When we last checked in with Norway’s celebrated dance-pop group Casiokids, the band was being given a large Of Montreal-assisted push stateside, and it was OF’s frontman Kevin Barnes who championed their U.S. singles collection Topp stemning på lokal bar, a frightfully fun and effortlessly-composed album.  Now, with tours behind them and degrees under their belts (no, really), the band is now set to try and get the world to shake its groove thing one more time with the release of Aabenbaringen over aaskammen (which roughly translates to The Revelation Over the Mountain).

Yet what separates these two albums is the absolute quantum leap in musicianship that the band has exhibited, with the new disc—although still very upbeat and very accessible—featuring sections of woodwinds, a heck of a lot more guitar, and a sweeter, softer core at the center, even when the band is rocking out.  The opening title track sets the stage for an almost orchestral takeover of things, but then the ‘70s synth strut of “Dresinen” helps remind you that at the end of the day, this is still a Casiokids album straight-through.  Its shifting dynamics keep you on your toes, but tunes like the Postal Service-indebted “London Zoo” show you that this band has enough pop smarts to last for a decade’s worth of albums.

Just before the album’s release, Omar E. Johnsen took time out of the band’s busy schedule to talk about matters both deeply humorous and deeply personal, seeking inspiration in artists, journalists, and filmmakers, as well as surviving the day when his body gave out after turning in his final term paper . . .

JD Souther has had one of the more remarkable songwriting careers in recent memory.

After all, even with his numerous solo successes (“You’re Only Lonely”, his James Taylor collaboration “Her Town Too”), Souther has had a hand in crafting numerous hits for the Eagles, produced notable songs by Linda Ronstadt, and even sang backup on Christopher Cross’ Grammy-winning smash of a debut album.  Now, following the success of his long-in-the-works 2008 effort If The World Was You, Souther is now back with one of his most reflective and personal albums to date: the lovely, muted, Natural History, wherein he re-records several of those hits that he helped other artists make so popular in the first place.

To help celebrate its release, Souther stopped by to answer PopMatters’ 20 Questions, here revealing a love dogs, a penchant for borrowing airplanes, and how Stephen Hawking’s books jokingly make him cry . . .

It would be hard for just about any band to overcome the name Sparky’s Flaw, so fortunately for Will Anderson, his band changed its name to Parachute.

The Virginia-based collective has been honing in on its pop-rock sound since graduating out of college.  While the members of the band may have been initially written off as Top 40-chasing rockers, their latest disc, The Way It Was, proves very much otherwise, throwing in choirs, wildly jazzy horn sections, and Lady Antebellum co-writes into one unique package.  To help celebrate its release and its subsequent tour, Anderson sat down with PopMatters to answer our famed 20 Questions, and in doing so, reveals that an Office Depot commercial made him cry, that he has an addiction to nudity, and argues that Jesse McCartney’s “Shake” is the greatest pop song of the past five years . . .

When folks talk about people who’ve become stars on YouTube, it’s often those flash-in-the-pan viral moments that only occasionally get appearances in Weezer music videos. Rarely do people tend to think about artists who have built up a following one video at a time, being watched while they develop their skills and craft, fine-tuning with each passing posting. For Wax, he has definitely gone the “old school” route to finding fame.

Although Michael Jones has been releasing music since 2002, it was with the advent of a little thing called YouTube that allowed him a new, unique way to get his music heard, and as his inventive freestyles picked up steam, so did the attention that was being drawn to him. Another internet celebrity, Ray William Johnson, asked him to write a song to show at the end of his videos, which became the indelible classic “Stalkin’ Your Mom”. More mixtapes followed, and before long, Jones—known best under his Wax alias—wound up being signed to Def Jam.

Now, with his major-label full-length due out soon, Wax took some time out of non-stop rhyme-spitting to answer PopMatters’ 20 Questions, here revealing how intoxication helped him write, how Amy Winehouse helped him through the tough times, and the professional jealousy he has towards OK Go . . .

To be rather blunt about it, Janine Rostron never goes about things the easy way.

After all, when your big star-making turn just so happens to be helping out with a Knife-penned opera about Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, you know you’re not exactly working with the most mainstream of concepts.  Yet Rostron has been at this for some time, having done both music and video work in both England and Berlin, her 2006 album Have It All showcasing her unique style.  Yet following her collaboration with the Knife, Rostron—who works under her gender-bending moniker Planningtorock—got signed to the uber-hip DFA Records, and suddenly her new album, the rather-excellent slice of eclectic dance-rock known as W, was subject to a wonderful round of buzz and great reviews from across the board.

Prior to launching what is sure to be another visually-stunning tour, Rostron sat down to answer PopMatters’ famed 20 Questions, revealing a “hidden non-talent”, a relation to the hero from Ponyo, and—of course—her words for Angela Merkel . . .