Veggie hip hop artists...

My growing fascination with hip hop artist Sage Francis (whom i just got introduced to within the last couple of months), made me realize that there is more than a few Veggie hip hop artists out there. I thought i would spread the word about a few of them.

Sage Francis. Sage @ Myspace


Masta Killah - Wu-Tang Klan. Wu-Tang @ Myspace
Also RZA, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon of Wu-tang Klang are vegetarians.

Stic Man (Vegan) - Dead Prez. Dead Prez @ Myspace

The rest of Dead Prez are also Vegan. OBS- Dead Prez are playing at Kultur mejeriet in Lund, Sweden the 12th of February. 170dkr/23euro entrance, still tickets left.

K-os (Canadian hip hop artist). K-os @ Myspace


Common. Common @ Myspace


Well besides Andre "3000" Benjamin of Outkast, whom i couldn't find video with, these we're the ones that i could find without too much trouble. I must say i had no clue Wu-Tang being veggies.... Oh well.... You learn something every day apparently.

We are soldiers, we have guns, on tour.

Lovely Swedish Lo-fi indiepop entourage We are soldiers, we have guns (label mates of also ever lovely Social Services) are going on a north European tour. Would definently recommend anyone near any of these listed cities to drop by and lend them an ear or two if you got the time.

12/feb: (Germany) Hamburg, Astra Stube
13/feb: (Luxemburg) Luxemburg, d:qliq
14/feb: (Netherlands) Groningen, Vera
15/feb: (Netherlands) Dordrecht, Café de Vrijheid
16/feb: (Germany) Siegen, Vortex
17/feb: (Germany) Hannover, Cafe Glocksee
18/feb: (Germany) Frankfurt, Clubkeller
19/feb: (Austria) Traun, Spinnerei
20/feb: (Switzerland) Baden, Herbert
21/feb: (Germany) Leipzig, UT Connewitz
22/feb: (Germany) Berlin, NBI

If no time, then settle for this video and a link to more of their soothing music thru myspace.

We are soldiers, we have guns - Me vs. time = Fixed game.

Visit Stereo Test Kit at for more on the band.

The Iphone slayer

There it was, that tiny unexpected thing that made apple shake their panties (and probably gotten them working overtime)..... Yup, This years CES (consumer electronics show) in Las Vegas was all about Palm and them getting back their fair share, of what once was their game aswell. without further ado. This is Multitaskin', cardthrowin' (explained in video), ever so neat and oh so cute- Palm Pre and it's built from scratch WebOs user interface.

walk thru-


walk thru-

(including danish band The Fashion amongst the albums playing.)

The videos say it all. Unlike every other phone set to try and compete with the iphone, you can look up the Palm Pre on youtube, every video of it's performance being truthfully fast, smooth and simply impeccable in every single hands on.

Hardware wise we're looking at a 3.1" capacitive touchscreen on top of an 800mhz Texas Instruments processor. It carries Bluetooth, Wifi (b/g), 8gb storage, 3.5mm jackplug and last but not least wireless charging thru the touchstone accessory.

The Touchstone charging dock-



Wauv.... definently gonna write more about this wonder....... soon...

Sony NWZ-X1000 Hands on

There you have it, sizzling hot news- Sony is officially joining the touchscreen game with their X series web-capable mediaplayers. (announced at CES in Las Vegas today). In the case of the NWZ-X1000 Walkman, Specifications scream a razor sharp 3" OLED screen based devices, Wifi capabilities backing boasty flavours of 16 and 32gb capacities. More details are bound to hit public antennas any minute now.... but in the meanwhile.... feast yourself on this glorius first hands on video. Sweet eh?

The Hp/Vivienne Tam mini notebook

Already back in September HP announced a couple of upcoming new cheaper surprises to their lineup of mini notebooks. Amongst them the HP 1000 Vivienne Tam Edition, a delicate little 10.2" piece of kit, worthy of atleast a handful of pretty words. Available now in the U.S for a base price of 699,99$ (500euro/3700dkr), it sofar includes a 1.6ghz Intel Atom processor, 60gb HD/16gb SSD, 1GB ram, 10.2" WSVGA LED Brightview Infinity Display (1024 x 600), Wireless-G Card with Bluetooth, 92% sized keyboard, Webcam etc. all running under Windows XP. The general HP 1000 line up mini notebooks is expected to reach Scandinavia by march/april, if were lucky that might include the Vivienne Tam choice (if its even worthy of market over here, since only a select few knows who Vivienne Tam is). Anywaaa...... Its tiny, its pretty (without being lame) and its pricewise just on the brink of what one should pay for an HP product.

If youre really curious how it looks in real life, check out one of the first hands on. Right here over at Geardiary.

Olydig- Swedish designer canvas

Olydig is Swedish and means disobedient. Yet, it is also refreshingly dandy (fairly cheap) Gothenburg based designer canvas accessories. Have a look.



Small shoulder/carrier bag. Price 350sek/32euro/240dkr. Perfect for a netbook such as an Asus Eee or an Acer aspire one. *STILL AVAILABLE.


Small shoulder/carrier bag. Price 350sek/32euro/240dkr. *SOLD OUT.


Cute wallet. Price 120sek/11euro/80dkr. *SOLD OUT.


Cute wallet. Price 120sek/11euro/80dkr. *STILL AVAILABLE.


Cellphone keychain/lanyard. Price 100sek/8euro/70dkr. *SOLD OUT.


Pencil case. Price 130sek/12.5euro/90dkr. *SOLD OUT.


Pencil case. Price 130sek/12.5euro/90dkr. *STILL AVAILABLE.

Check out tons more neat Olydig stuff over at www.olydig.se. Theres even a sale going on as we speak, so some of it might come even cheaper if you care for some leftovers.

Winter Took His Life

Photo by: Mattias Fredriksson

So christmas was over just like that..... oh well, its freakishly chilly outside (again), and i feel like recommending something warm and toasty for the cold. So... meet Gothenburg girl Susanna Brandin aka. Winter Took His Life. Once again, as in the almost endless Swedish cases of amazing in the shapes of such newer girl names- Lykke Li, El Perro Del Mar, Promise And The Monster, Britta Persson and beyond, one could wonder how there could be any room left for further greatness. But, fear not, Winter Took His Life found herself a quiet prosperous little picnic spot only a heartbeat away.

Her wonderful debut album- You know what it´s like to be alone and shut down, came out last year and can be found at Bless The Press. So if you (just like me), didnt get on the first one in time, there you go. It would be a shame not to follow up on this fantastic girl from the start.

WTHL's myspace can be found here.

Cowon S9 Striptease

So it seems.... The shimmering Cowon S9 makes it to shops and stores (pretty much globally) just before christmas. It is officially out in Germany, Uk, Sweden, Norway, France, U.S etc. 8gb goes for 180 euro and 16gb for approx 215 euro. 32gb? Unfortunantly not up for grabs untill next year. Anywaa, for specs along my initial S9 post, go here.

For those interested in some serious gadgetporn, here you go. The two very first Cowon S9 unboxings. First one by Engadget, second one by Boy Genius Report.


Visit the Engadget Cowon S9 unboxing gallery here.


Visit the Boy Genius Report Cowon S9 unboxing gallery here.

Or check out some neat amateur hands-on footage on youtube, click here.

Artist of the month - postponed

My "Something Monthly" posts - Artist of the month, was initially starting as of today. But it is with sad eyes i am to inform, that i am going to postpone its debut till the 15th of February, due to the fact i was rushed to the hospital late thursday night last week, with a somewhat scary lung infection. So now- 4 days, 27 intravenous blood samples and a couple of hours sleep later, i am finally online again. I will try to keep up with my ideal blogging spirit and get some stuff going. But dont expect the world of me just yet. thx.

As for artist of the month, it will be running every 15th, of each month. Starting 15th of February. Hopefully that will work out for all of us. Ta ta.

Paddington Distortion Combo

The ever so super fantastic swede- ex. Bear Quartet member Carl Olsson and his brilliant solo project Paddington Distortion Combo, just announced his new album, set for release February 23rd 2009. There is no mention of a definite album title, though the following four song titles will be present on the upcoming release- -White mans clap, La La, Birth Defect and Defätismus.

So, if youre generally silly to the bone concerning Paddington or just excited about uplifting lofi kiddy electro combined with 80's kitsch/trash and swedish sub-suburban indierock "one man style". You gotta a wonderful surprise coming up in 2009.

Also, here's a cuddly live clip from a PDC show this summer at Potatiskällaren (The Potato Basement) in Luleå (north Sweden).


The video is part of a 4 piece liveshow recording, that is to be found here.

Mintpass - Used as read

Last month i posted about the diverse (but amazing) Korean consumer electronics company- Mintpass and their super fabulous Mintpad mediatablet. As it seems, Mintpass has alot more neat design stuff cooking in the lab. So i figured i would let you have a look at this- A fascinating concept design entitled "Used As Read".


Click images for larger sizes. (opens in a new window). All images courtesy of Mintpass.co.kr.







Disturbing cables on the back, clashing with the cleanliness across. Classic and retro.


Brilliant, to say the least.


The whole concept stacked.

It really looks as though Mintpass is a company all about doing things right from the start. Wonderfully refreshng and ambitious, i must say.

Read more about "Used As Read" here

Melloboat 2009

What if you could travel the seas between Sweden and Finland for 24hours accompagnied by a bunch of questinable bands, a couple of interesting, justified by a few awesome. Would you? Well, let me include the fact, that Swedish math-metal-maniacs Meshuggah are among the awesome, along swedish indie wonder Promise And The Monster and Porcupine Tree founder/singer Steven Wilson's own project (accompagnied by wonderful Danish artist, photographer and filmmaker Lasse Hoile).

To be quite honest, i dont even care much about who else is playing the Melloboat aka. Siljaline Galaxy cruiser that night and day the 24-25th of april. Just the fact that one can brag about sailing the dark baltic sea with the 3 artists mentioned above, already have me itching my backpocket.

I doubt it will the most important music event of the year (as stated in small print on the bottom of the poster), but the fact that you can get to witness a neat thing like this for a measly 100 swedish kroner (10 euros), or even get a nice room with a view for 900 swedish kroner (85 euro) pr. person along with, seriously should make this worth your while.

Personally Meshuggah and Promise And The Monster are two of my favourite artists of this last year. So in my opinion, this boat holds a great deal. If youre not familiar with my 3 personally recommended reasons to join this event, heres a taste of what to expect.

Promise And The Monster's latest video- Night Out.


Meshuggah - Bleed.


Steven Wilson's album trailer (by Lasse Hoile).


Sure beats the hell out of sailing the safer seas of Denmark with Carpark North or Lis Sorensen (if you even know who that is)......Anyway, im there.

For more info on Melloboat and its cruises, artists, prices etc. Go here.

Cowon S9 - A closer look

Around 3 months ago Korean Cowon announced a somewhat handful of new devices, set for public arrival around the new year (before and after). One of these, is the extremely talked about- Cowon S9, also known as the Curve. Not only is it sweet sweet eyecandy out of the ordinary, it also plays every living audio and video format out there.


This just oozes beautiful build quality from top to bottom.

Just to sum up the specs before taking a closer look at the amazing design. The S9 revolves around a 500mhz dual core processor (yup, dual core), a razor sharp 3.3" iamoled touchscreen, (480 x 272 pixels, ), Flash storage capacities in 4, 8, 16 and 32gb, Bluetooth 2.0 support, DMB tv (probably asia only, since europe isnt prepped for that), Audio playback support for: MP3/2/1, WMA, FLAC, OGG, APE, WAV, Video playback support for: Xvid SP/ASP, Avi, Divx, WMV9 SP/MP at 30 frames pr. second, and best of all, it promises 40 hours of audio playback. It will be available in Korea from the 16th and prices announced so far range 150-220$ with 4-16gb. (No price on 32gb yet).

And here they are, the rest of the latest S9 press shots. Courtesy of Cowonglobal Korea.


Clean backside in gunmetal black.


It looks as though the S9 will be the first touchscreen player, to have nice tucked away controls, allowing you to function when not looking at the screen (fx.in your pocket.) play/pause in the middle, skip buttons on the right and volume on the left. Very slick details.


Looks to be the sleakest of Ui's Cowon has yet to launch.


Clean and neat UI, aesthetically in the middle of Samsung and Apple. Very promising stuff.

Cant wait for this one to surface.

Blip festival 2008 - Memories

Photo by Elektropionir @ flickr.

No it is not Swedish indiepop sensation I'm From Barcelona, but merely a pile of blip festival 2008 performers. Yesterday (Sunday) was the fourth and last day of Blip festival 2008. By now, around 40 artists (plus/minus) have performed, tons of dancemoves where executed, and a boatload of photos were snapped,..... Yeah, so in order to enhance the envy (and regrets) in all of us who couldnt go, here's some photographic highlights and shortcuts (links) from/to some of the people who took insightful pics from the festival.

Elektropionir took 78 nice pics (amongst them, the top group photo), Check his blip festival set here.


Photo by Arambulo @ flickr.


Arambulo posted great pics of Meneo (top crowd) and Bitshifter (bottom crowd), along 14 other cool blip festival photos. Check his set here.


Rasterbox took a bunch of great photos, amongst them, this pic of the merch area.


X Plastic Neurospasta also took a bunch of photos aswell, check em here.


And to top it off, here's a few videoclips aswell.

Meneo (Spain), Friday night.


Cheap Dinosaurs (Usa), Friday night.


Sulumi (China), Saturday night.


All in all, it looked like the most awesome thing in the world, and agaainnn...... im sooo bummed out that i didnt have the possibility to go. Oh well, atleast i got to sit and surf, post and escape boredom at the same time. One thing is sure though, next time, i'll blog/snap the shit out of the real thing. I promise.

Blip fest relations chapter 5

The Sid 6581/8550 Recordings Archive is a massive hive hosting 343 Sid chip tunes, all up for completely free download. It is one simple site, one long list, no registration, just click to download. It is really that simple and glorius. A definite thing to check out if you have commodore music hunger.

More to the Atari side of chips/music, then head over to the Ym2149 recordings archive instead.... once again... same concept.... really simple, one long list, download whatever you feel like, no registration.

Furthermore in the spirit of dear father christmas/pixel baby jesus and courtesy of Doctor Octoroc, heres a cool 8-bit christmas compilation entitled 8-bit jesus. All free. Enjoy lo-tech sheenanigans in the shape of holiday monstrosities like- Ryu the Red Nosed Ninja, Silent Knight Man, Super Jingle Bros and more. Check that out Here.

Ohh yes.....

Blip fest relations chapter 4

The Crunchy Records Compilation 2008

Every year Crunchy Co. cough up a free compilation surprise. This year, hard copy CD's (of the 2008 edition) were distributed for free at Blipfest in New York, and other events for a limited time. Though it is also up for grabs by download, so if you feel like getting 27 free bittunes and bliptracks for your music library, click here.



Nine Chip Nails Album.

If youre more into Nine Inch Nails, and curious about how it would sound 8-bit style. Then you should head over to Robotrecords and get yourself a free album of 8-Bit Nine Inch Nails Covers, right here. Robotrecords also hosts 4 other awesome album downloads (just scroll down further on the robotrecords page).

More comin.....

Blip fest relations chapter 3

Micromusic is a global community of bitmusic creaters, listeners, engineers, promoters, labels.... well alot of things really. What was originally thought out as being a simple community website to get hold of low_tech_musik produced by low_tech_producerz for lovers of computer generated tunes via the worldwideweb was developed fast into a highly complex websound_community_system using the latest internet technology. Yup, today Micromusic is an almost 10 year old massive hyper active community with tons and tons of cool stuff underneath its neat pixel skin. News, Bitradio, gig calendars, shop, links, downloads, graphics..... You name it.

If you register (free) at Micromusic.net you can get access to over 700 free downloads. So if youre curious about chiptunes, bitpop, picopop, ciruitbending, nintendocore and beyond. This is your new playground.

More comin....

Blip fest relations chapter 2

More more bitmusic............. French Divag blips from Paris doing outrageously nice Gameboy stuff. (some of it released on 8bitpeoples). You can download an entire album of Gameboy Tunes here (18mb zip. file) and another bunch of Gameboy tracks here (30mb zip. file). (rightclick+save as). You can also visit the Divag site for more individual downloads, bit graphics, and even Atari style tracks.

Tokyo based prince of darkness- Gameboy-Bit-dubstep producer/artist Quarta 330 (whom played blipfest 2006), has a 30 minute liveset for free download over at Spannered.

8itpeoples crewmember and blipfest 2008 performer Timothy Lamb aka Trash 80, has a whole page filled with his free downloads right here. His 2 8bitpeoples releases can also be downloaded for free here (Hologram ep) and here (Icarus ep.)

more comin......

Blip fest relations chapter 1

As promised, while passively celebrating the 2008 blip festival in New York. Im posting some links, chatter and downloads for all you interested in or curious about the world of bitmusic.

First- Im gonna kick you off with a link to virginia based Receptors and some free albums/tracks put up for free download via Last.fm. Receptors have previously played Blipfest in 2006, but also showcased at festivals like Iceland Airwaves and SWSX in Texas. Receptors is mainly run and directed by artist/producer Jeremy Kolosine, whom amongst many projects also is one of the guilty brains of the more commercially aimed bitmusic release - "8-Bit Operators - an 8-bit Tribute to Kraftwerk" released by Astralwerks/Emi.

Secondly- Heres a link to the Receptors + Weblabel ops releases that are for free download. Amongst those, Pharmacom doing bitversions of all the classics like beethoven, bach and haydn.

Third- i wanted you to have the chance to listen to a neat interview with Jeremy Kolosine, him talking about bitmusic/chiptunes including his involvement as executive producer on the 8 bit operators release - An 8bit tribute to Kraftwerk. Listen to that over at Npr by cliking here.

More comin, later.

Suffocate For Fuck Sake

Not only does swedish Suffocate For Fuck Sake, have a scary badass name. Together with their almost 9 month old debut album title "Blazing Fires and Helicopters on the Front Page of the Newspaper. There's a War Going On and I'm Marching In Heavy Boots" they definently set one of this years most interesting standards for not being subtle. Sffs is indeed a strong unknown piece of sweden, that i definently would recommend to fans of anything from Sigur Ros, Cult Of Luna, Mono and even more cinematic things like fellow Swede "collage musician" Hans Appelqvist. Want something sweet in your ears without leaving out the roaring blasts and the painful screams? Sffs is the place to look all of the above.

Go check out some of their fantastic tracks on myspace, or take a chance and jump straight into the purchase and get yourself an epic surprise out of the ordinary. Its available for only 9Euro at Bisaufsmesser.com.