Pelle Carlberg

I'm really not sure what's in the water up there in Sweden, but they continue to produce some of the most original indie pop lately. I'm not complaining though, I'm loving every minute of it.

One of the recent Swedish discoveries is Pelle Carlberg. His music is slightly off-kilter with clever and amusing songs like "I love you, you imbecile!" and "Showercream and Onions". The music really is clever and well-crafted, which many people are quick to discount about artists that mostly do tongue-in-cheek music. The music is incredibly catchy and his image as well as the music, has a very classic retro feeling that has you bopping along to the often bittersweet lyrics. I've read a number of reviews likening him to Morrissey in his combination of slightly dark lyrics with more upbeat music and I do see what they mean.

If you enjoy other recent Swedish favorites like Peter, Bjorn & John, Jens Lekman or Sondre Lerche, or if you enjoy the bittersweet sounds of Morrissey but want something less dark, you should definitely check out Pelle Carlberg.

• Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls
• Go to hell, Miss Rydell!
• Oh, no! It's happening again

And watch the video from "I Love You, You Imbecile!" here.

William Fitzsimmons

Note to self and to readers: check out more William Fitzsimmons.

Paste is a fantastic magazine for a myriad of reasons, but of course the #1 reason would have to be the new music you can discover inside its pages. One of the issues over the summer had a sampler that included a song by William Fitzsimmons and I had to pause and replay it because I thought it was so beautiful. He reminds me a bit if Iron & Wine. Now I want the album.

Until then, we can listen to the tracks on his MySpace page, and visit The Perm & The Skullet to download his song "Everything Has Changed".

What I know about him so far: He has written and recorded with Ingrid Michaelson (aka the girl best known for singing the song about sweaters in the Old Navy commercial) was born and raised in Pittsburgh by two blind parents, has had songs featured on numerous television shows, and yet somehow...is still unsigned!