Gösta Berlings Sag sign with Cuneiform

Gösta Berlings Saga has signed with US label Cuneiform Records for the release of their next album "Glue works".

Arve Henriksen + Trio Mediaeval live in London

Listen to Norway reports that Arve Henriksen and Trio Mediaeval are teaming up for a special concert in London on February 14 which will include a program "uniquely devised for the occasion": http://www.listento.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2011020411230238103456

Surprise! Doktor Kosmos to Umeå Open

Is it really news that Doktor Kosmos, the Umeå Open in-house band, is once again confirmed for the festival? At least they're not trying to pass them off as the secret act (again?).

Red Tape to lecture on alternative licensing + The City Kill LP preview

Danish label Red Tape will be holding a lecture on the subject of alternative licensing along with Christian Villum of Creative Commons this Sunday, February 6 at Jagtvejens library. Expect about an hour of discussion to be followed by a live appearance by Papir. Entrance is free.

In other Red Tape news, you can now hear a couple new tracks from The City Kill off their forthcoming LP "Days full of joy" at Bandcamp: http://thecitykill.bandcamp.com/album/days-full-of-joy
The official release date of said album is February 25; RIYL slow and gloomy Scandinavian rock.

Tesco Vee on Abba

Florida weekly mag Folio needed pull-quotes for an Abba article, so they turned to mega-fan Tesco Vee: http://blog.bazillionpoints.com/2011/02/03/punks-leading-abba-expert-sounds-off/

Karl X Johan - Fantasies

There's a new track for free download from Karl X Johan available now via Emotion: http://www.eeemotion.se/music/karlxjohan/fantasies/
Says the label: "Loaded with medieval flutes and a dark age mentality, this one aims to smash through your emotional wall."

Presenting: Cut-Out Witch

Check out Cut-Out Witch, a brand new band out of Stockholm featuring two members from Sad Day for Puppets: http://www.cutoutwitchband.com/
The band's self-titled debut EP was recorded by a "pretty drunk" Mattis Ruwe (Makabert Fynd) and will be getting a proper digital release in the near future, but it's already available for full streaming at the aforementioned website. If you dig the classic indie sound of bands I've posted before such as Life Before Man, you'll dig this too.

Rotten Sound tour blog

Rotten Sound has a tour blog and if it's anything like the other Finnish punk/metal tour stories I've seen, it's guaranteed to be good: http://rottentours.blogspot.com/

Portrait preview

Swedish old-school metal act Portrait are now streaming a couple new track from their forthcoming album "Crimen laesae majestatis divinae" at their website: http://www.portraitband.se/

Peace & Love Havana in Havana

The Peace & Love Festival is going on the road to Cuba and will taking a handful of Swedish acts with them. The dates are set for March 25-26 and the lineup will include Timbuktu w/Damn!, Looptroop Rockers and The Baboon Show.

Hultsfredfestivalen resurrected

The Hultsfred Festival will be back this year on July 14-16, in direct competition with the similarily troubled Arvika Fest. As for whether they'll weather the storm, we shall see, but they don't have any acts confirmed yet. Read more: http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/hultsfredsfestivalen-ateruppstar (in Swedish)

You Ate My Dog - Still lost (video)

The screaming is totally unconvincing and unnecessary and, to be frank, just a little bit silly (same goes for all those little moshy bits), but other than that, You Ate My Dog isn't all that bad as far as modern mallcore pop-punk goes. No way those kids are old enough to remember mixtapes on cassettes though, that's 100% bullshit. Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KKb4MV7lqc
The band's debut album "Like torches" is out February 4 via Snapping Fingers Snapping Necks.

The return of Exergy Music

Swedish label Exergy Music is back from the dead, the reason being that "many of my old artists have finished new music that is too good for not being released," plus, "I have also bumped into some new artists that i just love." Guess that once you're in, it's hard to walk away forever. Anyhow, their first new release will be Akaba with the song "Fake it", as you can see/hear above. After that, look for new stuff to follow from the likes of Nanook of the North, Molesome and maybe also Vera Vinter. I'd also be way into a new Vijaya record, but I know the chances of that are slim to none.

Music Export Finland wins Internationalization Award

Finnish president Tarja Halonen has awarded Music Export Finland the 2010 Internationalization Award for their excellence in promoting Finnish business (and in this case, art) abroad: http://www.musex.fi/en/news/music-export-finland-receives-the-internationalization-award-of-the-preside/
Quoteth the article: "Music Export Finland is the first organisation to win the award that operates in an industry, where revenues are primarily derived from the sales of immaterial goods – in this case the music copyrights, as well as a whole range of other music-related services and products."

Happy birthday to Absolut Noise, The Swede Beat

Happy 5th birthday to Swedish music blog Absolut Noise: http://absolutnoise.blogspot.com/2011/02/absolut-noise-is-five-years-old.html
Likewise, happy 2nd birthday to online newsletter/webzine The Swede Beat who are turning 2 and celebrating with a clubnight in Brooklyn featuring a DJ set from Victoria Bergsman/Taken By Trees: http://www.theswedebeat.com/events
When I started this site way back when there was literally no one else out there exclusively covering Scandinavian music. Over the years, many sites have come and gone, but for the ones that stick around: much love! It makes my job easier and the more niches we all cover, the better it is for the readers and the artists.