If you’re a close follower of music blogs, this introduction is coming at least a few weeks late, but if not, I would like you to say hello to the latest in a string of quirky, catchy, beautiful Swedish indie-poppers, Lykke Li. 22-year-old Li’s first album, Youth Novels, was released in Sweden on LL Recordings on February 4, and will shortly be released in the United States and more broadly in Europe. The album was produced by fellow Swede indie king Bjorn Yttling (of Peter Bjorn and John). Her sound has been described as “a mix of soul, electro and powdered-sugar pop” and is distinguished from similar artists with its raw, almost earthy quality, as showcased below in a late April performance of her latest single “Little Bit” on Later with Jools Holland:
Like what you hear/see? Check out three more downloads and links to Li’s Myspace, official site and purchase information for imports of Youth Novels below. If you’re waiting for the domestic release, also check out songs from 2007′s Little Bit EP available on iTunes, as of its May 6 U.S. release. Listen to her now before a laptop/cell phone/PDA company catches wind of these fresh tunes, and you can claim that you knew her “before all that”!
I have emerged from a long cocoon-like hiatus via my final semester of university classes with this butterfly of a posting.Since we last talked, I officially am authorized by the state of Wisconsin to be a journalist and mass communicator, so with summer on the horizon, I felt it was my duty to renew my dedication to this blog’s banter.
My other new distinction is that of college-educated waiter, allowing for more free time to post to this page.A lot of things have gone down in the past few months since I last published content, so rest assured that: a) I have a lot on my mind, and b) I warned you.If you’re not ready for honest, satirical, dark and zany commentary on the world around us, I’d probably skip past this page.If you’re ready, however, let’s party.
During my time away, I couldn’t help but notice that there are a lot of people out there somehow finding this page.March 2008 brought nearly 800 readers here, despite new content, and the months that have followed have shown similar growth.Though it is slightly depressing to realize that more people read this blog when I don’t write anything new on it, I will simply ignore the fact and chalk it up to the google bots of the interwebs simply getting better at indexing noteworthy quips on current events.Or maybe it was all just coincidence.
At any rate, I thought that I would share the top ten search engine terms that y’all have used to find me in the past three months.Rest assured that this blog will remain dedicated to these terms and issues, as the readers have clearly spoken.(See, the web does support democratic ideals!)Here is what America wants to see:
Leslie Feist’s recent performance on the Colbert Report
And I couldn’t help but include this photo, from the crowning moment of my life to this point:
Yes, that is me standing with Nick Verreos, of ProRun fame, circa mid-April. Rumor has it that Uncle Nick may be coming back for a future all-stars edition of the show (shame to OK! Magazine for claiming that Santino Rice won PR S2.. how could anyone forget fabo Chloe Dao’s victory?)… Anyhoo, contact me privately for any goss that may or may not have been discussed.
So, stay tuned for more washed-up musician/actresses, long-legged supermodels, indie musicians featured in Apple ads, raging lesbians, cases for queer activism, beauty queens, reality TV stars and much, much more. Happy summer!
Welcome to my online home, a showcase of my published writings and otherwise-unpublished thoughts on music, queer communities, politics, arts and culture. I currently work as the associate Chicago editor for The Huffington Post. I welcome your feedback, tips on excellent Chicago coffee shops and inquiries of any/all other sorts. Check out some of my recent work.
