CMJ Night 1

Dear radio diary,

So a bit of introduction. For those of you who aren’t in the know, Sarah Kelley and I went to the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City last week. We began the first night by getting lost on the subway and ending up in Brooklyn, but we eventually found our way to the Bowery Ballroom.

The first band up was the Friendly Fires. Now, I don’t want to bash them too much, but how many kitschy beats does it take to actually make catchy music? Also, what does playing your electric guitar with a handheld dustbuster actually accomplish? It just left me confused, but at least the guy in front of me was enjoying it.

Lykke Li on the other hand was fantastic. Her voice is beautiful and she’s not bad at crashing cymbals during songs. If you haven’t heard of her (I hadn’t), she is a Swedish pop singer that is currently on her second tour of the United States. Her latest release, “Youth Novels”, was produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John and it’s catchy as hell. She’s already passed through DC, but I’m sure she’ll be back around.

Here is Lykke singing “”I’m Good, I’m Gone” in the back of a cab for black cab sessions:

and if that weren’t enough to get her voice in your head, here are two remixes of “I’m Good, I’m Gone” courtesy of some generous promotional company:

I’m Good, I’m Gone (Black Kids Remix)
I’m Good, I’m Gone (Metronomy Mix)

(how’s that for promotion?)

Anyways, I am still exhausted from the trip, but happy to be back in Fredericksburg…so that I can continue with my radio show, ofcourse. More CMJ reportbacks to come.

xoxo

Andrew