MIC Norway has posted a profile on violinist Nils Økland whose latest album "Bris" was released to much acclaim last year via Rune Grammofon: https://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2005011311125763317463

The Las Vegas Mercury talks to The Hives frontman Pelle Almqvist: https://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2005/MERC-Jan-13-Thu-2005/25636274.html (via)

Here's this week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. The Ark - State of the Ark
02. Daniel Lindström - Daniel Lindström
03. Lars Winnerbäck - Vatten under broarna
04. Lasse Stefanz - Röd Chevrolet
05. Lena Philipsson - Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan
06. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside
07. Magnus Uggla - Den tatuerade generationen
08. Uno Svenningsson - Ett andetag från dig
09. Arne Domnérus - Best of Dompan
10. Björn Afzelius & Mikael Wiehe - 1993 - Malmöinspelningarna
11. Benny Anderssons Orkester - Bao!
12. Christian Walz - Paint by Numbers
13. Marie Fredriksson - The Change
14. Totta Näslund - Totta 7: Soul!/På drift
15. Soundtrack of Our Lives - Origin vol. 1
16. Markoolio - Bäst off
17. Melody Club - Face the Music
18. Ulf Lundell - OK Baby OK
19. Blacknuss - Gold
20. Silverbullit - Arclight

PopMatters reviews the latest Amorphis album "Far from the sun": https://popmatters.com/music/reviews/a/amorphis-farfrom.shtml

Norway's Low Frequency in Stereo is another one of the Scandinavian acts set to play at this year's SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas.

First Floor Power frontwoman Jenny Wilson is going solo and releasing an album on Rabid Records, the label run by the people behind The Knife. Her debut album "Love & Youth" comes out April 6.

Of course I'm not the only one doing free online releases. Swedish indierockers Punk of Country will be posting yet another single for download on their website on January 24.

Backyard Babies have announced that they'll be releasing their long-awaited DVD "Jetlag - The Movie" on January 26, the same day they'll release a new live album entitled "Live Live in Paris". The DVD features an "inside and an outside view of what has happened during the past 15 years" of the band's history, as well as "exclusive live shots, behind the scenes footage made by BYB themselves and their friends, individual interviews and a general rollercoaster ride around the world in an insane fuckin' tempo!" As for the live album, it was recorded at La Maroquinerie in Paris on May 6, 2005.

Finnish experimental electronic label Abflug (Karri. O, Hinterlandt, Lake Lustre) now has their discography available for purchase internationally via eMusic: https://www.emusic.com/label/100/100828.html

Vendlus Records will release the new MCD from Finnish doom act The Mist and the Morning Dew on January 31. Tracklist:

01. Dusk
02. Come to think of it
03. Child of April's sun
04. Repentance
05. Tuoni Vie

Swedish duo Johnossi has confirmed their self-titled debut album will be released on January 26.

German Nordic music site Nordische-musik has posted a feature on the acclaimed Finnvox Studio of Finland: https://www.nordische-musik.de/artikel/finnvox.php (in German)

The latest newsletter from Music Export Finland: https://www.musexfinland.fi/index.php?page=news&id=59

Denmark's Tiger Tunes has signed a European recording contract with V2. Their debut album "Absolutely Worthless Compared To Important Books" will be released in Northern Europe and Scandinavia in April.

Go here to listen to a stream of Håkan Hellström's brand-new single "En midsommarnattsdröm": https://www.emi.se/artists/hakanhellstrom/midsommar/

The Subcurrent Festival/Fonal Records showcase night in Glasgow has now been rescheduled to April 21-23. The line-up is still the same and includes Es, Kiila and Kemialliset Ystävät.