A day in the life of a Swedish pop star...

The above video clip is from Asha Ali's rather ace blog (the accompanying music is hers too), which she updates regularly. It's written in English as well, which is a boon for those of us who happen to speak even less actual Swedish than the chef from the Muppets. (He was brilliant though, wasn't he?)

Anyway, I digress. All pop stars should keep a blog like Asha's one. (Well, all good pop stars, at least. I mean I wouldn't be all that fussed about hearing the daily witterings of, say, Will Young, Celine Dion or the members of Big Fun, to be perfectly honest with you.)

It (the blog - do keep up) is informative, has great clips like the one above and some great photos of Gothenburg to boot. And where else would you find out that Asha Ali's second album Hurricane will be released on October 7th on CD and digitally through iTunes? (Apart from here, obviously - and lots of other places too, I shouldn't wonder.)

But yes, please do go and buy Hurricane when the time comes, and enrich your life just that little bit further!

By the way, you know when bloggers write stuff along the lines of "I first wrote about so-and-so IN THIS POST three hundred years ago - aren't I clever?" (I'm paraphrasing, obviously) and link back to that previous post on the same artist? Well...

I first wrote about Asha Ali two years ago IN THIS POST - aren't I clever?

Oh.

Popundret / Asha Ali

A double helping of Swedish goodness today!

Formed in 1991, and heavily influenced by English bands like The Smiths, Popundret were yet another group to emerge from the northern Swedish town of Skellefteå - and, naturally, to sign for the local A West Side Fabrication label. Although the sum total of their recorded output only stretched to a couple of singles and one album (1996's Montmartre 15 40), Popundret did leave a couple of truly marvellous songs in their wake: Shiver Gone and Stab Me (the former especially being so utterly Smithsian that you might be forgiven for thinking that Morrissey had a long-lost Swedish twin!). But despite wearing their influences so heavily on their sleeves, these are both great songs in their own right.

Popundret - Shiver Gone mp3

Popundret - Stab Me mp3

We're getting towards the time of year when people start putting together their "Best of" lists for the past twelve months. Don't worry - I'm not about to bore you with one of my own, but I may drop in the odd personal '07 favourite here and there over the next few weeks. Which brings us to up-and-coming Swedish singer-songwriter Asha Ali's A Promise Broken. I first became aware of this track two or three months ago via the Into The Groove blog, and I've hardly stopped listening to it since. A really great pop song, and a real star in the making.

Asha Ali - A Promise Broken mp3

Asha Ali's self-titled debut album is available to buy as a download from the Klicktrack Music shop.

Popundret's Montmartre 1540 album is available from CD Baby.