All Radio Dept. and Swedish pop fans in Asia should rejoice. There will be a new winter compilation album released that will be sold exclusively in the Philippines.

The compilation will be called "Ice & Snow - a Swedish Pop Compilation".
It will be a collaboration between Labrador records and Universal records. Note, that's Universal, the small label from the Philippines and not the multinational conglomerate.

Press Release:
" Universal Records is proud to announce the release of ICE & SNOW. This PHILIPPINES-ONLY CD Release is a collection of songs from Sweden's finest indie pop acts as compiled by Club 8's Johan Angergard. Featuring new tracks from Club 8, Pelle Carlberg, The Radio Dept., Suburban Kids With Biblical Names as well as songs from The Sound Of Arrows, The Legends, [ingenting], Loveninjas, Sambassadeur, Irene, South Ambulance, The Mary Onettes, Wan Light and Johan Hedberg. "


The Radio Dept.'s Freddie & The Trojan Horse, will feature on this compilation
More details coming soon.

Spanish Winter Shows
The Radio Dept. recently completed a 4 show tour of Spain.
This was part of the 'Winter Showcase 2008' festival. The band appeared in Madrid, Bilbao, Barcelona and Valencia during 20th -> 23rd of November. Four solid shows, back to back.

Many people attended and a few took some great pictures.
Check out pictures taken by fans at the Madrid and Barcelona shows.


Russian Shows
There was a glaring omission in a previous post. We forgot to mention the St. Petersburg show that's planned for December.

Details:
Friday 5 December 2008 at 10:00pm
Saint-Petersburg
Russia

Join in the Last.fm fun here.

Fanzone / Blog
The "fanzone" section of the site has been re-branded and updated.
It's now called the Fan Blog. The principles of that section are still the same, but there are a few changes.

- Registration is now mandatory if you want to use the blog. This means no more anonymous posts or spamming.
- Posting/contributing to the blog goes towards your status as an active forum member.
- Certain members of the band check & post in it regularly. So if you have a question or anything interesting to say, please do so in the blog aswell as the forum.
- Over the next week all the issues with access will be fixed. So if you're waiting, you should get an email in a the next few days.

Share
A new feature of the blog, gallery and generally this whole site is the ability to share what you see and hear with other people on other sites. You'll notice the share button in a few places, that will allow you to quickly link or post things on other sites such as facebook, myspace, bebo etc.

Downloads
More exclusive and rare downloads have been added to the downloads section of the forum. If you want to know what they are or want to download, you'll have to contribute and be an active member of this site/community.

Review of Pet Grief by NME Magazine, England.



Review By Stephen Worthy:


"You don't have to be Cracker to spot the clues to The Radio Dept's state of mind when naming their second album 'Pet Grief'.

The two years since their debut 'Lesser Matters' made NME's Top 10 albums of 2004, these Swedes have changed line-up and been dumped by their label. Is it any wonder, then, that 'Pet Grief' is awash with melancholy - a sad haven for lyrics about betrayal, lost love and crushing disappointment?

So how come all this gloom makes such addictive listening? It's down to the music. Pet Shop Boys (Pet Grief'), New Order ('A Window') and My Bloody Valentine (the near joyful fuzz'n'swell of 'Every Time') are obvious references. Amid all the darkness, shines a bright light."


Pet Grief: 7 / 10

The Radio Dept. have organised and planned a special one-off show for their Russian fans.
Tickets are still available and it will be a great opportunity to hear the new material from the upcoming studio album 'Clinging to a scheme'.

Details:
Saturday 6 December 2008 at 9:00pm
Ikra
Moscow
Russian Federation

Join in the Last.fm fun here.
More info & ticket sales here.

Posted by thisisabadidea Sun, November 09, 2008

1. Annie Laurie (4:58)

2. Bad Reputation (Rugar Mix) (2:40)

3. Falafal (1:32)

4. Tåget (0:56)

I never really gave this EP a chance until just recently. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people just listen to "Bad Reputation" and then kinda go on to something else, but the title song "Annie Laurie" is so amazing. Apparently I read that it is a cover and even further back it was a poem before that. I never knew that, but it kinda made it better for me. It's just a really beautiful song. Here is the Wikipedia entry for the poem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Laurie

"Tåget" is a short tasteful little song that is a look back at "We Would Fall Against The Tide." This song is so good, very short and sweet haha. And finally the song "Falafel" is a very strange song, kind of going back to sound and recording style of the "Where Damage Isn't Already Done EP." I'm not that big of a fan of this song, but I mean, its the Radio Dept. I love it.

But mainly I want to just stress that the main reason I wrote this thing is to get more people to listen to the song "Annie Laurie." And the guitar part near the very end just breaks my heart everytime I hear it. Please, please listen more.

I'm happy to say that The Radio Dept livejournal page is up and running again.

Unfortunately the blog slowed & came to and eventual end when the main editor (cherished forum mod, Palespectre), could no longer maintain it.
Fortunately she's back and the blog is live and kicking again! So head over there and do whatever you can to keep it going. It's served such a great purpose and role in the past and we'd all like it to continue doing so.

Visit the Livejournal page by clicking here.

Winter presents The Radio Dept. the chance to do a couple of tours to warm the hearts of their fans during this chilly period.
This year the band are going to Spain and giving their Spanish fans 4 special shows in November.


Details of shows
20/11 - Spain - Blibao - Rockstar
21/11 - Spain - Madrid - Joy Eslava Theatre
22/11 - Spain - Barcelona - Razzmatazz 2
23/11 - Spain - Valencia - Mirror .
Check it out on Last.fm here.