Danish label will be doing a 5-way split 7" featuring some of the best DK hardcore going right now: Death Token, Night Fever, Love Potion, Ripping Headache and Hjertestop. No idea exactly when that's happening, but soon...
Check out The Cherished Season, a new Swedish act featuring Andreas Hagman from Celestial and his brother David: https://www.myspace.com/thecherishedseason
Finnish label is shutting down their mailorder, so they're holding a big sale to get rid of existing inventory: https://www.ifsociety.com/shop
The label itself will continue on as it has these recent years, putting out one or two new albums each year.
Peter Bjorn and John are contributing an exclusive cover of soft-pop classic "Summer breeze" to a new charity comp benefitting malaria victims: https://www.malarianomore.org/news/features/indie_rocks__a_benefit_album_for_malaria_no_more/
Nöjesguiden lists their favorite Swedish albums of 2009: https://www.nojesguiden.se/artiklar/haer-aer-arets-baesta-svenska-skivor
Swedish synth act Mobile Homes have apparently turned themselves into quite an all-star act all of a sudden with the recruitment of two new members. First is Kent guitarist Sami Sirviö who produced the band's most recent album "Today is your lucky day"; second is famed electro artist Andreas Tilliander.
Apparently Watain will be performing a 45-minute Bathory tribute set at next year's Sweden Rock festival to commemorate the anniversary of Quorthon's death. Whether that alone makes Sweden Rock worth attending remains to be seen.
Fever Ray comes in at #9 on Pitchfork's top albums of 2009 list: https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7744-the-top-50-albums-of-2009/5/
Popsicle Recordings has posted 10 volumes of Swedish/Scandinavian pop samplers for free download: https://www.popsiclerecordings.com/samplers/
These were originally distributed as freebies with orders to Popsicle's distro, but since the bottom has fallen out of the CD market (for most of us), they are no longer being made.
The first half of Pitchfork's top 50 albums of 2009 are posted and Scandinavian artists featured so far include jj (#35) and Röyksopp (#30): https://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7744-the-top-50-albums-of-2009/
Is that a TST cover I see on the new Kristofer Åström EP? Look: https://www.soundpollution.se/product.aspx?id=32386
Check out a short video presentation on the new solar-powered musical creation invented by artist Mats Björk and released in a (very) limited edition by the label : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSod4s1OSfY
More info: "Connected to a pair of headphones, you one can choose to listen to one of the two parts this composition basically consists of. With the lid open, the circuit (that also makes out the musical score) with its oscillators, is carefully tuned for broad daylight to capture the intense piercing and powerful energy, here manifested in the mantra of a clear but uncertain six tone chord. Slowly shifting in pitch as the sun wanders the sky and occasionally hides behind a small cloud, this part of the composition lets you sink in to the relations between the tones themselves and between light and tone. By more actively interacting with the sun, or exploring the sounds of artificial light, the piece moves into its more chaotic experimental phase and you as a listener approach the role of the musician. Like zooming in on the exploding fire bursts of the solar surface, the experience of minimal noise clusters, related to all kinds of light, is revealed."
Dagens Nyheter has published their writer's various top album picks of 2009: https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/arets-basta-skivor-enligt-johanna-paulsson-1.1014797
(Tvärvägen, A Perfect Friend) has announced the signing of two new acts: Euphoria and the Lazy Boy and The Eyeshades. Expect new EPs from both in early 2010.
Mr. Björn Kleinhenz has posted an extensive collections of photos from his recent European tour: https://www.kleinhenz.se/