Norwegian shoegazer revivalists Serena Maneesh on tour in the UK:

05/17 - Barfly (Camden), London w/The Low Frequency in Stereo (free!)
05/20 - Beach (The Great Escape Festival), Brighton
05/21 - Roadhouse, Manchester
05/22 - ABC2, Glasgow
05/23 - Barfly, Birmingham
05/24 - Ifor Bach, Cardiff

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Håkan Hellström - Nåt gammalt, nåt nytt, nåt lånat, nåt blått
02. Björn Skifs - Decennier sånger från en annan tid
03. Agnes - Agnes
04. Laleh - Laleh
05. Son of a Plumber - Son of a Plumber
06. Thåström - Skebokvarnsv 209
07. Lena Philipsson - Jag ångrar ingenting
08. Monica Zetterlund - Z - det bästa med monica zetterlund
09. Björn Afzelius - Björn Afzelius bästa
10. The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity
11. Robyn - Robyn
12. Amy Diamond - This Is Me Now
13. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype
14. Sophie Zelmani - A decade of dreams 1995-2005
15. Nanne - Alltid på väg
16. Darin - Darin
17. Sven-Ingvars - Livet är nu - 50 år det bästa med sven-ingvars
18. Emilia De Poret - A lifetime in a moment
19. Peps Blodsband - Äntligen!
20. Eva Dahlgren - Snö

Decoy Music counts down the top 50 instrumental releases of 2005 with Norway's Samuel Jackson Five claiming the #1 spot: http://www.decoymusic.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6776
Other Scandinavians in the list include The Low Frequency in Stereo (#37), Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson (#36), Ellis the Vacuumchild (#17), Sigur Ros (#8) and September Malevolence (#4).

I'm not sure if this means no ExMS showcase in NY and LA, but here's the list of bands playing the two "Nordic Nights" showcases at The Drink On 6th at SXSW:

03/17:
Ske (ICE)
Tina Dico (DK)
The Low Frequency in Stereo (NOR)
Epo-555 (DK)
Powersolo (DK)
22 Pistepirkko (FIN)

03/18:
Teitur (DK)
Magnet (NOR)
The Crash (FIN)
The Ark (SWE)
Surfer Rosa (NOR)
The Blue Van (DK)

Post-rockers The Low Frequency in Stereo have confirmed "Travelling Ants Who Got Eaten by Moskus" as the title of their new album. It's being mastered by Deathprod (Supersilent, ex-Motorpsycho) and will be out January 25 on Rec90.

Rec90 post-rock act The Low Frequency In Stereo are currently busy in the studio working on their second album, tentatively due out in January next year. Rumor has it, there might even be more singing on this release than the last one. Damn sell-outs.