At some point during the past year, those pesky Scandinavians decided they were going to make an end run towards usurping the throne of indie coolness from those beloved Canadians. And you know what? It looks like they damn well may have succeeded. For me, the defining moment was when Lykke Li came into my life.At first glance, I wasn't too impressed. And then I saw the video for "Little Bit" and have been hooked like a junkie fish ever since. What's up with those background dancers? What drugs are they all on? Perhaps more importantly still, where can I gets me some of that?
Li's Youth Novels has everything you could want in your indie pop goodness. It's confectionery sweetness, but there's definitely some hard candy awesomeness just beneath the surface. Tracks like "Dance Dance Dance" and "I'm Good, I'm Gone" proved that 2008 was not going to allow the crap coming from mainstream radio overpower actually "good" pop music. You've got an impishly stunning girl who dresses like an updated Debbie Gibson talking about leaving her legs apart for me? Yes, please, I'll take 47 of those.
Once I saw her live at the Black Cat, well, shit, I damn near gave up the family business to shave my head and start following her around the world. Fortunately, I quickly realized I make a very comfortable living and am bald, so that took care of that, but still. I already have my tickets to see her at DC's Historic Synagogue this coming January. I strongly suggest you do the same. If she continues to cover Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?", you'll be sure to get your ticket's worth there alone.
Here are a few live tracks from a radio performance on WXPN in May. You can thank me for that later.
mp3: Dance Dance Dance (link expired)
mp3: I'm Good, I'm Gone (link expired)
mp3: Little Bit (link expired)
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