Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes

Coming soon (though not tomorrow--the order is still being sorted out, though I'm sure the accompanying description will be as drawn out as always): my countdown of my favorite singles of the year. I will say, though, that I currently feel strangely sure about my top placing song, though knowing me it will change ten times between now and when I actually post it.

In completely unrelated news, we've finally got a return to music from someone I've been waiting for--well, kind of return: Jon Nørgaard, the Danish singer who won Popstars many years ago and featured in Solo, the documentary film about what happens to these reality TV-forged singers several years down the line (it's a pretty good film, one which I've been meaning to write more about for years--I feel like I'd want to start a YouTube account and upload little clips to accompany any comments, though, and I've never bothered to find out how to do any of that).

To veer back on point, Jon is the featured vocalist on the new single from dance producer Kato, "Turn The Lights Off." Its musical backing is neither as heavy and dark as that of Infernal's "Ultimate Control" nor as beachside light as his collaborations with Musikk, but it's slightly more on the upbeat tip if you have to peg it down to one or the other.



As the song is a cover of a song that was already pretty enjoyable and isn't a massive international crossover hit in the waiting, this new version's existence probably won't be of interest to more than a handful of people on the Internet and some Danish dance music fans. Still, I love Jon's voice and, despite the growing pains he's experienced over the years, felt only more inclined to like him as a person after Solo, so I'm glad he's got new music out for me to listen to, enjoy, and buy.

Baby, let me show you how to do na na na

Did I ever mention on here that a few months ago I got to watch that Jon documentary I wanted to see and mentioned a few times? I did (and can confirm that though it's in Danish it has the option of English subtitles)--and I thought it was really interesting (especially for someone like me who's so into pop and loves so many popstars who quickly rose to fame through a reality TV show). It certainly doesn't make him out to be some perfect person, but it's very...humanizing, and though there are times you want to shake him and get him to, say, stop being so stubborn, there are (more frequent) times when, given what he's going through and what he's saying, you just want to let him know everything'll be OK and find him a really good friend. I really am going to go into more detail about it eventually...but not today. Writing about Infernal has reminded me of a Jon song they remixed that I'm posting today. This song isn't Jon's only connection with Infernal: he's also the singer on (well, at least one version of) Infernal album track "Ultimate Control" (which I've written about before). Today's song, though, is technically a Musikk feat. John Rock (John Rock being an alias of Jon) track that was released as a single a few years ago. Jon's collaborated with Danish dance producers Musikk several other times: on another Musikk feat. John Rock track, a cover of "Love Changes Everything," and on the "Jon vs Musikk" remixes of Jon's songs "Every Girl I've Ever Wanted" and "Falling."

Summer Lovin' (INF:RMX Radio Edit)--the song opens just with Jon's voice (albeit enhanced to echo around), but pretty quickly very Infernal-esque electronic beats come in (you'll know exactly what I'm referring to when you hear them). Those beats take what, in its original version, was a nice summery beachy dance song and make it pounding and intimidating and, even though those electro beats couldn't be more pure, kind of dirty--a lot like "Ultimate Control," actually, which is probably why I love this remix so much. If the original mix takes you to a sunshine-filled beach, the Infernal remix gets you alternating between the center of the dancefloor and some dark and dirty corner of the club. I know I've said it before, but Jon's voice is so fantastic for this kind of dance music--well, music in general, but I literally cannot get enough of it over these kinds of beats.

You can buy the Musikk feat. John Rock single "Summer Lovin'" (which has a bunch of remixes) here (physical) or here (digital). It's also available on iTunes here.

(Also, I need to take a moment to curse DSTP for introducing me to Jon--it's cost me way too much money!)

Next up: maybe that Belgian singer.

I was only seventeen

Paul, I hope you're happy! One mention of Jon in the comments and now you've reminded me how much I love his music (not that that was ever in question, given how many times I must have written about him since DSTP introduced me to him) and can't stop listening to it. I even had to go pick up some of the songs by him I didn't have (conveniently, all iTunes stores sell his Musikk collaborations "Love Changes (Everything)" [a Climie Fisher cover]" and "Summer Lovin'" and associated remixes and Gucca is now selling some other songs I wanted to get, like "Lidt endnu" and the Musikk remix of "Falling").

Speaking of Jon, I mentioned the documentary about him, his rise to fame, and ensuing troubles (Solo) a while ago and I'm now pretty sure it does have English subtitles (I'm guessing that "Undertekster" means "subtitles"?). I'm still really interested to see it (the reviews on IMDb look good) and when I do, I'll definitely let you know what I think, but I'm trying to hold out in hopes I can convince someone to get it for me as a gift for Christmas. But if I end up buying it now, Paul, it's your fault!

(Question, though: my copies of "Lidt endnu"--legally bought--came with Marco Borsato [a Dutch singer] marked as the artist; it's obviously not him singing, but I'm curious as to if this is just a case of completely mistaken labeling or if he composed the song, or if it's a cover? For some reason, it seems like, given the documentary's topic, they would've wanted to choose some "real" song to release in association with it, and I'm guessing that why it's so different in sound, but I would've expected it to be written by Jon as well. Not that I have anything wrong with it if it is written by someone else, but that's just sort of the "image" I get from what I know of the movie.)

Edit: while I'm writing about artists other blogs have introduced me to, I might as well include a video Robpop showed me once: the music video for Jon's cover of "Popstar."

You gave your heart, you gave your soul, you gave me ultimate control; it's not enough, girl

Further on the me being behind the times front, I spent a lot of the time I disappeared off the face of the blogging earth listening to the following song. Danish dance group Infernal have been written and raved about everywhere--Don't Stop The Pop, Dirrrty Pop, Poplicious, Popjustice--but "From Paris To Berlin" somehow passed me by without inspiring a desire to seek out the album. "I Won't Be Crying" changed, that, though, as it had me perfecting dramatic brush-off gestures in the mirror and just generally dancing around the room. In case there's anyone out there like me who's taken so long to get on the Infernal bus, I thought I'd share another of their songs. As mentioned before, Infernal are Danish and, though they may have hit the UK hardest back in 2006, they've been releasing albums since back in 1998. The following song features guest vocals from someone I have written about before, though: Jon Nørgaard (here under the alias John Rock), Danish Popstars winner who, last I checked, was off releasing Danish language acoustic ballads in association with the documentary about him that I still really want to see ("Lidt Endnu," to be specific).

Ultimate Control (feat. John Rock)--I hate calling songs sexy; I think I've only ever done it once before over the course of this blog, that time in reference to the Attic's "In Your Eyes." But I can't help it here--because this song is. Desperate it may be as well, but there's no other word for it. It's driven by this repetitive thumping, almost revving-like beat that should get dull through repeated plays but doesn't, instead just getting more and more addictive. All Jon really has to do is speak over the top, but his distinctive voice suits this sort of dance music perfectly (actually, his voice seems to suit all sorts of dance perfectly, as the Jon vs. Musikk mix of "Every Girl I've Ever Wanted" was decidedly lighter in tone but still fantastic). Though the song still has a certain shininess that all Infernal songs I've heard have, it's also got a dark sheen that, when mixed with this danceable a beat, is irresistable.

There are multiple versions of Infernal's album From Paris To Berlin, but you can buy some versions here (physical) or here (digital).

Next up: maybe a Swedish duo or American singer.

When the solid ground is shaking

I promise this isn't the start of an obsession and loads of posts, but having finally heard all of Jon's second album, I wanted to sneak in one last thing about him and write about it. As before, all credit for the introduction goes to DSTP. In brief, Jon is a Danish singer who won Popstars. There's also a documentary about him that's just recently been released; it looks really interesting and I'd definitely buy it if it ever comes out in a version in English or with English subtitles (I think the DVD, due out this summer, has English subtitles, though I'm not sure).

Hurry Up Live--this song is in a style of music never likely to cause explosions of excitement in most pop-loving places but one that I absolutely adore. I've been craving "boy pop" lately and, though Enrique Iglesias's new song helped with that (as have some singers on other blogs--more on that in a moment), Jon's second album perfectly fulfills that requirement. In this case, "boy pop" may be a bit of a misleading term--don't picture a singer who sounds like an actual boy (like, say, Corbin Bleu)--but I've not yet come up with a better term. The music has a very rich warm sound to it--you know the whole "slip into your favorite sweater, make a cup of hot chocolate, and curl up in front of the fireplace" concept? Or the idea of comfort food? Well, Today Is A Good Day (To Fall In Love) (yes, cheesy title, I know) is exactly like that in music form. Don't let that make you think it's all whispery or ballad-y, though--it's uplifting in a non-aggressive way. Comfortable and comforting and never saccharine or treacly--it's far too warm to come off as sugary. The dark chocolate of the music world.

You can buy Jon's second album, Today Is A Good Day (To Fall In Love), go here (physical) or visit iTunes, where you'll have to search for song names or the album title--the album won't come up if you search for "Jon." For example, it can be found on the U.S. iTunes here. I very much recommend picking up at least some of the songs on it--in particular, his cover of Sita's "Popstar" (I love the added verse), "Why Can't This Be Love," and "Who U Gonna Run To"--I could probably go on, but those are good songs to start with.

Speaking of "boy pop," there are some great examples in the blogworld at the moment. Check out Daniel Zueras at Don't Stop The Pop--very cute-sounding Spanish pop with a video and lyrics that bely that cuteness. A Kind Of Love In has great pop by Swiss/Italian singer Paolo Meneguzzi. Look out for "Ti Amo Ti Odio" and "Vero Falso" in particular. I'm definitely buying some albums by him as soon as I have more money again!

Next up: possibly Espen Lind, but I'm not sure if I'm ready yet.

But the vision of your face will haunt me every day

I'm still not over the loss of my favorite digital music store, even more so because they're literally the only place I know selling one of my favorite songs of the moment, a song I'd love to have in high quality but instead am having to make do with a low quality version. Frustrating. I'll stop complaining eventually, though, I promise. (I feel slightly hypocritical--I mean, if I had purchased the high quality version, wouldn't I be posting it here and therefore defeating the purpose of people being able to purchase it? But I buy far more than I post, and this song has made me wonder why on Earth I only bought some of this artist's songs in the past--if I could, I'd easily go back and complete his previous albums.)

As for the song itself, people may remember the Jon vs. Musikk remix of Jon's song "Every Girl I've Ever Wanted," one of my favorite "songs of summer" in 2006; I posted it back in July, I think. However, credit really must go to Don't Stop The Pop for featuring Jon back in its Danish special--I've been hooked ever since then. I was messing around the other day when I noticed what seems to be a documentary about Jon and his rise to fame has been recently released (or will be soon--I need to learn Danish--it seems to be getting really good reviews, though)...and poor Jon--it doesn't look very happy. Even the promotional image for this single (Jon's in the middle) doesn't have him looking very happy! Which sort of fits with the song, I suppose, and with the billing (via the documentary) of him as "Denmark's most controversial man" (at least, I think that's what it says; it could be talking about the director for all I can tell). Anyhow, Jon was on the show Popstars and is now on his second album, which he's been releasing songs off of for quite some time; in fact, even the current single is from it, though I think the emphasis may be going to a new remix of it--which is the song I'm posting. The remix, as mentioned, reunites Jon with the two guys of dance and remix group Musikk.

Falling--as mentioned, the audio quality here is subpar, and I apologize for that. The original version of this song is a simple ballad, which you'd probably be able to guess from the remix. While the Jon vs Musikk version of "Every Girl I've Ever Wanted" took the original and made it even more upbeat and very beach-worthy, their reworking of "Falling" keeps the emotion of the original; in fact, I'd say it plays up the emotion even more, making it even sadder despite placing it over more danceable beats. While the original is more down-tempo, it takes the subject of the song--best summed up through "I only want you to be falling for me as I'm falling for you"--almost as a fact, or maybe...hmm...I guess the original is like something in movies, where the boy serenades the girl and you just know they're going to end up together, even though the song itself isn't necessarily brimming with confidence; there's a quiet strength to it. In contrast, though this remix has peaks with more hope, the very fact that there has to be hope means that it's no sure thing that the subject will fall for him. The vocals have either been slowed down or just seem slower when juxtaposed with the faster beats underneath them, but either way the sense of longing is emphasized. For all this rambling, though, it's a very simple song, which makes its appeal all that much stronger.

As I've said, I know of no place you can buy this song, either as a real physical single or digital version, but if someone knows where you can, please let me know.

Next up: possibly something Swedish.

(Edit: ooo! IMDb, which of course could be completely wrong, says that the documentary, Solo, is going to be released in Australia this September--if that's true, then there must be going to be an English version, right? If so--or even if I know there's a version with English subtitles--I'm going to track it down, if it comes out on DVD--the film looks really interesting, even if you don't know or care about Jon in particular. Given my interest in contestants off of reality TV singing shows, I think it'd be an especially good watch.)

Here I go, just me and the radio

This is Shannon Noll. He was runnerup on the first season of Australian Idol. He makes pop-rock. Lots of it. And it all tends to blur together after a little while, I've decided.

All I Want is More--no, Shannon, we do not want more. This song will probably be enough for today. Maybe I'm being unfair; I've only been listening to his music for a day, so perhaps if I listened to it some more it would grow on me. I was a little put off by the song opening up on the word "and"--did I miss the song's beginning? What happened? Shannon's voice has a little bit of a rough edge to it, and the guitars are somewhat stronger than they were on yesterday's song. This is the sort of song designed to either be played while driving fast down the highway, or maybe be playing during a movie wherein said fast driving is occurring. It's probably more rock than pop, but it's still worth a look if you like your guitars but don't really care about credibility.

To buy Shannon Noll's first album, That's What I'm Talking About, or second album, Lift, you can go here.

Instead of spending lots of time on Shannon, let's look at some other sites featuring songs by Idol finalists.

Popsound, though written in Dutch, is featuring (South African) Idols finalist David Fourie. The song's in Afrikaans, but it's really good; nice and bouncy, with a little bit of guitar, but lots of good electronic effects.

Into the Groove has a gorgeous mid-tempo song by an Idols finalist from Holland, Jim Bakkum.

As mentioned earlier, Tip Tip Pop recently featured Christina Christian and a nice Latin-y song.

Finally, because I can't wholeheartedly endorse today's Idol contestant, here's a song I'm currently adoring.

Every Girl I've Wanted--Don't Stop the Pop introduced me to Jon, who was on a non-Idol TV singing competition in Denmark. This is the Jon vs. Musikk version of Jon's single "Every Girl I've Wanted," and it's perfect summery dance goodness. At some point while listening to this song, the thought crossed my mind that one could make a comparison between it and O-Town's "Liquid Dreams," because both compare the traits of the girl they love to the traits of celebrities. But really, the two songs aren't anything alike; for one, Jon doesn't sound creepy about it. For another, this song has handclaps, swirling background electronic effects, and maybe a hint of sort of "ethnic" flair (Latin?). Just try to listen to it without smiling.

To buy Jon's first album, This Side Up; second album, Today Is A Good Day (To Fall In Love); or any remixes, you can go here (physical format) or here (digital format).

Next up: not pop-rock! Onto the second season of Australian Idol.

(Apologies to Shannon Noll if I was overly harsh...it just took forever to upload his song.)

shannon noll australian idol jon