Author: Tim

Ola – Riot

I don’t understand why I quite like this.

Tim: Help me, Tom.

Tom: Oh dear. Have you got a girl in trouble?

Tim: Not any time recently, no. But I have an issue, related to this.

Tim: You see, if will.i.am or some such act came out with this song, and for some reason we reviewed it, my half of the page would probably consist of no small torrent of abuse directed at the artist, most likely containing language that would be unsuitable for younger readers. So why do I quite like this?

Tom: You fancy Ola? Just a hunch.

Tim: Oh, please, with that hair?* Here, I don’t mind the appalling auto-tune, the club-referencing, the mindless lyrics or the general shoutiness. The vaguely decent tune that’s behind seems to be enough for me, when it really wouldn’t normally be. Is it just that he’s Swedish? And if it is, does that make me racist in a strange and incredibly specific way? I just don’t know.

* I’m really not shallow.

Tom: It just seems such a dull song for its subject matter. “I want a riot / in this club”? Really? Because it takes a bit more energy and passion than that – particularly the lackadaisical final… poem or whatever it is – if you want to start a riot.

Saturday Reject: Nicke Borg – Leaving Home

Straight out of the bag labelled ‘songs you’d expect Tim to hate’

Tim: Straight out of the bag labelled ‘songs you’d expect Tim to hate’ comes this, which actually I enjoyed.

Tom: “I walk a lonely road / The only one I’ve ever known”

Tim: What? Anyway, why do I like it? I’m not sure. It’s the sort of track that tends to get stuck halfway through some metal albums – the token not so heavy piece that actually has a tune and is there to give it a slight piece of mainstream appeal – and that for some reason, I really like.*

* Another example: Dragonforce’s Dawn Over a New World, currently at number 12 in my iTunes top played list, sandwiched between Hera Björk and One Direction. There’s an image for you.

Tom: “Don’t know where it goes / But it’s only me to me and I walk alone”

Tim: Um, OK. Well, it’s not a standard Melodifestivalen track, obviously, although it did get straight through to the final by coming second in its heat.

Tom: “I walk this empty street / On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams”

Tim: OH MY GOD YES – how did I not hear that? As for the performance, it’s not note-perfect by any means, and there’s no stage show to speak of. But dammit, it’s got a bloody great tune to it, and that’s what does it for me. Well, that and the key change, obviously.

Tom: Comparisons to Green Day aside, I actually really enjoy it as well – and I think this could have done rather well in the contest itself. And I’ll take glass-projected guitarists and waving red lights as a stage show: I think, even without those gimmicks, his presence would have done the job just fine. This is going on my playlist.

Andreas Wijk – Like My Style

Swedish fashion blogger and model, trying his hand at the music business.

Tim: Swedish fashion blogger and model, trying his hand at the music business.

Tom: Oh, well that’s not going to end badly at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRRWjowkcC4

Tom: Right, I’ll try and get over the appalling audio compression on this and give it a fair review. But when I say “I don’t like the sound of this”, I’m not just referring to the low bitrate.

Tim: Well, I was the same, for the first 40 seconds or so anyway – the verse seemed generic, the backing beat was fairly dull, and by and large it just didn’t seem very good. But the chorus: well, that’s nice. I think it’s the echo on his voice that does it, but it’s a chorus that a properly good boyband could put out and we’d all be loving it.

Tom: It’s not bad, actually, and by the end of the track I can see it being played on a dancefloor. It’s major-key life-affirming pap, and that’s not a bad thing.

Tim: Indeed. The verse that follows that chorus is just as dull as the first one, but then the chorus comes around again and it’s all forgotten. It’s very similar, with the sort of gentle trance backing, to the verses in I Can, and that may be partly why I like this. The bridge, on the other hand, reminds me more of Hold It Against Me – somewhat manky first bit, glorious second bit.

Tom: What is it with record producers and dubstep? It wasn’t a good idea in the first place, don’t try and copy it. Just have the second bit of the bridge, that’s not bad at all.

Tim: I don’t know – I’ve actually grown used to it recently, mainly thanks to Britney Spears’s album, and I don’t mind it too much here. In the end of this song, though, we come back for a lovely finish, with woah-ohs brought to you live and direct from Uptown Girl, and everything seems alright.

Vendela – Punk Rock Song

A ‘LOOK AT ME I’M OVER HERE’ track.

Tim: Speaking of loud brash pop music, as we were yesterday —

Tom: Ooh! A bit of punk!

Tim: — here’s an entirely misnomered track.

Tom: Oh.

Tom: This is like will.i.am releasing a track that’s called “I Am Singing Live”. And what kind of a metaphor is “I love you like a punk rock song”? With lots of energy and shouting, but you’re done in about two minutes?

Tim: It’s not perfect, I suppose, but it is a song that knows exactly what it is: it’s an introduction to the artist, it’s a ‘yes, I had a song last year that kind of flopped, but LOOK AT ME I’M OVER HERE’ track that will get attention, get people talking and get her lots of attention. More importantly, though: it’s a track that’s bloody brilliant.

Tom: If I can get over my lack-of-punk disappointment, then yes – it’s not bad – but the lyrics do keep getting in the way. “It’s 1977”? “I’m full of sexual expression”? They sound like they’ve been run through Google Translate a few times.

Tim: She’s got a similar history to that of Eric Saade and that Hilda what we wrote about at the end of last year (whose new single Come The Weekend is due to appear imminently): straight out of the Disney Channel Sweden, she’s fairly young (though apparently that isn’t stopping her being full of sexual expression, or knowing who Patti Smith is) and will probably either be dropped immediately or, more likely given the attention this has got, be around for quite some time. Get used to her.

Tom: I’ll do my best.

Sheelah – The Last Time

We’re about to break up, so let’s have bloody fantastic farewell sex.

Tim: The essence of this song is ‘we’re about to break up, so let’s have bloody fantastic farewell sex.’ Classy, no?

Tom: I’m all in favour of pop songs that aren’t about traditional syrupy monogamy.

Tim: Released back in January but with a video only released a few weeks back, this is very standard middle of the road pop music, and it’s a bloody excellent example of it, as evidenced by the fact that the chorus lead-in in the same as that of My Life Would Suck Without You.

Tom: It is a bit similar, isn’t it? And it is middle-of-the road – but it is a very good road to be in the middle of.

Tim: Well, quite. It is loud, it is brash, it is excitable. Any negative points? Not really. It could be sung perfectly well by one person (say, Kelly Clarkson) and no-one would be able to tell the difference, but I don’t really have any problem with that. A key change might have worked nicely, but the song doesn’t seem to be missing anything. I’m happy with it as it is.

Tom: You know, it took me two listens to realise that there wasn’t a key change. My brain just assumed there was, automatically. Even now I’m not quite sure.

Tim: Is it just me, though, or at 2:10 does it look like she’s singing ‘be-before we say goodbye’

Tom: It’s just you.

Tim: Oh.

Saturday Reject: Anders Fernette – Run

Sadly, not particularly Melodifestivalen-friendly.

Tim: This is a great song.

Tom: It’s not a Snow Patrol cover, is it? No? Good.

Tim: Sadly, though, it seems it’s not particularly Melodifestivalen-friendly, coming as it did last in the (admittedly very strong) fourth heat.

Tim: As I said, great song (studio version on his website), and quite possibly future hit single.

Tom: It really is!

Tim: But, problem: the act on stage just didn’t really click for me, at all. He didn’t seem to know (or even care) what was going on around him, the smoke and the screen visualisation just seemed entirely generic*, and the floor dancers/backing singers were just going through the motions during the chorus, and doing nothing at all during the second verse.

* The fact that the concentric circles during the first verse didn’t appear at the same frequency as the beats also annoyed me, but that’s just because I’m like that.

Tom: And if we’re being cruel, he hit more than his fair share of bum notes in there – in particular during the run up to the key change. Now, I realise that I couldn’t hit a single note if I was up there myself – but then again I’m not trying to represent my country in Eurovision.

Tim: The worst thing, though? The sheet dancers, or whatever they’re meant to be called —

Tom: “Aerial performers”, or possibly silk dancers.

Tim: Thank you — because really, what were they doing? They rolled down as they were meant to do for a triumphant end to the chorus, but then spent the next minute or so just dangling there, twirling around without much synchronicity, and at times flailing around, looking like they were desperately trying to find something to grab on to and steady themselves (2:10, I’m looking at you).

Tom: Which is a shame, because in the right hands it can be absolutely incredible. See, for example, Pink’s incredible performance at the 2010 Grammy Awards. And yes, she’s singing live.

Tim: But the main question: when first he sings ‘I [PAUSE]’ about forty seconds in, what is the song I want to sing? The line continues either ‘…don’t want to be a hero’ or ‘…I want to be a hero’. WHAT’S THE SONG TOM.

Tom: Oh, BLOODY HELL I don’t know. It’s some club track, I think. I can’t remember it. Readers, any ideas in the comments? Please?

Freda Sundemo – I Was Surrounded

Something a little bit mellower.

Tim: Let’s take a breather from the energetic dance music of the past couple of days, with something a little bit mellower.

Tim: Considerably mellower, in fact, as there’s not really much here at all.

Tom: Oh, bloody hell. Who does she sound like? There’s a quality to her voice, like a more pleasant Gwen Stefani, that just reminds me of… someone. Kelly Clarkson trying to be mellow, perhaps? I can’t place it.

Tim: What there is is a soothing and relaxing tune, a gentle and pleasant voice and overall, a song that won’t stop you drifting off to sleep.

Tom: It is rather lovely, isn’t it? After the last few days, this is a welcome change. I was hoping for rather good things from the remix, but sadly it appears to be much the same track, only made a bit longer and with a Casio synthesiser looped over the top of it.

Tim: Still, if ‘mellow’ is what you’re looking for in a song right now, this will treat you very well indeed. If not, well, try this instead.

Swedish Angels feat. Charlie King – Swedish Angel

The main lyric reminds me of school assembly.

Tim: Two DJs make up this new dance duo, named Denise Lopez and Jennifer Love.

Tom: Hey, does that…

Tim: No. The title’s probably not as imaginative as it could be, but anyway, here it is.

Tim: The main lyric reminds me of being six and singing this in school assembly, complete with hand movements if I recall correctly; that was fun.

Tom: Well, thank you for that flashback – it did result in me trying to sing the lyrics to that over the top of this track, which sadly doesn’t work all that well.

Tim: Yeah, I tried that as well, but gave up after a while. Um. What else? Not sure, really. This is a good tune, though, and the vocal fits well, with plenty of energy.

Tom: It is pretty much your bog-standard dance track, aside from the occasional religious song flashback for British kids.

Tim: There’s nothing hugely memorable about it – a few months from now we’ll probably be reviewing another track and thinking ‘ooh, it reminds me of, um, oh, what was it called?’ – but it’ll fit very well in many DJs’ sets, and I’m sure there’ll be a nice place for it somewhere around the middle of a few 2011 dance compilation CDs.

Saturday Reject: Linda Bengtzing – E Det Fel På Mig

Imagine a typical Swedish Eurovision entry. This is pretty much it.

Tim: Imagine a typical Swedish Eurovision entry. This is pretty much it.

Tom: Blimey, that is textbook, isn’t it? That could be any regular Scandinavian Eurovision entry in the last decade or two.

Tim: Interesting result for this one: despite doing fairly well with the international juries, it got barely 3% of the telephone vote in the final of Melodifestivalen, which is a shame, especially since it came top of its heat.

Tom: I can see that happening: it’s one that could get picked as the best of its kind, only to seem a bit generic when it hits the final.

Tim: With the quick fake ending and then the key change, this is a brilliant piece of schlager, and I love it. Throw in the bright clothing, the wind machine and the upside-down camera, this is a performance that I reckon was robbed of a decent placing.

Tom: I was wondering where the wind machine was when the song started. I wasn’t disappointed.

Saturday Reject: Sara Lumholdt – Enemy

She is ripping off Cheryl Cole a bit, isn’t she?

Tom: Another one that didn’t make it through Melodifestivalen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEHg1PYqvD0

Tim: Annoyingly, the uploader stopped this video just short of my favourite part of this performance: a collection of signs some of her fans brought along to hold up.

Tom: SNEMY! Ah, I love Snemy. Wait, that’s not her name. Well, at least we know she’s singing live.

Tim: Ooh, harsh. But yes.

Tom: She is ripping off Cheryl Cole a bit, isn’t she? Red military jacket, marching choreography, holes cut into her clothing. All in all, I’m rather glad this one didn’t make it through, because that ‘enemy, enemy, enemy’ really starts to get old quickly. It sounds like it wants to be a big club singalong track, but the melody isn’t one you’d want to belt out: it’s just repetitive.

Tim: See, I actually really like this. You’re right about the ‘enemy’ being repetitive, and it’s not far off a generic Cheryl Cole track, but I’m not sure that either of those are necessarily bad things. I also think the rest of the chorus is great, especially the backing singers.

Tom: And despite all the hallmarks of leading into a key change, there isn’t one. We need a name for this kind of thing, Tim, something that’s better than my suggestion of “Key Change Blue Balls”.

Tim: Yes. Something much better, I think.