A good beat never hurt no one

I was going to try not to have any more interruptions of my countdown until it finished, but I can't help it--I need to take a moment to talk about some things I'm listening to.

Remember Johan Krafman and his Ola-meets-the-Bassflow-remixes-of-Martin-Stenmarck song "Disarmed"? Well, he's uploaded another Bassflow-produced song onto his MySpace. It's called "Chain Reaction" and, though it's not instantly as addicting as "Disarmed," I'd eagerly buy an album in this sound.

Speaking of songs you can listen to on MySpace, I also noticed today that the full radio version of Jeanette's "Undress To The Beat"--a kind of Holly Valance-esque song (I say "kind of" partly because that's not a perfect comparison but also because I don't want you to get your expectations too high) I mentioned my interest in a little while ago--is playing on a MySpace site here. It'll need some time for me to decide its long-lasting value, but I'm willing to give it that time. Its co-writers include Johan "Kermit" Bobäck (Cyndi Lauper's "Into The Nightlife" and "Echo," Elin Lanto's "Speak 'n Spell," Darin's "Seasons Fly") and Måns Ek, I think.

Do you ever wonder to yourself how you've been missing out on an artist all this time? That's how I'm feeling about Swedish artist Kocky (the artist name for David Åström) at the moment. I've always known of him, for sure, but I've never really paid proper attention to him, so yes, it's all my fault for not picking up on him earlier. It's his connection to Rosanna, whose new music I've been excited about since Robpop wrote about it some months ago, that got me to check him out now. I'll be writing more about him in the future as I digest everything, but I just wanted to give you the heads-up--he may have multiple moments of amazingness. Basically, HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE HYPE. Check out his MySpace in the meantime.

"4-Ever Juvenile," a Kocky single, features Tinchy Stryder, and Frankmusik is reporting that his first "proper" single (apparently "3 Little Words" wasn't it) will be "Better Off As Two," will come out in March, and will have a rap from Tinchy added in. A supposed tracklisting for Complete Me has popped up on a British CD retailer site as well as a supposed release date, June 22. A March release date, as had originally been reported, probably would be too quick, so I can live with the wait. The tracklisting:

1.) 3 Little Words
2.) Better Of As 2
3.) Confusion Girl
4.) When You're Around
5.) Complete Me
6.) Boyfriend
7.) Your Boy
8.) Wonder Woman
9.) Vacant Heart
10.) Done Done
11.) Run Away From Trouble
12.) Olivia

My first reaction was "oh thank goodness, 'Vacant Heart' is on it." My second was "aww, no 'Questionable Times.'"If "Boyfriend" is "Gotta Boyfriend"--and it might not be, I've got no idea--I think I've heard versions of all but "Your Boy" and "Wonder Woman," but that's fine; this is Frankmusik, so much of what we've heard will probably have been tweaked anyway and his album should be made as great as possible, so I can hardly hold him sharing songs with us early against him. Plus, there's always b-sides to look forward to. The kind of but not totally ballad title track is uploaded on Frankmusik's MySpace at the moment and it's worth your time.

I've now had two different lines from Daniel Merriweather's as yet unreleased material running across the top of my blog, if that's any indication of my interest in the soul singer's upcoming Ronson-produced material (though oddly neither from his new proper lead single, "Change"). I adored "Stop Me," so I'm hoping he'll end up with something to rival that cover.

I've been meaning to mention here on the blog and not just in comments elsewhere that I really like "Boys And Girls" and "The Fall" on young British singer Pixie's MySpace. "The Fall" is catchy light-on-its-feet British pop and "Boys And Girls" is a little heavier, with verses kind of influenced by that popular '60's sound, but with a bit of electro-without-actually-being-electro crunch in the chorus to cancel that out; let's put it this way: I'm exhausted of that sound, and I love it, so it's not really in that style. She's got some great songwriters behind her, so hopefully her teen pop will end up with a great year both in quality and commercial success.

While I'm on a MySpace roll, I might as well write about Jasmine Baird, who I've loved for quite some time...once again, since DSTP introduced me to her! I need the full version of "The Truth" like you have no idea. I've got absolutely no idea how to describe it, beyond AMAZING. It's got a huge opening, maybe somewhat '80's a la Cyndi Lauper but modern, too. Listen to it on her MySpace here. I'd really love for it to be her who releases it--it's the sound of a brilliant songwriter and artist creating a new space for herself in the world of pop.

Different is Dangerous's list of 2008's best remixes has me listening to the Designer Drugs remix of Mariah Carey's "I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" over and over again. It has so much more energy, sparkle, and ...vroom reworked like that.

You know what someone really needs to turn into a proper pop song? "Heavy Leather," this made for TV commercials and shows song. It's got this deep bass groove, kind of a little bit like a Goldfrapp song or Christina Aguilera's "Keeps Gettin' Better" (though it's older than that song). Listen to it in the background of this video clip or this video clip. Someone turn that riff into a real song, please.

Daggers have uploaded a less joyous synth filled ballad to their MySpace. "Death It Feels," "Money," and "Lost In The Distance" are still this synth-pop group's key tracks for me, but when are they going to conquer the world like they deserve to? I'd go groupie for these guys.

Courtesy of Worrapolava, I've been playing Adam Ant's "Playboy" today. I've always loved "Goody Two Shoes" (which was just written about by the much-missed CFB Goes Pop girls), but I think I may feel a proper listen to the greatest hits of his I own coming on soon.

If you're interested in what albums I'm excited about in the coming year, you couldn't do better than read #1 Hits' and MuuMuuse's lists of the albums they're most excited for--together, they cover everything I would have included that we definitely know about (well, I'd probably throw on a few more artists participating in this year's Melodifestival).

The list could go on, but I'll cut it off there for now. Oh, wait, one more thing: Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You." As I've said elsewhere, I'm nervous about how this song will hold up in the long run for me, but right now I'm playing it a lot. Dan Priddy's electro "The Truth" fits in that same category, though I'm playing it a lot less than the very easy to listen to "My Life Would Suck Without You."