Lopez Blogs

Magnus Carlsson is ready for release of new single "The Kiss" from his latest album "Pop Galaxy", it's already fifth single and this time it's not disco-anthem that I find pretty good decision with the fact that chosen song is really one of the best tracks from album.
It's difficult to categorize "The Kiss" - it's not dance track and it's not a ballad, just beautiful pop-track with utterly tasty production and romantic feeling created by Magnus' delicate manner and thin air-light synths creating magic with strings arrangement.
But it wouldn't be Magnus if he haven't put some disco-flavour to this release. So single will also include another track "Slave To Love" that perviously was released on special edition of "Pop Galaxy" and new version of "Keep On Dancing" - probably best track of the album that I wouldn't refuse to see as separate single. Special single-pack will also include keychain with Magnus' pic in it.

Though Christmas is in the past we're not gonna leave you with any best music pieces missed out of our spot!
Magnus Carlsson is one of those artists having huge colection of Christmas covers who just can't leave audience without December tours and music gifts in cold period. This year wasn't exception and Magnus has presented (in a wrap with Christmas tour-programme) his track "Christmas With You" from "Änglarnas Tid" album as separate single packed with it's Spanish version "Navidad Junto A Ti", another old track "Little Drummer Boy" and new recorded version of "O Come All Ye Faithful".
The most pleasant in "Christmas With You" is that having traditional Christmas feeling this track is generously disco-powdered schlager in all its classic brilliance with key-change and everything, it can't go other way with ex-Alcazar member, isn't? And it's lovely!
Below you can check this track in studio-version and to watch it performed in acoustic at Nyhetsmorgon.

Charlotte Perrelli, Sarah Dawn Finer, Magnus Carlsson and Peter Jöback - isn't it too much for one Christmas show?
Stjärnklart tour with pure gold of Swedish schlager-elite is rolling around country and though we can't be there we can taste how it looks in video-cut from Charlotte Perreli's blog. This woman always knows how to amaze her fans and this is what amazes us in this video the most:

- Charlotte and Peter in cabaret gang making "All That Jazz".
- gorgeous jazz-version of Charlotte's "Tusen Och En Natt" in a sexual dress and with unbelievable shape standing back to public.
- Charlotte performing Shirley Bassey's "This is my life" covered with a monster feather fans.
- Sarah Dawn Finer, Peter Jöback and Magnus Carlsson singing "The Show Must Go On" and I just say OH MY GOD! How great Sarah sounds!!! She was born to make this cover!
- Charlotte's disco-party with mashup of "Hush Hush" and "I Will Survive" in glittering dresses and pointing moves.
- Magnus Carlsson driving public with "Kom Hem".
- Sarah Dawn Finer in golden dress with "Bad Romance" (Yes! You read right, Sarah making Gaga!!!).
- Charlotte with another great mashup of "We Need a Hero" and her own "Hero".

If this cut not shot professionally from hall looks so great how would it be to watch full concert?! If you're in Sweden you still have a chance to watch tour programme on Stjärnklart site and get your ticket.

Here is a small weekend treatment for all schlager-crazies.
Magnus Carlsson and Pernilla Wahlgren performed old Pernilla's hit "Svindlande Affärer" on Bingolotto and what can you expect from a couple of Melodifestivalen-veterans? Right, highest concentration of schlageristic energy with all those schlager-poses, singing back to back and 100% perfect vocals.
Nanne took part in current season of Doobidoo and performed Alice Cooper's "Poison" with comic Måns Möller and though vocal is not the strongest Måns' side but still Nanne always brings loads of joy to the stage and together they looked really not bad.
And a little bit bit slowing down tempo - another Doobidoo-duet - gorgeous Lisa Nilsson and Samuel Ljungblahd performed cover of Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack's "Where Is The Love", it's not schlager but calm soul performance, very enjoyable as both artists are the owners of very beautiful vocals so hope you're gonna like it!

Right before the start of new Melodifestivalen webbjoker-contest (pre-part of MF where only unsigned artists can compete) winners of previous season MiSt are finally releasing their song "Come and Get Me Now" in new revamped version (diferent from what we've heard at MF). Honestly year ago I was quite sceptic about this song but when it turned to gorgeous dansband-schlager I've completely fallen for this song. I'll remind you that MiSt is Mia Terngård and Stefan Lebert and when contest version was performed by Highlights this new released one is performed by Stefan and Mia, it's also got remix-treatment that you can hear along with radio-version here.

Talking about new webbjoker-contest - already next week we're gonna listen 2 songs which will be performed at Melodifestivalen-2011, this time contest has got 424 webbjoker-candidates (year ago there were just 180) and the final will be held on November 8th when viewers will choose 2 out of 5 songs, it feels undoubtfully exciting and I'm gonna check all candidates and let you know about most interesting ones.

Talking about main contest, it has beaten records of received songs (3832) and like it happens every year media goes wild about possible participants, Expressen presents long list of artists which we can see next year, Aftonbladet speaks about comeback of songwriting trio Norell Oson Bard with the song for dansband Lasse Stefanz, Magnus Carlsson and Eric Saade give hints about their wish to participate and Sarah Dawn Finer anounces that she doesn't plan to compete this time. It's gonna be more and more interesting when we'll get titles of songs and songwriters chosen by jury but let's move to something more real and close - webbjoker contest that will start already on October 11th. I'm gonna present you my three favorites of previous year.
It's Carmen with amazing italo-disco-schlager "Stai Stai" that could fit Melodifestivalen stage perfectly (I should say choreography in video is completely brilliant, a bit unsynchronized but come on! Who cares when the song is so enjoyable?). Another one is Siberia "Hot for the night" - something that could sound fantastic with Empire Music Production revamp, Star Pilots could kill to get this combination of 80s rock and dance-power (by the way Scotts actually released one of webbjokers "När vi har landat" afterwards). And one more work is by Fredrik & Magnus "Slagen av Kärleken" - pleasant relaxing pop-song with velvet Magnus' voice and charming atmosphere. This band also had another song "Happy Thoughts" that came further in contest and due to announcement on their site they're gonna come back this year!

Have I already written review of Magnus Carlsson's new album "Pop Galaxy"? No? Gosh, alright, I have excuse in this Magnus' live performance of whole three songs. We've already saw his recent performances on tv but trust me this one is even more brilliant.
Today Expressen speculates about Magnus who gave a hint in tv-show "Förkväll" that he has some stuff for Melodifestivalen so obviously it means Magnus is trying to comeback to competition and we wish him best of luck and enjoy his music.

Oh the weather outside is frightful. Though i quite like the rainy, autumnal months because I am a bit of an anomoly and because I think autumnal sounds like Mr Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, and I do believe it's always good to be reminded of that lovely old flawed faun. I've been quite delighted this week by how pop can just lift the senses and make you feel magnificent for the three minutes or so you are encapsulated and entranced by the joyful rhythms it presents. So with that in mind, here is the radiating pop that got me through the week...

JOYOUS!

• Album: Magnus Carlsson (Pop Galaxy) ~ I wrote just last week about how utterly glorious and unabashed the latest single from Magnus is. Well blow me down with a feather, he's only delivered an album of pure, gleeful, soaring, pure pop music that is literally a love letter to pop itself. Not only is the title bloody brilliant in it's simplicity, the album kicks off with the euphoric My Galaxy which is a riotous rip through all that defines the best of uptempo euro-pop. All the recent singles are here (including A Little Respect, Feel You, a remix of This Is Disco and b-side Take Me To Your Heart) amidst a mix of S/A/W inspired gems. It's a giddy nonstop whirling dervish of fun, but other highlights include Keep On Dancin' (another track to add to the pantheon of I Don't Feel Like Dancing, If You Can't Dance et al), uplifting Stronger Than Ever and uptempo ballad and a little bit inspirational One Love To Give. It's all so magnificent and fun, you'll be smiling from start to finish :)
• Single: CC & Lee (Better Best Forgotten) ~ I fell hard for the charms of CC & Lee when I heard their astonishingly cheerful Abba pastiche Honey, a song so entrenched in Abba that they even referenced some of their songs throughout the song while sounding like a slightly updated version, harmonies and all! Their new single isn't a Steps cover but totally could be. It's like Steps-The Abba Remix (click the link to listen) and a sparkling, effervescent affair. Plinking piano dominates through a relentlessly cheerful disco beat and some wonderful harmonies wrapping around an unforgettable singalong chorus and fist pumping keychange. Aces (of bases).

• New & Noteworthy: Andrea Lewis (Voodoo) ~ It's always exciting when you hear a new slice of pop that just makes your skin tingle with anticipation isn't it? Superficially, Spectacular star Andrea Lewis may look like Shaznay from All Saints and sound ever so slightly like Alesha Dixon, but scratch a bit deeper and Voodoo delivers a sizzling slice of immediate electro-pop urgency that positively soars with potential. It's built around enticing handclaps and a fiercely aggressive riff; however, it's the seamless weaving of Andrea's vocal with playful music that lifts the track out of the ordinary and into something very good indeed. And hear that voice fly - coming out of the middle 8 is a note delivered with such confidence and poise (2m29s for a good 6 seconds) it puts to shame some of her peers. Poetically, her album "54321" is released on 10.10.10. I cannot wait.
• Christmas: Mariah Carey (Oh Santa) ~ I promised myself I wouldn't cry. Or write about Christmas songs before November. It's the same criminal offence as wearing white after Labour Day, no matter what fashionistas might tell you about changing trends (Serial Mom is never wrong). Yes, Mariah is back and while Oh Santa was never going to be as good as All I Want For Christmas... it's pretty darn tasty. Like mince pies and custard. Like the song above, it's built seemingly around a jump rope type beat with some added sleigh bells, ooo ooo/aah aah and an ode to how good Mariah has been this year, thus deserving of Santa popping some goodies in her sack. It builds and layers as it progresses (with some nice Mariah vocal acrobatics in the middle 8) and hypnotises you with it's relentless cheeriness and seasonal good tidings. Yes, Mariah, it's early days but I mightily approve. As does D'Luv :)

Top 21 songs of the week:

21 ~ Bright Light x2, Love Part II
20 ~ Kelly Rowland, Shake Them Haters Off
19 ~ DeeDee, Balls
18 ~ Sophie Ellis Bextor, Not Giving Up On Love
17 ~ Kylie, Get Outta My Way
16 ~ Eric Saade, Masquerade
15 ~ Darin, Lovekiller
14 ~ Scissor Sisters, Any Which Way
13 ~ Jesse McCartney, Shake
12 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Once Upon A Time (Live performance vid above)
11 ~ Brandon Flowers, Only The Young
10 ~ Nadine Coyle, Insatiable
09 ~ Charlotte Church, Back To Scratch
08 ~ James Blunt, Stay The Night
07 ~ Joe McElderry, Ambitions
06 ~ Shayne Ward, Gotta Be Somebody (NE)
05 ~ Maroon 5, Give A Little More
04 ~ Jessie J, Price Tag
03 ~ Elouise, The Winner Takes It All
02 ~ Gravitonas, Religious
01 ~ Robbie Williams, Shame (4 weeks)

X Factor Judges Houses on Sunday night! Brillo!

Magnus Carlsson's new album "Pop Galaxy" is out and very soon I'm gonna give you preview of this album as it's really worthy work with loads of pop-anthems.
Though few days ago we've got new Magnus' single "The Best In Me" currently Mr. Carlsson is giving way to brand new video for one of previous singles "Feel You". Very enjoyable video with Magnus between huge computer graphics light panels and dancing in the rain, everything's looking huge, disco and positive and Magnus is in a great shape as well and ready for a new stage of music life with his new album.

Boo :( I have toothache. This is probably entirely my own fault as is usually the case with toothache. I am seeing the dentist on Monday morning. He will glare at me with his smouldering eyes and make me feel bad for indulging in that toffee from the £5 special offer tin of Quality Street. Curse the supermarket price wars! They will be the ultimate downfall of my nashers. So I am powering through the weekend with co-codemol and ibuprofen. And some surprisingly effective baby teething gel! Magnif! Luckily, there is lots of music to get me through til Monday morning. Here is what you should be checking out (toothache sympathy in the comments please!)...

Songs to ease the toothache :)

• Shayne Ward ~ Gotta Be Somebody: Christ this is getting out of hand! First Westlife do Chris Daughtry, then Joe does Donkeyboy. Next we'll have JLS coming out with a cover of some Hoobastank song! Frankly I was mortified when I heard Shayne was coming back with a Nickelback song! Both him and Joe have tweeted so much about the amazing music they are making, then both pop up with cover versions. However, I have learnt not to make snap judgements and rather than a straightforward cover, Shayne has got a nice glossy pop/r'n'b arrangement rendering it significantly different from an original I really wasn't too familiar with anyway. The full version is actually quite engaging, and a solid return for Shayne that I'm more smitten with with each listen. Hopefully the general public will agree too...
• Adam Tyler ~ Operation: Adam Tyler is currently in the united kingdom and by all accounts having a whale of a time. That has no bearing on whether this track is good or not. I'm pleased to report however that it is rather bonza. It's a sleek, persistant electro groove - Adam's tapping his lower register on the vocals and his voice sounds great. It's very downbeat lyrically, about removing negativity of a failed relationship from his life - the middle 8 sounds particularly sinister when Adam sings "anesthesia" and the backing gets almost psychotic; it's bleeps and beats all over the place but held tautly together with some great production. Is this the outcome of living too long with his Friction addiction? Regardless, it works well as a sequel to that song or just a great piece of pop music. More per favor.
• Mohombi ~ Bumpy Ride: I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about Mohombi and his instantly infectious track Bumpy Ride. Basically he's a RedOne protege and he's crafted a fun, compelling summer anthem that will take you way into Autumn and beyond. It mixes smooth vocals with a slightly reggae infused track and comes across as a slightly more credible Start Without You. The video is a bit literal and reminds me at times of Peter Andre, but overall it's definitely an enticing tune that reels you in. Apparently lots more good Mohombi stuff is coming up (War Zone is brillo)....
• Magnus Carlsson ~ Best In Me: Oh my amazesticles! Magnus - always a reliable bet for some bonkers, gleeful pop majesty - has popped himself in a time machine, whizzed back to 1989 and produced one of the most thoroughly giddily enjoyable sparklingly fizzy pop treats of the year! It's not just inspired by Stock Aitken & Waterman, it's positively drenched in their influences. I'm pretty certain the backing track owes a huge debt to Love In The First Degree. It doesn't even matter. It's such a feel good piece of music and I can't wait to devour Magnus' "Pop Galaxy" next week. It could be absolutely immensicles...

• Charlotte Church ~ Back To Scratch: This is a very lovely, lilting return to pop for Charlotte. It totally follows on from more madcap numbers like Crazy Chick & Call Your Name, but represents a more mature reading from her - a reflection of what she has been through the past few years. Her voice remains well suited for this type of number and there's a sadness mixed in with the quite wonderful floating music. It's all pulled together very well and I'm ever so eager for her album next month. Love the multiple charlottes video above too! Amazes.
• Velvet Code ~ Follow You Follow Me: I first heard of Velvet Code on Larry Flick's Morning Jolt. It's synth pop at it's finest and is an insidious tune that soon weaves it's way into your synapses and refuses to let go. It's beautifully created music that shimmies with the knowledge that the person behind has a thorough understanding of what makes pop music great. The chorus in itself represents a simplicity of melody but with some complex electro instrumentation running behind it that elevates it to huge singalong status. Definitely one to watch

Top 21 singles of the week:

21 ~ Bright Light x 2, Love Part II
20 ~ Ace of Base, All For You
19 ~ Brandon Flowers, Only The Young
18 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Once Upon A Time
17 ~ Joe McElderry, Ambitions (NE)
16 ~ Eric Saade, Masquerade
15 ~ Darin, Lovekiller
14 ~ Jesse McCartney, Shake
13 ~ Charlotte Church, Back To Scratch (NE)
12 ~ DeeDee, Balls
11 ~ Kelly Rowland, Shake Them Haters Off
10 ~ Nadine Coyle, Insatiable
09 ~ James Blunt, Stay The Night (vid)
08 ~ Sophie Ellis Bextor, Not Giving Up On Love
07 ~ Kylie, Get Outta My Way
06 ~ Scissor Sisters, Any Which Way
05 ~ Jessie J, Price Tag
04 ~ Elouise, The Winner Takes It All
03 ~ Maroon 5, Give A Little More
02 ~ Gravitonas, Religious
01 ~ Robbie Williams, Shame (3 weeks)

New Magnus Carlsson's single "The Best In Me" is out and Magnus is on the way to promote it along with forthcoming album "Pop Galaxy" that's gonna be released already on September 29th and this album is going to be devotion to music of 80s - Modern Talking, Pet Shop Boys, Samantha Fox and other Magnus idols. You can hear it very well in new single, as it's probably the campiest disco-pop single Magnus ever did, spreading joy of 80s disco with tsunami-scale waves. Magnus performed single at TV4 in it's studio version so if you haven't bought it yet you can check it below. Single contains also cover-version of Alcazar's "Crying At The Discotheque" made in the same vein of Pitchline-pop that you can hear at Magnus' official site (+ Ruff & Jam mix for previous Magnus' single "Feel You" and Pitchline Extended version of "The Best In Me").
As well Magnus visited XL-Live with acoustic performance of "The Best In Me", another single - Erasure-cover "A Little Respect" and ballad version of old Barbados' hit "Kom Hem".

Swedish general selections are over with the victory of reigning political block and nationalistic block Sweden Democrats getting to Parliament that caused loads of scandals and demonstrations against. You could also read many negative words on different artists' blogs and twitters and even find stars like Ola and Erik Hassle being engaged in company against Sweden Democrats (check this video). But let's put attention on a more positive side of it. SVT recently has organized show-event Demokratifesten in Göteborg involving artists like Charlotte Perrelli, Magnus Carlsson, Sanna Nielsen and Anders Ekborg so don't forget to check performances. If duo of Charlotte and Magnus wasn't new for audience (as whole Summer this couple was promoting their single "Mitt livs gemål") with Fleetwood Mac's cover "Don't Stop", Anders Ekborg first time appeared on such a huge event with his new single "I Do Believe", Sanna Nielsen was just as lovely as she can be with Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and it's a lot, check yourself!

Autumn has just started and we've already got whole bunch of planned exciting album-releases, I should collect all of them in one post.
- Magnus Carlsson's new album "Pop Galaxy" will be released already on September 22th but before we'll get another single "The Best In Me".
- It's just few days till new Ola's album "Ola" (September 15th).
- Erik Hassle's EP with 4 new songs is planned for the end of September.
- Nanne Grönvall's album "En Rastlös Själ" is ready to hit shops on October 6th.
- After 6 years Stephen Simmonds releases new album "Anomie" in October.
- Jennie Berggren's album "My Story" release was moved to October 13th.
- A little bit earlier Ace Of Base will release album "The Golden Ratio" on September 24th with first single "All For You" planned to be released already today.
- Caroline af Ugglas after huge success of previous year is back with new album planned for September 22th publishing as well book "Hjälp, vem är jag?" (Help, who am I?)
- EMD's album "Rewind" release was firstly carried from August 25th to the end of October but now you can find its release in some shops marked with December 31th.
- Albums from Linda Pritchard, Titiyo, Tove Styrke, Lisa Miskovsky, Love Generation, second EP from Gravitonas and Christmas album from Måns Zelmerlöw are to be expected.
- Sanna Nielsen's just released her last single "Part Of Me" and ready for new release of Christmas album with Shirley Clamp and Sonja Aldén, this time due to title "Vår Jul" (translation of English title of previous album "Our Christmas" that obviously says tracklist won't be different in common) it's gonna be in Swedish.
- Amy Diamond after 5 studio-albums is ready for compilation "Greatest Hits" that will be out on November 3rd.
Not enough to be excited? It's alright, it's just the first days of Autumn ;)

Bortsett från mina tre besök på Ascot för en massa år sedan så hör det inte till vanligheten att jag besöker en galopp- eller travbana. Spel på fyrbenta djuren har aldrig intresserat mig men är det så att man kan få höra både schlager och eurovision mellan galoppvarven så kanske det blir fler besök på Täby Galopp.


Except for my three visits at Ascot many years ago, I usually do not visit horse race tracks. Games and gambling on horses is not my cup of tea but if it is possible to listen to schlager and Eurovision in between the races I might change my mind.


Ryktet gick att Chiara från Malta (ESC 1998, 2005, 2009) och Magnus Carlsson (tidigare Barbados och Alcazar) skulle uppträda och vad passar då bättre än att sätta sig på Roslagsbanan en solig kväll för att lyssna och intervjua.
We heard that Chiara from Malta (ESC 1998, 2005, 2009) and Magnus Carlsson (former Barbados and Alcazar) were supposed to perform at Taby Galopp outside Stockholm. It was a sunny evening and perfect for a small excursion.










Nedan kan du höra intervjun med Magnus (på engelska) och även hans schlager medley. Magnus har deltagit i Melodifestivalen sju gånger - som soloartist och sångare i Barbados och Alcazar. Och tro det eller ej – Magnus kan åter igen tänka sig att delta i tävlingen - även om han sa att det var sista gången 2007. Kul att han har ändrat sig!

Below you can listen to the interview with Magnus (in English) and also listen to his fab schlager-medley. Magnus has participated seven times in Melodifestivalen - both as solo artist and together with Barbados and Alcazar.Believe it or not but Magnus might consider to participate in the contest again - even if he said it was the last time 2007.We look forward!


Magnus Carlsson har fått en beundrarinna i Chiara. Vem vet - det kanske kan bli en intressant duo framöver.
Chiara became very impressed by Magnus and who knows - maybe this can be a future cooperation.  





Photos, video: JP, Lilian, Merja

During Stockholm Pride week Linda Bengtzing, Anna Bergehdahl, Jill Johnson, Sarah Dawn Finer and Magnus Carlsson gave English interviews to oikotimes and great news are that both Magnus and Linda are definitely want to come back to a big spotlight of future Melodifestivalen. Linda seems to be especially eager about comeback. Unfortunately Sarah is not so eager about it but doesn't want to say she'll never do it again. Well, you'd better check it yourself right below.

Interview with Sarah Dawn Finer
Interview with Anna Bergehdahl
Interview with Magnus Carlsson
Interview with Jill Johnson
Interview with Linda Bengtzing

And you can also check some well-recorded performances during last week. Second record of Rebound's performance is a bit distorted with agonizing dying fans but this is what actually makes me laugh to tears everytime I hear it.

MaryJet - Dear Mr. President
Anna Bergendahl - This Is My Life
Björn Skifs - Fångad i en dröm
Shirley Clamp - Min kärlek
Shirley Clamp - Med Hjärtat Fyllt Av Ljus, Att älska dig
Jan Johansen - Se på mig
Jill Johnson - Crazy in love
Göran Fristorp (Nova) - Sommaren Som Aldrig Säger Nej
Svenne and Lotta - Bang A Boomerang
Christer Sjögren - I Love Europe

TV4 keeps making us happy with new live gigs of Swedish music royalty and now you can watch performances of Magnus Carlsson with his latest singles "A Little Respect" and "Feel You" and some old hits like "Kom Hem", "Live Forever" (ballad version), Charlotte Perrelli with her classics "Take Me To Your Heaven", "Gröna Små Äpplen", "I Will Survive", "Hero", performance finished with Magnus and Charlotte last duo single "Mitt Livs Gemål". Nanne also gave very energetic gig with some old hits like "Jag måste kyssa dig", One More Time's "Den Vilda", "Det vackraste", "Avundsjuk", "Håll Om Mig" and sure her last single "Inatt är jag din". And Erik Grönwall presented his songs from new album "Stay", "Take Me On", "Somewhere Between A Rock And A Hard Place", "Crash and Burn", some stuff from his debut album like "18 and life" and "Higher" and even got Calle Kristiansson (runner-up of last Idol) to the stage.

Incredibly exciting news! Due to Aftonbladet famous songwriter and producer Jörgen Elofsson has written song for Agnes and Björn Skifs, it will be performed in church during wedding of Victoria and Daniel Westling on June 19th. Aftonbladet's source reports that the song is typical Eloffson's Beyoncé-style ballad in English and the single will be released right after wedding (by the way Agnes career has started back in 2005 with amazing Jörgen Elofsson's ballad "Right here Right Now" - song that Agnes won Idol with).

Charlotte Perrelli and Magnus Carlsson keeps promoting their devotional song "Mitt Livs Gemål" for Victoria and finally audience could watch them live on TV, very beautiful performance at it's supposed to be! You can also check interview with them here.

Recently Charlotte Perrelli and Magnus Carlsson announced about their plans to record the song devoted to princess Victoria's wedding and Monica & Carl-Axel Dominique were announced as songwriters behind the song. Finally this collaboration turned to be a new maxi-single "Mitt Livs Gemål" containing instrumental and english version ("My Heart's Desire") of the song. Also you can find another song "Tillägnan" (and its instrumental version) classic wedding march written by Monica Dominique and Lars Forsell before, you can listen to the song here. Regarding "Mitt Livs Gemål" as it was supposed it didn't turn to schlager but to classic Swedish big ballad that's gonna be very nice wedding soundtrack and not only for royal couples.

Magnus Carlsson releases new single "Feel You" - another amazing disco-anthem from Pitchline sounding like brother of Velvet's "Take My Body Close", Pitchline being young production company has recommended itself like a great team releasing high-level stuff with Velvet, Alice Svensson, Kick and Magnus. Single includes some nice mixes from Pitchline and Ruff & Jam and b-side "Take Me To Your Heart" another dance track obviously inspired by music of Modern Talking (seems like Man Meadow has got a serious rival).

Magnus Carlsson - Take Me To Your Heart

Magnus Carlsson - Feel You (Ruff & Jam Remix)

Amaze of the balls! This gosh forsaken heck hole of a week is finally over :) Woo, and I don't think it's unseemly of me to add a hoo. It's not been the most delightful of weeks, though clearly the Eric Saade album has helped me through and some bostin' steve ausin 'season finales' have perked things up somewhat! But tomorrow, I shall tra la la off to my cottage in the country for a week of bumpkiness (that's not a sex thing you pervs), relaxation and writing. As it goes, I went through loads of old blog posts the other day - what I do like about my blog (he said modestly) is that I always work a bit of my life and personality and mood into each post, whatever I'm writing about. So i've found loads of little stories and pithy put downs I had forgotten and it really made me laugh. I know it's poor form to laugh at your own words, but i was genuinely quite amused and it gave me a little boost. I'm never particularly good at blowing my own trumpet (i've tried, too many ribs) and i've never been one of those people who can praise how amazing they think they are, but i did think, oh you know what Paul? You aren't bad at writing :) And so much of what i found will flesh out parts of the novel... and form basis for future work. So yay, quite pleased by that and I'm heading down to holiday with pages and pages of print outs of this very blog with a pencil case full of highlighters. how industrious... :) Still to keep you going - here are some things that are very much worth looking forward to...

GOOD STUFF:

• Maroon 5 ~ Misery: SQUEEEEAAAL! As I blogged a little while back, Adam LeFine and his boys are back late this summer with their third album full of rollicking tunes and tender love makey ballads (no doubt). You can hear some clips of their sound over at Rolling Stone, and they've already started filming the first video which promises to rival Wake Up Call for sex and violence. It goes to radio late June and I shall have my ear glued to the stero waiting for it "drop". Excitement!
• Magnus Carlsson ~ Feel You: After the rather camp but ultimately engaging cover of A Little Respect, Magnus returns with another song from his forthcoming album. And it's equally camptastic and discobonkers. It's all pulsing dance beat with a soaring club driven melody (that sounds like it would be rather lovely as an acoustic version, as Swedish boys are want to do) and snuggles in perfectly to the always joyous Magnus canon. Think the dance version of Waiting For A Star To Fall and you ain't far off. B-side Take Me To Your Heart is like a late 80s S/A/W song remixed now by Pete Hammond, ie - very palatable indeed...
• James Leon ~ Caught Up In Your Vanity: This is just sublimely exquisite. It's like a long lost Human League demo, dragged out from the archives and given a generous coating of millenial magic. Gently synth driven, it crescendos into a fuzzed up electro chorus and James sounds absolutely brilliant on it. Nice statement on the plasticness of the London scene too(or anywhere/one vain). So good you can't just listen to it once. This needs to be released - and now...
• Amy Meredith ~ Lying: Oh how am I in love with this band, that I assumed was a solo pop singer before I heard any music. They are not. They are a band. With a rather dishy as a dishcloth hunk of a suave lead singer. And a song that is basically a man version of Stefy - Chelsea or Vincent Black Shadow - Metro; i.e. instantly catchy, brilliant pogo-pop quick as you like lyrics and an amazeballs chorus. It's all so very wonderful indeed and I can't wait to hear more from them. Luckily an album is out in July. Bonza! I feel a whole new obsession coming on...
• Chanee & N'Evergreen ~ The Album: Quick review - it's Roxette for the year 2010. In fact it's seven Sleeping Singles and seven Must've Been Loves. Belated popjustice song of the day In A Moment Like This is still by far the highlight, but there are some pleasant 80s power pop on there too. Charming. Cheesily charming, but charming.

Top 21 songs of the week:

Above, where you see a picture of pop star of the future Adam Tyler, there should be a probably brilliant new video to his ace debut single. Friction. There isn't. Instead there is what might be a still from that very video. That's because the video sadly isn't out yet. But it will be very shortly - probably when i'm deepest darkest rural East Sussex, working on a slow dongle! So i'm assuming it will have some killer dance moves and look very brilliant indeed. Follow Adam on twitter because he'll sure as heck let you know when the video is done - and be sure to let me know how immensicles it is in the comments!! EDIT: Now with added commentary from Adam himself :) See comments!!

21 ~ Simon Curtis, Super Psycho Love
20 ~ Mika, Kick Ass
19 ~ Kimberley Locke, Strobelight
18 ~ DeeDee, Endure
17 ~ Sophie Ellis Bextor, Bittersweet
16 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, On A Mission
15 ~ Kelly Rowland, Commander (NE)
14 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, Hearts Don't Lie
13 ~ Eric Saade, Manboy
12 ~ Donkeyboy, Sometimes
11 ~ JLS, The Club Is Alive
10 ~ Maria Mena, All This Time
09 ~ Sergey Lazarev, Alarm
08 ~ Adam Tyler, Friction
07 ~ Gravitonas, Kites
06 ~ Lovestoned, Thursdays
05 ~ Josh Dubovie, That Sounds Good To Me
04 ~ Chenee & N'Evergreen, In A Moment Like This
03 ~ Eric Saade, It's Gonna Rain
02 ~ Scissor Sisters, Fire With Fire
01 ~ Kylie, All The Lovers (3 weeks)

Coming soon (maybe next week): All you need to know about one of the summer's essential pop albums; some excellent Swedish pop; The Sparkling Arrest; Disco Lemonade - the novel AND the pop song?

Good grief. I'm suddenly very into the whole Eurovision thing this year. I mean it's always been on my periphery before, but this year I'm actually quite excited about it! Clearly the Swedish are miles ahead on my list of brilliant eurovision potentials this year with some excellent tunes in their melodifestivalen (more on those below), but Norway gave us a rocking new Coldplay-Jr tune from A1 and of course the song that knocks lovely Elouise off the top slot, Bjorn Johan Muri's Yes Man. And as I reported friday, Sammy Taylor is throwing his hat into the UK arena as part of UNI5 (I'll be blogging Your Country Needs You each Friday in Sammy support!) It all the potential to be very pop-mazing, so I'm keeping tuned in. And! Perfectly genetically engineered pop-doll Mans Zelmerlow kicked off the "ansen chanser" stage of Melodifestivalen with a brilliant cover of View To A Kill. It's brilliant for several reasons - a) it could potentially be released in studio version as a single b) Mans looks blooming gorgeous in his ensemble and c) the finalists are all trying to kill each other. Imagine if UK's X Factor or American Idol invited back a former winner to do something this brilliant, with a massive scrap-hinting video going on? Brillo. Anyway, on with some ace music...

THIS WEEK'S NEW ENTRIES:

• Magnus Carlsson ~ A Little Respect: Sigh. It's ever so minorly disappointing that a new Magnus song is a cover version of the Erasure classic. But it's so gosh darn festive and chirpy, that it's hard not to be swept along in the general perky S/A/W-esque beat of it all. Part of it the production and some of the video indeed looks like this should have been a Christmas single, it's practically all whistles and bells and slots nicely alongside Darin's Viva La Vida. Oh and the video is quite bizarre and bonkers - it basically seems to be a concept built around the fact that the song begins with the line "I tried to discover..." with Magnus hunting around some desolate wasteland and then re-animating that Michael Jackson HiStory statue for a bit of a boogie. Completely nuts, but very camp and engaging...
• Ola ~ Unstoppable: You can pretty much always rely on Ola to come up with something entirely kooky, totally loveable and brilliantly catchy. Built around a simple yet magnificent piano riff, this soaring pop tune is a sequel of sorts to his earlier song Natalie yet not a complete replica of that tune. Plus I love that Ola looks like he is having an absolutely ace time while he performs this song (click link above). And the "oh-oh-oh" in the chorus with the cheesy rhyming totally appeals to me. Mint! (oh dear...)
• Alcazar ~ Headlines: You know Disco Defenders made me completely fall irrevocably head over heels in love with Alcazar (and it's the sort of album I'm hoping Same Difference will come back with later this year). Headlines is going to be tagged onto a reissue of that and it totally fits. It has a lovely string laden start (reminiscent of Viva La Vida) and then launches into a slowly crescendo-ing song (with hilarious lyrics "got your number on my underwear" Really! Oh my...) before that killer chorus kicks in with it's steps-esque dance routine. What more could I want from a pop song?! How about one of those key changes that starts with an almost acapella song pause before re-launching the song into one of those frenzied celebrations of all things disco? Check! Amazeballs as the kids on the street are saying (not my street - those little tykes have a vocab that would make a sailor blush)...
• Neo ~ Human Frontier: This has overtaken Headlines as my fave melodifestivalen song of the moment. Sure he's a little Mika for some tastes, but he's a Hi-NRG Pete Hammond type remix of Mika and this song is a right little charmer. Plus he's using a cane in his performance of the song which is clearly a very good thing in pop, because it hasn't really been seen since Liberty X perved over tv screens for Just A Little. I just absolutely adore Neo - he has a falsetto high enough to make dogs wince, but I think he's a little bobby dazzler and this song has some remixes doing the rounds that are just dandy. I think an albm re-issue is due with this song too, so that's something to look out for (Higher and Bachelor are just fabbo)...
• Darin ~ You're Out Of My Life: After the utter splendidness that was the popalicious Viva La Vida and the Gaga before G'Gah was around sounding Flashback album, lovely elfin faced Darin returns with a classic smooth pop ballad. Basically the lad has had the career Shayne Ward should have had if 19 had spent any decent time with him. This song is just so dreamy and heavenly, it gets better with each listen. There's something so classic and timeless about it, and the type of song that just soars in it's simplicity. Great vocal too.

Others: Of course gabriella charts on top with the effervescent On A Mission; Sergey debuts with the generic but fun packed Alarm; bubbling under are that magnificent Blake Lewis (Love or Torture) and Erik Saade's bizarre but bonza Manboy (which I keep singing Manwhore too for some reason)... Probably a massive Simon Curtis debut next week too.... :)

Top 21 Songs of the Week:

21 ~ Leona Lewis, I Got You
20 ~ Sergey Lazarev, Alarm (NE)
19 ~ Diana Vickers, Once (VID)
18 ~ Hurts, Blood, Tears & Gold
17 ~ Ola, Unstoppable (NE)
16 ~ Alex Gardner, I'm Not Mad
15 ~ Darin, You're Out Of My Life (NE)
14 ~ Magnus Carlsson, A Little Respect (NE)
13 ~ Robbie Williams, Morning Sun
12 ~ Alcazar, Headlines (NE)
11 ~ Donkeyboy, Ambitions
10 ~ Simon Curtis, Diablo
09 ~ Neo, Human Frontier (NE)
08 ~ The Pipettes, Stop The Music (XO review)
07 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Hollywood
06 ~ Mika, Rain
05 ~ Boyzone, Gave It All Away
04 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Yes Man
03 ~ Music Go Music, Light of Love
02 ~ Elouise, Fireman of my Dreams
01 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, On A Mission (NE/1 week)