The nominees for MTV Finland's best finnish video award:

Egotrippi - Älä koskaan ikinä
Darude - Next to You
Amorphis - Evil Inside
Tuure Kilpeläinen - Vesitornin varjossa
Maija Vilkkumaa - Ei

Go here for more info. (in finnish)

finnish glam-rock legends Hanoi Rocks will be recording a live album later this month at Tampereella Panama on August 26-27. No details on release dates or anything else, but I'll see what I can come up with. Otherwise, check them out as they tour the UK in September and Japan in October. Dates:

09/25 - The Corporation, Sheffield (UK)
09/26 - Arena Foyer, Newcastle (UK)
09/27 - Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
09/28 - Dudley JB's, Birmingham (UK)
09/29 - The Coal Exchange, Cardiff (UK)
09/30 - Shepherds Bush Empire, London (UK)
10/07 - Festival Hall, Osaka (JAP)
10/08 - Budokan, Tokyo (JAP)
10/11 - Lots, Niigata (JAP)
10/12 - Shibuya AX, Tokyo (JAP)
10/14 - Diamond Hall, Nagoya (JAP)

Jägermeister chess, eh? finnish goth metallers HIM recently got together with Chaos Mannheim, a chess club in Mannheim, Germany, for an evening of chess and serious drinking. Go here for more info and to check out pictures from the debacle.

finnish electronic artist O Samuli A will be performing a free show at Cafe Svaj in Stockholm on August 15th at 15:00 local time. Those of you who can't make it in person can listen to the live webcast here:

Server 1: svaj.mine.nu/svaj_live.mp3
Server 2: svaj.mine.nu/svaj_live.ogg
Server 3: shine.erased.org:8000/svaj_live.mp3

In other news, check out a new mp3 of the track "Potunnostolaulu2" over at micromusic.net. And lastly, O Samuli A is also providing the soundtrack for a video installation called "Pienten Asioiden Jaljilla (On the trail of small things)", now available for streaming at beeoff.se. The video was made by a "very mysterious anonymous & anonymous duo" and is part of Beeoff's Exchange2 project. It runs for 30 days, beginning on August 12. Those of you unable to check out Beeoff's studio in Stockholm can also view a webcast of the video from the following locations:

Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Museet for Samtidskunst, Rosklilde, Denmark
Humlab, Umeå, Sweden
The Norrbotten County Museum, Haparanda, Sweden
The Jonkoping County Museum, Jonkoping, Sweden

MI reports that Kent have re-signed with BMG/RCA, thus extending their already 10-year long relationship.

finnish electronic artist Darude is coming to the US and will be performing a number of dates as well as putting in a number of TV and radio appearances. The itinerary:

08/15 - Chicago, IL
08/16 - Milwaukee, WI
08/17 - Detroit, MI
08/21 - Oklahoma, OK
08/22 - Traverse City, MI
08/23 - Miami, FL
08/26 - Las Vegas, NV
08/28 - San Antonio, TX
08/30 - Washington DC
09/06 - Radiostation party, Vancouver (CAN)

Via pHinnWeb comes this link for Electrobleep Radio featuring 56kbps streaming audio of the latest "indie, underground rock pop anvant pop glitch art electroclash electroclash electronica jazz anti-folk." Just some of the featured finnish artists include 8-bit rockers, Aavikko, Desertplanet.com, Op:I Bastards, and Pepe Deluxe and there's so much more.

The latest Aquarius Records new arrivals list features reviews and samples from a ton of people including Ektroverde and Ratto Ja Lehtisalo, both on Ektro Records, the label of finnish band Circle.

Here's an e-card for the finnish techno pop duo Firevision and their debut album "The Game You Play".

The finnish Music Information Centre (MIC) has posted a great article on "A brief outline of the finnish choral music". Check it out.

Here's the lineup for the Aisti Festival at Klubi in Tampere, Finland August 28-31:

08/28 - Imatran Voima, Mummypowder, Tigerbombs, Soapafest
08/29 - Circle, TV-Resistori, Cessna, Bangkok Impact
08/30 - Giant Robot, Romantic Vision, Sergio, Red Carpet
08/31 - DJs: Teemu Elo, Ville Härkönen, Ville Särmä, Bruce, Jansku

More info: tullikamari.net/klubi/

Here's the lineup for another finnish music fest, Tulvafest in Pori, Finland on August 14-16:

08/14 - Baby Sweetcorn, Unidentified Sound Objects, Sergio
08/15 - Janne Laine, Magyar Posse, TV-Resistori
08/16 - Laidun, Ville Leinonen, Sister Flo

More info: how.to/tulvafest

Ex-Immortal guitarist Abbath to join Dimmu Borgir? I guess the rumor has been floating around, but Dimmu guitarist Silenoz dismisses it saying, "No, that is totally wrong." He continues (from an interview with Swedish Metal):

"It is on the other hand true that he has participated as a guest vocalist in two songs on the album. But it is absolutely not anything more than that. He put down his vocals in the middle of April and that was a long time before their split up. That is by the way a high surprise for us and it is incredibly sad that they've chosen to quit. I don't understand why they're doing it but I'm sure that they have their reasons, and I fully respect that of course."

Upcoming Dimmu Borgir US tour dates w/Children of Bodom, Hypocrisy and Nevermore:

11/07 - Showplace Theater, Buffalo, NY
11/08 - Harpo's, Detroit, MI
11/09 - House Of Blue's, Chicago, IL
11/11 - Government, Toronto, ONT
11/12 - The Medley, Montreal, QUE
11/13 - Toad's Place, New Haven, CT
11/14 - Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
11/15 - Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
11/16 - Club Laga, Pittsburgh, PA
11/18 - Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
11/19 - Masquerade, Tampa, FL
11/21 - Engine Room, Houston, TX
11/22 - Deep Ellum Live, Dallas, TX
11/23 - Backroom, Austin, TX
11/25 - Bash On Ash, Tempe, AZ
11/26 - House Of Blues, Los Angeles, CA
11/28 - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
11/29 - Roseland Theater, Portland, OR
11/30 - Showbox, Seattle, WA
12/01 - Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
12/03 - Bricks, Salt Lake City, UT
12/04 - Ogden Theater, Denver, CO
12/05 - Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS
12/06 - Pop's, St. Louis, MO
12/07 - The Quest, Minneapolis, MN
12/09 - The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
12/10 - Agora Theater, Cleveland, OH
12/11 - 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
12/13 - The Palladium, Worcester, MA
12/14 - Saratoga Winners, Albany, NY

Via Blabbermouth, comes this story concerning the Colorado-based Aircat Aerial Art dance group performing a piece entitled "Trycaliptica" which utilizes the music of finnish heavy metal cello quartet Apocalyptica.

"'Trycaliptica' is a tale of transformation. It could be the tale of how aerial dancing was created by dancers trying to break the boundaries of the horizontal space, reaching for new, vertical challenges. Freed from the ground, the dancers explore the body's defiance of gravity."

They will perform the piece this coming Friday and Saturday at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO as part of the Frequent Flyers Productions' Aerial Dance Festival. More info: www.frequentflyers.org

"Their music and Teemu's singing made me think perhaps of someone like Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Beloved or Momus; very "British-sounding", slightly melancholic but still dance pop, with songs of bittersweet and a bit sardonic lyrics such as "Give Me Love Or A Brand New Car" and "Helsinki Blondes".

That's an excerpt from the intro of an interview posted on pHinnWeb with half-finnish/half-UK based electronic act Roger. Read more: https://www.phinnweb.com/5HT/interviews/roger/

Via the pHinnWeb list comes this online album for download: https://lemodem.dogma00.org/

This is something completely different. Neat, fun, melancholic, genious very traditional music:skiffle, jenkka, humppa (jenkka and humppa are traditional finnish folk-dancemusic) and others made by Riku Ahlsten (also plays keyboards in finnish IDM group DDR Rhythm). "slavic folk-pop, skiffle, big-beat and reggae-influenced humppa"

Definitely entertaining methinks.

Pitchforkmedia.com has posted a review of Cirlce-side project Pharaoh Overlord and their new album "II", as written by resident self-proclaimed finnish music lover Dominique Leone.

finnish deathmetal supergroup Chaosbreed has set "Brutal" as the title for their yet-to-be-recorded debut album. They plan to enter the legendary Sunlight Studios in September with producer Tomas Skogsberg to record and are reportedly in negotiation with quite a few labels, but nothing's been decided yet. The band also has plans to enter Studio Herzika shortly to record a limited edition split 7" with fellow Finns Rythihäiriö. No word on a release date or label for that one either.