New artists in the E.U.: The European Border Breakers Awards

Culture-wise, the E.U. has a program called 'The European Border Breakers Awards'. It's a program intended to bolster the careers of young, European artists. Read more about it here at the European Commission's website for culture.

The winners for the 2014 awards were:

Gugabriel from Austria
Lukas Graham from Denmark
Woodkid from France
Zedd from Germany
Asgeir from Iceland
Kodaline from Ireland
Jacco Gardner from the Netherlands
Envy (who have since changed their name to Nico and Vince) from Norway
Icona Pop from Sweden
Disclosure from the United Kingdom

I must admit that I only know Lukas Graham and Icona Pop, but I will do my best to check them all out.

You can also see videos from these artists at this site (my music blog): The Good Music Blog.

Enjoy the music!

EU affairs sites just in time for the weekend: EUobserver, BBC News, and The New York Times

To get your daily update on EU affairs I recommend that you go check out the following sites:

EUobserver
Great news site dedicated to EU issues and current events.

BBC News
As always, high quality all the way. Good features and analyses.

The New York Times
Pretty much the same high standard as the BBC, although - for some reason - the U.S. media still seem to underestimate the importance of Europe. But when they do get around to it 'over there', it's classy journalism (and the new website is simple, elegant, and quite user-friendly).

Honorable mentions: Euronews and European Voice. Admittedly, these might as well be in the above category, but especially European Voice seems very EU-nerdish. But of course, that is only a good thing. Beware of the pay-wall, though.

Have a nice weekend!