Europop

A great Europop tune wraps wistfulness, sophistication, and style around an irresistible hook so that your toes involuntarily tap while your heart melts like soft cheese on a hot baguette. At the big and bouncy end of the scale, we've got Scandinavian legends ABBA and Ace of Base; in the tweaky electronic corner lurk Air and Daft Punk.

There's a rogue American in Next Steps — can you spot her?

Holland's Daryll-Ann show their mastery of ultra-catchy arrangements on "A Proper Line". They have their roots in the West Coast pop-rock of the Byrds and the Beach Boys, and cleverly acknowledge the influence of the States in their moniker: Daryll-Ann is a fictional hooker who made repeat appearances on Hill Street Blues. But what's Hollywood-born Belinda Carlisle doing here? Hold on, she's singing in French . . .

And there's more Gallic pop excellence in Deep Cuts.

Etienne Daho has been perfecting his atmospheric French popcraft since the early '80s, and hooks up here for an effortlessly sexy duet with Charlotte Gainsbourg ("If") that barely rises above a sultry whisper. Dimitri from Paris (who actually comes from Istanbul) turns up the tempo with "I Walk Alone", and Robyn (from Sweden) slips into a smooth groove on "Show Me Love".

There was a time when the tag "Europop" signified all that was cheesy, derivative, and, frankly, incomprehensible about music. But the genre has flourished over the last couple of decades and produced a vast, eclectic alliance of artists. Where the politicians have stumbled, the musicians of Europe have stepped in, to provide unity in sheer brilliance, from the acoustic genius of Kings of Convenience (Norway) to the fresh alt-rock of Bettie Serveert (Holland) and the acoustic pop-rock of Duncan Dhu (from Spain's Basque country). Go Euro!