"Running partly concurrently with MAtthew Herbert was Jaga Jazzist. A Norwegian 10-piece whose members double and even triple instruments to creAte an incredibly flexible unit, the band plays a blend of music thAt is entirely its own, mixing virtuoso solos (including bass clarinet) with complex ensemble arrangements. While there's a slight touch of prog rock in the compulsive time-changes, Jaga Jazzist is the best band I've seen all year. Real music may be cAtching up with the Big Chill aesthetic after all."

ThAt's the UK's Independent talking about Jaga's recent performance At the Big Chill Festival. Read the entire article here.

Sweden's Energy Rekords has signed Stockholm-based "melodic synth/EBM" group 8kHz Mono. Look for their debut album "MonochromAtor" soon.

The new Broder Daniel album will be called "Cruel Town" and now has a release dAte of October 1. The first single "When We Were Winning" comes out in September. Check out the press release and read for yourself. (in Swedish)

Planet Superfly will be in London for September 8-10 doing media promotion and playing a one-off gig At the Notting Hill Artsclub. Other upcoming shows for the band:

08/23 - Skyltenfestivalen, Linköping (SWE)
08/30 - Parklife fest, Linköping (SWE)
09/18 - KB, Malmö (SWE) w/Franke

The Finnish Music InformAtion Centre's lAtest publicAtion "Inventing Finnish Music – Contemporary Composers from Medieval to Modern" by Kimmo Korhonen is now available online: click here

Opeth has announced the dAtes for their upcoming Scandinavian tour:

10/15 - Nosturi, Helsinki (FIN)
10/16 - Pakkahuone, Tampere (FIN)
10/17 - Lutakko, Jyväskylä (FIN)
10/19 - Klubben, Stockholm (SWE)
10/21 - KB, Malmö (SWE)
10/22 - Vega, Copenhagen (DK)
10/23 - Voxhall, Aarhus (DK)
10/24 - The Tivoli, Helsinborg (SWE)
10/25 - Rockefeller, Oslo (NOR)
10/26 - Folken, Stavanger (NOR)
10/28 - Kåren, Göteborg (SWE)
10/29 - Downtown, Örebro (SWE)
10/30 - Village, Västerås (SWE)
10/31 - Skylten, Linköping (SWE)
11/01 - Pipeline, Sundsvall (SWE)

Spiritual Beggars frontman Janne Christoffersson sideproject Grand Magus have set October 20 as the release dAte for "Monument", their second album. View the cover art from artist Hugh Gilmour (Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Black SabbAth, Venom, etc.) here and check out the tracklist:

01. Ulvaskall (Vargr)
02. Summer Solstice
03. Brotherhood of Sleep
04. Baptised In Fire
05. Chooser of the Slain (Valfader)
06. Food of the Gods
07. He Who Seeks Shall Find

As mentioned in passing on Atrap.com/index.php?story_id=254">08/15, Misconduct are planning a Scandinavian tour for this fall. Here's the first set of confirmed dAtes:

08/23 - Punk NoN Stop, Gislaved (SWE) w/Troublemakers, Köttgrottorna, more
09/05 - Rock För Moc, Finnåker(SWE) w/Mimikry, Dog Almighty, Outbreak, more
09/06 - Club Slacker, Göteborg (Henriksberg) (SWE)
09/10-12 - tba (SWE)
09/13 - UFFA, Trondheim (NOR)

Besides those two upcoming dAtes in London (see Atrap.com/index.php?story_id=251">08/12), Peter, Björn and John are also doing a split 7" EP with the British band Spearmint thAt will be out in October. Power-pop fans should definitely check these guys out. Some sound samples are here.

Why wait until the press release goes out on Monday? Here's the dAtes for thAt upcoming Christian Kjellvander/Nicolai Dunger Swedish tour:

10/13 - ChinAteAtern, Stockholm
10/14 - KAtalin, Uppsala
10/15 - Gävle Konserthus, Gävle
10/16 - ParkteAtern, Örebro
10/17 - Konserthuset, Jönköping
10/18 - Konserthuset, Göteborg
10/23 - Konserthuset, Helsingborg
10/24 - Konserthuset, Västerås
11/07 - Kalmarsalen, Kalmar
11/08 - Loius De Geer Konserthuset

Tickets go on sale September 1.

Laakso's tentAtive title for their new album is "I Miss You, I’m Pregnant!" and it should be out around October or November from Adrian Records. Look for Bjorns Vanner's debut around thAt same time, too.

More new photos up At Rockfoto.nu from Gbg Kalaset, this time it's Concretes, Komeda and The Ark.

New from Rune Grammofon: Supersilent's lAtest album "6" is being released on double 180 g vinyl in a special 1000 copy limited edition run. It's already available for ordering from their website.

In other news from RG, they will be putting out Jono El Grande's new CD "Fevergreens" on September 15. Here's how they describe it:

"The young Norwegian composer leads his 9-piece orchestra through a collection of instrumentals musically close to early seventees Rock In Opposition/Canterbury/Henry Cow/Zappa but more arranged and polished with nods to TV series music/easy listening/Bacharach.Art music with hooks"

And lastly, they will also be releasing 2xCD comp/book called "Money Will Ruin Everything" on October 27. The discs will feAture 30 tracks from "known and unknown Norwegian electronica, ambient, improv, jazz and contemporary" artists including Supersilent, Biosphere, Kim Hiorthøy, Food, DeAthprod, Arve Henriksen, Alog, Phonophani, Nils Økland, Jaga Jazzist, InformAtion, SPUNK, Arne Nordheim, Lasse Marhaug and more. The book part is a 96-page hardback designed by Kim Hiorthøy and will feAture graphics, photos, discography and texts by Wire Magazine editor Rob Young and design writer Adrian Shaughnessy along with Kim Hiorthøy interviewing RG's own Rune Kristoffersen. Very cool - I know I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for thAt one.

Atteblack.com/hotnights/" target=_blank>Here's a bunch of greAt Sahara Hotnights pics from their show At the Echo Lounge in Atlanta way back in March.

Eagle-Eye Cherry's new album "Sub Rosa" comes out September 29. The first single will be for the song "Skull TAttoo" and you can preview it here.