Most people already know that the Swedes are world-famous for their blondes, meatballs and stores of consumer-assembled furniture. 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.

Catch the breeze...

>Robotsound™ proudly presents:
dr™ @ Hotbox. 8.04.07

nu beat music for the sexy

fast eddie - acid thunder / 1988 DJ International
miss nicky trax - acid in the house / 1988 Kaos Dance
tricky disco - tricky disco [lützenkirchen remix] / 2007 iO
trance trax - get on / 1991 Beat Box International
major problem - acid queen / 1988 Kaos Dance
human body - acid bizzard / 2005 Goodlife
prince - erotic city / 1984 Warner Brothers
photocall - silver clouds / 2004 Computer Life
plus device - body heat / 2006 Hefty
kiko - running in the city / 2001 Goodlife
egyptian lover - make it hot / 2006 Egyptian Empire
anthony rother - moderntronic3 / 2007 Datapunk
huggotron - gasoline / 2006 Confused
franz & shape - tightropes [kissy sell out's bethnal green dub] / 2007 Relish Recordings
jun-x - balltraxx / 2005 Brique Rouge
millimetric - where / 2006 Goodlife
steril - grey / 2001 International DJ Gigolos

iPod Surgery Success
Here are some of the tracks I was going to play out this past weekend (if the stereo hadn't crapped out). Don't you hate it when machines break down?

Tracklisting
1 Huggotron - Gin & Tronic
2 Mix Machine - Prelude to Paradise
3 Jun-X - Balltraxx
4 Temptation - Sound Dealers
5 The Hacker - Life/Death
6 I-F vs. That N****r
7 Dexter vs. Cosmic Force - Drum Techniek
8 Kylie - Giving You Up [Alter Ego Mix]
9 Lady B - B-Ware
10 SebastiAn - Ross Ross Ross
11 Kavinsky - Testarossa Autodrive (Arpanet Nightdrive Rework)
12 Dynarec - Fluid Leak
13 Detroit Grand Pubahs - Plasticene Gene [Ectomorph Remix]
14 -=UHU=- - Kinetic Energy Part II

Okay, so I've been going a little crazy lately with record buying. That's one of the problems of living next to what Rolling Stone [not that I ever listen to anything they say] calls, "The Best Music Store In the World," Amoeba Records. Then you have eBay and online record stores. Makes it waaay too easy for me to spend most of my disposable cash on shiny plastic groove-laden discs.

Here is a list of what's made it into the shopping cart recently:
SebastiAn - Ross Ross Ross
Detroit Grand Pubahs - Black Matters
The Consumer - Financial Advisory
Dynarec - Body Sequencer
Huggotron - Glasshouses
LaTour - People Are Still Having Sex
Egyptian Lover - Dance
Dexter vs. Cosmic Force - Noordhollandsche Ghetto Tracks
8bit & The Calculators - Hound Dog
Dsico That No Talent Hack - City Stirs
Jor-El - Space Tracks
Scan X - Wasteland
Automat - Preludes
Cursor Miner - The 4 Guardians
Debasser - KLS
Si Begg - Revolution
Armand Van Helden - Koochy / Phreeknik
Hong Kong Counterfeit - Counterparts
Kansas City Prophets - Grim Dubs Vol. 3
LFO/AFX - 4 Track EP
Life Project - Present Random Chance

I thought I would take this opportunity to announce my New Year's Resolution. Mind you I've never kept any previous year's resolutions, but I think it's probably best to keep this one, if not for the sake of my sanity then at least for that of my co-workers.