via//chicago

np: "Who's That Girl" - Robyn

I'm not sure how many of you remember your female pop singers from 1997, but the name "Robyn" might be floating around in the back of your minds somewhere. If not, let me jog your memories just a bit. Robyn was the blonde Swedish pixie that got quite a bit of exposure on pop radio and MTV nine years ago thanks to her back -to-back Top 10 singles "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love", both from her debut album Robyn Is Here. After a third single failed to crack the same heights as the first two, she seemed to fade away into relative obscurity - relegated to the memories of pop chart geeks. As it turns out, she never completely went away. She's spent the years since her U.S. chart heyday cranking out several albums worth of decent, if not exactly earth-shattering, Europop. She also decided to strike out on her own by starting her own record label, Konichiwa, which put out her latest self-titled album in the latter part of 2005. Despite having relatively limited distribution, this album has burning up chatrooms and message boards all over the internet mostly due to the highly praised single "Konichiwa Bitches". This is high-energy Europop that fits well in with the recent material put out by Girls Aloud or the Sugababes, but with a little bit more of a twisted edge. Just check out the ego checking smackdowns she lays out on "Handle Me" and "Bum Like You" or the futuristic productions of "Robotboy" and "Crash and Burn Girl". While much of the attention has been focused on the aforementioned "Konichiwa Bitches", this album is a whole lot stronger than that one track. I'm not sure if, or when, this album will ever show up in American record shops, but for now click on the link under the picture and check out the excellent "Who's That Girl".