It’s time for us to award, and thus reward, the best of the best of Scandinavian pop music released over the last 12 months.
We posted the nominations here a few weeks ago. Expressen newspaper called them an alternative to the Swedish Grammy nominations which were announced on the same day, which was amusing to say the least! Although clearly ours have far more integrity than the Grammys, since they aren’t chosen based on a preconceived idea of what’s supposed to be cool, and what’s acceptable to be seen to be liking! Ours are about an unbiased appreciation of good pop.
And here are the deserving winners, highlighted in brilliant pink, and each with a brief description of why they find themselves as so;
BEST FEMALE
Elin Lanto
Jenni Vartiainen
Jenny Berggren
Robyn
September
Tove Styrke
She didn’t just launch a comeback, she redefined what a comeback should be like!
BEST MALE
Cristal Snow
Darin
Eric Saade
Erik Hassle
Magnus Carlsson
Ola
He appeared in a barrage of fabricated rainfall, bringing with him a top quality repertoire of pop, and an outstanding ability to perform it.
BEST GROUP
Ace of Base
Alcazar
Gravitonas
Le Kid
Love Generation
Timoteij
Mixing dance music with theatre rock, and passing it off as genre contrary pop. Listening to them is like a ‘Religious’ experience.
BEST NEW ARTIST
Eric Saade
Gravitonas
Le Kid
Love Generation
Timoteij
Tove Styrke
BEST FEMALE ALBUM
Elin Lanto – ‘Love Made Me Do It’
Hera Björk – ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’
Jenni Vartiainen – ’Seili’
Linda Sundblad – ’Manifest’
Robyn – ’Body Talk’
Tove Styrke – ’Tove Styrke’
Released 19 new songs in 2010 and not 1 of them was anything less than ‘very good’.
BEST MALE ALBUM
Bjørn Johan Muri – ‘Airwaves’
Cristal Snow – ‘God You Made Me Wicked’
Darin – ‘Lovekiller’
Eric Saade – ‘Masquerade’
Magnus Carlsson – ‘Pop Galaxy’
Ola – ‘Ola’
Epic balladry. An unrelenting showcase for Tony Nilsson’s inimitable skill for producing anthemic pop.
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BEST GROUP ALBUM
Ace of Base – ‘The Golden Ratio’
Infernal – ‘Fall From Grace’
Play – ’Under My Skin’
Page – ‘Nu’
Sukkerchok – ‘De 1000 Drømmes Nat’
Timoteij – ‘Längtan’
Exactly the album we wanted from them – a return to making great music. (Bla Bla Bla) on the radio, indeed!
BEST ALBUM FROM A NEW ARTIST
Bjørn Johan Muri – ‘Airwaves’
Eric Saade – ‘Masquerade’
Erik Grönwall – ‘Somewhere Between A Rock And A Hard Place’
Swedish House Mafia – ‘Until One’
Timoteij – ‘Längtan’
Tove Styrke – ‘Tove Styrke’
Big pop tunes and beautiful ballads. The newest big popstar backed it up with a brilliant album!
BEST FEMALE SINGLE
Alice – ‘I Wanna Live’
Hera Björk – ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’
Robyn – ‘Dancing On My Own’
September – ‘Resuscitate Me’
Therese – ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’
Tove Styrke – ‘White Light Moment’
Nothing else sounded like this in 2010. But hopefully a lot of music will sound like it in 2011. A one-song attempt at revolutionising dance music!
BEST MALE SINGLE
Basshunter – ‘Saturday’
Darin – ‘Lovekiller’
Eric Saade – ‘It’s Gonna Rain’
Eric Saade – ‘Manboy’
Magnus Carlsson – ‘Feel You’
Ola – ‘All Over The World’
It’s the strings. Those strings! If the rest of the world is looking to Sweden for another ‘Release Me’ in 2011, they should look no further than this.
BEST GROUP SINGLE
Ace of Base – ‘All For You’
Gravitonas – ‘Religious’
Le Kid – ‘We Should Go Home Together’
Love Generation – ‘Love Generation’
Star Pilots – ‘I’m Alive’
Timoteij – Kom’
We’re not even sure how to put this one into words. But we don’t think anyone would or could argue that this isn’t one of the most amazing songs ever conceived! Bliss.
BEST SINGLE FROM A NEW ARTIST
Eric Saade – ‘It’s Gonna Rain’
Eric Saade – ‘Manboy’
Gravitonas – ‘Religious’
Love Generation – ‘Love Generation’
Timoteij – Kom’
Tove Styrke – ‘White Light Moment
BEST VIDEO
Cristal Snow – ‘Killing Me’
Darin – ‘Lovekiller’
Gravitonas – ‘Kites’
Gravitonas – ‘You Break Me Up’
Magnus Carlsson – ‘A Little Respect’
September – ‘Resuscitate Me’
Alexander Bard. In a ball-gag. With a come-to-bed stare. It’s what dreams are made of, or what nightmares are built upon, depending on what does or doesn’t float your boat. But either way it was just one of many moments of genius that cemented Gravitonas as not just an exciting new sonic force, but a visual one too!
BEST REMIX
Anna Bergendahl – ‘This Is My Life’ (Niclas Kings Remix)
Elin Lanto – ‘Tickles’ (Almighty Remix)
Le Kid – ‘Mercy Mercy’ (Kaus Remix)
Le Kid – ‘Mercy Mercy’ (Stay The Mix)
Robyn – ’Dancing On My Own’ (Buzz Junkies Remix)
September – ‘Resuscitate Me’ (Buzz Junkies Remix)
Usually we’re not a fan of dub mixes, which is essentially what this is. But this mix contains one of our favourite pieces of music of all time – preceeded by a 2 minute and 15 second build up to it. The moment in question is a manic explosion of mid 90’s UK piano house. It’s brilliant stuff.
The mix isn’t available to stream anywhere online, so we asked their label Roxy Recordings for permission to upload a clip. And they kindly agreed. We’ve included a minute of the build up, and then it all kicks off at the one minute mark! Listen loud!
[audio:http://lowculture.co.uk/scandi/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Mercy-Mercy-Snippet.mp3|titles=Mercy Mercy – Snippet]
BEST DANCE/CLUB RECORD
Alex Says & Sibel – ‘United As One’
Pryda – ‘Niton’
Swedish House Mafia – ‘One’
Swedish House Mafia & Tinie Tempah – ‘Miami 2 Ibiza’
Therese – ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’
Tim Berg – ‘Seek Bromance’
Sweden’s newest house maestro tries his hand at clubland euphoria, and gets it staggeringly right straight away.
BEST COLLABORATION
Agnes & Björn Skifs – ‘When You Tell The World You’re Mine’
Alex Sayz & Sibel – ‘United As One’
Chanee & N’evergreen – ‘In A Moment Like This’
Linda Bengtzing & Velvet – ‘Victorious’
Petter & September – ‘Baksmälla’
Swedish House Mafia & Tinie Tempah – ’Miami 2 Ibiza’
The greatest Melodifestivalen song that never was. And what an almighty pairing these two are!
BEST DANSBAND/CLASSIC SCHLAGER ARTIST
Anne-Lie Rydé
CC & Lee
Drifters
Elisa’s
Nanne
Titanix
Some would say that these shouldn’t be classed as dansband, but as schlager instead. WE say that this is what dansband SHOULD sound like. In 2011 and beyond. They bring mainstream pop sensibilities into the genre, whilst maintaining the best elements of its tradition. If these are placed at the forefront of dansband, we can see a lot of new people getting into it – just like we did last year!
CC & Lee’s label, Lionheart, have kindly allowed us to upload a clip of the last minute of ‘Better Best Forgotten’. It’s a stellar moment in music (!), and one that wasn’t available to stream anywhere else online for you to listen to.
[audio:http://lowculture.co.uk/scandi/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Better_60-sec-clip.mp3|titles=Better_60 sec clip]
BEST DANSBAND/CLASSIC SCHLAGER ALBUM
Anne-Lie Rydé – ’Dans På Rosor’
Drifters – ’Stanna Hos Mig’
Nanne – ’En Rastlös Själ’
Scotts – ’Vi Gör Det Igen’
Titanix – ’Drommar Får Liv’
Zekes – ’En Sån Natt’
And this record is a perfect example of those best elements of traditional dansband – dusted off and injected with a fresh sound.One song in particular, ‘Höga Berg, Djupa Hav’ is now easily our favourite dansband song of all time. Key change after key change, giggled vocal after screamed vocal, and a whole lot of fabulous fun. Again, this wasn’t available to stream anywhere online, but Lionheart agreed to let us upload a clip so that you can hear what we mean!
[audio:http://lowculture.co.uk/scandi/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Höga-Berg-Djupa-Hav_60-sec.mp3|titles=Höga Berg, Djupa Hav_60 sec]
SCANDIPOP’S BRIGHTEST NEW HOPE FOR 2011
Elisa’s
Hilda
Jimi Constantine
Ulrik Munther
Viktorious
Xander
The Swedish Disney Princess will become a Swedish Pop Princess in 2011. And we’re expecting it to be nothing less than superb, as her album is currently being worked on by most of the same people responsible for the Eric Saade album.
