Concert Review: Lykke Li - Live!

The stage was set. Black drapes hung from the ceiling. Strobe lights flickered wildly.

When Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson - better known as Lykke Li - finally took to the stage, she threw the audience into a frenzy.

Clad head-to-toe in black, the Swedish singer mesmerised the crowd at her Singapore show last Wednesday. She opened the set with a hauntingly beautiful rendition of "Jerome". Throughout the course of 1½ hours, she brought her critically-lauded sophomore album Wounded Rhymes to life.

Lykke Li preferred to let her music do the talking, keeping conversation to a minimal. She let her hair down, swathed herself in the black drapes, and banged the cymbals with her drumstick while she sang. Apart from newer material like "I Follow Rivers" and "Rich Kids Blues", she also covered songs from her debut, including "I'm Good, I'm Gone", "Little Bit" and crowd-favourite "Dance Dance Dance". She slipped in a cover of Burt Bacharach's "Please Stay" too.

When some fans shouted "I love you!" at the end of a song, she coolly took a swig of water before replying in a calm and collected manner, "I love you too". It was adorable.

Much to everyone's amusement, an overzealous fan bounded on stage during "Get Some" and took over the microphone, so Lykke Li very graciously stepped aside and let the fan sing the lines 'I'm your prostitute/you gon' get some'. That fan certainly got her 5 seconds of fame.

In the encore, she covered "Possibility", her sole contribution to the Twilight franchise's soundtrack. It isn't my favourite Lykke Li song, but the live version just blew me away. That was a superb way to close the night.

Arctic Monkeys: "Suck It and See" Video (NSFW)

Arctic Monkeys just dished out a naughty video for "Suck It and See", the title track off their latest album. The Sheffield band's very own drummer Matt Helders features in this one, where he gets it on with a young lass.

The single will be released on 7" and MP3 digital download at the end of October, and will be backed by their new song "Evil Twin".

Mimi Murmur

Mimi Murmur, a young band out of UK, pedal a mix of indie, pop and folk music. Citing influences such as Florence and The Machine, Kate Nash, Laura Marling and Marina and The Diamonds, the duo just doled out a bunch of piano-driven demos, which you can stream via SoundCloud.

Stream:
Mimi Murmur

Video: Marina And The Diamonds - Radioactive [Chuckie Remix]

Here's the Chuckie Remix of "Radioactive", the new single from Marina And The Diamonds. I can't decide if I like this or the original better.

Seyra

Homegrown singer-songwriter Seyra's self-titled debut EP has an easy charm about it: Pleasant and soothing, the acoustic folk-pop songs are a breeze to listen to. It's a commendable effort for a fledging young band made up of Seyra, Khidir (Guitar), Rupak (Bass/Guitar) and Zack (Percussion/Guitar). In fact, the band has garnered a couple of positive reviews since they played at Baybeats last month.

Their sound is fairly reminiscent of Zee Avi and Feist. "You Make Me Go" opens the EP in a jaunty, twinkly manner. The remaining tracks glide along before getting a proper closing with "Goodnight", an ambient number that's a personal favourite of mine. At 22 mins and 5 tracks long, it's worth your while checking it out.

Download:
Download Seyra's digital EP for free via Seyra's Bandcamp page.

Otherwise, check out "Skinny Lips" and "You Make Me Go" below.
Seyra - Skinny Lips
Seyra - You Make Me Go

Album Review: CSS - La Liberación

When Brazilian band CSS emerged in 2006, their infectious melodies and provocative lyrics made people sit up and listen. By cleverly merging indie, rock and dance music with a whole lot of quirkiness, they created a fresh new sound that set them apart from their contemporaries.

Unfortunately, they suffered a sophomore slump in 2008. While it wasn't a devastatingly bad LP, Donkey essentially stripped away all the brashness and quirkiness of their first, leaving an album that was more meh than marvellous.

It seems like they have found their footing again with La Liberación (Spanish for The Liberation). Those sex-laced songs are intact. That brashness and swagger is back. And there is a bunch of mellower stuff, as if to tell the world, "We have grown up."

The most memorable part on La Liberación is frontwoman Lovefoxxx's collaboration with Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie on "Hits Me Like a Rock", a head-bobbingly good reggae-funk number.

"City Grrrl" has been compared to Ke$ha, but CSS carry it off with more aplomb and street-cred, so much so that you honestly believe they don't give a shit at all.

There's no telling what they are exactly singing about on the song "La Liberación". They play on like a broken record for 2 minutes, but it's just so charmingly addictive that you want to scream 'grita, grita, mami!' (whatever the fuck that means) along with them as well.

Album closer "Fuck Everything" probably has the message that the band wants to send out to everyone: They are a young, fun-loving bunch and if you're a detractor, they won't hesitate to flip you the bird.

Download:
Exchange your email address for a free download of "Hits Me Like a Rock".

Daily Randomness

A look at what's happening right now:

Music producer Mark Ronson weds model-actress Josephine de la Baume. Congratulations to the happy couple [link]!

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Sinead O'Connor is in desperate need of sex [link].

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The eponymous debut from Wild Flag, featuring Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, Helium's Mary Timony and the Minders' Rebecca Cole is streaming on NPR. Go here to listen to Wild Flag in its entirety.

Edda Magnason

The Swedes have a knack for making great music. Swedish/Icelandic singer-songwriter Edda Magnason is one of their latest exports, a talented young woman who's going to charm the pants off you with her brand of orchestral pixie pop.

Check out "Blondie" to see what I mean. "Blondie" is taken off her soon-to-be-released second album Goods.


Edda Magnason - Blondie from Adrian Recordings on Vimeo.

Download:
Edda Magnason - Blondie [buy Goods]

Anothers Blood

I'm thrilled to share a little gem with you today: Here's a brand new London band called Anothers Blood, a band 'born out of an aspiration to create pop songs' and a 'desire to create something timeless'.

I love the intimate setting and dreamy sounds on "Lost Communication":



The song will be available as a free download from the band's website for 24 hours on October 3.