The third annual Volt festival will take place at Uppsala in Sweden on June 11th.

Much like the past two years, Volt's bill for 2011 is a grab-bag of artists from all reaches of the electronic spectrum. Ben Klock brings the notoriously tough sounds of Berlin's Berghain, while Radio Slave and Motor City Drum Ensemble offer a warmer variety of house music. On the bass tip, there's former BBC host Mary Anne Hobbs and the Hyperdub collective Darkstar. Plenty of avant-garde sounds are in store as well, from Raster-Noton co-founder Alva Noto to Mokira, a Swedish ambient artist who just released an album through Malmö-based label Kontra-Musik (whose founder, Ulf Eriksson, will also be performing). Other local acts include Håkan Lidbo, Namato to Nomaton and one of Sweden's biggest electronic exports, Little Dragon.

The event will once again take place at Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, commonly known as the Musikens hus, one of Sweden's most architecturally striking locations. Musical performances will be complemented by video installations and a team of VJs.

Emeralds will play a string of live dates across Europe next month.

Made up of John Elliott, Mark McGuire and Steve Hauschildt, Emeralds is a Cleveland-based trio with roots in the US's experimental underground; prior to their 2008 album Solar Bridge, their catalog was made up entirely of cassettes, CD-Rs and extremely limited LPs. Their profile shot up last year with Does It Look Like I'm Here?, an album that saw them move from stark drones into more rich and dynamic material. Their style in concert is much like it is on record: walls of electro-acoustic sound made with guitars, vocals, synthesizers and loads of pedals.

Emeralds' European tour starts on Saturday, May 14th in Stockholm. From there they'll play dates in Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK, with a set at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona along the way. The whole thing wraps up on June first in Berlin, where the band are joined by Caribou and Oneohtrix Point Never.

Skudge will release their first album, Phantom, next month.

Though they lurked in obscurity just over a year ago, Skudge are by now a favorite among fans of deeper house and techno, especially DJs. They first made a splash with their track "Convolution," whose throbbing beat and ghostly diva hook made it an enduring club hit for much of last year. Since then Skudge have put out eight more records, played live at clubs and festivals around Europe, and been remixed by a diverse cast of artists that includes Marcel Fengler, Aardvarck and 2562.

Aside from the title track, Phantom features all new productions from Skudge, and apparently sticks to their style of dusty techno with a bit of house soul (at least if the samples are anything to go by). As with all but one of their releases so far, it will come out through their own Skudge Records.

Tracklist
01. Ursa Major
02. In Between
03. Sandblast
04. Eleven
05. Downtown
06. Vanisher
07. Realtime
08. Pressure Drop
09. Blackout
10. Shivers
11. Phantom
12. Modular Storm

Skudge will release Phantom in April 2011.

Johan Agebjoern will release an ambient album next month called The Mountain Lake.

The Swedish producer is best known for his work with Sally Shapiro, the electronic pop artist for whom he's produced up-tempo, Italo-style beats since 2006. Like much of his previous solo work, The Mountain Lake is more about cosmic, reflective ambient tracks, which he says were inspired by "science fiction movies, Buddhism and the Swedish landscape." Agebjoern's disco flair still comes across despite the album's somber tone, as indicated by the opening track, an ambient cover of "Spacer Woman From Mars" with Shapiro on vocals. The album also includes his remix of "The Chameleon" by Italians Do It Better group Glass Candy.

Agebjoern will release another album called Casablanca Nights in May. Though most of the details are still unconfirmed, he says it will blend his usual disco pop sound with elements of classical music, "like a radical interpretation of an Erik Satie piece."

Tracklist
01. Johan Agebjoern feat. Sally Shapiro - Spacer Woman From Mars (Ambient Mix)
02. Johan Agebjoern - Amylium Casparium feat. NeonCoil
03. Johan Agebjoern - Underworld Mumble 1
04. Johan Agebjoern - The Stones Are Blasted
05. Johan Agebjoern - Spiral Staircase
06. Johan Agebjoern - Underworld Mumble 2
07. Johan Agebjoern - Swimming Through the Blue Lagoon (Original Casio MT-52 Instrumental)
08. Johan Agebjoern - Zero Gravitation
09. Johan Agebjoern feat. Sylwia van der Wonderland - Take Me Home
10. Glass Candy - The Chameleon (Johan Agebjoern Remix)
11. Johan Agebjoern - Last Tram To Comet Square
12. Johan Agebjoern - Love Ray feat. with Lisa Barra
13. Johan Agebjoern - Siberian Train (Steve Moore Remix)

Lotuspike will release The Mountain Lake on February 8th, 2011.

Joel Mull will release his next album, Sensory, next month on Truesoul.

Mull has been a cornerstone of Sweden's techno scene for well over a decade. A longtime friend and former classmate of Adam Beyer (who, incidentally, taught him how to use his decks), the prolific DJ and producer cut his teeth at clubs in Stockholm in the early '90s, then honed his skills with a residency at Unit in Hamburg. In the fifteen years since, he's dished out nearly 50 12-inches and two full-lengths, and played countless pounding techno sets around the world.

Sensory will be Mull's first album since 2007's The Observer. Like much of his work to date, it's sleek, futuristic and not afraid to throw in a bit of melody.

Tracklist
01. Nagoya Bolero
02. Smoke Room
03. Sunday2Sunday
04. Keep On
05. Danny Boy
06. Holographic
07. Kraut House
08. Attractor
09. Novelty Theory
10. Arriving
11. Sensory

Truesoul will release Sensory on February 14th, 2011.

Stockholm-based artist Peter Major, AKA Opolopo, has completed a new album called Voltage Controlled Feelings for Tokyo Dawn Records.

Major has been making synth-heavy disco tunes for years, but until now he's mostly flown under the radar, putting out records on labels like Swedish Brandy and Especial in Osaka. Sharp-eyed cosmic disco fans may remember him from Prins Thomas's Live at Robert Johnson CD, which included a remix of Major's track "I Do." Voltage Controlled Feelings shows the Swedish artist doing what he does best: crafting neon-colored funk and disco tracks with a slightly campy sci-fi feel. A crew of guest vocalists appear on the album, including fellow Stockholmer Amalia Miz Fuze Townsend and California-based artist Erik Rico, who also appeared on the first album by deep house artist Aybee, East Oakland Space Program. Hard copies of Voltage Controlled Feelings don't hit stores until December, but you download it right now on Tokyo Dawn's offical website.

Tracklist
01. Glide
02. Kobayashi Maru
03. Our World feat. Erik Rico
04. Reversed feat. Blacktop & Amalia
05. Voltage Controlled Feelings
06. The Singularity
07. Take It Slow feat. Sacha Williamson
08. Step Into The Light
09. Bonafide feat. Amalia
10. Waiting feat. Farah
11. The Wow Signal
12. Tweak My Knobs
13. Ballad For Amalia

Tokyo Dawn Records will release Voltage Controlled Feelings on December 3rd, 2010.

Robyn has unveiled details for Body Talk Pt.2, due for release this fall on her own Konichiwa Records.

The new record is the second installment in a trilogy of Body Talk albums, the first of which hit stores in June. Robyn enlisted a formidable crew of guest producers for her new release, including fellow Swedish electropop artists like Kleerup and Savage Skulls. Mad Decent boss Diplo also makes an appearance, and Snoop Dogg lends his perennial vocal talents on the track "U Should Know Better." Body Talk Pt. 2 will be preceded by a single for "Hang with Me," due for release one day before the rest of the album.

Tracklist
01. In My Eyes
02. Iinclude Me Out
03. Hang with Me
04. Love Kills
05. We Dance to the Beat
06. Criminal Intent
07. U Should Know Better feat. Snoop Dogg
08. Indestructible (acoustic version)

Konichiwa will release Body Talk Pt.2 on September 6th, 2010.

Swedish-based band Drivan will release Disko, their first album, next month on Smalltown Supersound.

Despite the record's title, Drivan's sound is far from club-friendly. Their debut album is contemplative and mostly down-tempo, blending elements of Swedish folk with ambient textures and electronic sounds. The band is led by Norwegian artist Kim Hiorthøy, a producer who's released three albums and a fistful of 12-inches for Smalltown Supersound and frequently does graphic design for the label's album covers.

Tracklist
01. Some en Laderlapp
02. Inget Mer Sen
03. Kampa
04. Campingvagn
05. Lat det va
06. Det gr Ingenting
07. Hart i Ogat
08. Shamshalam, shimshilim
09. Allt man Vill
10. Hej Da
11. Snderslagna Mobler

Smalltown Supersound will release Disko on August 18th, 2010.

Grammy-winning electronic pop artist Robyn is set to tour Europe and North America, hitting more than 20 cities through August.

The jaunt will support Robyn's current trilogy of Body Talk albums, the first of which hit stores last month (Pt. 2 is scheduled for an August release). Her trek begins tonight with a slew of festival gigs: first with Peace & Love in Sweden, then Roskilde, Wakestock and Arvika. She'll touch down in Chicago two weeks from now for the Pitchfork Music Festival, and from there will play ten gigs in the US and Canada, mostly with support from Kelis. She heads back to Europe on August 13th, finishing her tour with more festivals in England and Scandinavia, including Oya, Propoganda and V Festival.

Swedish producer Cari Lekebusch will release his next album, State of the Art, this July on H Productions.

With more than 70 releases under his belt, Lekebusch is undoubtedly one of Stockholm's most prolific techno artists. Since his vinyl debut in 1994, he's donned a variety of pseudonyms–Vector, Shape Changer, Mystic Letter K, to name a few–but the bulk of his output has been under his real name, as with his new album. State of the Art shows Lekebusch staying true to form, with nine previously unreleased cuts of sleek and linear techno, plus a new version of his 2002 track "Rising Star," this time with Krister Linder on vocals.

Tracklist
01. State of the Art
02. Abomination
03. Wickeded
04. Catch Me
05. Simplicity
06. Saw Tooth
07. Rising Star feat. Krister Linder
08. As Above so Below
09. Art of Technology
10. Skull Digger (digital exclusive)

H Productions will release Cari Lekebusch's State of the Art in July 2010.