP in both CD and 10" format on Monday May 25th! The title track is "Ozone" and it contains four additional fully exclusive songs. You'll be missing something really special if you don't check this out. Believe me.

Ex-Aquadays singer in new band: treb.sound.sys
Former Aquadays female lead vocalist Sarah Assbring has found a new band: treb.sound.sys. The band consists of Sarah and a Shallow Soundwave friend - Philip. The music can probably best be described as dub/trip-hop with gorgeous female vocals. But don't take my word for it - check out their website, which is actually pretty empty, but there are sound samples there at least!

Apricot Records compilation
I was reading through the news at the swedish #1 fanzine "EttNollEtt"'s website, and stumbled upon a report about an upcoming compilation on the small German label Apricot Records which was interesting to say the least. Here's a small excerpt + additional information:

The label is located in Wiesbaden, Germany, and the compilation is scheduled for a release this summer - which means it will hopefully be out within a couple of months. The title has not yet been decided, but the catalog number is "apricd002".

EttNollEtt reports there will be a total of 16 European bands - and if that is so, it will be a loaded release, as all bands contribute with two songs each (32 songs!). Five of the bands are Swedish: Céleste, Shermans, Sparky, Acid House Kings and Aquadays! List favourites Aquadays appear with "Senseless" and "June". Other bands mentioned are: Brideshead (D), Charming (US), Den Baron (D), Elegant (D), Fragile (UK) and The Shining Hour (UK).

Preliminary Kalas tour dates
As you all know, Lollipop's Håkan Waxegård and Palladium's Pange Öberg are the organizers behind the Swedish touring festival "Kalas". Nothing but headliners bob hund have been mentioned so far. Two more bands, a couple of Sweden's top notch DJs plus local guest artists are yet to be revealed later in May. But news about preliminary tour dates and cities are slowly starting to surface at least. July 2nd has been mentioned as the date of the premiere and apparently thirteen (13) cities and towns are on the tour road. Please note that these dates are all preliminary and there will be changes and additions:

  7/7 Malmö
  8/7 Helsingborg, Tivoli
  9/7 Åhus, Åhusparken
10/7 Visby, Snäck
11/7 Västervik, Gränsö slott
13/7 Stockholm, Kulturfabriken
16/7 Östersund
17/7 Sundsvall, Folkets Park
18/7 Umeå

Swedish Music Fair 98 in Gothenburg
The first Swedish Music Fair was arranged two years ago, and this autumn it is time again. Write down September 17-20 in your calendars. The place is Svenska Mässan in Gotenburg, but venues and related places around Gothenburg will also be used. Seminars, activities and showcases, records and instruments, artists, bands, promoters, publishers and sound technicians. This year, Swedish record companies and labels have gotten together for a major joint effort for the first time as well. The showcase bit of it all is getting the most attention this year. Stages at the fair during the days and venues around Gothenburg during the nights will be used, and labels, promoters, managers, artists and bands (signed or unsigned - domestic or international) are welcome to contact the organizers in order to get a gig at the fair and venues. The showcase program will be internationally marketed as well.

Contacts:
+Showcase Program - Lasse Redin - Phone: +46-(0)8-333307, +46-(0)70-5740442.
  Material should be sent to: Lars Redin, Box 19117, 104 32 Stockholm, Sweden.
  Email: lars.redin@amusement.se
+Exhibitions and seminars - Christina Andersson - Phone: +46-(0)70-8808090.
  Email: christina.andersson@swefair.se
+Exhibitions - Magdalena Rönström - Phone: +46-(0)31-7088413, +46-(0)70-8808091.
  Email: magdalena.ronstrom@swefair.se
+Exhibitions - Gunilla Andersson - Phone: +46-(0)31-7088034, +46-(0)70-8808055.
  Email: gunilla.andersson@swefair.se
+Seminars - Anna Wirsén - Phone: +46-(0)31-7088404, +46-(0)70-7178404.
  Email: anna.wirsen@swefair.se

Massive Festival Update #3
Another week has passed, and everything is pretty normal - that is, there are a lot of added artists and bands to the festivals' line-ups as usual! Here are the new additions to the festivals covered by the Scandinavian Indie Festivals 98 list:

Arvika Festival (July 10-11, Arvika, Sweden)
New this week: Apoptygma Berzerk (N), Dark Side Cowboys (S), DJ Emok (DK), Katayama (S), Malaise (S), Moby (US), Petter (S), and Urga feat. Cirkus Cirkör (S).

Emmaboda Festival (August 7-8, Emmaboda, Rasslebygd, Sweden)
Added to the line up this week were: The Jam Of The Year (S), Moody Prudence (S), Neutral Milk Hotel (US), Olivia Tremor Control (US), Popshop (S), Silverbullit (S), Sludge Nation (S), Sobsister (S), The Tambureens (S) and Whale (S).

Mera Hitlåtar (June 6-7, Handen, Rudansjöarna, Sweden)
Added this week: Babalou Smith (S) and Wolfpack (S).

Midtfyn Festival (July 1-5, Odense, Denmark)
Surprised us with adding a massive 50 new artists and bands to the line up this week: 7 days (DK), Annione (DK), Bell Book & Candle (D), Big Band 17:48 (DK), Behind the Curtain (DK), Nikolaj Bentzon Brotherhood (DK), Eric Bibb (US/S), The Blues Brothers Souvenir Show (DK), Angela Brown & The Mighty 45s (US), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (US), Burnin' Red Ivanhoe (DK), Vidar Busk & his True Believers (N), Bæsted Band (DK), Børge Biceps (DK), Cornershop (UK), Cosmonks (DK), The Dawn (DK), Dissing, Dissing, von Daler & Dissing (DK), D'tune (DK), Essensen (DK), Fister (DK), Flipside (DK), Flower Pot Party (DK), Godspeed (DK), Hothouse Flowers (IRL), Jan Gerfast Voodoo Band (S), Wyclef Jean & Refugee Camp All Stars (HAITI/US), Angelique Kidjo (BENIN), Poul Krebs & De Små Sensationer (DK), K's Choice (B), Larryland (DK), Lois (DK), Mojo Hands (DK), Mono.dk (DK), Rikke mølgaard (DK), Allan Olsen (DK), Poplife (DK), The Powls (DK), The Prodigy (UK), Rock Nalle Inc. (DK), Pernille Rosendal (DK), Skiløb (DK), Sonic Machine (DK), Sub Rosa (DK), Thing (DK), Jukka Tolonen w/Ralph & Big Bang Group (F/S), Tom Jones experience (DK), Transister (UK/US/SCOT), Venus (DK) and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersens Trio (DK).

Rock på Gräs Festival (June 7, Ullared, Sweden)
New: the Christer Petterssons (S) - which is the Birro brothers' interesting project...

Storsjöyran (July 2-5, Östersund, Sweden)
Completed their 1998 line-up this week with: Biff International (S), Wyclef Jean and The Refugee Allstars (US), Jolly Jumper & Big Moe (S), Andrew Newton (UK) and Refused (S).

Tullakrok Festival (July 18-19, Ängelholm, Tullakroksängen, Sweden)
New this week: The Barbwires (S), Cat Rapes Dog (S), and Haddock (S).

Åtvidaberg Anti-rasism Festival (May 23, Åtvidaberg Sweden)
New (and final - more information about these bands, links, soundclips, pictures etc. can be found on the festival's homepage):

Bombshell Rocks (S) - Oi!/streetpunk from Västerås.
Differ (S) - From Åtvidaberg and sounds a bit like Starmarket.
Division of Laura Lee (S) - One of the big names from Vänerrocken.
Ett Liv Kvar (S) - Old school HC with Swedish lyrics, from Västervik.
Fruitsallad Band (S) - Addictive folk music, from Åtvidaberg.
Interjektion (S) - Surely the best band from Åtvidaberg ever.
The Many Kin (S) - Weezer smelling band from Åtvidaberg.
Operation (S) - Political raw punk from Kalmar.
Prevention (S) - Hungry, dead hard Hardcore band from Vänersborg.
Section 8 (S) - The pride of Skänninge.
Superiors (S) - Dirty rock in the spirit of the Hellacopters.
Y-point (S) - Aggressive hardcore from Överum.

Spiritualized under the Northern Lights
Spiritualized front man Jason Pierce revealed a plan to play under the Northern Lights in Spetsbergen in Norway in August after their recent gig at the 105th floor of the World Trade Centre in New York. Two shows are planned, Jason said. "There's a guy in Norway who's promoting a show about 500 miles inside the Arctic Circle. The idea is to go up there for a week and do shows with the Northern Lights as the backdrop." (Quote from NME)

The Cabal's mailorder up and running
The Swedish Indie record labels and band gathering on the net - The Cabal, has finally got their mailorder up and running! Releases with all the bands at the Cabal are available, and you can search for bands, labels, or use the free text search. Prices are given in Swedish crowns and US dollars. The whole thing is put up by media giants Bonner Interactive.

The Second Major Festivals Update
There's Festival news dropping in, turning up and moving about every day. The following section presents what has happened at the festivals listed on the Scandinavian Indie Festivals 98 page since the last update in the news. The festivals page mentioned above is updated daily.

Afterburn 98 (May 23, Norrköping, Mässhallarna, Sweden)
Is the "after party" for the Norrköping rounders fest where tickets are 50 SEK for students and 100 SEK for non-students. Lined up so far are: Caesar's Palace (S), DJ Mad Mats (S), DJ Stakka Bo (S), Mol (S) and Yvonne (S).

Arvika Festival (July 10-11, Arvika, Sweden)
New: Broder Daniel (S), Forced Into (S), The Hives (S), Nine (S), Saft (S) and Sideshow Bob (S). Cancelled: Antiloop (S).

Bollnäspunken (May 29-30, Bollnäs, Långnäsparken, Sweden)
New (and that completes the line-up this year): A-Bombs (S), Candysuck (S), Mobile Mob Freakshow (S), Separation (S). Cancelled: Leeson (S)

Cowstock (June 6, Kausala, Finland)
New festival in this list this year - no entrance fee - that's right, it's free, and the line-up so far is as follows: Clamour (SF), Come Inside (SF), Laura Lähde ja näkymätön koira (SF), Luomakunta (SF), Pavlovin koirat (SF), Pornorphans (SF), Raivopäät (SF), Täti Harrietin iloinen kuolema (SF) and finally Weirdtones (SF).

Emmaboda Festival (August 7-8, Emmaboda, Rasslebygd, Sweden)
Added: Speaker Bite Me (DK).

Gränslösa Festival 98 (June 5-6, Stockholm, Hägersten, Sweden)
An anti-rasism festival which celebrates its 7th year this year. No entrance fee (yup, it's free) for the good looking line-up: A-Bombs (S), Brazzaville (S), Candysuck (S), Charlots (S), Crap News Network (S), Den Flygande Bokrullen (S), Hada Raïna (S), Honeycave (S), Hot Pans (S), Johan Piribauer (S), Liberator (S), Paid (S), Prune (S), Russian Tractors (S), Sejd (S), The Rollercoaster (S), Två fisk + en fläsk (S) and Whippet (S).

Hultsfred Festival (June 11-13, Hultsfred, Sweden)
Throws a showcase in Kungsträdgarden in Stockholm on May 21st! From 14.00 to 18.00 you will be able to see Space Age Baby Jane, Loudean, LOK and Thirddimension on stage. You can also talk to the festival organizers, win tickets, and buy tickets (without the advance fee of course).

Added: (hed) pe. (US), Black Ingvars (S), Brazzaville (S), Bugsquad (S), Clawfinger (N/S), Docenterna All Stars (S), Home made HIFI - Soundsystem (S), Paradise Lost (UK), Saint Etienne (UK), Scott 4 (UK), Soundtrack of Our Lives (S), Spiritual Beggars (S), The Coal Porters (US/UK), The Hives (S) and Wilmer X (S).

Cancelled: gusGus (IS) (extremely sadly...) and Neurosis (US). The "demo scene", which will be broadcasted live on the web from a banner sponsored page on The Depot, has been filled as well. According to the festival and Jimmy Fun, 3.000 bands applied, so the competition was stiff, but here are the bands selected to play there (with short descriptions):

Abstain (Hultsfred)
-Anxiety filled hardcore metal with influences from bands like Slayer, Deftones as well as Sick Of It All.
Birkenstocks (Kalmar)
-Pop-ska.
Elephant (Göteborg)
-Beautiful organic Drum'n'Bass.
EM (Nyköping)
-Noisy pop, Yvonne meets Fireside.
Honeysuckle (Stockholm)
-Well produced Trip-Hop, Motown vs Takeruma.
Mat At Far (Uppsala)
-Hip Hop in Swedish with GOOD Rap.
Mellow Wisdom (Stockholm)
-American Hip Hop in the spirit of Rawkus.
Motorhomes (Jönköping)
-Melancolic melodious guitar pop in the lower bpm scale.
Outcast (Sala)
-Massive dark metal in the school of Tool.
Porcelaine Satelites (Göteborg)
-Rockish pop like Counting Crows.
Revolvo (Malmö)
-Pristine American Lo-Fi rock.
S.T.A.B.B (Stockholm)
-Hole smelling rock, with more attitude and better vocals.
Second Trip (Stockholm)
-Thrashy metal close to Sepultura/Machine Head.
Smartalec (Malmö)
-Swinging, mods-y, fawning party rock with sexy female vocals. Influenced by Screaming Jay Hawkins, The Who, Black Sabbath, The Stranglers and Bow Wow Wow.
Soap (Östersund)
-Rockish pop with charismatic female vocalist.
Soul Ryders (Malmö/Lund)
-Poppy pompuous pop.
Soundrug (Stockholm)
-Fresh songs in Jazzy drum'n'bass/Trip Hop costume.
SPUNK (Stockholm)
-Helmet vs. Dileva in Swedish.
Turner Family (Uppsala)
-Good and twisted pop with "school girl vocals", Jew's harp and backwards guitars.
Yeah! (Eskilstuna)
-Agressive lo-fi/retro popcore.

Karlshamn Rock Festival (June 5-6, Norje Havsbad, Karlshamn, Sweden)
New - and final: Hjalle & Heavy (S).

Lollipop (July 24-25, Stockholm, Ågesta, Sweden)
Cancelled: Aerosmith (US) because Steven Tyler hurt his knee at a concert in Alaska recently. And then the whole festival cancelled. There will be no Lollipop festival this year due to too high costs and an insufficient time schedule.

Mera Hitlåtar (June 6-7, Handen, Rudansjöarna, Sweden)
New: The Ark (S), Backfish (S), Divine (S), Fireside (S), Coca Carola (S) and Singer (S).

Midtfyn Festival (July 1-5, Odense, Denmark)
Added to the list this week were: Ben Folds Five (US), Moby (US), Travis (SCOT) and Robbie Williams (UK). Cancelled: Faith No More (US) (because they broke up) and Aerosmith (US) for obvious reasons.

Provinssirock (June 12-14, Seinäjoki, Finland)
New: Coal Chamber (US), Egotrippi (SF), Fridge (SF), Gardenia (SF), Pauli Hanhiniemi (SF), Innpeach (SF), Pikkupaha (SF), Riemudivisioona (SF), Kimi Shelter & The Avoids (SF), Stereo Total (D), Tarrakuva (SF), Jonna Tervomaa (SF), Zenana (SF).

Rock på Gräs Festival (June 7, Ullared, Sweden)
Is both a music festival as well as a market place where records, magazines, posters, t-shirts, instruments etc. can be bought, traded and sold. No entrance fee. Lined up so far for the music part of it all are: Amorphous Prophecy (S-Ullared), Amplector (S-Falkenberg), Avoided (S-Falkenberg), the Boobies (S-Kungsbacka), Disposed (S-Ullared), Dorian (S-Falkenberg), FIC (S-Kungsbacka), Fuel (S-Ullared), Headace (Ätran), Jukehous Blues (S-Falkenberg), Less (S-Tranås), MAC (S-Ullared), Mind Collaps (S-Växjö), Nobody Special (S-Halmstad) and Zahrim (S-Falkenberg).

Roskilde Festival (June 25-28, Roskilde, Denmark)
Completed their line up this week. The final additions were: A Tribe Called Quest (US), Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effect (MA), Asian Dub Foundation (UK), Atari Teenage Riot (D), Backyard Babies (S), Boom Boom Satellites (JP), Bootleg Beatles (UK), Brave Combo (US), Catatonia (UK), Clemens (DK), Cortes (E), DJ Aron (UK), DJ Peter Skovsted (DK), The Drags (US), Dub Syndicate (UK), Bob Dylan (US), E.T.A. (DK), Echo & The Bunnymen (UK), Ginman/Jorgensen (DK), Buddy Guy (US), Richie Hawtin a.K.a. Plastikman (CA), Kristin Hersh (US), Kreidler (D), Lo Fidelity Allstars (UK), Los Amigos Invisibles (VE), Luke Slater Freak Funk (UK), Luksus (DK), M@lk De Koijn (DK), Kylie Minogue (AU), Mynta (IND/S), New Birth Brass Band (US), New York Hip Hop [feat. Arsonist (US), Bobbito The Barber (US), The Boulevard Connection/Loop Troop (DK/S), Company Flow (US), Cutting Crew (DK), High & Mighty (US), Mass Influence (US), Mr. Live & Tony Bones (US), Non Phixion (US)], The Original Danish Polcalypso Orchestra (DK), Oscar D'Leon (VE), Roy Pascal & On Purpose (INT), Penniless (SF), Primal Scream (UK), Psyched Up Janis (DK), Refugee Camp All Stars (JM), Paulito Y Su Elite (CU), Sorten Muld (DK), Tabou Combo (HT), Ole Theill (DK), Tortoise (US), Turbonegro (N), and finally Sophie Zelmani (S). Cancelled: Cake (US), Morrissey (UK), Neurosis (US), Song Island feat. Krebs, Brohus, Rosanes m.fl. (DK).

SommarRock Svedala (July 16-18, Svedala, Sweden)
Added to the line up this week are: Charta 77 (S), Frame (S), Good Times Bad Times (S), Nothing in Common (S), Rock'n'Roll Boys (S), Sideshow Bob (S), Spootlajtz (S), U.D.O. (D) and Vecko-Revyn's Miss Sweden contest.

Stockholm Water Festival (August 7-15, Stockholm, Sweden)
First release: Ash (IE), Baguncaco (BR), Björk (IS), bob hund (S), Hanne Boel (DK), Dalila (BR), European Youth Orchestra (S), Freewheel (S), PJ Harvey (UK), Tom Jones (UK/US), Kent (S), Kila (IE), Kroumata (S), Olle Ljungström (S), Jan Malmsjö + Ingvar Wixell + Hillevi Martinpelto w/Stockholms Sinfonietta (S), Kalle Moraeus w/guests (Orsa Spelman) (S), Orup (S), Peps Persson w/Blues Transfusion (S), Popsicle (S), Portishead (UK), Ron Sexsmith (CA), Jari Sillanpää (SF), Stockholm Folk Big Band (S), Tap Dogs (AU), Titiyo (S), Rebecka Törnqvist (S), Mikael Wiehe (S), Jerry Williams (S), Wilmer X (S) and Sophie Zelmani (S).

Storsjöyran (July 2-5, Östersund, Sweden)
Cancelled: Dave Edmunds (US/UK) as he chose to stay in the US rather than to play in Europe. New: Docenterna All Stars (S) - will play as the last band late saturday night. Docenterna who are going on a "secret" festival tour this summer together with friends - Nicklas Frisk (Atomic Swing), David Birde (Brainpool), Kent Norberg (Sator) and Idde Shultz - plus a variety of secret guests, which will be different at each festival. Plus more new: Andras Ungar (S), Black Ingvars (S), Del Amitri (SCOT), Drömhus (S), Grumligt Vatten (S), Anna Maria Hallgarn (S), Håkan Hallstensson (S) and Pustan (S). The demo stage is so far filled with:

Bobby Grass (S) - Psychedelic indie pop, no.1 on Jämtlands indie list.
Grinners (S) - Rattling 60's rock with enough image to last.
Hin Haley (S) - Metal like Entombed, but heavier!
Mysbandet (S) - One of the leading power pop bands from Norrland.
Saltmine (S) - "The leader of Swedish Grunge".
Soap (S) - Took part in the Rock-SM finals, also plays Hultsfred.
Standing Out (S) - Agressive hardcore/punk.
Sten (S) - Folk rock but closer to Metallica than Gnesta-Kalle.

Tivolirock (July 4, Kristianstad, Sweden)
New: Bai Bang (S), Beacon (S), Falconetti (S), Hound Dogs (S), Sanzia (S), Sludge Nation (S) and The Deeds Pride (S).

Trästocksfestivalen (July 17-18, Skellefteå, Sweden)
And because the police and local government finally realised the festival was a good thing, the first release of bands who will play at the free festival looks like this: a Shrine (S), Backfish (S), The Bear Quartet (S), The Drowners (S), Penniless (S), Purusam (S), Stardog (S), Tommy 16 (S) and Waterbug (S). About 15 more bands will be added.

Tullakrok Festival (July 18-19, Ängelholm, Tullakroksangen, Sweden)
New in this year's list, have decided ticket prices - 2-Day: 80 SEK, 60 SEK (for members) or 100 SEK (ticket + membership). The first band release contains: Caesar's Palace (S), Deeds Pride (S), Iodine Jupiter (S), Mazarine Street (S), Queen Obscene (S), Sideshow Bob (S), Skalatones (S), Skitsystem (S), Soilwork (S), Soundtrack of Our Lives (S) and Space Age Baby Jane (S).

Åtvidaberg Anti-rasism Festival (May 23, Åtvidaberg, Sporthall, Sweden)
Festival against rasism (what did you think? ;)) which starts at 3pm (15:00) in the afternoon. Ticket price: 60 SEK, and the line-up so far looks like this: Bad Cash Quartet (S), The Hives (S), Honey Is Cool (S), Monster (S), Polythene (S), Purusam (S), and Separation (S).

Carpe Wade heads west
As you all know, Carpe Wade (AWSF) signed a contract with US label Interscope records a couple of months ago. Now Fredrik "Fritte" Enqvist, singer and bass player in the band, is visiting Los Angeles in order to discuss the band's future at Interscope. A stop in the glittering desert (aka Las Vegas) is also planned.

Third album from The Confusions out now
Massproduktion, Stockholm Records and The Confusions are proud to present our Release party - on May 13th, at 8pm (20.00) at Restaurant GrönBorg (address: Storgatan 73) in Sundsvall - for The Confusions' third album called "Six-O-Seven" which is released the same day. The band will play some new songs and the record companies are behind the served drinks and snacks.

The Drowners Showcase in New York
A West Side Fabrication signed The Drowners are in New York right now to meet up with their US manager Jeff Eyrich (well known on this side for his work with Salt, Drain etc.) PLUS to play a showcase for an interested record label. The showcase takes place at Coney Island High on Tuesday May 12th, at 8:00 PM.

Favourites Fidget to play at festival in Arvika
On friday May 22nd, our favourites Fidget will play at a festival in Arvika. Bass player Pontus Willquist will be out of town at the time, which means it is stand-in Linus Börjesson's debut gig with Fidget. Linus plays the bass in Starboy Recordings' Robot normally. Other bands appearing at the festival are fellow band mates Speed Of Sound Enterprise and bob hund. I have no clue to what kind of festival this is, but this is what the news says, and from the look of it, it's well worth the trip!

Freinds ready for Arvika festival
Stockholm based band Freinds (Starboy) who recently released their debut album "If All Men Wer Brudders" are ready for the Arvika festival 1998. Before they climb up on the festival stage, they play at the following places: 15/5 Blekingska Nationen in Lund and 29/5 Pusterviksbaren in Göteborg (together with Barusta).

Booked solid: Garmarna
A long line of sold out festival gigs in Spain and Portugal only adds fuel to the fire, which made Garmarna (Massproduktion) hit the studio immediately upon their return to Sweden. It was time for the recordings of their third full-length with the work name "Vedergällningen". That was not long ago, and they are already on the road on their European tour throughout the month of May! Germany, Belgium and Switzerland are the lucky countries visited. Durin the summer, festival gigs in Finland, the UK and Greece have been scheduled.

Honeycave and the Bluetones meet up
May 25th is the date for the Bluetones gig in Stockholm at venue Studion. Opening act this night are none other than Honeycave (Mega) who are working on new material for an upcoming album, which means we can expect to hear some new songs this evening. Honeycave have, as previously reported, set their sight on the Asian part of the world. And not surprisingly, their debut album "Come Now" was given the "Album of the Month" award in the one and only alternative magazine in Singapore - "Big O" - in March. In Korea, the song "Sweet Amnesia" has been included on the soundtrack to a movie called "Bye June" which is said to be something similar to Trainspotting.

New on A West Side Fabrication: Jupither
Jupither (AWSF) are four young guys from Skellefteå. They recently recorded six songs together with master Kjell Nästén at Rumble Road Studios which resulted in their debut CD called "It's planetary". The CD will be released at the end of May on the AWSF sub-label Speech.

Mine in Asia and in Art Show
Mine (Massproduktion) are still recording their second album at the moment, but at the same time, the first and self titled album is released in Asia. On July 21st it is released by Rock Records in Japan, and a bit later by Friendly Dog in Taiwan. In the meantime, if you feel hungry for a bit of rock and pop art, you can drop by Tranan in Stockholm where photographer Tomas Näsström holds a photo exhibition until May 16th. Photos with Mine singer Emma Holmér together with John Essing - bob hund, Magnus Carlsson - Weeping Willows, Titiyo and Olle Ljungström makes a visit well worth the time.

IKEA in Singapore selected Monostar
Fellow Gotlandians Monostar (Soap) are going to Singapore between May 29th and 31st. They are going there in order to play (of course) as well as act as Swedish pop ambassadeurs at the IKEA 20th Anniversary parties - three nights in a row! Before that they are the opening act at all (but the Stockholm) Bluetones' gigs in Scandinavia in May.

Popface blew Swervedriver off stage
Norwegian powerpoppers Popface (No Guitar Star) started to play together in 1992. 1995 saw the release of their debut album "Buck" on label Michael Mcguire Records, and in March 1998 their second album "Almost Endless" was released on No Guitar Star/Voices of Wonder. Their claimed influences might get you interested - Mogwai, Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine as well as Dinosaur Jr - and you should be, as these guys blew Swervedriver off stage in Oslo last year! Swervedriver's only response was to yell angrily, "You noisy bastards!" :-)

Finally the debut is on the way: Sahara Hotnights
At this very moment, Sahara Hotnights (ASWF) have moved into the studio (Rumble Road in Skelleftea) together with, once again, the master himself, Kjell Nästén to record their debut album which will be released this coming Autumn. Last year AWSF released the band's debut EP "Suits Anyone Fine" on the Speech sub-label.

Silverbullit releases on Clearspot
The Silverbullit label "jump" to Clearspot has brought a couple of UK releases: On April 1st - the "King Of The Line" / "I Had To Tell You" (cs 015/EFA 05446) 7" vinyl single was released and on April 24th - the "Silverbullit" (cs 013/EFA 05407-1/-2) LP/CD was out. The 7" is available in the UK now for 2.99 pounds and an album promo with a simple card sleeve has been spotted for 4.99 pounds.

Tour, release and the US for Tommy 16
Later this spring AWSF will release a new EP with Tommy 16 called "The Monaco EP". The first track, "Last days of May" is taken from the album "Rocking Big Buddha". Tommy 16 are touring Sweden, Finland and Norway together with the Finnish band Penniless at the moment. At the same time, plans are in the making for the band in the US... Stay tuned.

CULT 98
On saturday May 30th, the classic rock band contest CULT 98, though in a new suit this time, takes place at Bryggeri 1 (Bryggeriet - ex-Skylight) in Eskilstuna. The new suit brings new ways, which means that this year there are sixteen bands participating. Twelve from Eskilstuna and four from the rest of Sweden, who has been decided together with Studiefrämjandet Rix. Quarter final, semi final and final - all in one day. First prize - a complete CD single production (300 copies). Age limit: 16+. The entrance fee is 40 SEK, the doors open at 2pm (14.00) and the contest starts at 3pm (15.00). The final is held at midnight. You need more information? Call Hasse Lindell: Phone: +46-(0)16-159320.

Previous winners:
1990 - Pink Panther
1991 - Jones & Giftet (known as Kent these days)
1992 - No Funktion (split up, members now in Kent, Superswirls and Coaster)
1993 - Tough Trade
1994 - Yvonne ( pop ), Pain of Salvation ( Rock )
1995 - Waterwheels ( pop ), Selfmindead ( Rock )
1996 - Audiovisuals ( pop/dance ), Erica Kane ( Rock )
1997 - Blush

Blekingska Nationen - God Damn Carnival
Blekingska Nationen in Lund are soon ready to reveal their complete line-up for their own carnival "God Damn Carnival" which starts one day before the regular Lundakarnevalen (Lund Carnival), and they should be as the carnival starts on May 21st (the Lund Carnival starts the 22nd)! So far, Komeda (S), Caesar's Palace (S) and Monster (S) have been revealed for GDC, but they are waiting with the big name - hopefully and probably The Jesus And Mary Chain (SCOT), but this is not completely sure yet. The entrance fee for the GDC is 60 SEK. The Lund Carnival presents names like Teenage Fancub (SCOT), Soundtrack of Our Lives (S) and Komeda (S) as well.

Blekingska Nationen - Second Harvest
And Blekingska Nationen in Lund is filling the news to the limit this week. This time they are back with the results from the second "demo band contest", the Second Harvest, as promised. The First Harvest was held last autumn (you can read all about it in the Digest archives - The Pang, Plastic Soul, First Floor Power and Shallow Soundwave were selected then) and this time the four bands and winners with the best demos sent to the Blekingska Nationen and selected for the 350 copies limited edition EP were: 1) The Dolls (Gothenburg) with the song "Down, down, down". 2) Stereo Explosion (Malmö) with the song "Hand and Mouth". 3) Unsound (Malmö) with "Mr Sykes" and last but not least 4) Bugsquad (Gothenburg) with "Every Lie Shines". The EP was released on May 8th at the release party where the selected bands played. The 200 first guests and the invited media people got a copy free - the rest (if there are any copies left) are sent out as promotion.

Arvika Festival (July 10-11, Arvika, Sweden)
Moved their concentration to the dance part of the festival and with that came A/a Steppin Bros (S), Cat Rapes Dog (S), DJ Anti (S), DJ Mark Allen (UK), DJ Sid Shanti (UK), DJ Zen (NL), Eat Static (UK), Ju Ju Space Jazz (AU), Orion (DK), Sista Mannen Pa Jorden (S), Synchro (NL) and X-Dream (D). On the non-dance side, we find that our friends (!) from Starboy Recordings Freinds (S) have been added.

Bollnäs Festival (July 2-4, Bollnäs, Sweden)
Are on the way with their own website which they say will open soon. In the meantime, they have decided the ticket prices (245 for one day, and 345 for three) plus here's the line up so far: Antiloop (S), Black Ingvars (S), Anders Glennmark (S), Kent (S), Orup (S), Speaker (S), Jerry Williams (S) and Wilmer X (S).

Bollnäspunken (May 29-30, Bollnäs, Långnäsparken, Sweden)
Will not get UK Subs (UK) to play at this year's festival as previously reported. Köttgrottorna (S), Popper Klopper (D), Rajoitus (S) and Skitsystem (S) are new 100% sure names though. :-)

Brofästivalen (June 5-6, Malmö, Sweden)
Added a couple of bands to their line up this week, which makes the full one look like this: Anouk (NL), Antiloop (S), Ba Ba Loo (S), Backyard Babies (S), The Cardigans (S), Bob Dylan (US), Kent (S), Lisa Loeb (US), Loosegoats (S), Lou Reed (US), Son Volt (US), Soundtrack of Our Lives (S), Ward J (S), Wilmer X (S), Weeping Willows (S) and Sophie Zelmani (S).

Emmaboda Festival (August 7-8, Emmaboda, Rasslebygd, Sweden)
Smoked a couple of new bands this week: First Floor Power (S), Monostar (S), Niel Armstrong (S) The Pang (S), Pimm's (S), Soundtrack of Our Lives (S), Space Age Baby Jane (S), Stuntbike (S), Tripod (S, which is Fredrik Norberg from Popsicle's new band), and Waterbug (S). 23 names have been released this far, and about 15-20 remains. The ticket prices have also been decided. 2-Day: 380 SEK + advance fee, 1-Day: 300 SEK (in advance) and 500 SEK if you buy it at the festival.

Hultsfred Festival (June 11-13, Hultsfred, Sweden)
Has added RealAudio soundclips from hyped Swedish band Speed of Sound Enterprise to their news page - go and listen. Pure american surf pop (IMO). Additions to their line-up: And One (D), Black Moses (S), Caesar's Palace (S), Dark Funeral (S), The Facer (S), Gravediggaz (US), Luna (US), The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (US), Plexique (D), Rancid (US), Saft (S), Transister (UK/US) (Ed's note: I hope it is allowed to jump around in a frenzy in the news? No? I'll do it anyway! Yaay, hurray! :-)). Also The Motorhomes (S) - who rightfully won the Swedish National Radio channel P3 show "Demo" poll last week on who would get to play at the festival. Cancelled this week: Thumb (D).

Indie Iltamat and This Is Punk (June 5-7, Turku, Finland)
Indoor festivals where the ticket prices are as low as for Indie Iltamat, it's 40 FMK - and for This Is Punk: 30 FMK. The line up follows: Atom Heart (SF), Aurinkokerho (SF), Circle (SF), Defend (SF), Disgrace (SF), Disploited (SF), Endstand (SF), Flaming Sideburns (SF), Forca Macabra (SF), Juggling Jugulars (SF), Kauko Röyhkä (SF), Kotiteollisuus (SF), MKKK (SF), Mothers Against Sex Assosiation (SF), Nollaseiska (SF), Operation (S), Penniless (SF), Prow (SF), Radiopuhelimet (SF), Rytmihäiriö (SF), Selfish (SF), Sharpeville (SF), Submerged (SF), Sultans (SF), Sunride (SF), Sweetheart (SF), Terveet Kädet (SF), Thee Ultra Bimboos (SF), Turun Tauti (SF) and Wolfpack (S).

Karlshamn Rock Festival (June 5-6, Norje Havsbad, Karlshamn, Sweden)
Got their own domain - www.karlshamnrock.com, and tickets are now also available from ticket meisters BiljettDirekt. Added a new headliner for June 6th - Alice Cooper (US) along with Black Ingvars (S), D:A:D (DK), Dash Rip Rock (US), Dirty Deeds (DK), Goda Grannar (S), Håkan Hemlin (S), Locomotive Breath (S), Push (DK), Pugh Rogerfeldt (S), Dee Snider (US), Sobsister (S), Speaker (S) and Andrew Strong (UK). Bruce Dickinson (UK) cancelled.

Lollipop (July 24-25, Stockholm, Ågesta, Sweden)
Moved the date for the first press release which was supposed to happen on April 15th - one day to the 16th :-). The festival site has moved to Ågesta (Huddinge), 20 minutes from the city this year. Tickets were released April 29th and can be bought from BiljettDirekt and the usual outlets (see the Sin site for more info). The price this year is 650 SEK for two days and 375 SEK for one. The camping area is very limited this year and in order to get a place to put up your tent, you have to be quick and pay 100 SEK (!). The first line up release contained: Arab Strap (SCOT), Bernard Butler (UK), Eagle-Eye Cherry (S), Gomez (UK), The Jesus and Mary Chain (SCOT) (yummy!), Montrose Avenue (UK), Pulp (UK). Though the festival's website seemed to have vanished from the face of the net the last week, the second release contained heavies Run DMC (US) and Aerosmith (US). The third release brought Atari Teenage Riot (D), Bad Cash Quartet (S), Broder Daniel (S), Caesar's Palace (S), Kent (S), Olle Ljungström (S) and Tortoise (US) - plus confirmed but apparently not yet official: Weeping Willows (S).

Mera Hitlåtar (June 6-7, Handen, Rudansjöarna, Sweden)
Has finally opened their website and are working on the press release right now. Ticket prices (2-Day: 100 SEK (in advance), 140 SEK (there), 1-Day: 80 SEK (there)) and outlets (Get Back Records (Linköping), Birdnest (Köping), Musikörat (Uppsala), Dur & Moll (Haninge), Freak Scene (Stockholm), Mega Skivakademin (Stockholm), Pet Sounds (Stockholm), Sound Pollution (Stockholm)) have been decided. The first release of artists and bands contains the following: Bad Cash Quartet (S), Candysuck (S), Charta 77 (S), Dryad (S), Endivia (S), Mart + Band (S), Starmarket (S), Two Point Eight (S) and Weeping Willows (S).

Midtfyn Festival (July 1-5, Odense, Denmark)
Has started a web contest where you can win a lot of different things like tickets to the festival and ghettoblasters. Check it out.

Provinssirock (June 12-14, Seinäjoki, Finland)
The ticket prices have been decided (319/379 MK) and several outlets are now listed on the website. New bands added this week were: 22-Pistepirkko (SF), Aavikko (SF), Apulanta (SF), CMX (SF), Crash (SF), Faithless (UK), Flaming Sideburns (SF), Larry & The Lefthanded (SF), Lehtivihreät (SF), Jaarli Padington (SF), Kari Peitsamo (solo/acoustic) (SF), Penniless (SF), Pool (SF) Sanna ja lapset (SF), Wilma (SF) and Rock-lyriikka -98 voittaja (SF) (winner of the Rock- lyriikka -98 contest if I understand this right...?)

Roskilde Festival (June 25-28, Roskilde, Denmark)
Is not sleeping if you were thinking they were - not many new names, but what names on the other hand! Bernard Butler (UK) and The Jesus And Mary Chain (UK)! Hurray! Not official yet, but still added to the line up are: Psyched Up Janis (DK) and Turbonegro (N).

SommarRock Svedala (July 16-18, Svedala, Sweden)
Swiped rockers Caesar's Palace (S) and German 666 (D), as well as the multi-talented Incka (S).

Stockholm Water Festival (August 7-15, Stockholm, Sweden)
Has still not released anything official, but started to work on their website which will open on May 14th. Morning paper Dagens Nyheter reported on April 15th that Afro-Cuban All Stars (CU) will open the festival this year, and while they're at it, don't you think Weeping Willows (S) will play here too? Yes, they will.

Storsjöyran (July 2-5, Östersund, Sweden)
Presented the first thirty artists and bands lined up to play at the festival this year: Anouk (NL), Backyard Babies (S), Beverage Soundsystem (S), Brave Combo (US), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (US), CajsaLisa (S), Eagle-Eye Cherry (S), Dave Edmunds (UK/US), Lisa Ekdahl (S), Louise Hoffsten (S), Hoven Droven (S), Hysterix w/Hans Petter Burman (S), Intercooler (S), Kent (S), Komeda (S), Olle Ljungström (S), Monostar (S), The Mopeds (S), Orup (S), Panikorkestern (S), Sherlock (S), Soulstroke (S), Tait (S), Triakel (S), Version Galore (S), Weeping Willows (S), Mikael Wiehe (S), Jerry Williams (S) and Wilmer X (S).