Swedish rockers The Bones will be flying out to Boston for a special St. Patricks day (March 17) day show with local legends Dropkick Murphys and Jerry's Kids. Should be a ridiculous, drunken melee I'd imagine. Other upcoming live dates:
12/10 - Karlskrona (SWE)
01/06 - Bern (SWI)
01/08 - Schaffhausen (SWI)
01/21 - Eisenach (GER)
02/04 - Copenhagen (DK)
02/11 - Darmstadt (GER)
02/12 - Lenzerheide (SWI)
02/13 - Augsburg (GER)
Danish indie/DIY label BSBTA aka Bloated Sasquatch Beer Theatre Audio has a Christmas calendar with a new mp3 every day until the holiday: http://www.bsbta.com/
Swedish hip-hop site B-line.se has updated their listening section with two months of shows available for streaming.
Norway's Thom Hell has posted a downloadable Christmas gift in the form of the song "Christmas eve": http://www.thomhell.com/
Uncle's Institution is doing a Christmas special again this year: http://www.unclesinstitution.com/xmas.htm
Peter Tägtgren of Pain (and Hypocrisy) has revealed that the title of his new album will be "Dancing with the dead" and will be released on January 26. The title refers to an occasion where Tägtgren was out drinking with friends and suddenly collapsed, losing his pulse and being clinically dead for two minutes. The music is said to be even more commercial in nature than earlier works and stocked full of potential single material.
Coolfer predicts that the newest Moonbabies album "The orange billboard" is an early contender for inclusion on many year-end lists and rightfully so I think: http://www.coolfer.com/blog/archives/2004/12/tuesday_shorts.html
The record came out last year in Sweden via Chalksounds and was released in the US on Hidden Agenda in early 2004.
Norwegians Leif Ove Andsnes and Jan Garbarek are nominated for Grammies in the 'Chamber Music Performance' and 'Contemporary Jazz Album' categories, respectively.
PopMatters assesses the reissue of the first Sigor Ros album "Von": http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/s/sigorros-von.shtml
With the release of their new album "State of the Ark" comfirmed for December 27, The Ark will be hitting the road around in support starting in February:
03/21 - Cirkus, Stockholm
02/23 - Tavstia, Helsingfors
02/24 - Klubi, Tammerfors
02/25 - Klubi, Åbo
03/03 - Train, Århus
03/04 - Pumpehuset, Copenhagen
03/05 - FP, Huskvarna
03/08 - KB, Malmö
03/10 - Trädgårn, Göteborg
03/11 - BMB, Karlstad
03/12 - 035-festival , Halmstad
04/08 - Umeå Open, Umeå
Online CD mailorder site listening-post.com is now carrying titles from Scandinavian artists Popium, The Confusions, The Drowners, Grass Show, The Kooks, The Kristet Utseende, Krunch, Left Hand Solution, Mine, The Moderns, My Orchard, Thousand Dollar Playboys and Wilson Hospital.
Arch Enemy has revealed that the upcoming Metal Hammer UK show at the London Forum on December 17 with The Haunted, Dark Tranquility and Nightrage will be filmed for a DVD release.
Due to time restraints preventing them from finishing up in the studio, the release of Lullacry's next album has been pushed back a bit. The first single "Stranger In You" (b/w "I stole your love" by Kiss) is still on track for a March 9 release and I'd assume the full-length will follow soon after.