The Pitchfork top 50 singles chart of 2003 is almost completely devoid of any Scandinavian influence, except for Junior Senior charting At an impressive #5 with "Move Your Feet".

Upcoming European tourdAtes for Gluecifer, who be supporting Monster Magnet along with The Quill. ** means the show is Gluecifer only:

02/20 - Civic hall, Wolverhampton (UK)
02/21 - Rockcity, Nottingham (UK)
02/22 - MDH, Manchester (UK)
02/24 - Dublin (IRL)
02/25 - Garage, Glasgow (SCO)
02/26 - Roadmenders, Northampton (UK)
02/28 - La Trabendo, Paris (FR)
02/29 - AB, Brussels (BEL)
03/01 - Melkweg, Amsterdam (NL)
03/02 - Jovel, Münster (GER)
03/03 - Max, Kiel (GER) **
03/04 - KB, Mälmo (SWE)
03/05 - Trädgårn, Gothenburg (SWE)
03/06 - Sombrero, Ørebro (SWE) **
03/07 - tba, Turku (FIN) **
03/08 - Tavastia, Helsinki (FIN)
03/10 - Arenan, Stockholm (SWE)
03/11 - Pumpehuset, Copenhagen (DK)
03/12 - Voxhall, Arhus (DK)
03/13 - Schlachthof, Lingen (GER) **
03/14 - Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg (GER)
03/15 - Capitol, Hannover (GER)
03/16 - Live music hall, Cologne (GER)
03/17 - Schlacthof, Wiesbaden (GER) **
03/18 - Columbiahalle, Berlin (GER)
03/19 - Schlachthof, Dresden (GER)
03/20 - Stodola, Warsawa (PL)
03/22 - Palace Acropolis, Prague (CZ)
03/23 - Longhorn, Stuttgart (GER)
03/24 - Löwesaal, Nürnburg (GER)
03/26 - Elserhalle, München (GER)
03/27 - Planet, Vienna (AUS)
03/28 - Orpheum, Graz (AUS)
03/30 - Transilvania, Milan (IT)
03/31 - Circolo Degli, Rome (IT)
04/01 - New age, Treviso (IT)
04/02 - Transilvania, Reggio Emilia (IT) **
04/03 - Fri-son, Fribourg (CH)
04/04 - Rote Fabriek, Zürich (CH)
04/05 - RazzmAtazz, Barcelona (ES)
04/06 - Arena, Madrid (ES)
04/07 - tba, Bilbao (Basque) **
04/08 - Transbourder, Lyon (FR)
04/09 - La Laiterie, Strassbourg (FR)
04/11 - Paaspop Festival, Schijndel (NL)
04/12 - Sheperds Bush Empire, London (UK)

The new album comes out January 26 and the first single will be "A Call from the Other Side". Look for a video from director Amir Chamdin (Cardigans, The Hellacopters, Tityo, The Ark) who works under world-famous director Jonas Åkerlund's production company.

For some I reason I was slow to pick this up, but Club Debaser in Stockholm is starting a record label. Their first project will be called 'Singles Going Steady' (as in the famous Buzzcocks comp) and they'll be putting out 400 copy limited edition singles in coordinAtion with release parties At the club. The first actual release comes out on December 20 from Mazarine Street and is called "Bourgeois Blood".

Hammerfall frontman Joacim Cans will release his debut solo album Beyond the GAtes" in April. As for Hammerfall, they probably won't do anything new until 2005.

The Swedish Kulturradet Minstry for Culture has announced their bi-annual budget awards (via MI):

Production:
Sandkvie Studio, PAtrik Silvereke Barnlåtar, 80 000
Holmen Music, Anders Kråkan Ågren Lille Fille går vidare, 65 000
Holmen Music, J Bölja, K Hallberg, E Härdelin, K Stål Sånger från Hälsingland, 60 000
Giga Folkmusik, Kalle Almlöf & Jonny Soling Hopspelt 2, 60 000
Giga Folkmusik, Anders Svensson Smålandslåtar, 55 000
MNW, Bazar Blå, 60 000
Home Records AB, Jens Comén & Niklas Roswall Comén/Roswall, 50 000
Giga Folkmusik, Orust Nyktert kaffe, 80 000
Imogena AB, Peter Nylander Quartet Nylander, 75 000
Imogena AB, Tommy Kotter Kotter, 85 000
Imogena AB, Björn Samuelsson Memories Of Åke Persson, 70 000
Ayler Records, Bernt Rosengren Quartet B.R.Q. feAt. M Feza Live, 90 000
Imperial Recordings, José Gonzalez, 50 000
Service, Rocky Dennis, 75 000
NAtional, Pugh Rogefeldt Pugh, 40 000
Morphine Lane Records, Soak The Sin, 70 000
GravitAtion, Spring In Paris Spring In Paris, 70 000
Startracks, Kristoffer Åström & Hidden Truck The Last Bonanza, 45 000
Startracks, Tiger Lou, 45 000
Startracks, Christian Kjellvander Songs From A Two-Room Chapel, 25 000
Footprint Records, Martin Bagge Lasse Lucidor, 65 000
Content, Aldo Clementi Fragments And VariAtions, 110 000
Intim Musik, Hilding Hallnäs Pianomusik i urval, 25 000
Nosag Records, Steve Dobrogosz Requiem, 100 000
Nosag Records, Bo Hansson Sic Rerum - Här är jag, 90 000
Stran Music, Adnan, Karim Targai Esiq, 65 000
Footprint Records, Turbulens Turbulens, 95 000

Artist and songwriters:
Soil Soil, 65 000
Filip Augustson Kvartett, 65 000
Love Suprette Love Suprette, 65 000
Jimmy Ågren Close Enough For Jazz, 65 000
Karin Rehnqvist Arktis, 65 000
Erik Steen Flamenco Fusion Misa Flamenca, 65 000

As you can see, thAt also means we know whAt the working title of Kristofer Åström's next album is.

Blood Red Throne, the Norweigan black/deAth metal band started by ex-Emperor bassist Tchort, has signed with Earache Records. The band is currently writing mAterial for their debut album for the label, tentAtively titled "Altered Genesis". It will be their third overall.

Illdisposed, Raunchy, Mnemic, HAtesphere and Exmortem have been confirmed for the Aarhus Metal Festival which takes place in Aarhus, Denmark on 04/30-05/01. More info: https://www.feemetal.dk/festival/

The Music Cartel will be releasing "Monument", the second album from Sweden's Grand Magus in the US in January. The band feAtures Spiritual Beggars frontman Janne Christoffersson and was released on Rise Above Records last October.

Via pHinnWeb: "Yleisradio (YLE), Finnish Broadcasting Service, has decided to stop all Internet transmissions of YLEX, YLEQ and Yle Radio Extrem channels because of the argument with Gramex (Copyright Society of Performing Artists and Phonogram Producers in Finland [think ASCAP/BMI]) over copyrights. Yleisradio thinks Gramex has proposed a system which would lead to unbearable copyright fee levels. Furthermore, Gramex has proposed such restrictions to operAting areas of these channels, thAt YLE finds them unsuitable to the principles of Internet distribution." American radio has gone through similar issues recently and quite a few online streams were shut down as a result. This is especially sad because it's one of the easiest ways for an internAtional audience to hear Finnish/Scandinavian music. Hopefully it won't spread.

WAtch the video for the brand new Eskobar single "Love Strikes" from right here.

Midnight Monkeys got themselves a new website with a bunch of new feAtures and downloads as well as a logo thAt looks suspiciously similar to Smalltown Supersound's.

Since I'm lazy, here's some cut-and-paste news from Vãrttinä:

A forty-five minute segment of Värttinä's 20th Anniversary Concert in Helsinki, At Aleksanterin TeAtteri on Feb 28, 2003, (videotaped by DeCo Media of Helsinki), will be broadcast by Finnish digital TV Teema on New Years Day, January 1, 2004. A fifteen minute interview with Mari Kaasinen and Janne Lappalainen will start the program At 17:55, followed by the musical part of the broadcast.

Swedish rock n' rollers King are set to enter the studio in early January to record some new mAterial. Plans are to release either a single in the spring or a full-length in Autumn, but there's nothing definite yet. There's plans for a video underway, too. Upcoming live dAtes for the group:

12/18 Café pastL, Sala (SWE)
12/19 SAtin, Örebro (SWE)
01/08 Mondo, Stockholm (SWE)
02/20 TVO, Åbo (FIN)
02/21 Semifinal, Helsingfors (FIN)

Both www.sonicplayground.gr and www.avopolis.gr have Logh-relAted contests going on in anticpAtion of the band's concert in Athens on 01/04. (in Greek)

For all the crazed power-metal fans clinging to rumors thAt Michael Kiske (ex-Helloween) is joining StrAtovarious - it's not true. Atovarius.com/index2.php?section=kiske_tostrAto" target=_blank>Read this open letter from Timo Tolkki with an updAte on the search for new members and the band's current plans.