There's a new festival in Fagersta, Sweden on May 22 with Differnet, Sophie Rimheden, Jens Lekman, The Legends, Paris, The Kid, Slagsmålsklubben and Hell On Wheels. There will also be film, theatre, workshops, graffiti, exhibitions along with other artistic ventures, so it's sure to be a good time. It's online quite yet, but more info will be posted soon at http://www.ohanamisaturday.com/

Sophie Rimheden and Håkan Lidbo are collaborating together on a cover of "Shout" by Tears for Fears. They'll be releasing it on an EP together with some remixes and another track in the fall.

Some of these have mentioned before, but here's the full list of new acts being booked by Luger: Logh, Sophie Rimheden, Heikki, Existensminimum, Peter, Bjorn and John, Stella Rocket and The Tough Alliance.

BD is also now scheduled to play Arvika along with new Scandinavian additions Jens Lekman, Meshuggah, Sophie Rimheden, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and The Sweetbacks.

Sophie Rimheden, the award-winning so-called 'Madonna of electronica', will release her new EP "Into Night" on March 8 via indie label Ssschuitt. Here's the tracklist:

01. Into night
02. Cold
03. Wanting
04. Into night (acoustic version by Johan Sigerud

She'll also be doing a few dates around Scandinavia supporting Germany's Chicks On Speed. Those dates:

03/23 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
03/24 - Vega, Copenhagen (DK)
03/25 - John Dee, Oslo (NOR)
03/26 - Umeå Open, Umeå (SWE)
03/27 - Trädgår'n, Göteborg (SWE)
03/23 - Mondo, Stockholm (SWE)

More info and samples: http://www.sophier.tk

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

New bands added to the Umeå Open lineup: Jens Lekman, Laakso, Shout Out Louds, Sophie Rimheden and Miss Universum. The kickoff show for the fest will take place February 28 at Fritz's Corner with Bring Me The Fucking Riot...Man and The Janitors.

The winners of the Manifest 2004 Sveriges Oberoende Musikpris (The Swedish Independent Music Prize):

Pop/rock: The Knife
Hard rock/punk: Nasum
Hip-hop/r&b/soul: Chords
Postrock/electronica: Sophie Rimheden
Dance/house/techno: Plej
Folk/world music: Frifot
Singer/songwriter: José González
Live artist of the year: Moneybrother
Newcomer of the year: Radio Dept.

More info: http://www.som.se/manifest/

Race Will Begin is the name of a brand new virtual 7" label from Sweden and their first release is from Sophie Rimheden. Check it out: http://www.racewillbegin.com/
Their next release from Sophie will include a cover of the Kylie Minogue hit "Slow".

Here are some of the nominees for the Swedish Grammies:

Best Pop Female:
Jill Johnson - Roots and Wings
Lisa Miskovsky - Fallingwater
Miss Universum - Selfelected
Pauline - Candy Rain
Elin Sigvardsson - Saturday Light Naive

Best Pop Male:
Magnus Carlson - Ett Kungarike För En Kram
Per Gessle - Mazarin
José González - Veneer
Peter LeMarc - Det Som Håller Oss Vid Liv
Mauro Scocco - Beat Hotel

Best Pop Group:
Alcazar - Alcazarized
Bo Kaspers Orkester - Vilka Tror Vi Att Vi Är
Da Buzz - More Than Alive
David & The Citizens - Until The Sadness Is Gone
The Knife - Deep Cuts

Best Rock Album (solo):
Eagle-Eye - Cherry Sub Rosa
Christian Kjellvander - Introducing The Past
Lars Winnerbäck och Hovet - Söndermarken
Moneybrother - Blood Panic
Thomas Rusiak - In The Sun

Best Rock Group:
Bad Cash Quartet - Midnight Prayer
Broder Daniel - Cruel Town
The Cardigans - Long Gone Before Daylight
Fireside - Get Shot
Randy - Welfare Problems

Best Songwriter:
Karin & Olof Dreijer
Per Gessle
Lisa Miskovsky & Joakim Berg
Peter Svensson
Moneybrother (Anders Wendin)

Best Lyrics:
Timbuktu (Jason Diakté)
Per Gessle
Peter LeMarc
Nina Persson
Lars Winnerbäck

Best Producer:
Joakim Berg/Simon Norberg
Karin & Olof Dreijer
Pelle Gunnerfeldt
Jari Haapalainen
C. Öfwerman, C. Lundquist & P. Gessle

Best Hip-hop/Soul:
Advance Patrol - Utskrivna
Kaah - Jideblasko
Ken Det - Bortglömda
The Latin Kings - Omerta
Timbuktu - The Botten Is Nådd!

Best Hard Rock:
Backyard Babies - Stockholm Syndrome
Evergrey - Recreation Day
The Haunted - One Kill Wonder
Mustasch - Ratsafari
Opeth - Damnation

Best Jazz:
E.S.T. - Seven Days Of Falling
Rigmor Gustavsson - with I Will Wait For You
Nils Landgren and The Fleshquartet
Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - Plays Loud For The People
Oddjob - Koyo
Bobo Stenson/Lennart Åberg

Best Club/Dance Song:
Hundarna Från Söder - Hundarna Från Söder BAM
Koop - Waltz For Koop - Alternative Takes
Physics - First Flight NSD
Plej - Electronic Music From The Westcoast
Sophie Rimheden - Hi-Fi Mitek

Best Pop/Dance Band:
Barbados - Hela Himlen
Fame - Give Me Your Love
Jan Johansen - X My Heart
Jill Johnson - Discography
Lasse Stefanz - Det Här Är Bara Början

Go here for the full list: http://www.ifpi.se/02.images/01.top/02.subnav_pdf/08.grammis/pdf/Grammisnomineringar_2003.pdf

Here's the nominees for the Swedish Manifest awards:

Pop/Rock:
Hell on Wheels - Oh my God What have I done
Radio Dept. - Lesser matters
Concretes - Concretes
Franke - Optimismens hån
The Knife - Deep cuts

Hardrock/Punk:
Arch Enemy - Anthems of rebellion
Burst - Prey on life
Cult of Luna - The beyond
Katationa - Viva emptiness
Nasum - Helvete

Hip hop/R&B/Soul:
Chords - The garden around the mansion
Speech Defect - Freshcoast gettin' rowdy
Soul Supreme - The Saturday nite agenda
Advance Patrol - Utskrivna
Kaah - Jideblasko international

Postrock/electronica:
Namur - Conquer me
Sagor & Swing - Allt hänger samman
Sophie Rimheden - Hi-fi
Slagsmålsklubben - Den svenske disco
Tape - Milieu

Dance/house/techno:
Hundarna från Söder - Hundarna från Söder
Forss - Soulhack
Plej - Electronic music from the Swedish leftcoast
Stateless - Art of no state
Steve Angello - ...presents tracks

Folk/World music:
Lisa Rydberg - Östbjörka
Frifot - Sluring
Anders Nygårds & Magnus Stinnerbom - Dalahyl
Anders Norrudde, Leo Svensson and Göran Fredriksson - Med hull och hår
Cerro Esperanza Band - Nubes del alma

Singer/Songwriter:
Ane Brun - Spending time with Morgan
Ulf Stureson - Allt jag ville säga
Christian Kjellvander - Introducing the past
Johan Borgert - Johan Borgert
José Gonzàlez - Veneer

Best live artist:
Looptroop
Moneybrother
Randy
Timbuktu med Damn
Killers

Best newcomer:
Miss Universum
José Gonzàlez
Shout Out Louds
Radio Dept.
Paris

Winners are chosen by the SOM (Svenska Oberoende Musikproducenter) (Swedish Independent Musicproducers) and will be announced at an awards ceremony on January 29 at Debaser in Stockholm.

The Hives will premiere their brand new single at the P3 Gold Awards on January 23 at Storan in Göteborg. Other acts set to play include Nicolai Dunger, Lisa Miskovsky, Patrik Isaksson, Elin Sigvardsson, Timbuktu, Broder Daniel and Soundtrack Of Our Lives. As for the awards themselves, here's the nominees:

Guldmicken (best live act):
José González
Moneybrother
Randy
Robyn
Timbuktu

Best song:
The Cardigans - "For What It's Worth"
Per Gessle - "Här Kommer Alla Känslorna (På En Och Samma Gång)"
Lisa Miskovsky - "Lady Stardust"
Timbuktu - "The Botten Is Nådd"
Broder Daniel - "When We Were Winning"

Best group:
Alcazar - "Alcazarised"
Bad Cash Quartet - "Midnight Prayer"
Broder Daniel - "Cruel Town"
The Cardigans - "Long Gone Before Daylight"
The Knife - "Deep Cuts"

Best male artist:
Per Gessle - "Mazarin"
José González - "Veneer"
Moneybrother - "Blood Panic"
Timbuktu - "The Botten Is Nådd"
Lars Winnerbäck - "Söndermarken"

Best female artist:
Lisa Miskovsky - "Fallingwater"
Miss Universum - "Selfelected"
Pauline - "Candy Rain"
Sophie Rimheden - "Hi-Fi"
Elin Sigvardsson - "Saturday Light Naïve"

Best newcomer:
José González
Miss Universum
Moneybrother
Pauline
Radio Dept.

Best rock:
Arch Enemy - "Anthems of Rebellion"
Cult Of Luna - "The Beyond"
Mörk Gryning - "Pieces of Primal Expressionism"
Nasum - "Helvete"
Satirnine - "Void of Value"

Best dance:
Jesper Dahlbäck - total production 2003
Eric Prydz - total production 2003
Forss - "Soulhack"
Hundarna från Söder - "Hundarna Från Söder"
Plej - "Electronic Music From The Swedish Leftcoast"

Best pop:
Franke - "Optimismens Hån"
The Knife - "Deep Cuts"
Radio Dept. - "Lesser Matters"
Sophie Rimheden - "Hi-Fi"
Tape - "Milieu"

Best hip-hop/soul:
Advance Patrol - "Utskrivna"
Fattaru - "Jordnära"
Ken - "Det Bortglömda"
Latin Kings - "Omerta"
Timbuktu - "The Botten Is Nådd"

For more info, go to P3 Gold's website.

Bands announced for next year's 2004 Scandinavian Alternative Music Awards (SAMA) concert on April 2 at Trädgår’n in Göteborg: Alice In Videoland (SWE), And One (GER), Backlash (SWE), Panzerveps (NOR), Slagsmålsklubben (SWE) and Sophie Rimheden (SWE). Six more bands are still yet to be announced. Read more.