Swedish death metal acts My Own Grave and Demonical along with Finns Deathbound are hitting the road in February:
02/12 - Snövit, Stockholm (SWE)
02/13 - Ungdomens Hus, Fredericia (DK)
02/14 - Bastard Club, Osnabrück (GER)
02/15 - Little Devil, Tilburg (NL)
02/17 - De Verlichte Geest, Roeselare (BEL)
02/18 - Das Haus, Neuss (GER)
02/19 - Gleis 3, Annaberg-Buchholz (GER)
02/20 - Club Zentral, Stuttgart (GER)
02/21 - Dynamo Werk 21, Zürich (CH)
02/22 - The Jack Hole, Vicenza (ITA)
02/23 - Channel Zero, Ljubljana (SLO)
02/24 - Toxic Music Club, Pecs (HUN)
02/25 - Zeljeznicar, Zagreb (CRO)
02/26 - Kawarna, Slavonice (CZ)
02/27 - Hellraiser, Leipzig (GER)
02/28 - Klex, Greifswald (GER)
Pitchfork has started to post their top 100 tracks of 2009 and so far in the bottom 50 we have Scandinavian artist representation from Frida Hyvönen (#77), Röyksopp (feat. Robyn) (#68), The Tough Alliance (#65), Annie (#64) and Fever Ray (#58). See here: http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7742-the-top-100-tracks-of-2009/
New Swedish alt-country/melancholy pop act June & the Swing Gentlys are giving away their debut single "Theo" as a free download: http://www.heybonnie.com/
The excellent Swedish prog act Gösta Berlings Saga have been confirmed for January's It's a Trap! Clubnight at Debaser Malmö on January 16.
Aerial have a new video for the song "Velvet light trap": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTcKBmwpBkM
Check out the new Mixtapes & Cellmates video for their latest single "Soft eyes": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmMJs0IrrU0
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, 100% pre-millennium edition:
01. TALK 1
02. Honey Is Cool - Bolero
03. Beyond Dawn - Addictions are private
04. Commando M Pigg - Baby doll
05. TALK 2
06. Kent - If you were here
07. Fireside - Let Rasputin do it
08. CMX - Ainomieli 97
09. Docent Död - Bensin i blodet
10. TALK 3
11. Bitch Boys - Automobile
12. Nicolai Dunger - This town
13. Broder Daniel - I'll be gone
14. Starmarket - Ten seconds
15. TALK 4
16. Madrugada - Beautyproof
17. Breach - Black sabbath
18. Silverbullit - Thank you Mr.
19. Camouflage - Syster sol
20. TALK 5
21. Entombed - Lights out
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers. Next week's show will feature tunes from my top 10 albums of the year.
Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words has posted a whole bunch of rare and unreleased tracks to Soundcloud for streaming: http://soundcloud.com/whenskiesaregrey
Hästpojken once again plays live for PSL: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2009/12/11/musik-med-hastpojken-2
This version of the single "Gitarrer & bas, trummor & hat" sounds way better than the studio take which, in my oh-so-humble opinion, is pure garbage.
Swedish rapper Alexis Weak has been awarded the 2nd annual Novellpriset from Novell magazine for excellent storytelling in music: http://magasinetnovell.se/2009/12/11/novellpriset-till-alexis-weak/ (in Swedish)
This week's top 20 Norwegian album chart:
01. Sissel & Odd - Strålande Jul
02. Bjørn Eidsvåg - De Beste
03. Ole Edvard Antonsen - Desember Stemninger
04. Donkeyboy - Caught in a Life
05. Tine Thing Helseth - Mitt hjerte alltid vanker
06. Rita Eriksen - Frelsesarmeens Juleplate 2009
07. Elisabeth Andreassen & Rein Aleksander - Julenatt
08. Jahn Teigen - Teigen - 40 Største Hits
09. Nilsen/Aalberg - Call Me a Dreamer
10. Sivert Høyem - Moon Landing
11. Helene Bøksle - Det Hev Ei Rose Sprungen
12. Bugge Wesseltoft - It's Snowing On My Piano
13. Dum Dum Boys - Tidsmaskin
14. Herborg Kråkevik - Kvar Ein Dag
15. Malin - Malin
16. Torbjørn Egner - Samlede CD-er
17. Jonas Fjeld feat Henning Kvitnes - Den Gamle Veien
18. Jokke & Valentinerne - Levende (så lenge det varer)
19. Alf Prøysen - De kjente og kjære sangene
20. Stephen Brandt-Hanssen - I Julens Lys
This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:
01. Lotta Engberg - Jul hos mig
02. Kent - Röd
03. Carola - Christmas in Bethlehem
04. Amanda Jenssen - Happyland
05. Jill Johnson - Music row II
06. Thåström - Be-bop-a-lula hela jävla dan (1989-2009)
07. Lars Winnerbäck - Tänk om jag ångrar mig och sen ångrar mig igen
08. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
09. Sanna, Shirley, Sonja - Our Christmas
10. Malena Ernman - La voix du nord
11. Amy Diamond - Swings and roundabouts
12. Takida - The darker instinct
13. Martin Stenmarck - Septemberland
14. Jessica Andersson - Wake up
15. Christer Sjögren - Schlagerminnen
16. Bo Kaspers Orkester - Samling
17. Arvingarna - Underbart
18. Nisse Hellberg - En modern man
19. Caroline af Ugglas - Så gör jag det igen
20. Larz Kristerz - Om du vill