2007: number 7

Robyn
Robyn (UK Edition)
I don’t think anyone was expecting to hear much more from this Swedish pop starlet after her US breakthrough in 1997 with the hits “Show Me Love” and “Do You Know (What It Takes)”, and indeed it would take 8 years for her to again gain notoriety stateside. After breaking with her label in 2004, Robyn took a different, slightly dirtier path with this album, which was released in 2005 and found fame not through VH1 or MTV but through more underground channels, bolstered by an 8.0 Pitchfork rating that gave her almost instantaneous indie cred in the states. So why is a 2005 album on this list? Well the initial European release was pretty awesome – “Be Mine” was one of the catchiest (and best) pop tracks of the year, and the Knife-produced track “Who’s That Girl” is delightfully infectious – but it wasn’t until the release of the UK edition, with a reorganization of tracks (for the better), remixes of two old songs (“Robot Boy” and “Bum Like You”) and the addition of two new ones (Teddy Bears cover “Cobrastyle” and the previously released and absolutely incredible Kleerup collaboration “With Every Heartbeat”), that the album became truly great. Konichiwa bitches indeed.