I'm a fan of bitchy alt-pop (Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse) and organic sound production (Pipettes) rather than 80's influenced dance pop, not to mention I hate Annie even more than I do Timberlake...
But even I gotta admit that this would sound pretty good in the back of a limo while snorting coke and getting a paid blowjob.
I was on a Norweigan Pop bender a few months ago and Bertine was one of the few blondies that stuck. Her newest album, My Italian Greyhound is absolutely eurotastic. Rollerskating is my favorite though. I still need her first two (Bent?)
Funk Docta Bombay wrote:I probably shouldn't have assumed I could fade you on Scandanavian pop.
uploads would be appreciated though. Perhaps her last album in that other forum which recently underwent a redesign...
Word. I will get a flood brewing. Its pretty nice to just hear music without knowing that much about the artist. Odds are I have been jamming tons of music that is played solely in Swedish gay discos though.
^Well I already listen to shit that no one outside of Hong Kong care about so this ain't got nothing on it. At least it's in English.
to be honest I tend to like foreign pop (UK/France/Japan) more so than American pop. But I also think American Pop is 100 times better than the Quebec music industry which is a vortex of boredom and suck.
i picture blast's pop benders are like a powderpuff girls episode guest starring dipset set in a nightmarish bizarro version of a willy wonka type factory
1. You Can't Help Me Now
2. No Party
3. Sun Goes Down
4. Alone Together
5. Mama, I Remember You Now
6. Eyes Were Blue
7. Today Will Be The Day When Mourning Ends
8. Green Light
9. Still Summer
10. Forever Doesn't Live Here Anymore
I uploaded Marit's haunting version of Justin Timberlake's "My Love" a few months back to resounding zzzzzzz's. Here it is a again: http://www.sendspace.com/file/clmn8d
Its a pretty good example of what to expect, although the album's sound is quite varied.
My favorite songs on this album are the more somber numbers with sparse production that allow Marit's voice to shine. "You Cant Help Me Now" and "Forever Doesnt Live Here Anymore" are both truly excellent.
Can't find a cover, but here's a review of the album
A- Now five albums into her career, Bertine Zetlitz has achieved enormous commercial and critical success in her native Norway without making so much as a dent outside Europe. This probably doesnגt bother her in the least. Being famous and successful means she gets to make strange music videos in which she gets to chase after women with phallic objects. It also means she gets to put out albums which are lush, expansive, simultaneously retro and modern and quite brilliantגand enough people will buy them that she can do it all over again every two years
My Italian Greyhound boasts creative, playful production by Pleasure, but the real star is Bertineגs skewed songwriting, which plays out as some kind of psychosexual melodrama, in which she is the hunter and the hunted, moving between fixation, obsession, and regret while never once being anything other than accessible, interesting pop music.
The singles ג500ג and גMidnightג are but the tip of the iceberg; cool, detached pop both, seemingly looking at the before and after of lust and fascination with confident, catchy melodies that belie the rueful narratives they weave. גMidnightג especially bears a strong 80s influence, recalling Eurythmics and Madonna at their finest. גDragginג Me Downג has a tough, elastic-band synth-bass groove, amazing lyrics about a dog called Suzi-Q, and an aura of sheer menace.
At its simplest and most catchy, such as on גSleep Through the Storm,ג Bertineגs way with a tune is not that dissimilar to fellow Scandinavian Robyn. Her stories, though, are far more disturbed. גObesssion,ג an early standout, mixes fairly banal lyrics with one single line that could floor you if it catches you unawareגגyouגre the only one Iגve ever made a home for in my heart,ג delivered with the coolness of a woman with her hand on her gun and the other woman in her sights. Its technicolour keyboards and snapping, sashaying drums make for a woozy effect, keeping with the demented lyrical tone.
גGet What You Deserveג sounds like prime Fleetwood Mac, but Bertine sings it as herself, sighing wistfully while she breaks your heart with each elongated word, audible breath or weeping pedal steel. Likewise, גThis Momentגגan affecting, doomed love songגsounds like Fleetwood Macגs גRhiannonג filtered through Molokoגs גThe Time Is Now.ג If her previous album Rollerskating was buried in the romantic, My Italian Greyhound is more about unhealthy kinds of loveגinsecure, longing, defensive, and protective.
The range of styles covered over the album, even within the template of electro-pop is fairly impressive, but closer גIגll Be Fineג might just beat anything else here: itגs almost like a power ballad in its composition and defiance, but set to synths and backwards beats with a backing vocal swoon of the type that melts hearts and brings tears to eyes. It also bites גLeaving on a Jet Planeג on the lyric sheet.
Bertineגs way with a tune and ability to craft one or two memory-resident, devastating lines mark her as a distinct talent. It wonגt make her a star outside Scandinavia. Freed from the commercial need to cross over, secure in her fanbase and popularity, My Italian Greyhound is a gifted, ambitious pop artist at the absolute height of her game.
1. In Came The Light
2. Under The Surface
3. Don't Save Me
4. Only A Fool
5. Solid Ground
6. This Time Tomorrow
7. Recent Illusion
8. Sinking Game
9. To The End
10. Come Closer
11. Poision Passion
This is easily one of my favorite non-hip hop albums this year. Marit used to be half of M2M with Marion Raven (who is nuts, ill upload her new one later). She is SMOKING hot and talented as fuck.
This is about as good as folkish pop music gets. He voice is more "cute" than what I usually dig, but it works incredibly well.
^I like this, but a bit less than Bertine's album. A little on the "cute" side like you said. Oddly enough I'd probably like it more if it was in Norwegian and I didn't understand what she was talking about since I'd just hear the melodies.
