Upcoming tourdates for Finland's Giant Robot who are notorious for putting on a great live show:
09/11 - Klubi, Tampere (FIN)
09/17 - Klubi, Turku (FIN)
09/20 - In The City, Bar 38, Manchester (UK)
09/25 - Akateeminen Startti, Kuopio (FIN)
10/01 - St Petersburg (RUS)
10/09 - St Petersburg (RUS)
10/23 - Musiikki & Media, Tampere (FIN)
11/03 - Henry's Pub, Kuopio (FIN)
11/04 - 45 Special, Oulu (FIN)
11/19 - Bar Kino, Pori (FIN)
11/20 - Nosturi, Helsinki (FIN)
12/05 - B2, Moscow (RUS)
Three out of four Swedes willing to pay for music online: http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=70673
Good news for Dotshop.se and the like I suppose.
Duplicate Records has confirmed a September 15 release for the debut self-titled album from Two Trains. The band consists of members from Beyond Dawn and Lamented Souls and is said to consist of "a hypnotic blend of mellow pop, gritty rock, quirky electronica and masterful songwriting."
Granvista is now offering full downloads of a few of their songs as opposed to short clips: http://www.granvista.se/music.htm
Lost at Sea has published their second entry in a series on experimental music, this time covering ambient: http://www.lostatsea.net/LAS/archives/features/music/experimentalmusicguide/
Artists featured include Iceland's Stafrænn Hákon and Sweden's Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words.
Sweden's premiere hip-hop artist Timbuktu was involved in a serious car accident, but it reportedly doing okay. Read more: http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/noje/story/0,2789,526820,00.html (in Swedish)
The Raveonettes teamed up with legendary Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker who lent her skills to a couple tracks on the group's forhtcoming album.
Sahara Hotnights will be headlining this year's Rookie Festival in Sweden which I guess is set to go down in late October.
Rune Grammofon on the new release of "Oak or Rock", the third album from Phonophani:
The title "Oak or Rock" refers to mysterious connections between material things, and the album is all about rediscovering the great mystery of music. Through dissecting the sound of ordinary or 'real' instruments such as cello, vibraphone, guitars and the human voice and dissolving melodies into their elementary particles, Espen Sommer Eide seeks to excavate the 'ur' music itself. Instruments are often sampled and manipulated using software designed and made by himself, being a keen programmer who prefers this to the so-called industry standards, giving the album a personal and unique sound. Maja Ratkje is appearing on one of the tracks.
Blastitude on Finnish experimental label Lal Lal Lal: http://blastitude.com/17/LALLALLAL.htm
Finally, here's a complete list of upcoming international tourdates for The Concretes:
10/01 - Bommens Salonger, Göteborg (SWE)
10/02 - Garage, Oslo (NOR) w/Stars
10/03 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
10/11 - Lee's, Toronto (CAN)
10/13 - TT's, Boston, MA
10/14 - Bowery Ballroom, NYC, NY
10/17 - Neumos, Seattle, WA
10/20 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
10/22 - Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA
Mp3 blog Fat Planet celebrates their one-year anniversary today with the release of a downloadable comp featuring some of their picks for the best music in the world. Of course that means quite a new Nordic acts are featured, such as Lars Horntveth (NOR), Erik Levander (SWE) and Jab Mica och El (DK). Check it: http://www.fatplanet.com.au
Check out the video for "You are the light" from Jens Lekman: http://www.srvice.com/light.html
Quit Your Dayjob have recorded a cover of "Broken face" by The Pixies for an upcoming tribute album coming out in October from Düsseldorf Recordings. Other bands contributing are Hell on Wheels ("The Holiday Song"), Hamell on Trial, Nathan Larson (ex-Shudder to Think), David Fridlund (David & the Citizens) with Sara Culler, Doktor Kosmos and more.
Umeå's Klubb Modos has confirmed their schedule for the next couple months: http://hem.bredband.net/b285927/modosflyerweb.gif