Make you smile again

Oh, thank goodness, I'm not totally crazy...

Last year, I was convinced that the version of Måns Zelmerlöw's "Miss America" being played on Swedish radio, at least some of the time, was different from the version on the album--subtly different, just really with enhanced drums, but I was sure that difference existed. Despite all my searching, though, I couldn't find anything to support that information. The only remixes available at the time were definitely not the version I thought I'd heard: they were all dance versions.

I only just saw that American iTunes has a remix by Grizzly, though, and as soon as I clicked the preview button, I heard louder drums but a still pop--not dance--song. That's got to be it. Why it was released to American digital music stores and not Swedish ones, I've got no idea. Bought it, of course, though it's not better than the original (which I really should have had on my singles countdown last year; just a case of taking him and it for granted).

Måns also appeared on game show Så ska det låta last night. If you've ever wanted to see him sing Linda Bengtzing's "Jag ljuger så bra" (!), Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours," Gyllene Tider's "Sommartider," Björn Afzelius's "Tusen Bitar," "Var ska vi sova inatt" (complete with performance that, if not earth-shattering, is at least literally floor-shattering), Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me," you can watch the whole hour long show here. I'm sure clips will be on YouTube shortly if they aren't already. He's such a star. And he knows his international political history! Sigh.

Speaking of Måns, I never linked to one of my new favorite pictures of him or the comic strip that had me laughing for quite some time. I wish I lived somewhere where newspapers would publish comics referencing schlager stars. Oh, and CDOn confirmed that the only difference between the regular and deluxe editions of MZW is the booklet; the songs are the same.

Umm...to make this post seem slightly less pointless, did you know '80s Swedish group Secret Service (of "Flash In The Night") have a new single out? It's called "Different" and was an unreleased song unearthed while one member was moving boxes around.

Speaking of remixes and "Flash In The Night," I went on a mini-spree tonight, buying a couple of remixes by the Attic, the duo whose latest single was a cover of that old Secret Service hit but who quality-wise are one of the most reliable presences in the Swedish dance scene. At the end of 2008, Australian singer Candice Alley had her 2003 single "Falling" remixed by the Attic and released in the U.S. The Attic's reworking of the song suits it to a T, with the plaintive but commercial ballad-ish vocal part from Candice melding well with the fairly gentle dance beats underneath it. The other the Attic-related remix I bought was member Michael Feiner's fantastic remix of Daniel Lindström's "Saturday Night" (which is also not new but I've been meaning to buy from iTunes for some time). The song is much more interesting in this interpretation and, like the Attic's remix of "Falling," manages to be fun dance with some moving emotion behind it.

You're gonna find this heart of mind will stand the test of time

Swedish music news update!

Diva extraordinaire (in the best possible way) Lena Philipsson releases her duet with Orup, "Nu när du gått," digitally September 22. Oswalds Popcorn has the review (lukewarm at best) and the single cover. Sigh. Why can't you just give us another amazing solo album, Lena? The album of duets, called Dubbel, comes out November 12.

Speaking of songs released digitally on September 22, Sebastian (Karlsson) releases his new single, "My Getaway," then, with an album, The Most Beautiful Lie, following on November 5; he says it's "more personal" than his previous albums. "Words & Violence," the lead single for his last album, remains an amazing track, so I'm really hoping he'll give us something that good again.

Agnes's new album, Dance Love Pop, comes out October 29. They played about half of another song from it on the radio a few weeks back; I've forgotten most everything about it by now (it was something about love or kissing or something, I think), but it sounded OK--it'd make sense on the same album as the electro-disco-pop "On And On."

Sonja Aldén has a new single called "Du får inte" out. I don't own it (yet), but should you want to buy it, you can do so here, as well as preview the whole track piece-by-piece.

I'm not sure if this is worth mentioning, but since we've got so many other Idol graduates in this post...Daniel Lindström's got a new single called "Saturday Night" out--listen to the semi-disco sounds of it here, if you're interested. Possibly of more interest is that one-half of the Attic, Michael Feiner, has remixed the track--listen to the remix at the same place. Now that's something I may end up buying... Speaking of the Attic, are we ever getting a real version of "Flash In The Night," one that's not a six minute long remix?

Rachel of Work Your Magic might be interested to know (if she doesn't already) that Brandur released another single, "Lifelong Lovesong."

Sophia Somajo released her debut album, The Laptop Diaries. From the preview clips, I don't really think it's going to be the sort of album for me--most of it might be too "out there"--but "Warm Blooded Murder" (embedded below) remains great (time's actually been much more friendly to it than I would have expected) and it sounds like there might be some real keepers amongst the left-field electronically created pop there too. Then again, it's a nineteen track album (if bought via iTunes), so that's a lot of songs to sort through--both an opportunity for lots of filler and more chances to get it right. Would it interest people more if I mentioned there's a track featuring Juvelen?