I dunno, it's weaker than that even, I think with Shapiro or Annie or anything like that it doesn't matter as much because they're supposed to glide over the backing, which is a lot fuller in any case. A lot of the music here is sparser, or more organic at least, and you'd expect the voice to fill that space and it just doesn't.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 21 February 2008 12:30 (5 years ago) Permalink
light voice over light music obviously works in some situations. i'm not feeling any particular imbalance in li's case yet (based on myspace songs only). not sure how much i'll actually listen to this tho.
― blueski, Thursday, 21 February 2008 12:45 (5 years ago) Permalink
I went to see her last night. Goodness knows why her management chose that venue: 9 out of 10 of those attending hadn't come for the gig - she was the entertainment at a club night - so there was a serious noise and general-lack-of-decorum problem.
That said, I enjoyed her performance. She has a nice line in moving about on stage and hamming up the songs. Whether that will make her the 'summer's biggest hit' (cf thread title) is another matter.
― Daniel Giraffe, Thursday, 21 February 2008 16:12 (5 years ago) Permalink
i like "little bit" if that's what you're talking about, but that's been out for a WHILE.
― htshell, Thursday, 21 February 2008 16:53 (5 years ago) Permalink
Saw her at By:Larm (Norwegian Equivalent of MIDEM) and she was absolutely brilliant. A very charismatic live act, and a great and unique voice. It was completely crowded, so obviously she was one of the "next big things" at the meeting.
Even though she was brilliant, Superfamily were even better though.
― Geir Hongro, Friday, 22 February 2008 03:47 (5 years ago) Permalink
I was there too (the Thursday show), and yeah, I was floored. It was weird, though, I was jet-lagged and fell asleep and woke up a half hour before the first band went on, and I thought I wouldn't get in at all, but when I got to the club right before 9, there were only about five people there. So I got an ace spot in front...but yeah, did it ever get crowded fast. Anyway, Lykke Li, was far more energetic and charismatic than I expected. I had high hopes going in, but nothing like what we ended up seeing firsthand. She did an instore at the Platekompaniet record store the next afternoon, and did a much more low-key, but equally likeable performance.
Egads. They're like the Killers as interpreted by Metal Skool. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 27 February 2008 05:20 (5 years ago) Permalink
I wanted to catch Dylan Mondegreen at first (great band, lousy live performance), so I didn't get to Blå until around half an hour before. And by then it was very crowded. I did get in, but hardly got out afterwards. :)
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 27 February 2008 10:48 (5 years ago) Permalink
awful
― OskarM, Wednesday, 27 February 2008 15:43 (5 years ago) Permalink
and srsly just one drop in the bucket of poorly conceived swede-twee
i guess once it crosses the ocean it becomes "sophisticated"
― OskarM, Wednesday, 27 February 2008 15:48 (5 years ago) Permalink
i like this album, but most of the songs sound like they could just take off into something really spectacular, but just dont. like maybe a remix cd would be amazing. anyways, just heard a nice remix. http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/5/6/freeload-lykke-li-everybody-but-me-diskjokke-remix
― jaxon, Wednesday, 7 May 2008 22:13 (5 years ago) Permalink
this album is like the female vocals from young folks stretched out over 45 mins, but it's nice
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 7 May 2008 23:21 (5 years ago) Permalink
and not just cuz it's another swedish chick but the vocals have that same sleepy-eyed but kinda seductive thing to it
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 7 May 2008 23:23 (5 years ago) Permalink
none of her other songs have grabbed me at all but i'm liking the one with Kleerup. More like that pls.
― Roz, Saturday, 17 May 2008 08:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
this is really good. why didn't anyone tell me how good this is?
― Creeztophair, Friday, 13 June 2008 05:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
That's cuz Bjorn from the group that did "Young Folks" produced this.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 19 October 2008 01:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
this sentence makes no sense
lykke li is fucking disgusting
― lex pretend, Sunday, 19 October 2008 03:40 (4 years ago) Permalink
her music tries way too hard but she seems like a really rad girl
― Was This Review Helpful? Yes No (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 19 October 2008 03:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
i will never ever comprehend the appeal of twee. god, white people
― lex pretend, Sunday, 19 October 2008 03:48 (4 years ago) Permalink
― boystown confidential (sic), Sunday, 19 October 2008 06:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
this album is like the female vocals from young folks stretched out over 45 mins:
― DavidM, Sunday, 19 October 2008 09:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
lex otm here, it's hard to see why there would be any global craving for this
― sonderangerbot, Sunday, 19 October 2008 15:01 (4 years ago) Permalink
I haven't heard the album, but this is brilliant:
― Tape Store, Sunday, 19 October 2008 17:13 (4 years ago) Permalink
On tour she is closing with A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It," with the audience doing the sampled Lou Reed humming. I thought it was goofy but fun, although I'm sure some folks here would find her rapping as annoying as they do her singing. "Little Bit" is so catchy, although her vocals worked better on cd than live. Her voice now sounds less little-girlish live, although it's still far from impressive.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 14:16 (4 years ago) Permalink
The name Lykke Li is pronounced the same way as the danish word Lykkelig, which means Happy.
It is pronounced the same way as the Norwegian word Lykkelig. The Danish one would be pronounced Lyyge'li, and that is a bit different. :)
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 14:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
I dig that vocal/string mix. I think that Kleerup song is better than her album. Subject to change when I actually pay attention to the album, of course.
― Gukbe, Tuesday, 21 October 2008 16:42 (4 years ago) Permalink
She was mostly fun live but her voice was weak. I read some blog posters and others calling her gig at Black Cat in DC the best gig they saw in DC this year. That seems a little over-the-top to me.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 24 October 2008 12:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
She is unlike anyone else. Which is something that, for some, may be exciting at once. But once you get used to it, it may not be as fascinating as it was.
Still a pretty much OK album and I did find her live appearance rather fascinating. But there is better music from 2008, surely.
― Geir Hongro, Friday, 24 October 2008 12:56 (4 years ago) Permalink
She is like 1/10th as good as Marit Larsen when Marit is at her laziest.
― Matt DC, Friday, 24 October 2008 12:58 (4 years ago) Permalink
i like a few of these songs a lot (off Youth Novels) and... i find her to be really hot
― san frandisco, Thursday, 18 December 2008 02:45 (4 years ago) Permalink
I just heard something by this person on the radio in a cafe. the bassline of the song seemed completely stolen off of Phil Spector's "He Hit Me (and it Felt Like a Kiss)." I thought it was a sample at first!
― Mike Crandle, Financial Analyst, Bear Stearns, New York, NY 10185 (res), Monday, 27 July 2009 18:12 (3 years ago) Permalink
It's been out since August but I just saw her performance at KCRW: http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/mb/mb090804lykke_li
She's really good. One of the best sounding performances I've seen on the show.
― Moka, Friday, 16 October 2009 05:26 (3 years ago) Permalink
one of her songs is currently playing on a Pandora station for me and I was thinking "oh this is pleasant, kind of forgettable" and then she said "I keep my legs apart for you" and I was like "wait waht"
― ali-baba-boob-job-bomb.jpg (DJP), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 15:42 (2 years ago) Permalink
i'm feeling this. reminds me of some 80s tropical cosmic groups that i dig. Belle Stars, Via Afrika, etc
― jaxon, Wednesday, 24 November 2010 16:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
love the beat on "get some", cringe at the lyrics
― sean gramophone, Wednesday, 24 November 2010 16:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
really looking forward to her new album after 'get some' and then seeing this.
― jaxon, Tuesday, 25 January 2011 07:21 (2 years ago) Permalink
also, damn girl
― jaxon, Tuesday, 25 January 2011 07:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://soundcloud.com/dynmk/lykke-li-i-follow-rivers
― jaxon, Tuesday, 25 January 2011 07:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
loooooove this
― The Brainwasher, Tuesday, 25 January 2011 07:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
I Follow Rivers is great! Sounds like she's turned down the mimsy a lot and she sounds so much better for it. Needs better drums though, maybe a Ewan Pearson/Courtney Tidwell style remix would work, something to make the most out of that descending marimba line anyway.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 09:51 (2 years ago) Permalink
This is becoming one of my most anticipated albums in a long time. All the press I keep reading sees her dismissing the "twee" parts of Youth Novels in interviews, I'm hoping she replaces it with the muscular strength and energy that her music would benefit from.
― o0o00h really? (boxedjoy), Wednesday, 9 February 2011 10:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
This is probably my favourite album of the year so far.
― Stevie T, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 10:21 (2 years ago) Permalink
psyched for this, + am sort of surprised
― just sayin, Wednesday, 9 February 2011 10:35 (2 years ago) Permalink
Halfway through and this is a really good listen! Tight and short and very full-sounded, especially compared to Youth Novels, which sounded very anemic. There's a lot more support of her voice here (both like...how she sings...and how the production bolsters her).
It kind of splits the difference between girl-group Phil Spector Be My Baby-isms and 'tribal' drums or whatever.
― Alex in Montreal, Sunday, 20 February 2011 20:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
There's a lot less of that mimsy, ultra-girly high-pitched whine-singing on this than the debut album (think "Time Flies"), the sonics of this record and her voice suggest she has grown as much as the press narrative indicates. First impressions are of an album that's a bit front-heavy but still a massive leap forward.
― o0o00h really? (boxedjoy), Monday, 21 February 2011 19:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
Stream the entire album on soundcloud
and yeah, great record.
― Thee Macallan 18 Year, Wednesday, 23 February 2011 18:11 (2 years ago) Permalink
i'm very happy that she's actually singing on this record, but i can't help but feel a bit disappointed (after only a few listens) about the move to a more 60s girlgroup sound. that might be the influence of the producer, but either way, it just seems so obvious given the emotional content of the record. it might grow on me, but what drew me to her in the first place was just how weird everything sounded on her debut.
― borntohula, Thursday, 24 February 2011 02:06 (2 years ago) Permalink
sounds more like fever ray / xx (all the dark space) than girl group to me. i like it a lot, LOVE that opening track
― NI, Friday, 25 February 2011 00:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
im liking this also; reminds me some of AZURE ray, inna slow dirge-y way
― johnny crunch, Friday, 25 February 2011 00:51 (2 years ago) Permalink
i think the fact that bjorn from peter bjorn and john produces influences that 60s girl-group sound i'm talking about. i hear it mostly on "youth knows no pain" "rich kids blues" and "sadness is a blessing." but even without bjorn's involvement, there's a lot of 60s pop signifiers all over this record, especially in the drums and the layering of her vocals in places. i get the fever ray sound too though, "silent my song" floored me when i first heard it because of how closely it resembles stuff from that record.
― borntohula, Friday, 25 February 2011 05:36 (2 years ago) Permalink
can't even get over how sexy that spin cover ishttp://culturepop.me/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/spin-lykke-li.jpgevery time i'm at the bookstore i pick it up, and then realize spin sucks and doesn't even top 80pages a mag. i can't even believe these guys continue to exist sometimes.
― mamma mia pizzeroni (kelpolaris), Friday, 25 February 2011 06:08 (2 years ago) Permalink
check her interview with narduwar to hear her pronounce her own name
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 14 April 2011 17:48 (2 years ago) Permalink
lol swedish act gets stellan skarsgard
― Gukbe, Friday, 29 April 2011 17:33 (2 years ago) Permalink
also something about lykke <3 <3 <3
good performance on conan last night
― jaxon, Friday, 29 April 2011 17:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
On Later... earlier this week.
― Hippocratic Oaf (DavidM), Saturday, 30 April 2011 13:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
i strongly dislike "sadness is a blessing"
― j lol (surm), Saturday, 30 April 2011 13:27 (2 years ago) Permalink
sometimes my boyfriend puts it on in the house on saturday mornings (i hope not this one) - just feels trite
― j lol (surm), Saturday, 30 April 2011 13:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
i mean this in the least dickish way possible but i love everything about her except her music. i want to like it but it's just too gimmicky.
― sonderangerbot, Saturday, 30 April 2011 13:43 (2 years ago) Permalink
"sadness is a blessing" is the perfect example of how it is oft best to show, not tell
― j lol (surm), Saturday, 30 April 2011 14:06 (2 years ago) Permalink
'sandess if a blessing' fulfills my desire for spector
― THAT'S LIGHTWEIGHT DICKERY (dayo), Monday, 16 May 2011 08:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
actually it kind of sucks the more you listen to it
― THAT'S LIGHTWEIGHT DICKERY (dayo), Monday, 16 May 2011 16:24 (2 years ago) Permalink