Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes

Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson, known by her stage name as Lykke Li, is Swedish singer-songwriter of mostly indie rock and electronic pop. Her first album, Youth Novels, was released in Europe in January 2008. Ever since, her songs has filled the playlists of many indie music lovers.

Lykke Li has a uniquely soft and high voice. It's one of those natural voices that is 10 times better heard live rather than from a recording studio. Her lyrics are comparable to Ingrid Michaelson's creativity. Some of Lykke's songs might also catch you off guard as she sings with firm confidence and determination of her sexual needs. It can even make the Rolling Stones blush. Her hit, Get Some, turned a few heads. Lykke once mentioned in an interview that the reason some people are surprised by her lyrics, is because she is a girl. She doesn't see the same reaction when the same topic comes from a guy's mouth. There's much truth in that.

Here's her video for "Little Bit," from her first album. Also one of my favorites.


Lykke Li was asked to be a part of the soundtrack for "Twilight Saga: New Moon" which came out in 2009. The result was a hauntingly slow and torturous love song, named "Possibility." The length is 5 minutes. Lykke can jam both ways. This will be the first and hopefully the last time that I will ever have the need to mention Twilight the series. EVER.

Her second and newest album, Wounded Rhymes, came out in February of 2011. This was also the month that her picture and name was splashed across the cover Spin magazine! Read her interview here. This album is still very much her style but much more mature. You can hear the steady ground she's on, compared to the first album.

Lykke's next performance in the Northeast will be on 11/17/2011 at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. Get your tickets early! I learned that after waiting too long for so many times. Argh.

From her new album, "I Follow Rivers."

Class Actress - I want to "Keep You"!

It's amazing what the human memory can go on with nothing but a silhouette, a note or a dance move as a reminder.

Some friends invited me to join them at one of the Hudson River Rocks show, last night. Yes, I totally missed this information before! Thank goodness for friends. They wanted to go see Class Actress. The name didn't ring a bell with me and I didn't have time to look up who this band was before I headed there. I was walking onto the packed Pier (let's just say I thought I was in Williamsburg) just as Class Actress started to play, "Let Me Take You Out." Holy mackerel freaking goodness. Then I looked up at the stage. I was far, far back but I KNOW that dance and silhouette of the singer, Elizabeth Harper.


I first saw them at Bowery Ballroom as an opening act! Probably about 2 years ago. Things has changed since then and for the better, I see. I thought they were pretty good back then but never had a chance to catch their name. Now I finally know and will remember it!

Class Actress' songs are heavily synth and electro that are softened by Elizabeth Harper's smokey but strong voice. They focus strongly on a music style best described as a very mod 80s. This music sounds like the journey of a girl in a big city trying to figure out her glamorous path amongst everyone. And nothing will get in her way towards finding it.



I'm liking their new song, Keep You, more and more. Yes, more than the songs from their last album! The band sounds more confident in their style in this new song. It's like hearing, "Yes, this is me. This is what I am!" in the background. The new album is named Rapprocher and will be out on October 18, 2011. I'm looking forward to hear what incredible beats, styles and lyrics Class Actress has to offer.

Come Out and Enjoy Make Music New York 2011

Tuesday, June 21st will be the longest day of the year. This is also the annual date for Make Music New York! Make Music New York is a NYC sponsored event that turns the city into one big music festival...for free! On this day, there will be hundreds of bands playing all day from 10 to 10 (depending on neighborhood noise permits) all throughout the 5 boroughs. Most of these bands will be playing outside businesses, parks and community spaces. Please check the link for schedule and locations!

And the longest performance of the day goes to British electronic musician, Nick Franglen. Nick will be performing at the Archway of Brooklyn Bridge (Brooklyn side) from midnight to midnight. That's right, for 24 freaking hours. This uninterrupted and improvised 24 hour piece is called "Hymn to Manhattan Bridge." Nick will be counting on passing pedestrians and cyclists to make an imprint on his piece. So, I might actually be able to catch this one.

Nick also made a similar piece last year called, "Hymn to London Bridge." You can guess where that one was created.

Pick a neighborhood, a venue or a genre and go enjoy!

Oh Land, Oh My

This is absolutely not fair. I mean, sure there are beautiful people and talented people, but how many people have both!? Well, Nanna Øland Fabricius has GOT BOTH. Wow wee. This Denmark native goes by her stage name, Oh Land. At first, I thought her name probably has some indie meaning/twist to it. Oops. Don't assume! Oh Land's self titled album came out in March 2011. I was watching late night (shocking) a while ago and saw her perform live. Freaking mesmerized.

Her future hit (because it's that good), "Sun of a Gun," showcases her vocal talent and her destiny as a pop star. I'd group her songs with La Roux and Shiny Toy Guns and her beauty with Heidi Klum and Jamie King. Seriously. She's going to hit the big time in no time. I just hope her style doesn't change much for the corporate machines. Here's hoping.

Check out her FREE shows in New York this week!

Charles Bank Gallery
196 Bowery Street
March 29th to April 1st
Doors open at 8PM
Show starts at 8:30 PM
Space is limited!

MNDR - Cut Me Out

Just thought I'd check in on my girl, Amanda Warner, a.k.a. front woman of MNDR, and see what she's been up to since my last posting of her here.

I wanted to see when she'll be in town again, since I MISSED her performance in NYC on 2/4/2011. Sigh. On another note, I was absolutely ec-freakin-static when I saw MNDR on the cover of this month's SPIN!! Although they have seem to have forgotten to mention that MNDR is actually a duo with Amanda Warner and behind the curtains partner, Peter Wade. According to the magazine, she's on the 2011 list of "ones to watch." YUP. MNDR has been getting more and more airplay...guess where? Overseas in the UK, of course. Which is still awesome. This Cali native, with her huge whopping signature white glasses, graces the stage and sings her original songs with infectious hooks, unique voice and pounding (or dizzying) visuals. Her voice is like Pop Rocks compared to other big name-rs' Nerds.

MNDR's first single release of the year, Cut Me Out, came out on January 19th. Catch their new single here! Enjoy!

Blooming Robyn

This Swedish beauty, Robyn, can steal your heart and soul! Her music is electropop-ish with hints of smooth renderings. Robyn has been around for over a decade. Her first album, Robyn is Here, came out in 1996. She's been hitting up high on the charts ever since. Well, more specifically, the charts overseas. Within recent years, Robyn's music has been slowly creeping into the States. Finally!
This year she was nominated for a Grammy in the Dance category for the song, "Dancing On My Own" from the album, Body Talk, Pt 1. Ah, another lovesick song. Why do I mention her now? Well with all the (well-deserved) pizazz about Adele, I just thought of her. I don't know why, lol. Maybe actual real talent has a lot to do with it! There are so many international stars that barely break into the States because our usual taste doesn't understand it. Kind of like how we are into football as the rest of the world is into futbol. Nothing wrong with that. Just different, but worth it to explore, no?

MNDR ... er?

So this gal strolls onto stage with a black t-shirt, plastic triangle bracelets and a HUGE pair of French Country styled glasses. She started to set up the stage. Without a second look, I thought it was probably a local college student working as a stage hand. I thought wrong.
She was one of the opening acts for V.V. Brown. MNDR is actually a duo with Peter Wade and Amanda Warner who is also the front of the band. I was all sorts of confused when she started her performance. It was not that odd, it was just that my mind and ears are not used to this kind of music. They are ULTRA electropop to the NEXT level. The NEXT level. And I like electropop! I wasn't sure what to make of it during the first few songs. But I had no doubt of MNDR's talent. The songs were really melodic. I finally got into the groove when she got to her last 2 songs. It's an acquired taste.

Amanda (who hails from Cali) had a lot of synthesizers and electronic automatic systems backing her up because she was a one man live band. But she's quite a singer and songwriter. She owned the stage. And the lights.

MNDR apparently formed in 2009. In less than ONE year they've already become opening acts to the likes of Massive Attack and YACHT. They're also featured on Mark Ronson's new song, "Bang Bang Bang." Now that's accomplishment. MNDR is definitely going to make an impact in the next few years. All the new electropop bands has a lot of catching up to do.

MGMT ... What's in a name?

The group formally known as "The Management," was forced to change their name when it was discovered some other band had it first. So they became MGMT. Which I say is a way cooler name, anyways. MGMT has been making waves in the indie world for a few years now. Their song "The Kids" hit up the Euro scene much faster then their home here in the States. MGMT is Brooklyn (I'm guessing Williamsburg-ish) based with Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. Well...they're actually from Connecticut. Still tri-state... My favorite song of theirs is "Electric Feel." The band sang with high pitched voices with the intention of getting the girl. The concept is like Maxwell's. But that's where the similarity starts and ends. I also seriously think whoever made the video for this song was high throughout most of the 70's and had nothing but psychedelic neon food and imaginary fuzzy creatures as friends. This is not a judgment, it's only an observation. They are very electronica pop with a huge dose of hipster. But some of their songs are way too hipster for me (such as "It's Working"), haha. There was hot pink ice cream involved.