CMJ 2008 Roundup:
The CMJ Music Marathon is a yearly event where thousands of bands descend upon NYC for a protracted long weekend and take over the city and feast on it and its many venues. CMJ tends to feature up-and-coming bands, label showcases, and surprise shows. Generally at CMJ there is ample opportunity for me to go berserk and go to 4 or 5 venues a day/night for the better part of a week. When it is done, I document my CMJ related exploits in a CMJ Magnum Opus. I am afraid that this year’s CMJ Magnum Opus will fail to live up to being either ‘magnum’ or ‘opus’. As far as I could tell, this year’s line-up was nowhere near as good as last year or year’s past and along with work and other lame excuses, I missed most of what little was worth checking out. Nonetheless I managed to get to a few shows and managed to ring up a few CMJ staples, i.e.: the band with a palpable buzz and break-out potential, the over-reaching trend-hopping band that presents itself as if to say “if you just sign us, we will fill your arenas”, the band seen by accident in its fetal form that has future potential, and the band of reliable quality that you have seen before but see again at the risk of ‘missing’ something new. This week will feature live tracks gleaned from CMJ 2008 weekend.
Lykke Li
Music Hall of Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY
10/20/08
Lykke Li is the band with probably the most hype and break-out potential coming into CMJ 2008. Lykke Li is presumably the name of the lead singer, who has fashioned her live persona as a young Swedish proto-Stevie Nicks. It is no secrete that anyone here involved with TSOI has a pronounced ‘Swede Tooth’…that is anything Swedish gets ours ears perked up, and in this case Lykke Li came armed with a catchy pop track “Little Bit” that didn’t need to plant the hook very deep to get my attention. This track along with a few others and a cover of Eddy Arnold’s “After the Laughter Comes Tears” were pretty snappy. I think I would not be too far off to liken Lykke Li to an updated version of Robyn (also a Swedester). You can make your own call. The full Lykke Li set is here.
Setlist:
1. Dance Dance Dance
2. Let It Fall
3. I’m Good I’m Gone
4. Hanging High
5. Little Bit
6. Complaint Department
7. After the Laughter (Comes Tears)
8. Window Blues
9. Breaking It Up
10. Tonight
11. Can I Kick It
Sample:
[audio: http://thesoundofindie.com/archive/2008/20081215/LL-LittleBit.mp3|titles=Little Bit (Live)|artists=Lykke Li]
Download: Lykke Li – Brooklyn, NY – 10-20-08 – 254 MB
