Check out Music Export Finland's official press release regarding their musical ambassadors appearing at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, TX: http://www.musexfinland.fi/index.php?page=news&id=63
Mattias Hellberg will be joining fellow Swedish singer/songwriter Christian Kjellvander on the following French tourdates:
03/13 - TNT, Nantes (FRA)
03/14 - Nouveau Casino, Paris (FRA)
03/16 - La Cyrius, Lyon (FRA)
03/17 - Le Ciel, Grenoble (FRA)
Licking Fingers, the label run by The Concretes, will be releasing the debut album "Until death comes" from their friend Frida Hyvönen on March 30.
Hotstuff.se will release a 500 copy limited edition vinyl version of Håkan Hellström's latest album "Ett kolikbarns bekännelser" on March 10. Preorder here: http://www.hotstuff.se/directlink.asp?artist=hellstr&
The video for Eskobar's next single "Even if you know me" was self-produced by guitarist Frederik Zäll and is said to feature live tour footage of the band performing around the world. Look for streaming samples to be posted online shortly.
Check out the brand new song "Leafless" from Boy Omega, the project of singer/songwriter Martin Henrik Gustafsson: http://kubot.ath.cx/kubotsite/hidden/boyomega-leafless.mp3
The track features guest vocals from Emelie Molin of the very excellent post-rock act Audrey and was recorded live in Martin's bedroom. In other news, Boy Omega's new album "The Black Tango" which Martin describes as being darker and more electronic than his debut, is due out later this year.
Lampshade is having a contest to give away free copies of their debut album "Because trees can fly": http://www.adorablevoid.com/lampshade/contest/
Here's this week's YLE/Morjen top 10 Nordic video chart:
01. Smak - Nousen (FIN)
02. Disco Ensemble - We might fall apart (FIN)
03. Kent - Max 500 (SWE)
04. Korpiklaani - Hunting song (FIN)
05. The 69 Eyes - Lost boys (FIN)
06. Bitch Alert - Latenight lullaby (FIN)
07. Pain - Same old song (SWE)
08. Apollo - Peli (FIN)
09. Gakko 3 - Club idiot saturday drive (FIN)
10. Moneybrother - They're building walls around us (SWE)
Challengers:
11. PMMP - Päiväkoti (FIN)
12. The Mo - Howl in the jungle (SWE)
13. Padington - Hey now (NOR)
MIC Norway does a round-up of reviews for the latest album from ECM recording artist Tord Gustavsen Trio: http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2005030310432048888075
Indieworkshop reviews Alog's new self-titled album on Rune Grammofon: http://indieworkshop.com/reviews/1554/
It's official: Now that Melody Club is opening for Kylie, they will be blowing off the ExMS showcase tour in the US. A no-brainer, really. A replacement act will be announced soon.
Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Christer Sjögren - Love Me Tender
02. Darin - The anthem
03. Timbuktu - Alla vill till himmelen men ingen vill dö
04. Håkan Hellström - Ett kölikbarns bekännelser
05. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
06. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
07. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
08. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
09. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
10. Soilwork - Stabbing the Drama
11. Stefan Nilsson - Så som i himmelen (filmmusik)
12. Barbados - Best of Barbados 1994-2004
13. Ted Gärdestad - Sol vind & vatten - Det bästa
14. The Real Group - In the Middle of Life
15. Elin Sigvardsson - Smithereens
16. Wilmer X - 13 Våningar Upp
17. The Ark - State of the Ark
18. Elin Lanto - One
19. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Bao!
20. Rigmor Gustaffson and the Jacky Terrasson Trio - Close to You
Finland's most dysfunctional power-metal act Stratovarius has confirmed a number of North American tourdates:
09/17 - ProgPower USA, Atlanta, GA
09/19 - Jaxx, Springfield, VA
09/20 - Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
09/21 - B.B. King's, New York, NY
09/23 - Le Medley, Montreal, QUE
09/24 - Le Capitole, Quebec City, QUE
09/28 - House of Blues, Chicago, IL
More dates soon.
Ratatosk Online is a Dutch website on Scandinavian music and arts: http://ratatoskonline.net/
Finnish power-pop act The Sugarrush will release their debut five-song ep "Useless information" on March 6 via Kinkt Records. Check out the title track right here: http://mokomaki.com/kinkt/the_sugarrush_-_useless_information.mp3