» New Darin video!

I like it. Very old-school and poppy. If you don't know Swedish and haven't seen any interviews with Darin, I found one - in English! - he did when he was doing promotion in Helsinki, Finland (where his current girlfriend lives, by the way), which you can watch here.

posted by Chrille @ 10/29/2006 4 comments

» New Marie Serneholt video!

Flying seems to be the big pop video trend in Sweden at the moment. Both BWO and September did it earlier this year, and now Marie Serneholt's continuing this 'pop floating movement'. It isn't looking very cheap, either. She must be selling some records in order to keep making such fly videos (see what I did there?), doesn't she?

Marie Serneholt - Oxygen [MP3]

posted by Chrille @ 10/27/2006 1 comments

» Discovering

Sofi Bonde - (I've Got A) Thing For You

Rediscovering music is always fun, but rediscovering artists you thought were gone is even more fun. That's the case with Sofi Bonde. She made a brilliant popalbum in 2001, and since then it's been rather quiet around her.. Until I made the discovery and found her on Myspace.com
She's been recording some great new pop/rock/electro-tracks and I'm so excited. I cannot wait until her new CD gets released. It's listed on her official website, so I assume it will be released sometime soon.

Evan - Calling For You

Evan may have flopped in Melodifestivalen this year, but that's absolutely no reason why we should ignore this guy. He's a popgenius. His new album arrived yesterday, and I wasn't too sure if I would like it or not, 'cause I had ordered it without thinking.. but I'm glad I don't always think. Because it is fabulous. He's released three singles from it so far, and I am hoping "Calling For You" will be his next.

Raymond & Maria - No One Notices Your Brand New T-shirt

Two years ago the band Raymond & Maria (there is actually five of them and no one is called Raymond. Wicked!) had a major hit in Sweden with "Ingen vill veta var du köpt din tröja". And for those who thought they were gonna be a one-hit-wonder should take a listen to their new album and discover some great popmusic.
Are you sick of electro and glamourous rock then I'm sure you will enjoy this.

posted by Alexander @ 10/26/2006 1 comments

» Sing in Japanese, I'll dress up as your geisha

West End Girls – Go West
A bit of an exclusive here at Catchy Tunes of Sweden today! Here is a, in Sweden, previously unreleased West End Girls track. This time the Pet Shop Boys’ big hit “Go West” from the album “Very” gets a poppy makeover, and believe me when I say that the West End Girls have never sounded as poppy as this. You could almost mistake it for an A*Teens track! Apparently it’s a bonus track on the Japanese version of the album, which is called “We Love Pet Shop Boys” (crap title, isn’t it?) The song is obviously brilliant, and the production is poppy and electro and ace as usual, but the choir makes the song sound like a succer anthem, and I’m not too found of that. It reminds be a bit of that horrible DJ Ötzi who had a couple of hits a couple of years ago.

Helena Paparizou – The Game Of Love
The former Antique star and Eurovision winner Helena Paparizou has finally completed her second English album. I’ve been listening to it a lot this week, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by it, because I wasn’t a big fan of her first album “My Number One”. Although it includes some boring ballads a la Jill Johnson it still manages to keep a high standard on the up-tempo songs, especially “The Game Of Love” which fast became my favourite. It follows in the veins of her previous singles “Heroes” and the acetastic “Mambo”, and if it ever becomes a single I’m sure it’ll be a big hit.

Bonus: Gigolo – The opening track which, despite completely stealing the “dum-di-dum” bit from Teddybears’ “Cobrastyle”, is really rather good. Makes me want summer back. Now.

posted by Chrille @ 10/25/2006 9 comments

» The funny little way you dance

Darin – Perfect
Okay I really suck at this ‘not updating’ thing, but here’s another song you have to hear. The almighty Darin is back on the pop scene after nine months since his last single, and he’s as good as ever. Apparently his upcoming album, named “Break The News”, will be more experimental than his last ones, “Darin” and “Anthem”, including more guitars, drums and synths. And apparently this is one of the rockier songs on the album… well, if this is the rockiest Darin can get, then we undoubtedly don’t have anything to worry about. With that said, I must say I don’t quite like this as much as his other ‘first singles’ “Step Up” and “Money For Nothing”, but it’s still a hit that most certainly will give him another number one album. Oh, and doesn’t it feel a bit funny that he’s singing about a girl taking her clothes off. Wasn’t he 17 like, yesterday?

Agnes – Love Is All Around
Another former Idol contestant who is releasing a new album this time a year is Agnes Carlsson, who won last year’s season. Actually it’s already reached number one! The new album is called “Stronger”, and on it she has moved away from the old-school pop sound that were on some of the songs on her debut album to what in my opinion is a more boring and “grown up” sound. It’s clear she’s trying to reach a more adult audience on this album. However, most songs are quite good, and Agnes’ voice is still really enjoyable. “Love Is All Around” is without doubts the poppiest song on the album, being so jolly you can’t help but put a smile on your face while listening to it. You will probably think that all I said earlier about how the album is more grown up is bullshit when you hear it, but keep in mind it’s not very representive of the album. Other highlights: “Baby I Want You Gone” (Agnes goes fierce synth-pop!) and “Top Of The World” (With a good chorus it would’ve had number one written all over it!).

Bonus: Somewhere Down The Road – Get ready to hear the cheesiest pop ballad of 2006. Also one of the loveliest. This would probably have gone top three if it had entered Melodifestivalen, since it’s very instantly good. I have a feeling it might be a bit too ‘musical’ to be a single, though. But on the other hand it would be perfect for Christmas.

One last thing; I might’ve gotten a bit over excited about Christian Falk’s album. It’s good, in fact it’s very good, but of course it's not as good as BWO’s latest album. I don’t know why I even said such a thing!

posted by Chrille @ 10/19/2006 4 comments

» !!! etc.

Christian Falk feat. Robyn – C.C.C.
I know we weren’t supposed to update until the new layout was up, but I considered this a bit too important not to let you know about right away. The new Christian Falk album is AMAZING. Seriously. It’s absolutely amazing. I’m kind of in a hurry at the moment so I haven’t got time to write much about it, but you simply have to buy it. Really, really have to buy it. I *might* even say that it's better than BWO's album. If you’re not convinced after hearing this masterpiece of a song, which beats "Girliestyle" and "Dream On" by miles, then you’re a weirdo.

I'd also like to start the campaign here; "C.C.C." for single! You hear that, Christian!

posted by Chrille @ 10/17/2006 3 comments

» Changes

The blog is going through some changes. No updates will be made until the new look is done!

Thanks for your patience.
Chris and Alex.

posted by Chrille @ 10/14/2006 1 comments

» Pop my fuses!

Roxette - One Wish

posted by Alexander @ 10/12/2006 1 comments

» I'm a boy on a mission

Ville Niskanen – Hit Me Like That
This is one of the rejects from this year’s season of Idol, but I’d still say he’s the one who has gotten the most attention out of all the actual contestants with tons of articles about him in several different Swedish newspapers. Basically because when he searched last year he was overweight, and now he had lost all this weight just so that he would go through. This is his debut single, and I must say I like it a lot! The writers of this song used to work with Christina Aguilera in her “poppier” days, and you can hear that in this song. It’s a really old-school late 90’s pop song with a cheesy pop production and catchy melody – just like in the golden days. Apparently it’s already sold 12.000 digital copies (which is quite a lot in Sweden) just in a couple of days, and is set to reach the number one spot when it’s released physically next week. Deservedly so!

Elin Lanto – As Long As I Can Dream
I don’t like Elin Lanto much. I don’t really know why but I just don’t get her. But despite that I bought her debut album for some reason, and as I expected it was mostly crap, but I fell for this one. It’s a cute little ballad which should’ve been a single instead of the dreadful ‘We Fly’. If you’re a fan of Marit Larsen you’ll probably like this song as well.

posted by Chrille @ 10/08/2006 2 comments

» All hail Marit Bergman

Last Saturday I went to see a pop gig with the oh so amazing Marit Bergman. It’s quite a crime I haven’t featured her here before, since I love her and she’s an amazing popstar, but better late than never I suppose! The concert was great, she looked much better in real life (although she’s beautiful in her videos, too, of course). The support bands were amazing as well, so I’ll dedicate another post to them in a few days. Anyway, back to Marit. Her latest album “I Think It’s A Rainbow” is one of my favourite albums of 2006, and I think you would love it as well. Click here to have a look at the video for her current single "No Party".

You Can’t Help Me Now – Simplicity is one of the ingredients in Marit’s pop. This reminds me of a demo-song who Lisa in 8th grade has mixed together with her school mates. Yet it still sounds professional, and smells 80’s on places. What I love the most about this song, though, is how vulnerable she sounds in the end of the track.
Alone Together – It’s not very often the trumpets make the whole song, is it? Well, they do here. And the great chorus which is very summery and lovely and nice to listen to.
Mama, I Remember You Now – See, only Marit Bergman could come up with the idea of making a tribute song to Mama Cass. A bit cheesy, but still great.

And here’s a little crash course for those who haven’t heard her before (I do recommend you highly to get her previous two albums as well, they’re both superb):

You Will Always Be My Soldier – Good melody. It reminds me of another song but I can’t put my finger on which.
Adios Amigos – The video for this one is ABSOLUTELY mad and brilliant, but weirdly enough it’s not on YouTube. If anyone finds it – please let me know and I’ll post the link! If I ever make a list of the most brilliant Swedish pop singles of the “nougthies” this will be at least top 20!
Julia – It’s from her first album. Her sound was a lot more raw back then, but just as melodic as now.

Now let’s end this Marit tribute with a video of her covering “Waterloo” on the 50th anniversary of Melodifestivalen (on the same show Darin did “Det Gör Ont”) with no other than Carola!



God – she’s so ace! Isn’t she? You can buy her albums from here and here.

posted by Chrille @ 10/05/2006 3 comments

» "I never knew you would like this"

My Darling YOU! – We Break Up On Friday
In one minute My Darling YOU! manages to include everything pop music is about to me. They’re wonderful! It’s happy, fun, melodic, intensive, modern and pure pop. You can find it on their new EP “My Heart Beats To Fast For Our Friendship To Last” which you can buy here.

Zeigeist – Cuffs
One of the most interesting new acts this year is definitely the bizarre electro-pop band Zeigeist. After the blogosphere-hyped “Tar Heart” which I posted a while ago, a few new songs have surfaced, and they’re also good. “Cuffs”, which without doubt is the best one of the new bunch, is an aggressive and dark electro song which holds a nice tempo in the beginning, to explode in an amazing falsetto/Jake Shears moment towards the end.

Bonus #1: Bunny – Fun lyrics!
Bonus #2: Giving U Up – Kylie cover!

Peter, Björn & John – Amsterdam
‘Young Folks’ was the summer anthem for all my indie-type friends. I remember hearing it the first time on Swedish radio station P3, and didn’t care much for it. But after a few hours I began whistling on the melody of the song, but I couldn’t figure out what song it was! It bothered me for days until I heard it again on the radio. Then I also realised what a fantastic song it is. The female singer on the track is Victoria Bergsman, and has been one of the members of Swedish pop group The Concretes since they formed a couple of years ago. But only a few weeks back she announced she’s quitting the group. In my opinion that was a great move by Victoria, since The Concretes has to be one of the dullest pop groups in Sweden, like, ever!. Though judging by her new official site, she won’t be any more interesting solo. Peter, Björn & John are also known (at least by me) for their dull music. That’s why I was utterly shocked when I listened to their latest album and actually liked what I heard! ‘Amsterdam’ quickly became my favourite, probably because of its great melody which caught me instantly. Hopefully it’s the next single - we need a video for this song.

Bonus: Young Folks – In case you’ve missed it.

posted by Chrille @ 10/03/2006 4 comments