See, what you're bringing me, boy, is priceless

The inevitable counterpart to the post below? The songs that I've fallen for in the past few days. I'm still very behind--especially when it comes to (gasp!) Eurovision (which I get the impression isn't too impressive this year)--so all recommendations welcomed and appreciated.

Kylie Minogue, "All The Lovers"



I needed this song last week. Needed it. Still, it's not even June yet, right? Lots of time to enjoy Kylie's return.

Orup, "Tiden bara gick"



Artist and songwriter Orup has been a staple of the Swedish music scene since the '80s, though the overlapping area on the Venn diagram of his own output and the music I prefer is small enough that I can't say I'm a devotee of his, though Lena Philipsson's 2004 album Det gör ont en stund på natten men inget på dan, which he composed and which Anders Hansson produced, is one of the best albums to come out of Sweden in the '00s. He's more in the "respect and cherrypick" category. His new single, "Tiden bara gick," is very much worth picking: he's thankfully set aside the '60s sound he's been pursuing as part of a touring duo with Lena in favor of something that reminds me of the Killers' "Human" or the Bassflow remix of Martin Stenmarck's "Sjumilakliv." It's co-written with Johan Kinde, a member of '80s duo Lustans Lakejer, and like the aforementioned songs, it has that propulsive, vaguely '80s beat behind its grown-up melody. We're not talking campy Swedish disco-pop here, but "Tiden bara gick" is substantive radio pop that deserves crossover success.

Style, "Love Killer"


I'm operating on less than twenty-four hours of exposure to this new single from the Swedish dance-pop duo who mounted a comeback with "Vill ha dig igen" last year, so what I really think of it won't be apparent for a little while yet. Whether or not the opening of the chorus melody is strong enough remains to be seen, but how can you not want to listen to a song that sounds like old school Roxette with a debt to the '60s hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow"?

Alexis Jordan, "Happiness"



A Deadmau5-sampling song that in no way sounds like it's coming from an American act, let alone one from America's Got Talent, "Happiness" is one of those songs I listened to on YouTube once or twice in the past few months, brushed off, and then suddenly found myself having to own. Dance, pop, and R&B meshed into a gentle, luscious love song, with a sweet "mmm" hook that dives straight into your brain.

Example, "Kickstarts"



Could British rapper-turned-popstar Example's album just come out already? Third single and third top-quality, dreamy, summer-ready song.

Katharine McPhee feat. Zachary Levi, "Terrified"



(Yes, that Zachary Levi. Who knew?)

Technically pre-trip, this song is one that shouldn't be anywhere near this list. It's co-written by the man largely responsible for Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly," which I hate. It'd be one thing if this song was totally different, but nope, it's quite apparent on even a casual listen that it shares DNA with "Bubbly." Why, then, do I find "Terrified" so slowly, gently, creepingly endearing?

Also getting some play from me: Natasha Bedingfield's "Touch" (flawed but still drawing me back to it), Kids in Glass House's "Undercover Lover" (quiet but not slow pop-punk from the UK that could easily be from any number of random American groups but yet which I find catchy enough to win me over), Paolo Meneguzzi's "Imprevidibile" (also less than a day of exposure to this, but Paolo is a class act whose output is usually reliably of quality, and even with this somewhat more electro makeover, I have no reason to think this song with prove to be anything else), Alex Gardner's "Yesterday's News" (yes, I know, not new, but I only finally heard it), Sunday Girl's "Four Floors," that Bright Light Bright Light song, the Quentin Mosimann album (old news, but I've never written anything here since someone suggested it in the comments--I've forgotten who, but thank you!), a couple of Jenni Vartiainen songs (of which more will need to be written), maybe the new M.I.A. and Drake singles, Ola Joyce's "Beautiful Loser." Maybe a few Eric Saade songs, but though I know I should love him, I'm still not 100% sold on something about him yet--his voice, I think. He's got songwriters I love backing him, though.

Also, Janelle Monáe and Kelis albums: yay or nay? Worth buying?

#48 Katharine McPhee, "Over It"

I'm over your lies,
And I'm over your games
I'm over you asking me
When you know I'm not OK

I still don't understand why this song flopped; I mean, if this incredibly commercial-sounding pop song, fronted by a good and good-looking singer, can't make it, there's not much hope for this, is there (even if "Over It"'s video may have had some odd shots and a pretty awful way of breaking up with someone, it's still better than that one)? Sigh. I don't think I've done much talking about how much I like this song on here, though I did mention it offhand once. Taking full advantage of the template created by JoJo's "Too Little Too Late," "Over It" is a laid-back sounding supposed-breakup song with more than a hint of sadness and melancholy and with a catchy groove that somehow wiggles its way into your brain and gets stuck there. I would've loved to see it be more successful, though once "Love Story" started to get promoted as the second single, I figured that would be successful just because I had no interest in it whatsoever.

Find it on: Katharine McPhee

I've got to face the truth, 'cause this just ain't no good for me

JoJo's spawned more than her share of imitators; Katharine McPhee's (admittedly great) "Over It" was a pretty blatant to take advantage of the success of JoJo's "Too Little Too Late." Today's group seem to inevitably draw JoJo comparisons. Also on the "frequently heard about them front" is the "you mean that's more than one girl?" question, maybe more a reflection of the frequency of multitracking and playing with an artist's voice nowadays than necessarily a reflection on the three person group itself, though admittedly the girls don't sound all that different. I also refuse to refer to them by their sometimes-name of LAX Gurlz, which is just ridiculous-looking, and not in a good way, so we'll be sticking with their other name, LAX. Their debut single was released earlier did this year and promptly did nothing in the U.S.. There was still a little flurry of posts about them in blogworld, but I don't think I ever mentioned the song here at the time. LAX's MySpace has snippets of some other songs up, but none of them sounds as good as their lead single, the song I'm posting today (and most of them sound more urban-influenced).

Forget You--I'm not sure if this song would've fared better back in the days when the U.S. was a little more pop friendly--maybe it wouldn't have been the completely flop it was (well, it might have done OK on Radio Disney)--or if it's just not going to appeal to that many people beyond me. Midtempo and, yes, JoJo-sounding, "Forget You" is another one of those "I'm so over you" type songs, but I'd say the girls in LAX, despite singing "as hard as I may try, I can't forget you," sound closer to to being truly "over it" than Katharine McPhee does in her song (not better or worse, just a different, more attitude-filled style). It's also a completely pop song and pretty catchy--good for singing along to, at least.

Residents of the U.S. can buy LAX's single "Forget You" from iTunes.

Next up: maybe that Swedish duet--I'll get around to it eventually...probably.

I would give you every minute

To begin with, a few days ago I promised a better quality, non video-rip version of Part Six's "Drive So Far"--here it is.

As for today's song, I really don't know anything about it; it is a dance song and, like many (though far from all!) of the artists that have dance hits, the actual singers don't seem to have done too much else (though iTunes has a song by a group of the same name called "B Where I'm At"). It also isn't new, and I have a feeling anyone into dance music already knows it, but I just heard it recently. Anyhow, the group itself is Natural High, but I think (though I haven't heard the original) that it's the remixers who probably really deserve credit for this song.

Live For One Day (Haji & Emanuel Remix)--It's the middle of winter (and finally starting to feel like it), but maybe that's why I'm loving this song so much at the moment--there's something about it that just feels like summer to me. I don't know that I can really say that it feels like it's going anywhere, but I can imagine that, for four minutes, this song would make you feel amazing on the dancefloor. Basically, it makes me happy, and I love it--I want to live somewhere where life feels like this song.

To buy Clubber's Guide 2006, which has this song, go here (physical) or, if you live in the UK, you can buy a longer version of this song from iTunes here.

Do you know what song I really like at the moment? Katharine McPhee's "Over It" (which you can get over at Poptastic)--who'd've guessed? We'll see how it holds up over time, but, for the past day, I've been really liking it--there's something laid back and almost soothing about it, despite it being about a breakup.

Next up: I am really excited to get to write about that Swedish singer--he's pop/rock, though maybe I can write about a very poppy Swedish singer soon, too--but writing about Invertigo has got me listening to their album an awful lot now, and I want to make sure I give him his full due, so he probably won't get his turn until Friday or Saturday. Maybe a song that did really well in the UK but I just heard. And I still want to get to those Danish songs soon, too...