Finnish act Nightwish has finally replaced departed vocalist Tarja Turunen with Swede Anette Olzon from the band Alyson Avenue. The band's new single "Eva" will be out September 26.

Hardingrock, the new collaboration between Ihsahn (Emperor, Peccatum), Starofash (aka Heidi S. Tveitan) and folk artist Knut Buen, is now on myspace with samples: https://www.myspace.com/hardingrock

Pitchfork reviews the US release of Mando Diao's "Ode to ochrasy": https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/43107-ode-to-ochrasy
The band performs on Conan O'Brien tonight as well.

Also at Pfork, the new Kalle J single (w/Johan Tuvesson) gets into the Forkcast: https://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/43055-kalle-j-and-johan-tuvesson-vingslag

Swedish indierockers Oriel Joans have a new track posted on myspace: https://www.myspace.com/orieljoans

Psycho Sonic Cindy has called it a day. Members Johan and Ellie will become parents of a baby boy come September and Jake is busy with the band Principe Valiente while Bea is now working with The Cat Killers.

Tack!Tack!Tack! got a mention over at Popjustice: https://www.popjustice.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1145&Itemid=206
T!T!T! is tonight, but should you find yourself in or around Berlin, be sure to check out Sweden, Sweden! tomorrow night at Club Magnet with the amazing lineup of Moonbabies and Seven Feet Four plus DJs Tiger Lou, Firefox AK and more! Seriously, so many of my favorite people all in one place. It's gonna be amazing.

French label Asphalt Duchess has licensed The Embassy's "Tacking" record for release on June 4.

Cornelius Jakhelln of Norwegian avant-metal act Solefald won first prize in a Norwegian novel contest for his book "Gudenes fall" ("The fall of the gods"). Read more: https://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=124946742&blogID=268273513

Superfamily has added two new tracks to their myspace page, including their next single "I could be a real winner": https://www.myspace.com/superfamilynorway

The video for the new Thunder Express single "New York gold" is now online: https://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2031363946

Katatonia will return to North America in September for their first headlining tour in this part of the world. Support will come from fellow Swedes Scar Symmetry plus Finnish acts Insomnium and Swallow the Sun. Dates:

09/04 - Jaxx West, Springfield, VA
09/06 - BB Kings, New York, NY
09/07 - Mark's Place, Bedford, NH
09/08 - Chance Theater, Poughkeepsie, NY
09/09 - Le Medley, Montreal, QC
09/10 - Imperial de Quebec, Quebec City, QC
09/11 - The Funhaus, Toronto, ON
09/12 - Peabody's, Cleveland, OH
09/13 - I-Rock, Detriot, MI
09/14 - The Pearl Room, Mokena, IL
09/15 - Station 4, St. Paul, MN
09/17 - Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
09/19 - Whiskey, Hollywood, CA
09/20 - Showcase Theater, Corona, CA
09/21 - Brickhouse, Phoenix, AZ
09/22 - Launchpad, Albuqeruque, NM
09/24 - White Rabbit, San Antonio, TX
09/25 - Ridglea Theater, Ft. Worth, TX
09/26 - Scout Bar, Houston, TX

Speaker Bite Me is adding daily remixes to their site for free download: https://www.speakerbiteme.com/remix/
Contributors posted so far include Lasse Lyngbo, SuperTroels and Junior Senior.

Finnish instrumental act Magyar Posse has posted some mp3s from the act that preceded them, The Alibi of Carlos: https://magyarposse.com/index.php?a=disco&b=music

Danish artist Lise Westzynthius is currently working on her third solo album, due out this coming fall, her first since 2004's "Rock you can fly" (released internationally in 2005). She also makes guest appearances on the recent Epo-555 7" "Mafia fallout" as well as Caspar David's album "Let the past begin".