MySpace
Swedish Summer
Submitted by vodka ed on July 28, 2008 - 9:33pm.
Most people already know that the Swedes are world-famous for their blondes, meatballs and consumer-assembled furniture stores. What they might not realize however, is that Sweden continues to be a major player in the pop world. Yes, the music of ABBA continues to be a worldwide juggernaut, with countless hundreds of millions of records sold, along with the success of Mamma Mia! on the theater scene and now on the big screen. But post-ABBA Swedish pop music has spawned plenty of other internationally successful bands - A-Teens (ABBA for kids), The Cardigans and Roxette to name but a few (not to mention the fact that chances are pretty good that the hot US chart-toppers you hear were likely penned by a Swede). So, on my recent jaunt through the Scandinavian wonderland, I familiarized myself with the next New Wave of Swedish Pop.
Now, on to the smörgåsbord of...Summer Breeze. Though not all of these songs originate from Sweden, they still keep with the overall warm, breezy theme.
01 Cloetta Paris - Did We Collide
This will appeal to fans of fellow Swede Sally Shapiro. For a more Italo Disco selection, check out the lead single Secret Eyes of Cloetta's debut album of the same name.
02 Annie - Songs Remind Me Of You
Due out in October, here's another one that has the same amped up Stacey Q feel as #1. Pop heaven.
03 Blank + Jones - The Night Starts Here (feat. Stars)
One of the rare occasions you'll hear a Trance artist on RobotSound, this number is off of Blank + Jones' new release, The Logic of Pleasure. Bernard Sumner also sings a track on the LP.
04 Bon Voyage - Monster
Bon Voyage is the new project from Starflyer 59 (Christian alt-rock) frontman Jason Martin and his wife. You might be familiar with Jason's brother, Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric (Christian synthpop). Praise!
05 Zeigeist - Black Milk
More Swedes here. The girl vocalist, Princess, sounds a lot like Karin from The Knife.
06 The Kid - Transient Dance
You can hear the New Order influence in this track from these fresh-faced goth-poptarts straight outta Gothenburg, SE.
07 Grafton Primary - Relativity
The debut LP from these Aussie Indietronica rockers will be out soon-ish. I hear some retro-futurism here [Human League, Gary Numan, New Romantix-era DMX Krew].
08 Morgan Geist - Most Of All
One of the less recent selections, this 2006 track features Jeremy Greenspan of synthpoppers Junior Boys. Disco-tastic!
09 Kuryakin - Still Here
The sunshine pop keeps shining on with this track from Kuryakin's soon-to-be-released EP.
10 Aprilsrain - Left Alone
Representing the Bay Area, Aprilsrain allow for some splendid indie pop enjoyment.
11 The Sound of Arrows - Danger!
All the Swedish Indie record stores had these guys playing on their stereos. Watch out for this hot debut!
12 Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning
This Kiwi girl is sure to keep you cool this summer. Some of her songs remind me of Luscious Jackson's disco-y stuff. Check the video here.
13 Air France - June Evenings
Some people are referring to this as Balearic Beat (what Ibiza Eurobots listen to after the drugs have worn off). To me, it's kinda like clubby Xymox from their later years.
14 Gentle Touch - Once You Used To
Easy, breezy, beautiful, Covergirl.
15 The Daysleepers - Release The Kraken
Venturing into Nu-Gaze territory, The Daysleepers hail from New York City. Luscious, ethereal indie rock.
16 Errors - Salut! France
Changing gears once again, these Glaswegian instrumentalists on Mogwai's label straddle the fence between indie and synthpop. Rest assured though. You'll still get your fix of Melodramatic Popular Song.
17 Jesu - Hard To Reach
Godflesh turned Nu-Gaze. Taking the name from the final track on Godflesh's 2007 swansong, Hymns, Justin Broadrick and friends have shifted into entirely new directions.
Midnight Moroder
Submitted by dr™ on June 27, 2008 - 1:14am.Another Friday, another 13 sinister choices from around the globe.
The Emergency [AU]
Ionic Vision [BE]
Alpha 606 [CU]
Jupiter Black [DE]
Minimal Rome [IT]
We Smoke Fags [UK]
Spider and the Flies [UK]
Femme Fatale [FR]
Suicide Booth [DE]
Celluloide [FR]
Zen-Kei [DE]
Position Parallele [FR]
Sintesi [SE]
Black Friday
Submitted by dr™ on February 8, 2008 - 10:17am.Italians Do It Better
Submitted by dr™ on August 30, 2007 - 3:54pm.I was considering naming this post "I'm Italian ... Meat My Balls" (which I found on this page of charming license plate frame slogans), but I thought that might be offensive to some people - to those people, I say, "Andate tutti a 'fanculo!" Instead, I'd like to present the following artists who have carried on the legacy of Sig. Moroder and other finely-crafted I-bots.
Francesco
Rodion
Irobots
Crookers
Nick Sarno
Marcello Giordani
Italo-Norwegians
Digitalo
Remulus and Romus
Italo-American label
Italians Do It Better
Forged Prescriptions
Submitted by dr™ on July 8, 2007 - 9:49pm.Avoid Excessive Listening
Use Only In Moderation
Use With Caution: May Be Habit-Forming
May Cause Sleeplessness
Energy Drinks/Caffeine May Intesify This Effect
Coco Electrik - Sex Shooter
(We Are) Performance - Free Fallin'
Datashat - Don't You Want SID + How Does It Feel
Boys of Scandinavia - Bela Lugosi's Dead
Overproof Soundsystem - The Model
Busy P - It's More Fun To Compute
My$p4c3: 73h h4w7N35$
Submitted by R0807h4cK3R on June 14, 2007 - 10:15pm.n0w w17H "S7Ol3N" l0-Fi mY5P@C3 7r4xX Go0Dn3$5!
Shadow Dancer - Daytime Drinking
The Bloody Beetroots - rmx of Fox N' Wolf's Beat Me Up
Deadbots - Predator RMX - 7hI5 7r@cK iZ oN mY pR0FiL3! d03$n'7 i7 rOx0rz?!?
katelectro - The Scientist
The Ghost That Walks - Waves Scars
File Not Found - 67840 You've Got My Number - [lik3 b3ing @774Ck3d By 5P@C3 InV@D3R5 AnD @ 5P3@k & $p3lL!]
We. - Nothing Comes For Free
tHaNx 70 3l3c7ric D@Y$ N30n nIgH7$ f0r 7h3 h3@D5 uP oN #1 @nD #2!
I, MySpace
Submitted by dr™ on May 12, 2007 - 3:00am.