> Say Something

Hiya Boys & Girls! Have you had a good Christmas? I have, well, no snow but nice presents so I'll survive, hehe. Some of you may have noticed that I'm closing the blog which is sorta true but it'll go on in a different way, not sure how to do it yet, but until then I will still post here. Now to some music...

Jill Johnson - Say Something
One of my favourite Swedish singers (I know I keep repeating this sentence but I do have many favourite singers, lol) is Jill Johnson. Sweden's answer to Shania Twain and all those other country-birds from America and Canada. Is she any different, you say? Well, to me she is. I've been to Jill's concerts three times and she is just the loveliest person one could ever meet, so down to earth and she never hits a bad note. If you do get the chance to see her live sometime, DO IT. If you like this song you should consider getting the album Baby Blue Paper.


Jonathan Fagerlund - Suzie is the Girl of Mine
Jonathan's debutalbum is one of my favourite albums of the year and one of the best popalbums I've heard in a couple of years. This guy has potential. I can't wait to hear his song for MF '09. Apparently he's already working on the next album but they really shouldn't let this album go to waste. It's too good. Make sure you get it if you like boyband-pop and sweet ballads. Well done, Mr Fagerlund!


Sibel - Walking Away (Oscar Holter Remix)
I never thought I'd like anything by this girl, she was never a favourite of mine in Idol. I'm glad I changed my mind though, cause Sibel's album The Diving Belle is wonderful. She's released four brilliant singles from it and there's still like two songs left on the album I think could be singles. This remix is quite rare, hope you like it.


Eskobar - Flat Earth
And the winner of the most underrated song and album of the year is... ESKOBAR! "Hallelujah New World" wasn't gay enough for the Eurovision-people so it flopped big time. It's still one of my favourite entries in MF '08 though, it's really uplifting and has a great chorus. The album Death In Athens more or less flopped despite being their best album to date. "Flat Earth" is one of the highlights. Enjoy.

That was IT for today.

> Party Like It's 1998!

Popsie - Joyful Life
We're singing nanananana... If there's one girlband I dearly miss (apart from the Spice Girls, of course) it is Popsie. The most brilliant Swedish girlband in history (OOOOK, so there haven't been that many to start with.) However, their album remains one of my favourite popalbums to this day. It actually features songs from the then unknown RedOne and Rami.

Popsie - I'm Not Your Property
A true Girl Power-anthem. The lyrics are FAB! "Step on it and get burned then you'll get what you deserve, I'm not your property baby."


La Cream - Say Goodbye
La Cream (a.k.a. Tess) was a highly popular and successful eurodance-act in Sweden during the late 90s. They delievered one hitsingle after another up until 2000 when Tess decided to go solo and sing on her own. "Say Goodbye" is my favourite single from La Cream and it's still amazing! A warning though! If you're not into eurodance, do not download.


Meja - Intimacy
Now to something completely different. One of my favourite Swedish singers, the lovely Meja. Most known for the hitsingle "All 'bout the Money", a true classic, but I love this just as much. Originally recorded by The Corrs but Meja does it better. It's such a warm and cosy song, perfect for xmas!

> Pop

OK, no one really liked my big post on Lili & Susie so here's some random popsongs.

Grant - Just the Thing
I just remembered that Poppostergirl wanted this. It's a nice catchy rocksong from Epicentre.

Lia Andreen/Emilia de Poret - Mistreat Me (You'll Be Sorry)
One of my favourite popsongs of the decade. Yes. Really. Released back in 2001, the album was sadly never released. Now we patiently wait for Emilia's second album, to be out in 2009. If that doesn't come out (it's been postponed like ten times) I will rob a bank and buy all the rights for the songs and release them on here. How does that sound?

Booster - Your Lovin'
This is a classic from the 90s. A one-hit-wonder. The song was used for some computer game I think. Not sure. There's a sticker on the single cover saying something about it anyway. I have no idea who the girls were either. But I love the song nevertheless.

Do you want a fourth song? Yes? Well, you're not getting one! Ha!

> Anorah

Anorah recently opened the doors to her new website. It's a really good site too, you can purchase her digital album "Like He'd Do" (including That's You to Me and the beautiful Inconsolable.) You can also get the single "Story of My Own" which is fab.
Buy and support her!

http://www.anorah.se/
http://www.myspace.com/anorah

> Oh Holy Mama

OMG YES! They're FINALLY back... and this time it's not just some random gig at the local gayclub! The two most fabulous sisters of Sweden - Lili & Susie - will do a big comeback (hopefully at the biggest gayclub in Stockholm = Globe Arena) in Melodifestivalen 2009 (I feel like putting on pink and red lipstick... and I'm a guy! :-()

I've been a fan of L&S for about five years and I've managed to get all their CDs but one. Therefore I know what a brilliant pop-duo they were and that my expectations of their entry "Show Me Heaven" are high. I'll try and be realistic though... I know I can't expect another "Oh Mama" nor "Sending Out a Message", not even a "What's the Colour of Love".
Just the fact that they are back is amazing.

I assume most of my readers have no idea who they are, so I will share some of my favourite songs from them and hope you'll like what you hear, if not, go and see a doctor. Instead of individual links you'll get all the tracks in a zipped file.


Sending Out a Message
It's a crime this is not one of their most known songs. It's just as catchy as you want it to be and it really shows the best sides of the 80s. It's co-written by Alexander Bard (Yes, he was a pop-genius back then already.) I really wish they would re-record this, I know it could be a hit.

We Were Only Dancing
Yet another pop-classic. Simple as that.

Robert and Marie
There's a bunch of other tracks from Anytime that I could share with you but I felt this one needed to be heard first. It's a ballad. It sounds a bit ABBA-ish. Think "The Day Before You Came" and you'll get a good picture. It's a bit depressing-sounding but beautiful.


What's the Colour of Love
L&S were not only active in the 80s but also in the early 90s. They released two albums and The Sisters was the better one. From this album we got two big hits: "Boyfriend" and "What's the Colour of Love" - the last one being one of the most iconic songs. Enjoy this one, I know I do... everytime!

Evelyn
Now this is quite different. It's more of a rock-ballad and will perhaps remind you of The Bangles?! Or some other American girl-rock-band. Really nice.


Bara Du och Jag (Only You and I)
L&S also recorded tracks in Swedish and "Bara Du och Jag" was their biggest Swedish hit and one of my favourites (Surprise, eh!)

Okey, Okey
Did you know they already participated in Melodifestivalen? They did in fact. Back in 1989. They actually competed against Sofia Källgren (mentioned in my previous post) and Orup (the guy who's constantly working with Lena Ph.) None of them won but they sure did a great performance and if "Show Me Heaven" is even half as good as this one I will be over the moon.

Oh Mama
If there's one song you should know it is this one. It was pretty obvious Bard was inspired by this when he wrote "Lay All Your Love on Me" for BWO, you'll hear the similarites.

Mega Mix
A good mega mix of their biggest hits, it features a couple of songs I did not (yet) share with you.

Download:

http://rapidshare.com/files/169975127/L_S.zip.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QGVUMYT8

Breathe in... breathe out... that's it for now. I could continue but I wouldn't want to over-do it. Enjoy and please come back soon... ;-)

> Go Easy with Me

Sugarplum Fairy - The Escapologist
Let's start off this Monday with a rockband from Sweden. Yeah, you heard right. A rockband. Don't let the rock-part scare you away though, because "The Escapologist" is one of my favourite singles of the year and it made me discover the terriffic band that is Sugarplum Fairy. I'm not sure whether they are famous outside Sweden but I think they are fairly known in Germany and have done gigs in other countries too.


Dilba - Easy
Let's continue this post with another favourite single of mine. Actually, this could very well top the chart of "My favourite singles of the year", it's brilliant. Dilba has always been one of my favourite Swedish songwriters and "Easy" is yet another beautiful piece from her which I think you will all like... Apparently it's being released in the Netherlands sometime soon, seems random, but oh well... Enjoy! You'll get a warm cosy feeling from it.


Sofia Källgren - Mio My Mio
OK, this is perhaps not what you would expect from my blog but I want to show all sides of Swedish music, not just the mainstream-pop-sort. Btw, you may recognise Sofia, she's been in Melodifestivalen three times (last in 2003.) However, this song is taken from her latest album where she covered eleven film-classics. This one is from the Swedish film "The Land of Faraway - Mio My Mio" based on the story by Astrid Lindgren. It's a beautiful song composed by Benny & Björn. If you like songs like "May It Be", "The Prayer", "Come What May" and "My Heart Will Go On" you will simply love Sofia's album which I recommend if you're into this classical-pop-sort-of-thing. The album's entitled Cinema Paradiso.

That's it for today and I promise to update more during the week. If you have any requests for old singles or something... let me know. I have lots of things in my shelf and on my computer.