Statement from their MySpace:

Hello, Everyone.

It breaks my heart to inform you all that Charlie Cooper, my better half in Telefon Tel Aviv, passed away on January 22nd.

We have been friends since high school, and began making records together a decade ago. We have been so fortunate to tour the world together, while at the same time having a massive amount of laughs at one another’s expense.

Aside from Charlie’s singular genius and musical gifts, I can tell you that he was a total sweetheart of a guy, and a loving friend and confidant to people everywhere. His musicianship was surpassed only by his greater gift to the world – his warmth, his generosity, his unquenchable humor, and his undying loyalty to those whom he loved. In the spirit of honorable mention, however, I should mention that he had a shoe collection that was marvelous, knowledge of hip-hop that was profound, and knowledge of wine that was subtle.

He is survived by a sister, a neice, a nephew, his mother, his stepfather, me, and more adoring friends than the Universe has dark matter. As such, his family and I ask for your discretion and consideration of our privacy during these extremely turbulent waters.

Yours in Music,

Joshua Eustis

~ Telefon Tel Aviv – “The Birds” ~

~ Eartha Kitt – “I Want To Be Evil” (live) ~

How cool is this!?

The Hives are teaming up with (or should I say against?) Cyndi Lauper for a Christmas duel! The holiday-themed single will be available as a free download from The Hives official website on November 28-30, followed by a UK store release December 1 and a US release the next day via The Orchard.

So what do the parties involved have to say about the unusual collaboration?

“It may sound weird and come as a surprise to some, but we had to. It came to us. It landed in our lap and was way too good to shake or toss. We knew we had to record it. A sign if you will,” The Hives said, while Lauper added, “This goes to show even rat sideswipers can have a good Xmas too.”

Rat sideswipers? Whatever – at least now we have a reason to look forward to the holidays despite the crummy economy!

One of my all time favorite Swedish singers, Rebecka Törnqvist is releasing a new album on September 24th. For those not familiar with ms Törnqvist, I suggest you check out her music pronto! She is seriously one of our fines jazz/pop vocalists with a string of great albums under her belt, including the two she did as part of the group Gloria.

Her latest solo effort is entitled The Cherry Blossom And the Skyline Rising From the Street and was recorded in Stockholm this past year. It’s being released on Rebecka’s own lable, Moule, which also released the critically acclaimed record Fire In the Hole – Sara Isaksson and Rebecka Törnqvist sing Steely Dan.

I can’t wait!

Stars digitally released their latest EP Sad Robot today via the official website.

The EP consists of a very pretty cover and six tracks, whereof one is available for free. In order to download it though you have to create an account at the band’s online store, but I’ve taken care of that so you can just download it right here instead.

It’s a lovely track, so make sure to snag it!

Sad Robot EP tracklist

01. Maintenance Hall, 4am
02. A Thread Cut With a Carving Knife
03. Undertow
04. Going, Going, Gone (live)
05. 14 Forever
06. Sad Robot

Cute or what? And such a great song.

~ “Because It’s Not Love (But It’s Still a Feeling)” ~

Sweden’s biggest rock band, Kent are releasing their 7th studio album, “Tillbaka Till Samtiden” (“Back to Our Own Time/Common Age”, roughly translated) on the 17th this month.

At least, that was the plan.

Because for some strange reason, the album has been out in the shops for over a week now and the band, as well as their management, claim to be oblivious as to the reason why. The illegal downloading could of course have something to do with the matter, but fans are wondering if it isn’t just a marketing ploy since the band still hasn’t made any official statementes about what’s going on.

Personally, I think that the shopkeepers simply got fed up with all the Kent-fans anxiously tip-toeing through the store everyday and decided to put them out of their misery.

Swedish pop gems Sambassadeur are returning to the music scene with a “new luxurious sound” according to their label, Labrador. Sounding more polished and elegant, the band are offering their new single “Subtle Changes” (a reference to their new sound, perhaps?) as a free download.

Check it out, it’s really pretty.

~ “Subtle Changes” ~