Category: Europop

Aqua – Like A Robot

“Oh my. Well, that’s very… 2010s.”

Tom: Right, let’s have a look at the other half of the double A-side then. This is the out-of-character one, right?

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

Tom: Oh my. Well, that’s very… 2010s.

Tim: Yeah – less of the universal love thing, more of a, well, Taio Cruz, In The Club, let’s get drunk and have sex thing. Disappointing – I could cope with the style, but Aqua always used to be happy and family-friendly, with a fair helping of cheeky innuendo; here, that’s all gone out of the window and it’s a bit of a shame.

Tom: Wait, hang on! Did she just swear? I didn’t see that coming.

Tim: Exactly. Similar in one very noticeable way to another song we recently covered – this may just be coincidence, or it may be that unexpected obscenity is the new trend in Scandinavia. As a musical style it’s somewhat fun, but in an Aqua track it just seems so wrong.

Tom: I was in France recently, and found that some of their radio stations play English-language tracks entirely uncensored, including some properly obscene rap lyrics. It was a surprising journey, that one.

Tim: In my sister’s car, with my granddad, with a compilation CD she’d made on in the background. Moment of silence in the conversation, out comes a Cee Lo Green track. Yes, that Cee Lo Green track.

Aqua – Playmate to Jesus

“I do hope they tour, because I will be there.”

Tim: Released last Monday, a double A-side single, preceding their new album due out in Denmark two weeks today. One – Playmate to Jesus – is close to know-and-love-them Aqua, the other – Like A Robot – is less so, but still interesting. Let’s start with the first one.

Tom: A third album! The legendary third Aqua album. I don’t mind saying I’m rather looking forward to it, even after the disappointment of their last single.

Tim: It’s not quite Barbie Girl territory, but this will certainly please older fans, I reckon. Calmer melody, family-friendly stuff.

Tom: Well, it’s pleased me. Apollo-mission beeps as part of the intro melody, and a proper full-on chorus. I do hope they tour, because I will be there.

Tim: It seems that Réné’s definitely decided to become a proper singer, though, and I’m not sure if that spoils it a bit. If I have one criticism, I reckon this song could be made about 20% faster and it would sound (a) more Aqua-y, (b) better and (c) less almost-five-minutes-long.

Tom: Not sure about the actual “Playmate to Jesus” lyric, though. Seems a bit needlessly, well, Jesus-y. He wasn’t really one for space exploration, was he?

Tim: No, but he did preach the whole universal love thing (and is perhaps the most notable person to have done so, if you don’t count Cliff Richard), and that’s what the song really comes down in the end. A nice, happy song.

Saturday Flashback: Velvet – Déjà Vu

“Somewhat distracted by her outfit.”

Tim: On Tuesday, you said of Velvet: “She’s quite good, isn’t she?” Well, yes. I present a Melodifestivalen 2008 entry.

Tom: Full disclosure: during this review, I was somewhat distracted by her outfit.

Tim: I would expect nothing less. Formula-watchers will be somewhat horrified by the fact that the chorus proper doesn’t start until almost a minute in, leaving – SHOCK HORROR – no room for a proper middle eight once we’ve got the second verse/chorus out of the way as well.

Tom: That build to the first chorus makes up for it, though!

Tim: It does, but I can’t help wondering: was the lack of middle eight, and its associated crazy and original dance moves, the reason for the somewhat disappointing fifth place in the semi-final? Well, who knows.

Tom: Fifth in the semis, even with that key change? Blimey, that must have been a good Melodifestivalen.

Tim: All I’ll say right now is that the final winner was Hero, by Charlotte Perrelli. Enough said. Back to this song, what I do know is that, middle eight or not, it’s a cracking piece of work.

Velvet – Love Struck

A solid middle-of-DJ-set track.

Tom: It takes more than a minute for the beat to drop on this, but when it does, it’s worth it.

Velvet – Love Struck (Pitchline radio edit) by Cosmos Music Group

Tom: It’s not spectacular, but I reckon it’s a solid middle-of-DJ-set track that won’t make anyone leave the dancefloor. It’s by-the-numbers, but they’re very good numbers.

Tim: They are, aren’t they. Just straight-down-the-middle, this-is-what-you-dance-to stuff.

Tom: That clock-tick bridge out of the middle eight? With full speakers and lighting on a dancefloor, and a good crowd, I might even go so far as to justify ‘epic’.

Tim: Ooh, high praise indeed. I’m surprised we haven’t yet featured Velvet, despite her releasing many excellent tracks over the years, including an interesting cover of Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue.

Tom: I’m surprised I haven’t heard of her before. She’s quite good, isn’t she?

Caotico & Tove Styrke – Brains Out

What a brilliant track.

Tim: Hello children! In today’s music lesson, we’re going to learn a song that I want you all to sing to mummy and daddy when you go home tonight.

Tom: That starts out so happy, and… well, I guess it continues happy, doesn’t it? What a brilliant track.

Tim: What’s most interesting about this is the way that until the chorus hits, the lyrics just sort of washed over me, even when I tried to listen to them to get what the song was about. Come the chorus, there they are, bang, unmissable. (And leaving very little doubt as to what the song was about.)

Tom: The thing is, it’s actually a good song as well. Okay, so “Shut Up And Sleep With Me” has been almost this direct before, but that’s not nearly as well-rounded a tune as this. It’s genuinely well-written and well-produced, and the video is classy to boot.

Tim: Yes, the music really is good – tune, vocals, energy, it’s all there and great (although with that chorus you’d have to do a lot to calm it down), so I like this a lot. And not just because I can shock my grandparents with it next time they visit.

Rasmus Seebach – I mine øjne

It’s a slow builder, but build it does

Tim: Number 1 in Denmark, this is. Let’s see if we agree with them.

Tom: That starts slowly, doesn’t it? I don’t have high hopes.

Tim: Well, yes, the first verse – a little uninspiring. First chorus – kicks it up a bit, starts to work for me. Second verse – better than the verse with the drumbeat. Second chorus – again works for me.

Tom: You’re right; it’s a slow builder, but build it does; by that second chorus I was rather looking forward into it.

Tim: Interesting pause in the middle eight, giving a sense of anticipation. Closing part—

Tom: Come on, big triumphant final chorus…

Tim: …what the hell was that? Nothing. It’s a massive disappointment.

Tom: I wasn’t expecting a ridiculous key change or anything – it’s far too classy a song for that – but it does seem like a bit of a poor effort. No gospel choir?

Tim: Alas, no. Overall, it’s okay – it’s just very much let down by the ending.

Saturday Flashback: Electric Lady Lab – You & Me

“Just anaemic.”

Tim: When we featured them only a few days ago, it seems I was shamed by not knowing there was heavy sampling involved. I wish to redeem myself by saying that I am entirely aware that this, another Electric Lady Lab track from last June, also has sampling involved. Two things:

  • No video, just several thousand still pictures.
  • They are the only band (I’m informed by the internet) to have been given permission to sample the track that they are sampling.

Tom: Okay, I think I get Electric Lady Lab’s shtick now. They sample old 80s tracks, add new vocals to them, and chuck them out as new songs.

Tim: Actually, most of it’s original – just a couple, really. (Oh, and PEDANT: this is from 1990).

Tom: Which, let me remind you, is 21 years ago. Feel old yet?

Tim: Not as old as you, Mr Two-years-older-than-me.

Tom: Anyway, as I said before, I like mashups – but the tracks they’re putting out are just anaemic. The old ones are better: mashups and samples should improve on the original and make something better, not just add a weak new vocal.

Tim: Here, I actualy agree with you – it takes away a lot of the focus from fact that it’s a new the new song, because every single moment that they’re not singing it sounds like Rhythm Is A Dancer, just because it’s so implanted into people’s head. The singing is excellent, when it’s there, and worthy of being in a great song – just not this well-known a song, because it just sounds like a mash-up.

Tom: Granted, it’s better than the travesty we had last week, but it’s still not good.

Tim: Bonus related fact: “I’m serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer” was once voted the worst lyric of all time.

Electric Lady Lab – Touch Me

“This finishes way too soon.”

Tim: This finishes way too soon.

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

Tom: Oh my word. You know I like mashups, and it takes a lot for me to have my brain confused by one – but this certainly managed it. I was already singing “The Sun Always Shines On TV” by the first repeat of that sample, and then I just got completely sideswiped.

Tim: Starts with a ‘ooh, this sounds like it’ll be lovely’, and then goes in a completely different direction, but it stills keeps that lovely vibe going throughout and that’s not something that often happens.

Tom: Hang on. You’ve heard “The Sun Always Shines On TV”, right? You must have done.

Tim: Erm… well, er..

Tom: You can’t have been into europop for this long and not heard it. Seriously, aside from Take On Me, it’s a-ha’s most famous single. Everyone’s heard of that.

Tim: Take On Me? Wasn’t that by A1?*

* I’M JOKING. But seriously, how long ago does 2000 look now?

Tom: What worries me is that if you have a gap this large in your musical knowledge – what am I missing?

Tim: Well, I don’t know – I guess I’ve just never explored the older stuff. Tell you what – I’ll get hold of a couple of compilation CDs and listen to them, and we can move on. Deal?

The middle eight, for me at least, has a ‘hurry up and get to the good bit’ feel to it, but then unfortunately when it does get there it almost immediately stops with a crap fade-out. Part of me’s hoping they’ve deliberately cut this short for YouTube; can’t think why they would, though.

Tom: As a mashup with an existing song, it’d be listenable but nothing special; if this is the track they’re actually releasing, then it’s not a patch on the original. Morten Harket’s vocals stand up to this day, and this new version is just… forgettable.

Tim: Well, I disagree and think it’s great. Only out in Denmark right now, mind.

Tom: I’ll be honest: I hope that’s where it stays.

Rob & Nino – Rewind

Have you ever ended up drunk and in a kebab shop?

Tim: Have you ever ended up drunk and in a kebab shop trying to persuade the bloke who works there to give you a free one? I’m sure that if you have, you wish you could press Rewind. Like these chaps apparently can.

Tom: Because if you can rewind time, making sure you had enough money for another kebab would obviously be the trigger for that.

Tom: Seriously, what’s with this video? I can’t pretend to follow any kind of plot there. And if you’re going to put director credits on it, it feels like it should have a plot.

Tim: Well, there’s sort of a plot. They want a kebab, but then they can’t, so they have to go back in time, where they dance and then get a kebab. Anyway, the music’s sort of like a Swedish Taio and Cruz, if Taio Cruz was two people, that is, and despite all the horrible autotune and the general style of it all, I quite like this. There’s a vaguely decent tune to it, and the added key boost* in the middle eight is a pleasant surprise, as well. Good stuff.

Fans of this can also hear another song they stuck up on YouTube a few days back (via which may or may not have been how I found out about their first single in the first place).

* Is that a phrase? Well, it is now.

Tom: I think I’m more surprised that a kebab only costs about £2 in Sweden, really.

Le Kid – We Are The Drums

Somewhat restrained for a Le Kid offering.

Tim: Their first album’s finally out next week, and here’s a new single from it.

Tom: Wait, haven’t they been putting tracks out for months? Took them long enough to get an album out. Let’s have a listen, then.

Tim: Somewhat restrained for a Le Kid offering, I feel, but none the worse for it. I was a little disappointed at the started when it sounded all autotuney and horrible, but then it goes all happy and poppy and lovely so it’s okay.

Tom: I was really quite worried with that first bit, but fortunately they pulled it back quickly enough. It isn’t quite as bubblegum as their earlier tracks, but then an entire album that was as sweet as ‘We Should Go Home Together’ would just be too much.

Tim: The whole ‘WE ARE MUSIC’ vibe seems to indicate no small amount of ambition, and according to their website they’re ‘getting ready to show Le Kid to the world’. While I can’t quite see it getting properly playlisted on Radio 1 any time soon, perhaps they’ll find a place on Scott Mills’s Ready for the Weekend or something (where, in fact, both September and Cascada got their Radio 1 debuts).

Tom: You know, I can see them getting a respectable following over here.

Tim: I would be very happy if they did. Going back to their website quickly, it also promises that “every follower of ours who wants to help us spread the Gospel of Le Kid has a special place in our hearts, and will be able to sleep with their Le Kid member of choice in five years time”. If that’s not encouragement to tell people about them then I really don’t know what is.