Third week in this series, wow, I’m good! During a week, I post a lot of news and finds on my twitter @eardrums and I get a lot of email that never gets published on the blog. I’ll try to post some of it here + give you some recommendations to new releases you should buy. Let’s start with some “VERY SHORTIES” and below this, you will find a lot of free goodies and music recommendations:

- Sweden’s Heart-Sick Groans have made a free Halloween single. Scary stuff!

- Blue Roses posted this on twitter a couple of days ago: “Releasing an E.P. in December…it’s got two new songs on it that I recorded and produced in my “studio” (bedroom).”

- Hypertext‘s new album “Astronaut-Kraut” is now finished and mixed. They have added 3 new songs to their myspace, featuring  the amazing Susanne Sundfør , and the rest remains a secret until the album is released early 2010.

- The Norwegian indiepop-band I Was A King and folk-pop’er Tønes have made a sideproject together, called Skjelvekommode. According to Tønes, it sounds like Tønes mixed with I was a king…. Article in Norwegian: http://bit.ly/3oiJol

- Iceland’s Rökkurró started pre-production for their new album this week, and will hopefully release it early 2010.

- Listen to the Swedish label SERVICE‘s new signing. FOREST here. Debut album coming this winter. http://bit.ly/47HdWe

- Norwegian noise-pop’ers Simon Says No! has said no for the last time.

- Quit Myspace Day: http://bit.ly/WiX11

- You can download the excellent debut album from Timber Timbre for free until tomorrow, Saturday! http://www.timbertimbre.com

- It’s a trap tells us that Shout Out Louds are almost done with their new record: http://bit.ly/494LDy

- The Lovely Eggs has made a spooky horror short-film for Artrocker TV: http://www.artrocker.tv/

- Midlake announce third album details http://bit.ly/1QraY7

- Wild Honey has finally released his debut album, – yesterday, actually. It’s available to buy on cd/vinyl + you can download the digital version for free on his bandcamp-site. I’ve had it for a few days already and it’s an amazing album, – very, very good. Highly recommended! Get it here: http://wildhoney.bandcamp.com/

- Henrik Öhberg, who you may know as the man who makes beautiful, almost ambient songs in Tvärvägen, is also the man behind Spunk, an  alternative hiphop-project. Now you can download an album, “Spunk Selected Work Vol 1″ for free on his myspace page. If you hate hiphop, you should try to have a listen, because Mr. Öhberg may convince you that hiphop is not always what you think it is. Check out the wonderful track “Vi drar” feat Susanne Cermenius, – beautiful! Download the album from his myspace: http://www.myspace.com/spunkproductions
(Öhberg is also a part of the folk pop band Ironville. Creative guy! )

- Wisdom Tooth has a couple of free releases on CLLCT.com. I believe that “Lake Fort Phantom” EP is fairly new, and it’s also very good. Her album Cathedral park is fantastic, and should be downloaded by everyone. Style: Beautiful lo-fi folk-pop. http://cllct.com/art/wisdomtooth

- Fanfarlo does a lovely version of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “in an aeroplane over the sea”:

- The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK, have been excellent on podcasts the last year, after being able to make an agreement with copyright organizations TONO/IFPI allowing them to use 70% music in their podcasts. Now, the new discussions between NRK and TONO/IFPI have failed, and they are now only allowed to use 50% music. Many of their good music shows will now be radio only, and disappear from the list of NRK’s podcasts. Several independent record labels in Norway have suggested a way to solve the problem: NRK can use 49% of the ifpi-members music and 21% of THEIR music in the podcasts, since these labels are not members of ifpi. The labels Spoon Train Audio, How Is Annie and Boliboompa have written an open letter to NRK (in Norwegian) and if you want to read it in another language, I suggest using Google Translate.

- Holiday Records has released another good and free ep, this time from The Bonfire Kids, “We will do everything”. Very good! They usually release a new one every friday, and according to their plans, today will see the release of  the new comers: CASPER. Get it from here: http://www.holidayrecords.net/

SOME RECOMMENDED RELEASES I HAVE BOUGHT LATELY

Most of these should be available in digital format on either iTunes, 7digital, eMusic, AmieStreet, Klicktrack or from the labels/artists websites.
Scary Mansion – Make me cry
Small Color – In Light
Left With Pictures – Beyond our means
The Sleeping Years – Into Sunlight
Broadcast & The Focus Group investigate witch cults of the radio age
Kid Canaveral – Left and right ep
Lulu & The Lampshades – Feet to sky ep
The Voluntary Butler Scheme – Trading things in (ep)
Little Comets – Adultery (single)
Morrissey – Swords (b side compilation)
Beat The Radar – To the city from the sea
Katsen – It Hertz
The Woodlands – The Woodlands

more shorties next week!
(…and please tell me what you think of this feature, – should it have been done another way?)