Tiger Lou has confirmed March 10 as the release date for the new album. A video for the first single "Oh Horatio" was shot in Gran Canaria and should be getting airplay soon. In other news, he's confirmed a bunch more tourdates and here's the latest:

02/21 - Kulturhuset, Jönköping (SWE) (solo)
02/27 - Gebäude 9, Cologne (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
02/28 - Molotow, Hamburg (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
02/29 - Marias, Berlin (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
03/01 - Cookys, Frankfurt (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
03/02 - Gleis 22, Munster (GER) (solo) w/Cursive
03/03 - Jord (Groove release party), Göteborg (SWE) (band)
03/04 - TBC (Groove release party), Malmö (SWE) (band)
03/05 - Festival 035 @ Diezel, Halmstad (SWE) (band)
03/21 - KB, Malmö (SWE) (solo) w/Jay Farrar
03/22 - Kägelbanan, Stockholm (SWE) (solo) w/Jay Farrar
03/25 - Herrgårn, Linköping (SWE) (band)
03/26 - Nöjesfabriken, Karlstad (SWE) (band)

The Haunted are having a contest to help determine the name of their forthcoming album. Send suggestions to haunted@cyklode.com by February 25 for your chance to win and winners will be announced on the 29th.

Sahara Hotnights have posted some new photos from the studio on their website: http://www.saharahotnights.com/
The band is currently working on a new record at Studio Gröndahl with producer/engineer Pelle Gunnerfeldt.

The nominees for 2004 Emma Gaala video of the year (the Finnish Grammies):

01. Beats & Styles - "Dynamite"
02. HIM - "The Sacrament"
03. Killer - "Naughty Boy"
04. Redrama - "Hang it up"
05. The Crash - "Still Alive"
06. The Rasmus - "In My Life"

Vote here: http://www.nordic.mtve.com/music/nominee.asp
For a full list of nominees, go here: http://www.emmagaala.fi/

Ronald Bood (The Plan, Mando Diao) has been enlisted to mix the new Empire Dogs record.

The 4th annual Swedish Jazz Celebration has been set for March 26-28 at Berwald Hall in Nalen. Some of the acts scheduled to play include Jonas Kullhammar Quartet & Norrbotten Big Band, Per Henrik Wallin, Fredrik Nordström and Mats Gustafson. More info: http://www.swedishjazzcelebration.com/

PopMatters covers both Tiger Lou and the latest Parasol sampler today.

The Moonbabies are one of the picks of the week over at Delusions of Adequacy: http://www.adequacy.net/reviews/m/moonbabies.shtml
They also get positive marks from the Orlando City Beat too: http://www.orlandocitybeat.com/citybeat/music/ocb-music-cdreviews012004,0,94523.htmlstory?coll=ocb-music-headlines

Lisa Miskovsky tourdates in Sweden:

02/28 - Aula Nordica, Umeå
03/05 - Diezel, Halmstad
03/06 - Vemdalsskalet, Vemdalen
03/10 - Bygget, Åre
03/13 - Trädgår´n, Göteborg
03/14 - Konserthuset, Malmö
03/17 - Konserthuset, Västerås
03/19 - Gisleparken, Gislaved
03/20 - Konserthuset, Växjö
03/21 - Lois De Geer, Norrköping
04/07 - Cirkus, Stockholm
04/10 - Konserthuset, Gävle
04/16 - Kino, Karlskrona
04/17 - The Tivoli, Helsingborg
04/18 - Konserthuset, Örebro
04/20 - Konsert & Kongress, Linköping
04/21 - Katalin, Uppsala
04/24 - Kårhusrestaurangen, Luleå
04/29 - Högfjällshotellet, Sälen

Next big thing in 2004? The London Observer speculates on Jaga Jazzist: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,13887,1132410,00.html (via DJ Martian)

The final nominees for the SAMA (Swedish Alternative Music Awards) have been revealed:

Best newcomer:
Alice in Videoland
Firevision
Pride and Fall
Slagsmålsklubben
Spetsnaz
Lowe

Best song:
"Black" - Colony 5
"Truth" - Firevision
"Heartbeats" - The Knife
"I’m Love" - Statemachine
"Neon Commando" - Surferosa
"Hit Me Hard" - Slagsmålsklubben

Best album:
"MaidenVoyage " - Alice in Videoland
"Deep Cuts" - The Knife
"Modus Operandi" - Project-X
"Hi-Fi" - Sophie Rimheden
"Short and Explosive" - Statemachine
"Den svenske disko" - Slagsmålsklubben

Best artist:
Bobby
Colony 5
Statemachine
Tyskarna Från Lund
Erlend Öye
Alice in Videoland

Vote here: http://www.zeromagazine.nu/sama2004.asp

Dagensskiva has posted the lineup and schedule for the Ideal Festival which focuses on electronic music and takes place March 11-13 at Nefertiti in Göteborg: http://www.dagensskiva.com/news.asp?id=2540
Some of the acts performing include Pan Sonic, Kill (ft. members of Jaga Jazzist), The Bug and Pole.

Swedish art band Bent Spanner, Arty Banner is breaking up. Their final 7" release on Speakerphone Recordings with the tracks "Nerves" and "Hospital Built by Kids" is still available and look for final show information to come shortly.

The latest Scandinavian music reviews from the German webzine Sellfish:

Between Us - Regrets & Apologies
The Change - s/t
Gluecifer - Automatic Thrill
J's Plain Band - Colour of Today
Voice of a Generation - The Final Oddition

I was so impressed with Edson's cover of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love by The Darkness that I've added it to my own mp3 playlist. I still think it's kind of a cheap stab at success to cover a song that's already somewhat of a hit, but whatever. If it's good, it's good. Download on the right.