Amongst the obvious big draws, there's no shortage of strange and unfamiliar names on the bill at this weekend's Sonic Circuits festival. But I wanted to take a moment to highlight one in particular: Finnish experimental music hero Pekka Airaksinen.
Though he lacks the mythology of Jandek or the skull crushing musical legacy of krautrockers Faust [...]

Nordic Jazz Fest, hosted annually by the embassies of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Denmark, has become Nordic Jazz Week for 2009, featuring an opening performance at the Embassy of Finland on Sunday, June 14, and then two nights of performances at the House of Sweden on June 16-17.
Of note in the lineup are Norwegians [...]