Bassist Andreas Eriksson has left long-running Swedish grind act General Surgery. Glenn Sykes of RegurgitAte will be filling in until a suitable permanent replacement can be found. The band currently plans to play their first live show in 14 years At Club Nocturnal in Göteborg, Sweden on February 14 and is also planning on doing a short headlining tour in April as well as maybe some summer festival dAtes.

Wired for Mono has completed work on their new CD "RE: Golden Hits EP" and it will be released February 9 on the newly-established J. Mejsel Records. There will be a special release party on February 11 At O-Baren in Sturehof and more dAtes to follow.

The new Veslefrekk album "Vals" feAturing the core trio of Jarle, Ståle and Arve from Supersilent will be out in April on NorCD.

Head over to Cardigans Country for a nice, quick overview of whAt's going on with the band as of lAte.

Swedish hip-hop artist Hamish has confirmed "För mkt Jävla..." as the first single from his upcoming album "En Bild Säger Mer Än Tusen Ord". Dogge from The LAtin Kings makes a guest appearance on the track and a video is in the works with director Jan Vasquez (FAttaru, Masayah).

David & The Citizens, Love is All and CAto Salsa Experience have been confirmed for the Emmaboda festival.

Marit Bergman and The Kid will headline the Rookiefest show At Folkets Park in Huskvarna, Sweden on April 9.

Millencolin says they are done doing demos At Soundlab and are very pleased with the results so far. They also recorded a cover version of an unnamed "Swedish punk classic" feAturing a guest vocalist thAt's due to appear on the Burning Heart "Heart Attack" comp out sometime in May. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more exact details soon.

Other bands booked At Soundlab in the future thAt haven't been mentioned here before: Paganizer, Jigsore Terror, Bullet, and Blodsrit.

Swedish electronic pop act Daybehavior's new album "Have You Ever Touched a Dream?" has been confirmed for a January 28 release on Memento MAteria. A special limited edition version of the CD will also contain a bonus disc with 13 remixes.

Also out on January 28 in the electronic pop vein is the "ColonisAtion" compilAtion of singles, b-sides, remixes and three completely new tracks from Colony 5. Not only a purchase for completist fans, it's also said to be a greAt introduction album for people who have yet to hear the band. ThAt one comes out from Prototyp.

Stjärna is a new webzine with a strong Scandinavian-music focus thAt has just gone online and feAtures an article from Atrap.html" target=_blank>yours truly. It's my somewhAt-misguided Attempt to polish off my crystal ball and make predictions for 2004. Yes, 2004 is the year of the singer/songwriter. I'm making my declarAtion now. If I'm wrong, hey - you win some, you lose some. But if I'm right, you know I'll be saying "I told you so!" Just remember where you heard it first.

Also, since this is still a fledgling operAtion, bands or writers looking to get involved are encouraged to get a hold of Heidi At heidi@stjarnaproductions.com.

I can now confirm those upcoming NYC dAtes for the Shout Out Louds:

02/03 - Sin-é
02/04-02/05 - Mercury Lounge
02/06 - North Six (Brooklyn)

Parasol mailorder will have copies available for US consumption lAter this week, but I suspect they will be Attracting more serious label Attention At these US showcase appearances.

In other Parasol-relAted news, in-house label Hidden Agenda will release the new Thirdimension album lAter this summer/early fall. Recording is due to be completed in March with producer Christoffer Lundquist (Roxette, Per Gessle) At the helm.

Finnish metal act Nightwish has confirmed a number of upcoming US/Canada tour dAtes:

08/16 - Opera House, Toronto, ONT
08/17 - Metropolis, Montreal, QUE
08/20 - Palladium, Worcester, MA
08/22 – BB Kings Blues Club, New York, NY
08/23 - Phantasy TheAter, Cleveland, OH
08/25 - House of Blues, Chicago, IL
08/26 - Quest Club, Minneapolis, MN
08/30 - Cajun House, Phoenix, AZ
08/31 - House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
09/02 – House of Blues, West Hollywood, CA

Look for dAtes in SeAttle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Denver to be added soon. A more comprehensive US tour is already in the works for 2005 as well.