Danish group Selvmord’s hot track “OK” has quickly become one of our favorite track of Summer 2010. From what we’ve seen online, Selvmord is marketed in Europe as a rap group. But their sound has a bit too much of a teutonic slickness to file them neatly away somewhere between Tupac and Ludacris. If anything, Selvmord’s aesthetic, built upon its phat beats tastefully dusted with rough and dirty electronics, reminds us of Brit band Massive Attack - a kind of Nordic cousin to Massive Attack’s Mezzanine from the late nineties.  Selvmord’s music is the kind of thing you’d want to brood fashionably to in a loft while sipping gin and wearing vintage Helmut Lang… well, before the economic. (Actually, perhaps afterwards.)

THE MEANING

We realize, of course, that some people have a hard time listening to music in a language they don’t understand. Consider, for instance, how many people listen to American music around the world without knowing much English.

But we’re not ones to leave people lost in translation. The video does a good job at conveying the jist behind “OK.” A young Nordic vixen with smoky eyes reminiscent of Helena Christensen and guys with tats and a pissed off attitude, who, despite all their big words and macho posturing, still get paint thrown right in their face.

When we put the lyrics for “OK” through Google Translate, we were faced with a stormy tale of love, jealousy, sex, and betrayal, covered by silence but immediately revealed by a simple look in the eyes–all understandably laced with a dash of tasteful profanity.

THE VIDEO

MORE ON SELVMORD

• Check out the band’s YouTube page by Copenhagen Records right here.
• “OK” and Selvmord’s self-titled album is now available on iTunes.

“Obsolète” by MC Solaar, just a great old school jam from 1994 off his second album Prose Combat. (I think 16 years can count as old school, especially in terms of the sound.)

I remember somehow getting my hands on Solaar’s album Prose Combat back at the old Tower Records in ‘95. I had no idea what Solaar was rapping about, the only thing I knew was that he trying to be marketed as an LL Cool J en français. Solaar’s style is smooth, but not like LL can if you remember the hooks on “Doin’ It”. Of course, this was before YouTube, when the only way to catch anything from abroad was satellite TV or some tape flown in. It was only last week that I came across the clip for “Obsolète” on YouTube. The first thing I notice is that Solaar is working a head-to-toe outfit that looks like Burberry… of course, before we saw that pattern everywhere, from umbrellas to underwear. That aside, what’s remarkable, it looks like everyone’s actually having a good time, even they were most likely all models hired for the gig.