Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

The Swedish folk-pop gem Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson, better known as Lykke Li has released her second album Wounded Rhymes and it is already crawling into every nook and cranny of your life. Rolling Stone magazine gave it 4 stars and a pretty sweet little review. Not that I read Rolling Stone much anymore, but that with the support from artists like Beck and Mike D of The Beastie Boys shows that she has turned a lot of heads with this one.

Get Some and I Follow Rivers are the first two tracks I've heard from this album floating around the net. Both are catchy and great for the remix thing. Youth Knows No Pain, the opening track follows the same beat as I Follow You but with a slightly darker sound from a louder drum and organ. 

She definitely shows that her influences are many and her expressions cross genre. Love Out Of Lust is a slower whimsical tune that makes me think of the 8th grade dance for some reason. Unrequited Love, a folk ballad where Lykke's voice is haunting and lovely at the same time. Later on the album, Sadness Is A Blessing sounds like something straight out of the late fifties or early sixties. While, I Know Places seems like a great sad song to sing to yourself while you're on a drive to somewhere you just really don't want to go. The video I'm posting is from a live performance and the sound is horrid, but you can still get the feel from her words.

The album is out now!! Go snag yourself a copy

Direct from LykkeLi.com

Limited editions available including vinyl, cd, download, and limited edition lithograph print

iTunes

Amazon (US)

Amazon (UK)

HMV (UK)

Also, you can visit the interactive quest site Wounded Rhymes and plot your quest around the world or you can follow Lykke's path

--p.a.t.t.

Tricky - Mixed Race

Tricky, the man behind some of the most famous lyrics in early trip hop, has a new album out. Most people probably remember hearing Tricky's vocals on Massive Attack's Blue Lines. He worked with Massive Attack on that album as well as wrote some of the lyrics for Protection, at the same time his debut album Maxinquaye was receiving huge acclaim in the UK. 

Personally, it was 1997's Pre-Millenium Tension that introduced me to Tricky as a solo artist. "Makes Me Wanna Die" featuring the vocals of Martina Topley-Bird was one of those songs that stuck me deep from the first time I heard it and became a treasure hunt to regain that sense memory later in life.

The new album Mixed Race (available at Amazon) is definitely a mix of all the different influences Tricky has channeled throughout his career. Blues, trip-hop, jazz, reggae, and dance are all present on this album. Featured is a track called Kingston Logic (sometimes listed as UK Jamaican) which is actually a really kool collaboration of Daft Punk, Tricky, and a couple of other artists. I'm not sure if Terry Lynn was a part of this production. Murder Weapon was the first single put out from this album. Using the familiar Peter Gunn guitar riff, it's a catchy sound but otherwise not my choice for a featured track.

The lead song, Every Day is a heavily blues infused trip hop song which will quickly get stuck in your head. Ghetto Stars is more the dark, punk electro trip hop style I loved from Pre-Millenium Tension. Time To Dance is a really interesting track simply because it sounds a lot like some of the chill-wave we hear these days from acts like Miami Horror. Early Bird is classic jazzy Tricky with his signature voice crawling all over and under your skin.

 

Tricky - Murder Weapon by DominoRecordCo

--p.a.t.t.