More like this, please, from Kosovo. Today, Nora Istrefi dropped a great sounding and looking promo for "Ski Me Ik" and I'm transfixed. Wrote about Nora last year when she dropped her excellent "As Ni Zo" video, but this new clip is next level for her. And what a cool-sounding song, with heavy dubstep elements, especially at the end. It's R&B, it's electro, it's europop and dubstep all at once and it's blowing my mind. Check it below. Win!

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So you probably think Berlin is the coolest city in Europe. But I've been saying for years Budapest is the next Berlin, and the latest clip from Plastic Heaven is proof Hungary's capital's cool quotient is on the rise. Plastic Heaven released a crazy clip last year that featured some extreme arty nudity. This year, they keep their clothes on, but "Soul Collector," released today, is still a sultry affair. More importantly, the songwriting is strong and the vibe evocative. An interesting trio that represents the cooler side of Budapest's electronic underground. Check it out below.

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Germany's Kontor Records just can't stop cranking out the awesome lately. The latest clip uploaded by the label comes via Swiss DJ Tom Novy and features Austrian singer Vera Katharina Böhnisch (aka "veralovesmusic"). The best part? The song is fucking named "Thelma & Louise" and features dubstep drops so sick you'll feel like driving off a cliff, just like in the Hollywood movie the track is named after. But the tune is a pop jam at heart and it's only a matter of time before U.S. artists start really going for the proverbial dubstep pop jugular (and not just flirting around the edges, a la the ubiquitous dubstep breakdown instrumental at the end of pop songs, as heard in recent Britney Spears offerings etc). Score one for Switzerland and Austria!

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God damn this is good. Bucharest-based producer Nick Kamarera & Alinka are about to set spring on fire with this track and new-today-clip called "Get A Life (Mama Yette)," which seems to draw inspiration from American Indian style chants. Unlikely, sure, but it all works out rather splendidly, as you'll see and hear below. Kamarera has been around a while (since 1995, when he first started mixing in the clubs of Timisoara), but "Get A Life" might help raise his profile a bit internationally. Cannot stop jamming this one today. Check it below. (h/t devoratormonden).

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Here's an interesting pairing: Lisbon's Kourosh Tazmini and Romania's Anda Adam. Together the two have made a track called "Can U Feel Love" and today a video for the track debuted via Germany's Kontor records. Germans aren't exactly feeling it, if you go by the unreliable but sometimes indictative metric of the massive amount of "thumbs down" given on the clip. But the song actually grows on you after repeated listens. Anyway, I find this pairing fascinating and like this tune better than Adam's last single, "Panda Bear" (but not as much as her "Show Me," which I loved).

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New across the Atlantic trend alert: using excellent tracks as 'titlesongs' for a TV series. Last week we told you about how Sweden's Tove Styrke has the theme song for Germany's new Das Perfeckte Model. Now, Denmark's Oh Land has the titlesong for Danish drama series Rita. Nanna Øland Fabricius needs little introduction these days in America, where she's done very well after a series of videos lit up You Tube in 2011. More recently, it seems, she is turning her attention back on EU markets and even her native country in an effort to conquer Denmark as she has the U.S. Great song, minimal new clip. Check it below. Rita premieres tomorrow in Denmark and stars Mille Dinesen.

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Norway does it again. From the Nordic nation that has brought us so many intestesting and disturbing videos comes a clip that lands somewhere in between: Lemâitre's "Sceptics." Released today, this promo might make more sense if you are really, really high. But even if you are not stoned, you'll likely enjoy the visuals, and you will certainly enjoy this duo's brand of electronica. The act lists Daft Punk, Boys Noize, Crystal Castles, Røyksopp and Deadmau5 as just a few of their influences on their Facebook page. There's really nothing else to say, check the epicness below.

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It's a Tallinn kind of day here at europopped. Estonia's excellent Mimicry, known for their wild videos, dropped a minimal clip for their entry at Eesti Laul, "Destination," and it's been a favorite of mine for months to win the entire thing this year (we'll find out who wins in early March). This is a very catchy song that reminds me a bit of Australia's Cut Copy, or even 1980's act the Thompson Twins. Anyway, not too much happening here in this just-released video (quite unlike the madness of their past clips) but the star here is the song, which I truly hope wins Eesti Laul and goes on to rep Estonia at Eurovision in 2012 in Baku. Check it out below.

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Meant to blog this late last month when it dropped but got distracted. Anyway, Lucas Nord is newly signed to Hybris and he's going to be one to watch over the next few years. "Let Us Stay Young" is his collab with Warner/Chappell act Urban Cone, who were covered last year on this blog (Rasmus Flyckt and Emil Gustafsson contribute). The results of this pairing are quite good indeed, as you'll see below. Factor in a fantastic-looking clip from europopped favorite Mats Udd and you have the makings of a winning clip. The more you listen to this song, the better it gets. A fresh and exciting new voice from Sweden to match the excitement being generated by the likes of Adrian Lux.

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It's time for some epic pop from Estonia. Pop Maniacs are hoping to represent Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 but they will first compete internally within the country at the annual Eesti Laul song competition early next month for a shot at glory. This video, released today, for "I Don't Know," may well help them rally support in Tallinn because it's kind of killer. The promo has two directors, Raoul Suvi and Margus Talvik
, because it's twice as good as most Estonian pop videos, or something like that, anyway. Loving the choreography in this clip. Check it below....could this song be Estonia's ESC offering in 2012? Sounds like a possible winner to me.

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Here's a curious clip from Croatia's Ella Dvornik that's climbing MTV's most-watched clips list in the Balkans. The video features hot time traveling girls from Zagreb. They start the video back in time to say, oh, maybe the 14th century. Luckily, they remembered to bring their makeup, mostly because (I think) a cosmetics company helped pay for the clip. Anyway, these wormholes are excellent and they totally allow the girls to slip comfortably back to their apartment, where they can safely watch TV. But what's on TV sucks these days (I agree)! The news is totally a bummer. So they go back to the middle ages (good choice, hotter guys, better outfits). Why are they dressed like cats at the end? No idea but it's all kinds of awesome. Check it out below

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You know what instrument dance and pop music needs more of these days? The xylophone (and all its variants). Denmark's Michael Parsberg aims to bring it back with a danceable twist via his cover of 1980's classic "Mad World" by Tears For Fears. Danish percussion duo Safri Duo are on this track and in this video as well (as is Isam Bachiri from Outlandish). This song, of course, has been covered many times before by a number of different artists. It even turned up on the soundtrack of 2001 cult film Donnie Darko, where Gary Jules scored an unlikely hit with his quiet take on the track. But the version below might be the best version yet. Check it below.

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Happy Monday. Are you back at work? Well Chris Mayer is "Back To Life" today with a just-released video. The Bucharest-based producer/remixer has teamed up with Romania-based rapper J. Yolo and "Back To Life" feels pretty fresh, even though it's a bit formulaic in the David Guetta dance-meets-pop mold. Don't know too much else about Chris, but J. Yolo was just on this blog last month appearing on DJ Sava's recent hit "Free." Check out "Back To Life" below. Would Soul II Soul like it? Quite possibly. "Back To Life" was shot in December in director Iulian Moga's Buftea Studios. The video premiered on MTV in Romania.

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Sony music understands synergy and they've got it in Germany, of all places. The label, in a coup, managed to get Tove Styrke's "Call My Name" as the theme song of new Vox TV show "Das Perfekte Model" and they have timed everything perfectly around the show. "Call My Name" dropped as a single in Duetschland last week, just as hype around the new reality show began in earnest. Styrke's full album gets a German release next month, just as the show is in hit mode (VoX TV and Sony hope it's a hit, anyway). To top it all off, she plays a high profile gig in Berlin Feb. 25th (last month the Swedish singer was in Berlin on NRJ playing "whatever she wanted" for an hour, per her twitter feed). Yes, I know the "Call My Name" video came out a few months ago, but it was not possible to embed/watch it in America until recently. AND it's a killer song that I must have on this blog and many Americans have still never seen this clip, which was directed by the always excellent Mats Udd.

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Kindly step aside, Alexandra Stan, there's a woman in Sofia just as awesome as you and her name is Maria. Today, she released her video for "Game Over" and it's game, set and match for those trying to take Marina's dance/pop throne....it  belongs to her, bitches! The sultry singer is on a roll lately. "Game Over" is the Payner artists latest (and greatest) but just last month she dropped another sexy clip for "Той не спира да е мой." Both videos are below. Maria is certainly one to watch if she ever decides to sing in English (not like she has to, she's already gaining fans at a steady clip in Bulgaria and is often in Bulgarian gossip websites/magazines).

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Canada is turning out to be a goldmine of Europop lately. Who knew such gems were just north of the U.S. border? I've covered Mia Martina on this blog before and now she's back with a new single and video, "Burning." The main English version of the song dropped last week, but a few days ago Mia released the French version of the song and it's even better somehow. The thing that most fascinates me about Mia, however, is the fact she is mining the 'Romanian sound' that has made stars out of names like Inna and Alexandra Stan, yet she's from a small town in Canada. Mia even enlisted Bucharest-based producer Adrian Sina for a track off her debut album (called "Go Crazy"). But "Burning" souds even more Romanian than "Go Crazy" (it was also produced by a lesser known Romanian guy, Ovidiu Bistriceanu), and it's not bad at all. Check it below.

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Who wants to take a trip to space today? You? OK then. Milan-based trio Full Stop are new and freshly signed to Universal Music Italy. Today, they released their debut video for a song called "Non Ho Bisogno Di Te" and it's pretty good, mostly because it was directed/produced by the same guys, Surgarkane, who worked with Jovanotti on his awesome "La Notte Dei Desideri" clip (they also did work on his live DVD release of Ora). Anyway, good electropop song from Full Stop, check it below...a promising start and I bet they have even better songs than this up their sleeve for release later this year.

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Have you ever been out drinking after midnight in Budapest? The city has some of the best smaller nightclubs in Europe and Hungarians know how to party. Sure, they like LMFAO there, but you know who also rocks the club in Budapest? Stereo 2.0. The duo just released a video filmed in a club for a catchy new electo-ish jam called "Mielőtt Elmennél" and it gives us all a taste of the wild nightlife the city has on offer. Oh and also, Stereo 2.0 have some very good looking girlfriends who all came down to the video set. Don't believe me? Watch below.

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Good morning, Europe. I know it's cold where you are, but it's likely colder in Estonia. But that's ok! Because Cat Eye, aka Margaret, is going to heat up all of the EU and soon. This woman is new-ish on the scene and lately she's burning up Tallinn with two clips that dropped last month and are just about the best thing out of Estonia since Kerli. First up is Margaret's dubstep-influenced "Sundance," which is a one-take clip. A simply amazing song. More recent and just as good is "Ride," which Margaret does under the name Cat Eye. "Ride" is in the top 20 of the semifinals of Eesti Laul 2012 - the Estonian competition to determine this year's participant in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song competes 10th and is the last song in the 2nd semifinal show, which goes down 2/25. Everyone pray to the pop Jesus she wins, because Margaret is fucking fantastic. See below (both clips directed by Ergo Kuld, both tracks produced by Karel Kattai).

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Mika Newton is making big leaps in her career after moving here to Los Angeles and just moments ago she released a superb-looking clip for "Don't Dumb Me Down." The video was shot here in L.A. and the song is from her sessions recorded at Henson studios, also in L.A. For those who don't know, Mika is a big name in Ukraine and has been making epic pop/rock songs for years. She also repped Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 (and did very well). Now, she's been working with producer Randy Jackson of American Idol fame and "Don't Dumb Me Down" (which just got its first U.S. airplay in Virginia on a big station recently) offers a very nice taste of what's to come in 2012 for the sweet singer (met her last year twice and she deserves the world...a humble woman and a hard worker). Check out her latest below. A solid song and a slick-looking clip.

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