Seal Of Approval

Swedish electropop oddities Lo Fi Fnk released their debut album 'Boylife' back in 2006. I was late in discovering the album but, when I did, I quickly developed a love for the duo's synth-laden music and quirky lyrics.

Apart from their rather wonderful Kitsuné release, 'Want U', August and Leo maintained a decidedly low profile since the album.

Then recently they began posting snippets on their website and yesterday unveiled a new track, 'Marchin' In', from their forthcoming album.

The track is somewhat more downbeat than some of the older tracks but a wicked bassline and Leo's idiosyncratic vocal prevent it from sounding anyway drab.

I also quite like the hypnotic marine-themed video that accomapnies the track.

Scandipop O'Clock

O'Spada are a new Swedish band that caught my attention earlier this week. Playing cruelly on both my weakness for Scandinavian pop music and love of 80's synths, a matter of days later I'm utterly infatuated.

Their track 'Time' sounds packs some serious punch and, if the word on the street is to believed, there are several other equally infectious ditties in their arsenal:



If I manage to get my DJ shenanigans up and running, the Suck Shaft remix of the track is something I'd love to play:


[Image: Par Olofsson]

Bizarre Looking Man. Brilliant Pop Song.

Meet Erik Hassel, a 21-year-old Swede whose single 'Hurtful' is attracting quite a bit of attention and, by rights, will be a substantial radio hit. If Popjustice and Marina are to be believed, he's set to follow up this track with an album loaded with hit potential.

What may prove a hindrance to Hassel in his quest for superstardom is that, without wanting to be mean, he doesn't really look like a popstar. But hey, if Mick Hucknall can carve out a career in the public domain, there's hope for us all, right?




Verdict?

[Image: Myspace]

About Annie

One of the first posts I made when I resurrected this blog last July was about Norwegian popstar Annie.

Annie was a darling of the blogosphere back in 2004 when uber-cool music site Pitchfork took a fancy to her debut album 'Anniemal'. The album was moderately successful but its follow-up, 'Don't Stop' was shelved last year after it's lead single 'I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me' failed to make an impression on the charts.

It's a pity the release was scrapped because there were some fine pop tracks on 'Don't Stop', most notably 'Songs Remind Me Of You', one of my favourite songs of 2008.



Annie subsequently 'parted ways' from Island Records but, perhaps anticipating such an eventuality, Annie had stipulated in her contract that she would retain ownership of the master recordings. She intends to release the album, after some re-working, at some stage this year but it's unclear how exactly she'll go about doing that.

In the meantime, we can look forward to her new single 'Anthonio', which is being released on Richard X's independent label 'Black Melody' next month. A snippet of the track appeared on her myspace today and it's pretty promising. It reminds somewhat of Sally Shapiro's Italo Disco-influenced grooves and suggests that Annie is more at ease without the pressures of a major label on her shoulders.







[Images: Myspace]

Saliva-Inducing

State Magazine is reporting that the new album by Norwegian knob-twiddlers Röyksopp, due March 23rd, is to feature Swedish songstresses Robyn and Lykke Li. Also set to guest-star are fellow Swedes, The Knife.

Free downlaod of Röyksopp recent special release 'Happy Birthday available here.

Appetite: whetted.

You Can't Make Someone Want You

True that.

But enough about my love-life. Here's a new track from Swedish oddities Lo-Fi-Fnk. Their 2006 album 'Boylife' is a favourite of mine but they've been fairly AWOL since then. I happened upon a new track by them on the latest Kitsuné Maison Compilation.



It's called 'Want U'. Not sure if it's part of an upcoming release or just a once-off. It's fairly awesome though.

The Swedest Thing

Lykke Li in typically stonking form.



Probably my favourite track from her awesome début 'Youth Novels'. Here's hoping it helps to garner her the attention she deserves.

Great Danes

I'm an Alphabeat fan and not ashamed to admit it.

I concede that there's something very 'Ace of Base' about the Danish sextet but I can't help but love their unashamedly joyous pop ditties. Quite often their lyrics make no sense and I recently described them to a friend as 'like The Chalets but without the irony' . However true this might be, the band seem to really enjoy the music they're making and, as evidenced by their stonking performance in Whelans on Tuesday night, they're well able to cut it live.

Alright, I'm babbling.

Behold the band's new single 'Boyfriend'. I challenge you not to tap your feet to the (alpha)beat.



Alphabeat myspace

Scandanavian Sublimity

Recently, I've developed a weird obsession for Scandanavian electropop music. It wasn't a conscious thing but it just seems as though almost every musician I like these days originates from Northern Europe.

Par example:

Sweden - Robyn, Zeigeist, Lykke Li, The Knife, Lo-Fi-Fnk, Sally Shapiro, Those Dancing Days, The Sounds

Denmark - Alphabeat (who I'm going to see perform this coming Tuesday)

Norway - Annie, Röyksopp, Datarock

Datarock are my latest discovery. A trio from Bergen, Norway, Datarock's quirky brand of electro-rock is right up my alley. They've also worked with fellow Bergenite, Annie, on a couple of occasions, Their album has been out yonks but I only happened upon this video yesterday. It's pure genius.

Music's So Good. Music's OK.

Pop princess Annie's long-awaited sophomore album Don't Stop is pencilled in for an October release. The lead single I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me surfaced in March and I must admit that I found it a tad underwhelming, if only becauase it sounded uncannily similar to Chewing Gum, the single that first brought Annie to my attention back in 2004.

Subsequently, a couple of album samplers have leaked (one officially, one not-so-officially) that have well and truly whetted my appetite for the follow-up to the electropop masterpiece début that was Anniemal.

Annie gained a lot of indie cool when her Royksopp-produced Heartbeat single was named Pitchfork's #1 single of 2004. Personally, I suspect that Don't Stop probably won't have the hipsters in quite as much of a tizzy as its predecessor. That said, the new tracks are considerably more marketable than Annie's earlier singles and I wouldn't be surprised if this album surpasses the 'modest' commercial success of Anniemal.

The majority of the tracks have been produced by Girls Aloud's long-time collaborator, Xenomania, and the man responsible for Sugababes' Freak Like Me, Richard X. This particular track, Songs Remind Me of You, is one of the songs with Mr. X on knob-twiddling duties. Popjustice had this to say about it, which puts things far more eloquently than I could ever hope to.