Sigur Ros - Kveikur

Kveikur, the new Sigur Ros album, appears to be a brutal-sounding affair. The title track has just been released on YouTube, and it's a heavy, dark piece of atmospheric music where the Icelandic band (now reduced to a trio) goes in new directions, still sounding like themselves, but barely so. Fascinating stuff, but if the entire album is in more or less the same vein, I'm not sure if I will actually play it very much. We'll have to wait until June 17th to know though, when it's released.

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Disclosure feat. Eliza Doolittle - You & Me

British electronica duo Disclosure's brilliant debut album Settle was released less than a week ago, and is already a success. Part of that is due to a string of singles leading up to the release, the latest of which was "You & Me". It features guest singer Eliza Doolittle and is a stunning trip hop/UK garage style song with a killer melody and some nice hooks, instantly catchy and utterly danceable.

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Naughty Boy feat. Sam Smith - La La La

Sam Smith is the go-to guy in British hit music these days, or at least he's getting there. Disclosure used him to great effect on last year's "Latch" which reached a respectable number 11 on the UK singles chart. British rapper Naughty Boy's new single "La La La" however, has reached number one on the same chart, no wonder as it's as catchy a song as you're likely to hear this side of Daft Punk or Empire Of The Sun right now. A downbeat little song with an irresistable chorus and the added help of Sam Smith. Of course it's a hit! It's even the fastest-selling single in the UK so far in 2013.

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Disclosure feat. Sam Smith - Latch

Disclosure is pretty much the coolest outfit in club music right now. The British electronica duo consisting of brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence released their debut album Settle this Friday. It features the wonderful single "Latch" and a score of other great songs. Highly recommended.

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Empire Of The Sun - Alive

I'm really looking forward to the new Empire Of The Sun album Ice On The Dune that will be released in two weeks. To shorten the waiting time, let's hear first single "Alive" one more time. When first I posted this it was without the video, and as we are used to from these Australian quarters, it's worth watching. You may find the video a bit silly, but it looks good all the same.

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Nils Noa feat. Vinni & Sølvguttene - Fade Away

This is just a perfect summer song. Norwegian house DJ and producer Nils Noa has enlisted Vinni, formerly of Paperboys, and boys choir Sølvguttene to perform his brand new single "Fade Away". Everything about the song speaks of warm summer nights, having a good time with your friends, and enjoying a drink or two. It's instantly catchy, recognizable before it's over and you just want to play it once more. And again. And again. And again... cheers!

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John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - You're The One That I Want

Growing up when the 1978 Grease movie made its way to cinemas everywhere, it was impossible not to fall deeply in love with Olivia Newton-John when she put on tight leather trousers for the scene in which she and John Travolta sing and perform "You're The One That I Want". At least if you were a boy, and possibly if you were a girl too. The song made it to the top of charts all around the world, and is still one of the best-selling singles of all time. It's also most definitely a real pop classic. If Olivia doesn't do it for me today like she once did, the song still does.

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Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" was written by her collaborator, singer/songwriter Lee Hazlewood, and it's still sexy as hell. Hazlewood actually urged Sinatra to sing the song as if she were "a sixteen-year-old girl who fucks truck drivers", according to the obituaries written after his death in 2007. Musically it's also a hell of a song, with an arrangement that blends the pop music of the time with mariachi-style horns, country music and an absolutely fantastic bass line. "Are you ready, boots? Start walkin'..."

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Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure

I love duets, but I'm not really sure if there has ever been a more successful one than this in the history of pop music. Which says a lot. When Queen joined forces with David Bowie for the "Under Pressure" single in 1981, two of pop music's most characteristic voices met. Freddie Mercury's operatics pitted against Davd Bowie's more theatrical antics, proved an absolutely perfect match, and the melody - both it and the lyrics are credited to all parties involved - is astounding. John Deacon's bassline was of course later used for Vanilla Ice's 1990 hit "Ice Ice Baby". Queen and Bowie didn't get writing credits or royalties but after a lawsuit Vanilla Ice had to dish out a cool four million dollars. Ouch!

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The Jesus And Mary Chain - Head On

Scottish band The Jesus And Mary Chain, fronted by fighting brothers Jim and William Reid, made a series of astounding albums, starting with 1985's Psychocandy and culminating in third album Automatic in 1989. Sounding like a fuzzed-up Beach Boys tribute band with a serious Ramones complex, the brothers delivered songs that were nothing short of amazing. Listen to "Head On", the second single off Automatic, and you will know what I mean. This. Is. So. Cool. And then some. Rock and roll exactly as it should sound!

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