Tenacious D - Tribute

Jack Black and Kyle Gass are comedy rock band Tenacious D, and amazingly they have recorded a song that will stand forever as a true rock classic. The wonderfully idiotic "Tribute" (2002) tells the story of how the pair meet a demon who urges them to "play the best song in the world" or else he'll eat their souls. Musically the song is a perfect blend of Led Zeppelin and Metallica, but with the added pleasure of great comedy. The video is also fantastic.

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Jimmy Webb - Postcard From Paris

In the October issue of British Q magazine, writer Andy Fyfe states in his review of the new Glen Campbell album See You There, that master songwriter Jimmy Webb wrote the song "Postcard From Paris" for the sessions of Ghost On The Canvas, the album Campbell released in 2011 from which sessions the material for See You There also belong. Fyfe should check his sources better as Webb himself recorded "Postcard From Paris" on his 1993 album Suspending Disbelief, and for all I know other artists may have recorded the song as well. But no matter, it's an absolutely fantastic song. Here's the Webb version, and if I remember correctly, the female voice belongs to Linda Ronstadt.

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David Sylvian - Nostalgia

Is David Sylvian's voice the most beautiful creation in all of pop music? That might very well be so, as "evidenced" on a song like "Nostalgia" off his 1984 debut solo album Brilliant Trees. After disbanding the increasingly experimental and out-reaching outfit Japan, Sylvian's muse took him to new territories with new collaborators like Holger Czukay, Jon Hassell and Ryuichi Sakamoto, as well as old band members from Japan. Brilliant Trees is my favourite Sylvian album, and "Nostalgia" is one of the best of its seven songs, mindblowingly beautiful.

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The Cure - A Night Like This

Followers of this blog may have gotten the impression that I quite like the gloomy music of The Cure, which is absolutely dead on. "A Night Like This" belong on one of their best albums, 1986's wonderful The Head On The Door and is simply a beautiful, beautiful song.

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Suzi Quatro - If You Can't Give Me Love

I was never a big fan of British glam rock "queen" Suzi Quatro, but as most young boys growing up in the 70's I did fancy her a bit. Huge hits like "Can The Can" and "Devil Gate Drive" passed by me, but the more pop-oriented sound of "If You Can't Give Me Love", a late 1978 single, hooked me. It's still the only Quatro song I really know and love, written as most of her biggest hits were by the songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, but more in the vein of Smokie, who were other major clients of theirs. "If You Can't Give Me Love" is basically Suzi Quatro doing "Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone" with other words and a little bit more aggression and attitude, in my opinion a fabulous pop song.

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Haim - Full Glastonbury concert June 28, 2013

LA sister trio Haim (Adele, Este and Danielle, with the added talent of male drummer Dash Hutton) will be releasing their debut album Days Are Gone on September 27th. This summer they have toured the European festival circuit, playing at the Øya festival in my hometown Oslo which I sadly missed, and at the famed British Glastonbury festival, among other places. Reputedly they have been great, charming audiences along the way with their easy-to-like pop songs that reside in a place inhabited by Fleetwood Mac, Bangles and other California bands with a breezy sheen to their music. Here's the Glastonbury show in full, including their raucous cover of the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac classic "Oh Well". It has to be said that the monitors may not be working wonders as their voices (Adele's in particular) are not really that convincing, but based on tracks like "Forever",  "Falling" and the current T. Rex-inspired "The Wire" - surely one of this year's best songs - as well as the other songs performed here, Haim's forthcoming album is something to look forward to. These girls can play, they write brillian songs, and they really ARE that charming.

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Lady Gaga - Poker Face

While we're waiting for Lady Gaga's third album Artpop to be released in November, let's head back to 2008 and listen to one of the tracks that made her such a superstar in the first place. "Poker Face", one of many great singles from her debut album The Fame, didn't sound like anything you'd heard before upon it's release, although it must be said to be inspired by everything from Boney M to Eurythmics. It still is a great song, much better than anything on the disapponting second album Born This Way. Here's hoping Artpop will be a return to form.

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Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

Rick Springfield's 1981 hit "Jessie's Girl" is a perfect slice of American AOR rock in the tradition of bands like Journey and Boston - and Springfield is Australian. No matter his nationality, this song about one of adolescence's most common themes - being madly in love with your friend's girlfriend - is absolutely brilliant. Hopelessly dated in many ways, but still as cool as ever, "Jessie's Girl" is so catchy it almost hurts. "You know I feel so dirty when they start talking cute/I wanna tell her that I love her but the point is probably moot". A classic!

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Robin Thicke - Sidestep

Robin Thicke was a complete unknown to many before this summer's monster hit "Blurred Lines", but he's actually released five previous albums. "Sidestep" is a fabulous disco tune from his third album Something Else, released in 2008. Strangely it was not a single, but may I suggest a belated re-release?

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Madonna - Causing A Commotion

"Causing A Commotion", one of four songs Madonna recorded specifically for the soundtrack to her 1987 film Who's That Girl, is largely forgotten, a song she seems to have distanced herself from. Why I don't know. Although not an out and out classic, it's a cute dance song that very much shows what she was doing at that particular time of her career. It sounds like it could have been an outtake from the 1986 album True Blue and wouldn't have made it an inferior album if it was on it. As it is, it's still available on the Who's That Girl soundtrack, but has never appeared on a Madonna compilation. The video in the link below is fan-made as there was never made an official video for "Causing A Commotion". A shame really.

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Prefab Sprout - Bonny

One of the great, great, GREAT albums of the 80's, Prefab Sprout's 1985 release Steve McQueen, consists of 11 songs, most of which are absolutely perfect pop compositions, courtesy of genius singer/songwriter Paddy McAloon. One of the greatest songwriters ever to grace pop music with his presence, this record is regarded by many as his masterpiece, and I am not one to disagree. I remember the wonder which I met this album with, a certain confusion as to how many different shapes a pop song could actually take. McAloon's songwriting may be inspired by many, Marvin Gaye, Donald Fagen/Walter Becker, Jimmy Webb to name a few, but his style is all his own. "Bonny" is song number two off Steve McQueen, and one of my favourite songs on an album that is pretty much perfect. Below you'll find both the studio version (the superior version, that is, expertly produced by Thomas Dolby) and a live version from a show in Munich in 1985. The live clip is very interesting to watch, showing as it does the band in its youth, a 28 year old Paddy in front.

Studio version

Live version

 

The Smiths - Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want

One of the saddest and most beautiful songs of all time, The Smith's "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" was first released as the B-side to The Smiths's fifth brilliant single in a row, 1984's "William, It Was Really Nothing". But where the previous four singles were concerned, the A-sides were indeed the best songs, this time however, quite the opposite, even though "William..." is a classic in its own right as well. "Please, Please, Please..." has led a charmed life, being picked up by Hollywood on a few occasions. John Hughes chose The Dream Academy's instrumental version (they did it with vocals too, of course) for his wonderful comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and the original has been used in Pretty In Pink, (500) Days Of Summer, Never Been Kissed and several other movies. Below you'll see a clip with The Smiths' original, set to scenes from (500) Days Of Summer featuring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

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Chris Rea - On The Beach

"On The Beach" is simply a perfect summer song. Chris Rea's 1986 song off his album of the same name is laidback, breezy and cool, a jazz-flavoured pop song that is a perfect vehicle for the British singer/songwriter's husky voice and elegant guitar-playing, here sounding like a cross between JJ Cale and Paco de Lucia and filtered through some nice Balearic beats before anyone knew what that was. Utterly beautiful and sounding expressly of summer more than anything else.

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Nathalie Archangel - Mr. Perfect For Me

Some weeks ago I bought a record player, my first in many years. Inbetween there have been CD's and MP3's, but boy did I miss the sound of the stylus hitting the grooves on the LP's with a small electric click! I haven't kept a lot of LP's but a few that has never been released in other formats has stood unplayed for several years. Among them is the eponymous debut LP from one Nathalie Archangel whom you probably have never heard of. It was released in 1987, a perfect pop album produced and partly co-written by David Kahne. She further released an album in 1991 and things have been quiet since, until apparently she's back with some new music in 2013 and an album called Raven. Got to hear that one, but until then let's hear it for the awesome pop song "Mr. Perfect For Me", an irresistable tune that has got me hooked once again. I remembered the album as a great one and it still is. The video looks like it was shot on Mallorca, by the way and is a sunny-looking thing that goes very well with the song.

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Kirsty MacColl - London Bridge Is Falling Down

Kirsty MacColl were tragically killed in 2000 when a motor boat ran her down while she was swimming on vacation in Mexico, but what a songwriting legacy she left! She had a rare knack for brilliant pop songs, and the most witty, intelligent and funny lyrics for miles and miles around. She also had a love for latin rhythms that she employed on most of her records. In 2004 the 3CD compilation From Croydon To Cuba was released, and among its many treasures were the previously unreleased "London Bridge Is Falling Down", a wry look at British foreign politics in the light of the former empire. A great salsa number with irresistable rhyhtms and a melody to die for. Straight into the category "critizise your government with an enormous smile on your face".

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The Waterboys - I Will Not Follow

Mike Scott has released several records that are a lot more impressive than The Waterboys' eponymous 1983 debut album. Still, the energy of songs like "A Girl Called Johnny" and especially the fabulous "I Will Not Follow" is something to really enjoy. "I Will Not Follow" is a celebratory anti-war anthem reminiscent of early U2, but with the added pleasure of Anthony Thistlethwaite's wild and wailing saxophone. This track is simply stunning, and 30 years on from its release, still among my favourite Waterboys songs. Classic!

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Playlist - The Kids Are Alright

We were all young once. Upon seeing a bunch of 15-17 year olds play blistering rhythm'n'blues like The Strypes do, it's easy to think backwards to a young Beatles, a young Stones or a young Elvis. For instance. I've compiled a list of 50 songs for Norwegian streaming company WiMP, roughly speaking from the birth of rock'n'roll - strolling through this and that on the way - and on to brand new and young bands like The Strypes, Parquet Courts and Disclosure. These songs are about school, being a teenager and all the little things that come along. You'll find energy and brashness in spades, but also insecurity annd despair. The songs are all performed by artists in their youth and/or deals with youth thematically. And naturally, they're all great. Enjoy!

 

Playlist

 

The Who

The Strypes

 

Jonny - You Was Me

In 2011 Euros Childs of Welsh pop band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Norman Blake of Scottish pop band Teenage Fanclub joined forces under the moniker Jonny and recorded a stunningly brilliant eponymous album, featuring 13 songs, 12 of them short little pop gems like you'd expect, and one "pop symphony" reminiscent of Brian Wilson called "Cave Dance", lasting more than ten minutes. It's the shorter songs that are the best though, and second single "You Was Me" is really, really good. A wonderful pop song that sounds like a cross between Teenage Fanclub and Rockpile, clocking in at just above a perfect three minutes. This is pure pop excellence!

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Prince & The Revolution - When Doves Cry

Few albums have had a bigger impact on me than Prince & The Revolution's 1984 soundtrack Purple Rain. Although a decidedly silly movie, Purple Rain was nevertheless a vehicle for Prince to emerge from semi-celebrity into a fully realized pop star of the highest order. The nine songs on the album may be better as a whole than they are seperately, but the best of them, of which "When Doves Cry" was the first single, are pretty much as good as humanly possible. To write, produce and record a song as perfect as "When Doves Cry" is a very rare thing. This song is easily one of my favourite songs of all time.

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Yazoo - Only You

Leaving Depeche Mode at the brink of stardom, songwriter Vince Clarke started Yazoo with singer Alison Moyet, leaving Martin Gore to try his hand at writing new songs for his former group. That went well, but Clarke struck gold on his own as well. Yazoo's debut single "Only You", released in 1982, still shines brighter than most other ballads of the era. Even though it's got a spare instrumentation very much of its time, it's a synth-pop masterpiece that takes the genre into classic pop or soul music territory, showing a far more mature and confident Vince Clarke than on early Depeche Mode hits like "See You" and "Just Can't Get Enough". It's Alf's voice of course, that nails the whole thing.

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Honeybus - I Can't Let Maggie Go

British pop group Honeybus made a name with one song, the 1968 hit "I Can't Let Maggie Go", a pop song so sweet, you can't help but think Maggie must have been the most wonderful woman ever to walk this earth. Written by singer, keyboardist and guitarist Pete Dello, he'd probably have the answer, and if you're really interested in finding out I guess it's possible. I'm not, I just love the song. A true 60's classic.

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The Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything

The perfect love song? The Real Thing's 1976 hit "You To Me Are Everything" with its couplet of the title and the line "the sweetest song that I can sing" is a stunner of a disco number, British in fact, whereas everything about the song, the group and the performance points to America. It reached number one on the UK charts, but only 64 in the US, but that was due to a number of cover versions that was released more or less simultaneously which confused record buyers. Still, a fantastic song.

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Kings Of Convenience feat. Feist - Know How

Norwegian folk pop duo Kings Of Convenience has garnered a well-deserved international reputation, and for their second album, 2004's Riot On An Empty Street, they enlisted the help of Canadian singer/songwriter Feist for two tracks. The beautiful "Know How" is one of them, here in a live clip from Paris, and the lovely Feist enters the stage towards the end to sing her part. Absolutely brilliant!

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Prefab Sprout - The Songs Of Danny Galway

We continue playing some new Prefab Sprout. "The Songs Of Danny Galway" is also from the band's forthcoming Crimson/Red album, about the songs of the famous songwriter Jimmy Webb, whom Paddy McAloon met in a Dublin bar. Everybody should know who Jimmy Webb is, but if for some reason you don't, he's the man who wrote "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", "Wichita Lineman", "MacArthur Park" and countless other classics. The love of music has always been a recurring theme in Paddy McAloon's songwriting, and in another song on the new album, "Mysterious", he celebrates a certain Bob Dylan. And let's not forget Paddy himself, also one of the best songwriters to ever walk this earth.

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Prefab Sprout - Billy

I can't help it. I'm simply ecstatic about the forthcoming Prefab Sprout album Crimson/Red. Supposedly it will get its release on October 7th, and I am so looking forward to holding the actual vinyl album in my hands and putting it on the record player. Its ten songs are all - without exception - absolutely brilliant, and these are actually newly written songs by the genius Paddy McAloon, showing he's still got his skills intact. In spades. "Billy" may be the best of the bunch, but that depends on my mood really. The ten songs are all future classics, just you wait!

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The Jam - In The City

The Jam's 1977 debut single "In The City" was punkish, but not quite. They were at the time labelled outside the punk scene, possibly due to their evident mod revivalism, but the energy inherent in the young Paul Weller and his cohorts shows a pure DIY punk attitude. In the case of "In The City" (also the title of the debut album) that attitude came with an added stab at police brutality that was very much a theme at the time. Here they are, as presented by Tony Wilson.

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The Blue Nile - Stay

Much have been written about The Blue Nile's 1984 debut album A Walk Across The Rooftops, but one thing cannot be said too many times: This is one hell of a good album. Scottish pop music that is something all its own, a sound that is unmistakably theirs, fronted by the fabulous voice of Paul Buchanan. "Stay" is one of seven fabulous songs that comprise the album.

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Daryl Hall - Cab Driver

Daryl Hall is course most famous for being one part of the duo Hall & Oates, the latter being John Oates. But Hall has also recorded a few solo albums, and "Cab Driver" from the 1996 album Can't Stop Dreaming is every bit as good as what he's recorded with Oates. It's a slow, jazzy soul ballad, perfect for anyone who's into people like Steve Winwood, Paul Carrack or Sade, or for anyone who enjoys a great song no matter what. And what a voice this man has got, weehee!

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Deacon Blue - Love And Regret

It's easy to disregard Deacon Blue as a kind of poor man's Prefab Sprout, but that would be a stupid mistake. Delve into the songs of Ricky Ross, and what you'll find is a treasure trove of brilliant pop music, that draws its influences from blues, jazz and folk music, but stays pop all the same. The songs always sound heartfelt and honest, and there's no denying that Ross has a lovely voice. "Love And Regret" was one of five singles released from the Scottish band's second album, 1989's When The World Knows Your Name.

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New Order - Thieves Like Us

Little known pop trivia that I just discovered: The title of New Order's 1984 single "Thives Like Us", named after Robert Altman's 1974 movie of the same name, was suggested by John "Jellybean" Benitez, associate of Madonna in her early days and also of course an associate of famous New York producer Arthur Baker who co-wrote "Thieves Like Us" with New Order. And what a fantastic song it is, almost seven minutes of classic electro-meets-pop-meets-doom like only New Order can do it.

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Teenage Fanclub - Ain't That Enough

"Ain't That Enough" was a single off Scottish pop geniuses Teenage Fanclub's amazing 1997 album Songs From Northern Britain. A kind of Pop Nirvana from start to finish, the album is chock full of excellent songs, and one of the very best is "Ain't That Enough". It's a song that actually sounds like what I imagine sunshine to sound like, a perfect summer tune, written by the band's bass player, Gerard Love. Bliss!

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Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come

Sam Cooke took his inspiration from Bob Dylan when writing "A Change Is Gonna Come". Having heard "Blowin' In The Wind" he found it strange that such a poignant song about racism was written by someone who was not black, and voila!, those were the first seeds of  "A Change...", which might be Sam Cooke's finest moment, both as a singer and a songwriter. Released shortly after his death in 1964, it's the song he's best remembered by, far eclipsing pop hits like "Cupid" and "You Send Me", however good those were.

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Hugh Masekela - Don't Go Lose It Baby

South African trumpet hero Hugh Masekela is best known for the instrumental 1968 hit "Grazing In The Grass", and the hip hop-flirt of 1984's "Don't Go Lose It Baby". The latter featured on the unusual album Tecnho Bush. The single version with the video is sadly shortened quite a bit, therefore you get the link to the full album version as well below.

Single/video version

Full version

 

Ben Watt - Waiting Like Mad

When Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt met they soon joined forces and formed both a life-long partnership and the duo Everything But The Girl, which just happens to be one of my favourite bands. But around this time they also both issued solo albums, quiet acoustic little things filled to the brim with youthful seriousness. "Waiting Like Mad" from Ben Watt's 1983 album North Marine Drive is as haunted and lonesome-sounding as humanly possible with its cry of "I'm hurting inside" and the desperate sound of a saxophone just being the tip of the iceberg. It's not possible to write a sadder song, but it's also one of the most beautiful songs that I know of. Now Ben Watt is FINALLY coming around to working on a new solo record, and boy am I eager to hear what that will sound like, but until then, this will do nicely.

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Fountains Of Wayne - Little Red Light

It's says a lot about a band's ability to produce catchy songs when a gem like "Little Red Light" is a mere album track and not a single. However, Fountain Of Wayne's third album Welcome Interstate Managers did spawn three excellent singles, so there you go. The album was released in 2003, and the first single "Stacy's Mom" was even nominated for a Grammy award. "Little Red Light" is not at all bad either, of course, a perfect slice of highly melodic power-pop.

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The Cut - I Wish I Was Simple

The Cut was a Norwegian post-punk band who deserve a better epitaph than they seem to have. The band released two albums that took two different paths, and, as is often the case with young bands struggling with identity and/or popularity or sales, soon disbanded. Both albums are very good, especially debut album Shadow Talks (1981), produced by John Leckie, the Brit who's famous for his work with bands like Magazine, Simple Minds and XTC at more or less the same time. "I Wish It Was Simple" was the decidedly un-chart-friendly single from the album, but boy is this a song with great energy. It's very European-sounding, drawing on influences like David Bowie, Simple Minds and early Ultravox (it seems to me). German singer Volker Zibell's voice is full of despair and an apparent alienation that was a bit typical of the time the record was made, and the band - including famous novelist Torgrim Eggen on bass - backs him with an urgent intensity. Fantastic song!

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Aretha Franklin - Chain Of Fools

Aretha Franklin isn't called the Queen of Soul for nothing. Listen to the way she belts out Don Covay's "Chain Of Fools" (released as a single in 1967) and it's all about the soul or, if you will, the credibility. Here, as so often is the case with Aretha, she sings like there's no tomorrow, mysteriously enough in an unrestrained fashion. It looks easy when Aretha sings.

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Thompson Twins - Hold Me Now

Thompson Twins were to many the very image of what was wrong with 80's pop music, to me quite the opposite. Tom Bailey, Alannah Currie and Joe Leeway did everything pop stars are supposed to do, including dressing up in ridiculous outfits, and with a song like "Hold Me Now", actually showing a certain ambition, incorporating xylophone, a grand piano and some Latin percussion into the standard synths and fretless bass that were so the rage when it was released in 1983. It paid off too. "Hold Me Now" was a big hit, and I think it works pretty well 30 years on. I'll be careful about labelling this song a classic, but it's a more than decent pop song.

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Sade - Is It A Crime

Sade Adu, one of my very favourite singers, always pleases me to hear. "Is It A Crime" is the beautiful opening track from Sade's second album, 1985's Promise. This slow jazzy, pop song was released as a single, but only reached number 49 on the UK singles charts, and it didn't chart in the US at all. Still, the album was successful - and very good - cementing Sade and her band's standing with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Rascal Flatts - Life Is A Highway

When Rascal Flatts covered Tom Cochrane's "Life Is A Highway" for inclusion in the Pixar movie Cars in 2006, it was basically a marriage made in Heaven. Rascal Flatts sound like a band yearning for a huge hit, turning Cochrane's original into a monster driving song, with loud guitars, stadium-friendly chorus and an insistant beat that never lets go. Turn this song up LOUD! All the way to 11!

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The Cure - The Caterpillar

The quirky "The Caterpillar" was the only single to be released from The Cure's underrated 1984 album The Top. It reached a respectable number 14 on the UK singles chart, but is not amongst the band's best-remembered songs - which is a shame. It may sound lightweight to some, but it's a perfect Cure kind of pop song and an undeniable classic.

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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - In The Ghetto

Nick Cave is of course mostly noted for his songwriting abilities, but he can do wonders with other people's work as well. With The Bad Seeds, he released the Mac Davis classic "In The Ghetto" as a stand-alone single in 1984, prior to the band's debut album From Her To Eternity and two years before releasing an entire album of cover versions, the wonderful Kicking Against The Pricks, on which they tangled songs by Jimmy Webb, Velvet Underground, John Lee Hooker and others. While Elvis Presley of course made "In The Ghetto" famous as well as "his own", Cave's chilling version rings just as true.

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Introducing... The Strypes

The Strypes is the most exciting new band to emerge from Ireland since... well, since forever! I can't recall any Irish band with the same kind of energy and full-out ballsy attitude as these young boys have. The Strypes' average age is 16 (!), and they share a love for 60's rhythm and blues as performed in the early days of The Beatles and Rolling Stones, leaning heavily on classic blues acts such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Howlin' Wolf. The three singles they have released so far are all absolutely amazing. This is pure rock'n'roll as it should be played, with great riffs and melodies all around. September 9th sees the release of their debut album Snapshot, and I just know it will be killer. These guys just have it. Below you'll find the three singles with accompanying music videos that they have made to date. Please enjoy each one of them.

"Blue Collar Jane"

"Hometown Girls"

"What A Shame"

 

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Philadelphia

How many times have Bruce Springsteen been commisioned to write a song? None that I know of except for "Streets Of Philadelphia". While director Jonathan Demme started work on his 1994 film Philadelphia, the first major motion picture about HIV, he asked Springsteen if he would like to write a song, and so he did. The film and the song went on to become huge successes, and both Tom Hanks, who played the lead role, and Springsteen, received Academy Awards for their work. "Streets Of Philadelphia" is a quiet, synth-based ballad and in no way a typical Springsteen song - whatever that is - but it's not about "cars and girls", to put it that way. The video shows Springsteen walking the city's desolate streets, and on his way passing Hanks' character from the movie. The video is of course directed by Jonathan Demme himself along with his nephew Ted Demme. A beautiful, timeless song.

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MS MR - Think Of You

New York-based duo MS MR (pronounced Miss Mister) recently released their debut album Secondhand Rapture. Although I loved the first two singles "Hurricane" and "Fantasy", it actually took me three months to listen to the album, and guess what? It's great! An electronic pop record with an overall sinister atmosphere, comprised of 12 melodic songs. "Think Of You" is the third official single to be released from it. If you like Lana Del Rey, you'll love MS MR.

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Basement Jaxx feat. Sam Brookes - What A Difference Your Love Makes (now with added video)

The fantastic new Basement Jaxx single "What A Difference Your Love Makes" has gotten its music video. It's shot on location in Johannesburg showing two young brothers practising to become professional Pantsula dancers in the township Alexandra. Life-affirming song and video with an overall feelgood vibe, and of course a fabulous dance track from Basement Jaxx's Felix Buxton and Simon Radcliffe, two guys who really know how to make people move to the music.

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HIT ALERT! Haim - The Wire (now with added video)

Haim's forthcoming Days Are Gone is among this year's most eagerly awaited debut albums. The Californian sister trio charms audiences everywhere with their intoxicating pop music, and the recently released single "The Wire" with its T. Rex-inspired beat should become a big hit. We'll see, but as yet another example of their qualities the Haim sisters most probably look at a bright future. Great song!

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Annie - Back Together

Now this is nice. Norwegian electropop singer Annie (Anne Lilia Berge Strand) is honored by Q magazine today. The British music mag has chosen her song "Back Together", the lead song off her new EP called The A&R EP, as their "track of the day". "Back Together" is super catchy, co-written with Little Boots, and produced by Richard X. In other words, everything is as it should be, in the best of hands.

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Erlend Øye - La Prima Estate (now with added video)

Erlend Øye, one half of the Norwegian duo Kings Of Convenience, has moved to the town of Siracusa on the wonderful Italian island of Sicily. Not only is he about to learn the language, as evidenced on his first Italian-language solo single "La Prima Estate", he has also dipped into a treasure trove of old Mediterranean pop music of the 60's and 70's and recorded what sounds like the perfect soundtrack to a cocktail party in San Remo or a similar place sometime in the 1960's. I posted the song a few weeks ago, and now the video has been completed, a wonderfully happy-looking little film with Øye singing and playing guitar, and a score of people dancing and jumping about and smiling under the Sicilian sun. This whole thing, both the song and the video, is happiness distilled into four minutes of gorgeous pop music, one of the best songs I've heard all year (and it's been a VERY good year so far). Some might call it cheesy, I just call it wonderful.

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