This week's MTV Up North Nordic video chart:

01. The Rasmus - First Day Of My Life
02. Redrama - Hang It Up
03. Lisa Miskovsky - Lady Stardust
04. Outlandish - Aicha
05. BeAts & Styles - Dynamite
06. Backyard Babies - Minus Celsius
07. C21 - One Night In Bangkok
08. Da D.o.n.s - She Don´t Know My Game
09. Turbonegro - Sell Your Body (To The Night)
10. Mew - 156
11. Lene Marlin - You Weren´t There
12. Paperboys - On The Low
13. NegAtive - The Moment Of Our Love
14. Equicez - Barnslig
15. Erik Faber - Century
16. Fu:el - Next Summer
17. Broder Daniel - When We Were Winning
18. Blackstrap - In Colored Ways
19. The LAtin Kings - Cashen Dom Tas
20. The Fashion - Let´s Go Dancing

Challengers:
01. The Knife - Pass This On
02. I´Dees - Brave And Optimistic Girl
03. Christian Kjellvander - Portugal
04. Paperboys - Hey Man
05. Funkstar De Luxe - SAturday

Go to the MTVE.com site to wAtch and vote for your favorite.

Here's an e-card for thAt new Håkan Hellström DVD: https://www.virgin.se/artists/hakan/dvd/dvd.htm (in Swedish)

Atch.com/servlet/SAtellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031772201470&pAth=%21weekend&s=1045855936233" target=_blank>Here's an article from the Richmond, VA Times-DispAtch giving preview to Tiger Lou's impending US solo tour which kicks off next week. As mentioned before, updAted tourdAtes are available on tourmAte Rachel Jacob's website.

Burning Heart has announced thAt the long-awaited Refused "Refused Are Fucking Dead" DVD career retrospective will be out this spring. It will contain all sorts of never before seen mAterial along with the group's videos and more. Also in the works from the defunct band is a DVD Audio 5.1 surround sound remix of the now-classic album "The Shape Of Punk To Come", out early next year on Epitaph in North America. Burning Heart will follow with a European release again in the spring. And thAt's not all - there will also be a new digipack edition of the album bundled along with remastered versions of earlier works "Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent" and "The EP CompilAtion" out on both labels next year. More details and exact release dAtes coming soon.

A recording of Norweigan improv/experimental act Supersilent's concert At Jazzfestival Saalfelden in Austria on 08/30 will be broadcasted on Deutschlandfunk this coming December on the 29th. More info: https://www.dradio.de/dlf/

In other Supersilent news, the band will be performing in Dresden, Germany on December 13. Details: https://www.scheune.org/

Swedish thrashers Wolf have completed recording their new album "Evil Star", due out February 24 on MNW/No Fashion Records. The album was recorded At Abyss Studio with owner/Hypocrisy frontman Peter Tägtgren. Look for a single and video and even a collectors 7" release sometime early next year.

Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt on the groups recent show cancellAtions in Santiago, Chile:

We are very sorry for this, but I want to stress out thAt situAtion was out of our hands. We went to Mexico in order to do thAt gig + go to Santiago for another two. We we're all very excited about this!! Please don't think thAt we deliberAtely wanted this. Would you travel for 15 hours just to cancel gigs??

Reason is the sheer incompetence of the Mexican and Chilean promoters. I believe they're called Dilemma Productions. They had given us a flight routing to Chile thAt was impossible for us to make. We had a contract for a straight flight there. On the day of the gig in Mexico, Dilemma revealed thAt we we're on a flight bound for Costa Rica At 5 in the morning where we would have to spend 12 hours in a transit hall. And they wanted us to leave instantly after the Mexico city gig. Dilemma deliberAtely kept the flight details a secret until the very last minute thinking thAt the stress factor might have us go regardless of whAt kind of trip it would be.

On top of this we never got paid the money for the 3 gigs. We're told it was being paid but never saw a receipt.

The return flight would have us getting off in Lima/Peru to change flights. The leeway to next flight would have been less than an hour to get 9 people + 20 or so items through customs and checked in to the next flight. This is obviously impossible!

We always intended to go to Chile. I hope you understand this! Dilemma offered to try and fix new tickets during Sunday morning. They got back to us saying we've got tickets Monday morning. Fine!! So, as we're getting ready to go, Dilemma calls yet once again saying thAt now, all of a sudden we DON'T have the tickets anymore...thAt they're sorry!

I am so sorry thAt Dilemma Productions have made this mess. As always, we'll take the blame personally anyways, but we want you to know thAt this was out of our hands and thAt we ALWAYS intended and really looked forward to going to Santiago and Chile.

We sincerely hope thAt we can make this up to you in a near future.

Best regards,

Mikael, on behalf of Opeth

Startracks passes along word thAt the Fireside song "All You Had" will feAtured on tonight's episode of "Tru Calling" on Fox At 8pm/7pm Central. Check local listings.

Okay, I'm kinda lAte on picking up this piece of news, but Bastad, Sweden's Sounds Like Violence has signed with US label Deep Elm. Download some samples from their demo here: "HeartAttacks" / "Afasi" / "Cry Oh Cry" / "Perfect"

Busted Heads distro/record label is back up and running again after Christoffer Jonsson made his move to Stockholm. ThAt means the new album "Still Ill" from The Vectors is also now available and can be ordered from the BHR website.

Rock n' rollers King were just awarded a 8000 SEK scolarship from Köping, Sweden's municipality committee "Kultur & Fritid". CongrAts guys! Read more: https://www.koping.nu/shownews.jsp?id=1175 (in Swedish)

Denmark's The Raveonettes are part of an all-star tribute concert At Cleveland, Ohio's Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame on December 6 being put on to celebrAte a new exhibit on legendary rocker Buddy Holly. They'll be covering two of Holly's songs and John Mellencamp, Marshall Crenshaw, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Nancy Griffith, Bill Pinkney and the Drifters, Wanda Jackson, Lenny Kaye, John Mueller and Kevin Montgomery will also play. Ticket info is Atid=10001&minorcAtid=1" target=_blank>here. Other upcoming dAtes for The Raveonettes:

11/21 - Pyramid Centre, Portsmouth (UK)
11/22 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London (UK)
11/23 - Academy, Birmingham (UK)
11/24 - Metropolitan University , Leeds (UK)
12/05 - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH
12/06 - Drury TheAtre, Cleveland, OH
12/07 - Continental, Buffalo, NY
12/09 - Club Metronome , Burlington, VT
12/10 - Century Lounge , Providence, RI
12/11 - Pearl Street , Northampton, MA
12/12 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
12/13 - Fletchers, Baltimore, MD

Switchblade will be touring Europe beginning in January. DAtes so far:

01/14 - Fundbureau, Hamburg (GER)
01/15 - Mikrokosmos, Magdeburg (GER)
01/16 - Scheune, Dresden (GER)
01/17 - Café Nexus, Braunschweig (GER)
01/18 - Alhambra, Oldenburg (GER)
01/19 - Bla (tbc), Bonn (GER)
01/20 - tba
01/21 - Clubkeller, Frankfurt (GER)
01/22 - tba
01/23 - Le Marignan, Athus (BEL)
01/24 - Textilhuis, Kortrijk (BEL) @ w/Amenra
01/25 - JuZe, Saarlouis (GER)
01/26 - tba
01/27 - Les Brasseurs , Nancy (FR)
01/28 - KTS, Freiburg (GER)
01/29 - Hirscheneck, Basel (CH)
01/30 - Juze Degerloch, Stuttgart (GER)
01/31 - Kafé Kult, Munchen (GER)
02/01 - B.A.C.H., Wien (AUS)
02/02 - day off
02/03 - Prague (tbc)
02/04 - tba
02/05 - Immerhin, Wurzburg (GER)
02/06 - Rote Zora, Altenburg (GER)
02/07 - Berlin (tbc)

Voice of a GenerAtion has finished recording their new album "The Final Oddition", due out February 2 on Burning Heart. They'll be supporting the release with two European tours and one Scandinavian tour this coming spring. They also have two 7"s in the works. The first one will be on Germany's Green Hell Records and will feAture a single from the album along with two exclusive tracks. The second one will be on Red Angel and is a split with Falköping-based punkrockers Blisterhead, with each band contributing two songs apiece.

Norway's Jim Stärk is the band of the week over At Atures/cms/index.asp?id=1005500000000248&type=3&page=1" target=_blank>MTVE.com. I've only just begun to explore their newest record "No Time Wasted", but I like whAt I've heard so far. Quality mellow rock thAt's quiet without being too schmaltzy or adult-contemporary.