Grammis-awarded Cornelis Vreeswijk tribute compilation, 'Den flygande holländaren' was re-released (January 3) in the shape of a 3-CD digipack.
It comprises the classic double-CD, the following 'Den flygande holländaren 2' from 1998 plus five bonus tracks. The cover artwork was slightly modified to fit all the artists in it.

Familiar to all the Marie fans, the songs 'Veronica', 'Ann-Katrin farväl' and 'Felicia adjö' were originally recorded for this tribute album, and later included as bonus tracks on the 'Den ständiga resan' remastered edition. Eldkvarn's 'Somliga går med trasiga skor' features Marie on backing vocals. The instrumental intro was produced and arranged by Marie and Anders Herrlin. You can hear her playing the keyboards on this track as well.

Sort of a '20th anniversary' expanded edition, a chance to grab a copy since the original CD has been out-of-print for quite a long time.

LJUSDAL - The lead single off Marie's new album has been sent out to radio stations and it's of course "Ordet är farväl." It seems to be a promotional release only (CDPRO4415). The song itself is written by Micke Bolyos and Py Bäckman with Micke on programming, Jokke Pettersson (Marie's nephew) on guitars and Bengan Jansson on the accordion.

(Updated) - Marie Fredriksson's new compilation, "Tid för tystnad - Marie Fredrikssons ballader" ("Time for Silence - Marie Fredriksson's Ballads") will be released Wednesday Nov. 28.

The two "new" tracks are "Ett bord i solen" which is "A Table in the Sun" in Swedish, the other new track is called "Ordet är farväl" "("The Word is Goodbye".) Enjoy the cover.

Update November 8:

Tracklist is as follows:

01. Ordet är farväl
02. Ännu doftar kärlek
03. Den bästa dagen
04. Mot okända hav
05. Aldrig som främlingar
06. Även vargar måste välja
07. Jag brände din bild
08. Tid för tystnad
09. Ett bord i solen
10. Den ständiga resan
11. Medan tiden är inne
12. Min trognaste vän
13. Vinterängel
14. Sparvöga
15. Den sjunde vågen
16. Ett hus vid havet
17. Så skimrande var aldrig havet
18. Berusa mig
19. Tro

STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson will release a compilation at the end of November. The new greatest ballad hits will feature her most well-known ballads as well as two newly recorded songs, one of them being a Swedish version of "A Table in the Sun" (from the album "The Change".)

The Daily Roxette is happy to see that Marie surprises us yet again with new material. The sleeve and release date are TBA.

Mikael Bolyos - A Family Affair (EMI MBM 3971032)

Mikael has (somewhat unfairly) come in for quite a bit of criticism from Roxette fans over the years, especially since he started collaborating musically with Marie, as some fans felt that he had moved Marie's music into a direction they didn't like.

The surprising thing is that many of the same fans who criticised Micke's influence on albums such as “The Change” have been very positive about his latest project “A Family Affair”. I actually have really liked the work that Marie has done with her husband, and he was indeed responsible for my favourite song from “The Change”….”Mother”.

Personally, although this album is not going to make as one of my all time favourites of Roxette related material, I like the album a lot. It is a very eclectic mix of styles and sounds incorporating old sixties pop, jazz, eighties pop, and even more modern sounds. I think that this diversity is both the key to the record's success, and its downfall. At times I think it doesn't work very well because it jumps between too many different sounds and lacks cohesion, but then I also think that this is one of the attractions of the album: because it is a very personal collection, almost a story of Micke himself and his family, hence the title “A Family Affair”. Indeed, I can almost imagine Micke, Marie and their friends jamming away in their basement to the songs, as we saw in the Marie's “A Second Chance” documentary a few years ago.

Here are my thoughts on the individual tracks .

Merry Go Round:
A mid-tempo, very Beatles-esque kind of track. A very catchy little number, and one of my favourites. My only slight criticism would be Micke's voice. It's obvious he is not a natural singer. He sings in tune, but it is quite monotone and lacks emotion. However, it doesn't really detract anything from this song, as it is the kind of number that just plods along nicely anyway.

On&On&On:
A slower, bluesier number. Another song with a great hook. Marie is on backing vocals sounding great as usual!

Me & My Guitar:
“Yeah-eah-eah-yeah-yeah”….the song starts with Marie in her best rocky voice that we've come to know and love! This is a faster track, and I don't really think Micke's voice is strong enough to pull it off, but still a nice track.

When the Lord is About to Come:
One of my favourites on the album. A very different sound, with interesting lyrics. A duet with Mats Ronander, though I can't work out who is singing what!

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Mikael Bolyos revealed the tracklist of his coming "A Family Affair" album to The Daily Roxette today. The CD, which will be released on June 14, includes a couple of surprises:

1. Merry Go Round
2. On & On & On
3. Me & My Guitar
4. When the Lord is About to Come (duet with Mats Ronander)
5. In the Corner of Your Eye (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
6. Lilly
7. Tell It to My Heart (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
8. You Are On My Mind (sung by Mats Ronander)
9. What Am I Supposed to Do
10. Outro (sung by Marie Fredriksson)
11. Hometown (sung by Marie Fredriksson)

Update May 25: Courtesy of Mikael we are able to stream yet another song from his coming album: "Me & My Guitar". Enjoy!! (Editor's note: where has Mikael been all this time??)

Update May 30: Mikael's website is now online: www.bolyos.com 

Me & My Guitar

Courtesy of Mikael Bolyos we are able to stream "When The Lord Is About To Come," the first single off his forthcoming album "A Family Affair".

Mikael has also revealed that Marie Fredriksson is singing on the album, which will be available through the usual online music stores such as CDON, Ginza and iTunes.

The Daily Roxette also wants to take this opportunity to congratulate Mikael on his 50th birthday!

Listen to "When The Lord Is About To Come"

Mirror

STOCKHOLM/HALMSTAD - Per and Marie have been kind enough to share a Christmas greeting with us once again:

Awright!
2006 turned out to be a good year! Not only for the roses but also for this little band from the outskirts of Europe.
We managed to deliver a good-looking RoxBox as well as 2 new songs (btw, you have to check out the new remixes of Reveal…. very cool if you ask us…) and a few TV-shows to go with that.
2007? Well, who knows. Marie is talking about more art exhibitions and more exciting solo stuff, Per isn’t talking at all at the moment (he wants to go xmas shopping, the taxi’s waiting…) but knowing him some raunchy urban x-rated hip-hop music isn’t far away!

Luv,
Marie & Per

Marie also sent a very special surprise to all the fans around the world - which you see to the left; click to enlarge.

Judith contributed to this article.

STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson has been selected by the Swedish womens' magazine Tara to receive their annual award given to a woman who has achieved something special in their life. This year, the prize goes to Marie because "her fantastic creativity doesn't let itself be stopped by anything." Tara, a magazine geared towards women over 40, is published by the Bonnier group.
This is the fifth year Tara has given out the award, and the article announcing it appears in the current edition of the magazine. Translated by The Daily Roxette, it is reprinted below with the kind permission of the magazine.

By Stina Abenius

It's not that I don't like the other four candidates nominated for the Tara-award this year, but seldom has a winner been more deserving. The fact that Marie Fredriksson, after her four-year fight against cancer releases both a solo album and does a mini-comeback with Roxette is admirable. The fact that, in addition, she published a book of her drawings a year ago, and even made an exhibition with these drawings is simply incredible. Her fantastic creativity doesn't let itself be stopped by anything.
I meet her at manager Marie Dimberg's office near Hötorget in Stockholm. She's sits and gets makeup for the photo session when I arrive. Photographer Kristian Pohl is setting up shop in the stairwell.
She is sluggish in her movements when she greets me and then walks to the photo session. It takes a little longer. Sometimes she searches for the right words. But when she's posing, one can see she's done it a thousand times before.
The last time I met her was 14 years ago, in the middle of the worst Roxette-hype. At that time, the most frequently asked question was "have you been together with Per Gessle?"
What is the most common question now I wonder later as we sit on a sofa in one of the offices and drink coffee
"What people tell me most often is that they are glad I made it, that I'm alive. People come to me and say this all the time. This happiness is wonderful," she says.
Marie is 48 years old this year, and therefore the same age as Tara's average reader. Therefore it's not that strange that we chose her and that we care about her. A lot. We have loved "Ännu doftar kärlek," danced to "The Look", cried to "It Must Have Been Love". She has been part of the soundtrack of our lives. She is one of us.
When Marie fell back home in Djursholm four years ago, and later was diagnosed with a brain tumor, many of us thought "it could have been me." And now that she is back so strongly we feel inspired by her courage.
She was 44 then. Her children Oscar and Josefin were six and nine. We wondered then how it would go. We didn't really know anything. Didn't hear very much either. Yes, in some newspapers we read that she was extremely protected. Secretly photographed outside of her home and on the way to the hospital. But she herself didn't speak, not then.
"Now it's different. It's not at all the same pressure. I live a completely different life and everything is calm around me. I am actually very happy being able to say this now. But yes, four years have passed by, where did the time go?," says Marie.
The tumor meant a turning point for Marie. After the operation everything became different.
"I thank God I'm alive, I really do. Today I live one day at the time. Stress is nonexistant. I've learned to recognize stress and when I do I stop. I had so much of it before. Some of it was fun, a positive stress, but I can't take it anymore. It's just now I feel I can relax."
Marie's treatment is finished. What she's doing now is a lot of training since after the tumor's removal, she's got problems with, among other things, learning.
"I have to learn new songs in a new way because I can't read, but I have a girl who helps me with this. But I'm so happy that I've found out that one can actually learn to do things in ways a little differerent to the way you were used to, and they work as good as the old ones.
"I am getting better and better at reading, but counting is still hard. But I don't really need to learn it because I can get help from my children, for example. And I can draw, there's no damage there," explains Marie.
She can still do everything she could do before the operation, she doesn't need to re-learn those things. It's everything new that's hard.

• Tara magazine's website (this article appears only in the magazine)

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