Lykke Li

WAY back in April I wrote about a four track EP titled Little Bit from the latest Swedish sensation Lykke Li. At that time I mentioned that her debut album was out in her home country but we here in the States had to settle for the EP. Well on August 19th, we'll have to wait no longer to hear what those Swedes have been listening to for a while now: Youth Novels.

Three of the tracks from that earlier EP come from the album, and the remaining eleven tracks continue on in a similar vein, but go artistically further. Everything I said earlier still holds true: airy and delicate sounds beneath delicate and distinct vocals. The album starts out with Melodies & Desires, a track that feels like it comes from a new age workshop in a Buddhist monastery. Lykke does a wonderful job of using less to achieve more. On many tracks you'll feel like the instrumentation comes from objects found lying around the house mixed with a drum machine and Lykke's elfin voice. Put it all together and you get a simple, playful, innocence that's enchanting.

Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance : Youth Novels

Lykke Li - Little Bit : Youth Novels

(watch the video)

(Both songs removed upon request)

Lykke Li - Little Bit (Loving Hand Remix)

(But this one's completely legal!)

Visit her website and become her friend on MySpace.

Catch some live video of Lykke at the Bowery Ballroom earlier this year

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Upcoming Tour Dates

08.25.08 - Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Café (SOLD OUT)
08.28.08 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
10.19.08 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
10.23.08 - Boston, MA - Paradise
10.24.08 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club
10.25.08 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10.28.08 - Vancouver, BC - Richards on Richards
10.29.08 - Seattle, WA - Neumo's
10.30.08 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir
11.01.08 - San Francisco, CA - Independent
11.03.08 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey

The 50 Sexiest Music Videos

Although in the traditional sense they're going the way of 8-tracks, cassettes, and now CDs, music videos still have got some life in them thanks to sites like YouTube. The folks over at nerve have spent countless hours culling through the piles of videos that have been accumulating since the birth of MTV (and some even earlier) to assemble a list of the 50 Sexiest Music Videos of All Time.

But instead of just giving you a boring list to read, they've actually collected all of the videos for you to watch! Obviously you're not going to get through all 50 videos in one sitting, so check out the site, bookmark it, and visit it when you're supposed to be doing work on the computer.

To give you a tempting taste of what you'll find, I've included some of the songs from the list below for you to listen to. Besides each song, I've listed the number where they slot in at on the list so you can find the video for it if so inclined. I won't give away what the #1 video was, but I will admit that I don't necessarily agree with it. Anywho, check out the list and the videos for yourself over at nerve HERE.

#49 = Rilo Kiley - The Frug : Initial Friend EP

#40 = Poison - Fallen Angel : Poison's Greatest Hits 1986-1996

#30 = Van Halen - Hot For Teacher : 1984

#11 = Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'N Roll : I Love Rock 'N Roll

#7 = Chris Isaak - Wicked Game : Heart Shaped World

Sunday Soul - Isaac Hayes

Don't look so sad
I know it's over, yeah
but life goes on
this old world will keep on turning
Let's be glad that we had some good times together
and there's no need
to watch the bridges that we're burning

Another great one gone.

Isaac Hayes was not only an incredibly talented performer in his own right, but was also HUGELY instrumental in the success of Stax Records. As half of a song-writing team with David Porter, Hayes was responsible for writing and producing some of the label's biggest hits for almost their entire roster of artists, and in doing so, helped create the Stax sound and the birth of soul music.

We'll miss you Black Moses.

Isaac Hayes - For the Good Times : Ultimate Isaac Hayes: Can You Dig It? [Disc 1]

Sunday Spotlight - Brooke Fraser

For today's spotlight, we're heading down under to New Zealand (I wonder if all the little dust particles you see in the light of the spotlight would swirl the other way, too?) to meet Brooke Fraser who released her sophomore album, Albertine, earlier this year in the States (it's been out since 2006 down under). She toured the states earlier this summer in June, and recently took some time to explain the origins of the album's title track, an extremely moving number which becomes even more powerful once you read about its birth. As always, text in red is Brooke's and questions in black are mine.

Brooke Fraser - Albertine : Albertine

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Over the short space of 100 days in 1994, one million Rwandans were massacred by their friends, neighbors, teachers and pastors in a genocide that was brutal, pre-meditated, preventable evil. The West stood by and twiddled their thumbs. I was ten years old.

Eleven years passed and in that time I discovered a passion for women and children in the developing world, became a World Vision artist associate, went to the field in Cambodia, meanwhile signing with a major label and beginning the album making/promoting/touring cycle. In 2005, Rwanda came onto my radar as an adult and pulled at me for months before I realized I needed to go.

I got my vaccinations, booked my flights, and flew into the middle of Central-East Africa to turn up on World Vision's doorstep and hoped that the good Lord would guide me from there. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing there, and on the first night whilst staying at a dodgy guesthouse with a gash in my finger and no clean water to wash it with, I had my first experience of feeling out of my depth (I gave in to the pleas of my rational friends to move to a hotel).

I spent two and a half weeks with a World Vision staffer named Joel Nsengiyumva, who showed me as much as he could of this beautiful country quite similar to my own country in terms of the landscape. I watched his ease with people - whether they were the mayor of a township or a sick child, heard his voice choke up when speaking about the lack of clean water in the communities we were visiting and its devastating effects, felt his love for the people he was serving and his personal pain for their suffering. I couldn't help but wonder about this man's past - I knew he had completed post-graduate studies in Geneva before returning to Rwanda and I couldn't tell how old he was - was he even in the country when the genocide occurred? If not, he must have had many family and friends who were. I kept my mouth shut.

On my final day I found myself in a small schoolroom in a village in Kabuga. Joel had brought me to a school to see the children, the future leaders of Rwanda, the hope of the nation. We exchanged songs and dances (I enjoyed a stirring rendition of Michael Jackson's "Beat It") for an hour or so, then the children left for home and Joel turned to me. “This is not on our itinerary, but there is an orphan I would like you to meet…”

So here we were in this classroom. Joel, our Ugandan translator Christine, myself, and a girl in the school uniform.

Joel began telling me that he “very much likes” to be a humble man so that God will get all the praise, and that what he was about to tell me not even many of his colleagues at World Vision knew.

“I could not save very many lives in the genocide. But I could save one. I will now speak in my native language so that I can talk freely, but before I do, I need to tell you that you must go back to your people and tell them about us here in Rwanda. You must write a song. And I will tell you what the name of the song is going to be. This is Albertine.”

He then gestured to the girl who had walked into the classroom with us and began speaking of the horror of the genocide, during which Joel, a Hutu, was able to save Albertine, a Tutsi, risking everything to do so.

I have never been the same since this day. I have been back to Rwanda twice more and visited my friends Joel and Christine and the communities in which they live and serve. I have seen Albertine, too, and given her her own copy of the CD that bears her name. I don’t know if she quite understands what it means, but I tell her that I have been able to share her story with tens of thousands of people, many of whom have responded by deciding to help, to give.

And now a few more questions for Brooke:

1.) That has to be one of the most moving song dedications I've read. Wow. I can't imagine the pressure you must have felt to make it perfect while writing it. How long did it take you to get the song just the way you wanted it? Was it an immense relief when it finally came together?

It was pretty overwhelming to be given such a weighty commission. I knew I couldn't do it, and there was a kind of freedom in that. I've never been able to just sit down, decide to write a song and pull a gem out of my ass. It just isn't the way songs come to me. So I did the only thing I really knew to do... pray. On the whole journey home from Africa, I journalled. I think a lot of the things I saw in that first trip were too much for me to cope with while I was actually experiencing them, so it wasn't until Nairobi airport that I felt able to pull out my notebook and begin to pour it all out and deal with this new pain/love/responsibility. I was still in that "processing" mode when I reached home in Sydney, and I think it was a few days later that I was sitting on the floor in my bedroom, I picked up my guitar and started playing that opening riff, and the whole song came in about 20 minutes (this is not normal).

2.) In your liner notes you cite Ephesians 3:8 (Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ) at the end of your "Gratitude" panel, suggesting that you're trying to spread the word through your music. Before taking a closer look at the notes I really didn't pick up on that message, but after taking the time to read the lyrics, I see subtle references everywhere that could be interpreted in many ways. Were you doing this intentionally so listeners could take their own meanings from the songs, Christian or otherwise?

The references aren't conscious. But I am never surprised when they pop up. I think songs are like feces. Whatever you feed yourself will come out. So as a songwriter, my worldview, my passions, my convictions, those things which have affected me at a core level will inevitably spill out... Everything I write will come through the "filter" of my personhood.

3.) Last month you played at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Did you get to actually meet and talk with any legends that you particularly admire?

We were at the designated "musicians" hotel, and every elevator ride you were surrounded by cats, with their beat up cases and hard living in their wrinkles. A few times I felt like I should probably get out on the next floor because I didn't have the right to ride with these guys! Very humbling. Also, I had the great honour of supporting Daniel Lanois and then getting to sit side of stage and soak up his show. Completely inspiring. Especially his gradual stripping down to his undies - a garment removed for every child sponsored. I asked my husband if I could incorporate that into my shows now... He's thinking about it.

Daniel Lanois - Lovechild : Here Is What Is

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The rest of the album is just as moving, and at points much more uplifting. Brooke has put together an album of deep and mature lyrics (surprising based on her age, but not so much based on her experiences) and well produced instrumentation. Enjoy the following tracks to hear for yourself.

Brooke Fraser - Albertine : Albertine

Brooke Fraser - Deciphering Me : Albertine
(watch the video)

Visit her website and become her friend on MySpace.

Jazzy Sunshine from Sunfold

I'm still trying to wade through the piles of accumulated music around me, so another bite sized bit today for you. Hopefully by next week I'll have gotten my feet under me again and will be ready to share some of the great music that I'm sitting on right now (some of which I'm really excited about).

In the meantime, here's a band, an album, and a song that I picked up on before vacation. The band's named Sunfold, the album's titled Toy Tugboats, and the song you get to listen to is called Sara the American Writer. The whole shebang is the side-project of Kenny Florence, but includes members of North Carolinian band the Annuals (of which Kenny is a member as well). It's got a sun drenched southern guitar driven sound to it that feels quite appropriate to listen to before the summer ends. Florence also manages to sneak in some shades of jazz as well (the ninth track Osk jumps to mind but you'll find others as well) to keep the album from getting stale over its thirty six minutes. Anyway, check out Sara the American Writer, and then you can get the rest of the album as it's already out.

Sunfold - Sara the American Winter : Toy Tugboats

Visit their label Terpsikhore Music and become their friend on MySpace.

Uh Huh Her

If you've noticed how quiet it's been around MISB the last week, it's because I was on vaca. As I'm sure most of you know, vacations typically just mean a whole pile of work once you get off of them, and this one was no exception. I came home with 300+ e-mails waiting for me and 20+ CD's piled up for me to listen to. Needless to say, I'm still trying to working my way through them.

That being said, today I've just got a quick post to tell you about Uh Huh Her's debut full length Common Reaction. You might remember me talking about their first EP I See Red back in May, and then I went and saw them later in the month. The album finally hits shelves next week, and if you enjoyed the EP, the album will be right up your alley. It's jam packed with 80's synth-sunshine melded with upbeat electronic beats and the paired harmonies of the two women at the core of the band. If you're not familiar with the band, it includes Leisha Hailey (who played Alice Pieszecki on The L Word as well as played musically in the Murmers) and Camila Grey (from Mellowdrone).

Check out the first two tracks from the album below and then look to pick up the rest on the 19th.

Uh Huh Her - Not A Love Song : Common Reaction

Uh Huh Her - Explode : Common Reaction

Visit their website, their label Nettwerk, and become their friend on MySpace.

The Boy Bathing

Drawing their name from an Aesop's Fable (which you can find on their website), The Boy Bathing is a four piece band hailing from NYC who just released their debut last month. Titled A Fire To Make Preparations, it's a surprisingly full dose of fourteen tracks that weigh in at over an hour. There are a handful of comparisons I can make listening to this album, which being so long, has different grooves as it progresses.

To start off with, I'd say that David Hurwitz, who handles most of the lead vocals on the album, oftentimes reminds me of Conor Oberst. He's just got that low-key, not going to try to sound like an indie singer type of voice that at times sounds conversational, other times a low growling whisper, and always quite distinctive. In terms of the instruments behind him, Page France jumps into my my mind (and come to think of it, even vocals sometimes that mirror Michael Nau's). The melodies have that simple flow with not a lot going on, but perfectly complete never the less.

The album kicks off with probably the catchiest song of the set: The Beaches Meet The Sea. Listen to it below along with The Miner's Jewels (whose beginning reminds me America's A Horse With No Name).

The Boy Bathing - The Beaches Meet The Sea : A Fire To Make Preparations

The Boy Bathing - The Miner's Jewels : A Fire To Make Preparations

Visit their website and become their friend on MySpace.

Sunday Soul - Stick Up

Stolen

Help!! I've been robbed!!
Stick-up, highway robbery
It's a felony--heartbreak in the first degree
He walked into my life hungry for love
So sweet and cautiously he cased my love
A devil in disguise, he fooled my heart
Tricked me into the dark, "HOLD UP!!"--I was shocked
Pulled his charms, took me in his arms
Stole my love, and now he's gone

Stick up, highway robbery
stole my love from me
it's a case of grand larceny

Honey Cone - Stick Up : Stick Up 7"

Honey Cone - V.I.P. : Stick Up 7" B-side

Get both on Cone to the Bone: The Very Best of Honey Cone

Telepathique

Can't get enough of CSS? Tried Bonde Do Role but were turned off by the language barrier? It's time for you to give Telepathique a try. Hailing from Sao Paulo (just like the before mentioned CSS), Telepathique is DJ/producer/drummer Erico Theobaldo (aka DJ Periferico) and vocalist Mylene Pires, and they're the next big thing from Brazil.

The duo has been spinning tracks for a while now, ever since 2006 when their debut album was released in South America. With the success of their countrymates, the pair has finally gotten their shot here in the States. Last Time On Earth hits American shelves on August 5th. As you might guess by my comparisons, it's an electro, house, breakbeat, raw electric guitar extravaganza whose sole purpose is to make your body not want to sit still. And to that end, it does quite an admirable job. At times it's playfully flippant (Love And Lust for example), others it gets dark and ominous (try UR A Joke below).

Telepathique - Love And Lust : Last Time On Earth

Telepathique - UR A Joke : Last Time On Earth

Visit their label The Control Group and become their friend on MySpace.

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Lenni Sesar - Morris Park (Bonde De Role Remix) : I Like It Like That - Fania Remixed

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NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES:

August 9: Totonto, ON @ Wrongbar
August 10: Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
August 12: New York, NY @ The Delancey
August 14: Los Angeles, CA t.b.a.
August 16: Chicago, IL @ Uncle Fatty's

Aviary Ghost

Looking at the cover of Memory Is A Hallway, and knowing the fact that Aviary Ghost is comprised of two men, my mind jumps to The Odd Couple. You know, that old show about the two guys who couldn't be any more opposite who live together in the same apartment in, if I remember correctly, New York City? What that has to do with the actual music on the album? Absolutely nothing.

The band's name, on the other hand, does make some neurons fire in my gray matter that actually relate to the music, though. Like it suggests, the tunes here are light, airy (but not fluffy), and float along deceptively lackadaisically at times, and at others turn into a soothing drone. It's easy to space out and just sort of go with the flow while listening, but tune yourself back in and you'll experience tracks which relate to memories of, well, experiences, and connecting them to the present. And there we see the origin of the album title. Don't you love it when it all comes together like that?

Anyway, try on the following two tracks for size, and then explore more on their MySpace page.

Aviary Ghost - Somewhere Else : Memory Is A Hallway

Aviary Ghost - The Brain Is A House : Memory Is A Hallway

Visit their website and become their friend on MySpace.

Boogaloo with Fania!

Looking for some spicy Latin music for some hot summer dancing? Look no further, Fania Records has just recently put out two different releases that should quench your thirst. If you're not familiar with the legendary label, it first opened shop in 1964 and was the premier label for Salsa and other Latin music artists here in the States as well as all around the world. Although it's been quiet for a while, in the last few years new life has been infused into the label, and it's started reissuing classic albums that have grown increasingly rare as well as offering newly crafted ones.

The first is titled I Like It Like That, and it's a collection of twelve classic Fania 12 inch singles remixed and edited by current day spin wizards including Louie Vega, Giles Peterson, the wild Bonde De Role, and others. Much like the Verve Remixed series I wrote about a little while ago, this is an attempt to dust off some classic cuts and make them appeal to a younger generation of listeners.

The second release is a double disc affair which is the first of what's dubbed the Fania DJ Series, and it collects twenty three original tracks and displays them in their original splendor. It's put together by Gilles Peterson, a man who's a DJ, avid record collector (he's got an entire house dedicated to his collection), and record label owner in London, England who has a radio show on BBC which has been compared to the late John Peel's. His primary interest lies in the field of jazz and its associated genres, and as his liner notes indicate, Fania has always been in his collection.

Clear a space to dance, grab a partner, and enjoy the following.

Pete Rodriguez - I Like It Like That (Aaron Jerome Remix) : I Like It Like That - Fania Remixes

Roberto Roena - Shades of Time : Fania DJ Series: Gilles Peterson (disc 1)

Kako's New York After Hours Orchestra - Vitamina : Fania DJ Series: Gilles Peterson (disc 2)

Visit the Fania website.

Congotronics and the Kasai Allstars

Crammed Discs have recently released the third album in their Congotronics series. This one's titled, are you ready for this, In the 7th moon, the chief turned into a swimming fish and ate the head of his enemy by magic. No kidding! The first album in the series was released back in 2005 and featured Konono Number One. The second brought together tracks from 7 different performers (including Konono Numer One for one). This third album once again shifts the focus back on one particular group who appeared on the second album, the Kasai Allstars.

The Kasai Allstars is actually a collective which includes at times up to twenty five musicians from five different bands all from the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Not only are they from five different regions though, they're also from five different ethnic groups. Each musician sets aside their differences, draws from their own festive and ritual music, and brings together their own traditions to build something greater: the Allstars.

The result is some incredibly complex and rhythmic music that's hard to resist. With all of the many diverse elements going into these tracks, it's like audio liquid flowing in and out. An instrument or a line will introduce itself, weave around the song's basic structure, and fade out, sometimes to return, other times not. In terms of instrumentation, the members bring together instruments both traditional (including the very unique sounding thumb piano) as well as inventive to produce complementary notes. Bring it all together and you have some music that, much like the Inuit throat singer Tagaq I wrote about earlier this week, feels timeless and yet refreshingly new.

Kasai Allstars - Mbua-A-Matumba : Congotronics 3: In the 7th moon, the chief turned into a swimming fish and ate the head of his enemy by magic

Visit their website, their label Crammed Discs, and become their friend on MySpace.

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and a couple from the previous Congotronic releases:

Konono No.1 - Ungudi Wele Wele : Congotronics

Boila We Ndenge - Bosamba Ndeke : Congotronics 2: Buzz 'n' Rumble from the Urb 'n' Jungle