Lykke Li was a revelation, heavier than I expected with a full band. El Perro Del Mar supporting is worth a mention, the set started really well, low-fi, ambient, chick folk, but when she moved off her acoustic onto the piano/synth it all fell apart. The audience was lost and chatter took over. Shame really! 

Lykke Li had boundless confidence and worked the tiny stage like it was 10 times it's size, the the dressing room appeared to be the Kitchen and the route to the stage was via the crowd. It all added to a rather surreal experience where it appeared that the crowd universally sensed that they were seeing something that won't be hanging around these venues for long. The albums out on Monday, I think i'll be purchasing.

She reminded me of early Madonna in her sense of ease on stage, working the front row, quirky pop and coded sexual references. Little Bit is unique but there was a depth to her set that suggests she's got more to offer, I think she's probably aware of the potential of "Little Bit" and thus dropped it mid set which worked, it's almost inevitable that it'll grate people in the end but for now at least it's 3 minute pop gem.

Gonna try and get some Black Kids tickets tomorrow, undecided on my thoughts around them but the rumor is it's sold out so I'm not holding out much hope.

Lykke Li was incredible, so much so that i'm considering trying to see her again this week. More tomorrow when i'm more sober and less emotive.

I imagine the blog's started like most; with good intentions, but alas over a month has passed since my first post, but a small consolation is that  at least I have a life.

Anyway, i'm heading to see , Swedish, internet-senasation, etheral songstress Lykke Li tomorrow. Should be good I can't get her debut single "Little Bit " out of my head. It's produced by Bjorn from Peter, Bjorn and John, (who I saw last summer in Berlin and were excellent and were kickin' live) though Lykke Li will hope to have a bit more longevity. I've struggled with Sweden in the past, I have an irrational hatred of ABBA, but there's something enchanting about what i've heard so far from miss Li.

The second revelation this week has been the Mystery Jets new album. It's incredibly 80's but not in a Trevor Horn, backs-to-the-wall production sense. It's got a Talk Talk, Aztec Camera and Prefab Sprout feel to it, but like it was recorded in a garage. There's also some raw funk in there and some sharp melodies. The fragility of Blaine's voice contrasts well against the slick accompaniment. Also, though his dad's apparently still a writing member he's no longer a touring/promo/video member, which lets you take them more/less seriously depending on your previous view on the dad and son in a band dilemma. Imagine that, going on tour with your Dad? Sounds like something out of Anthony Kieldis' Biography, and not in a good way.

Age of the understatement...

I remembered an interview piece with Jon Savage (England's Dreaming) I once watched in the Live Forever documentary. Where, wearing a pretty dodgy lime-green sports jacket, he berated Ocean Colour Scene for being regressive and derivative. Where as Oasis (the subject of the documentary) though criticised by many as equally regressive and pastiche were not tied with the same brush due to in his eyes Liam's androgeny and the feeling of desperation and that je ne sais qoui  their debut invoked. 

While I pretty much agree with the above it's an interesting concept, most indie bands of the last few years on the whole have been pretty regressive or more positively described as "retro", with a few exceptions. Generally those who've had any longevity and critical have created a more original concept and sound. There's a whole list of bands however, who've essentially borrowed from previous era's. Franz Ferdinand could have slotted into a bill in 1981 as easily they did in 2004. Jet a band who in 2002 were NME darlings were a second rate AC/DC dressed up like The Strokes. The Strokes themselves borrowed heavily from a NYC scene that passed 20 years before their debut. 

Which brings me on to the arctic monkeys, who for four guys with guitars a mic and a set of drums produced a pretty unique and progressive sound in 2005 and followed it up in 2007 with a second album that genuinely moved on from Whatever People say... Alex Turners side project however, judging by the first single appears to be a much more conventional record drawing heavily on that Scott Walker dark 1960's sound. Does this make it artistically less important than his bands first two outings, I don't know and I imagine it'll take a while for the dust to settle. It has to be said that the sound they've gone for is hardly an obvious choice. Still it's a single that's certainly got a sense of urgency about it, tight melodies, that stand out sharply against the rest of Radio 1's A list and though it's lyrical content is more ambiguous than the observational wit of the arctics, it's got a growl that could only belong to Alex Turner.