Girl Got Style: Lykke Li

Wounded Rhymes -- February 28th

I like them Swedes

A Whole Lot Of Ben Gibbard, Death Cab

The Twilight obsession has been insanity. I read the books in like a week but have yet to see the movies...not the most stellar writing but enjoyed highly nonetheless. And I have the utmost respect for the New Moon soundtrack, featuring artists such as Thom Yorke, Lykke Li, The Killers, Muse, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear and Death Cab. It's filled with melancholy and yearning and I'm sure will pair with the film nicely. I've posted Death Cab's "Meet Me On the Equinox" video above, although I'm not too thrilled with the video--it's basically just cheesy clips from the new film (Twilight fans don't hate!). Their "Grapevine Fires" video below, in comparison, is noticeably much more original and beautifully done.  Their Open Door EP from earlier this year is also pretty solid, so if you need your fix don't pass this one over.  

I was also lucky enough to shoot with Death Cab in 2008 to promote their excellent Narrow Stairs album and enjoyed a day of whirleyball in their hometown, Seattle. 

And because I like Ben Gibbard (newly married to Zoey Deschanel) so much, I'm going to note his excellent tracks "Train Song" with Feist on Dark Was The Night, and "Joga" with Ben Barnett on 2004's Interpreting Bjork.  The album itself is interesting yet still enjoyable.  Now I say interesting because huge Bjork fans might not even like this (and I believe most did not) because it's not danceable or Bjork-sounding at all, yet enjoyable because it's a completely different take on a mastermind.  And last but certainly not least, if you can't get enough of Gibbard's side projects, his much anticipated One Fast Move or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, with Jay Farrar of Son Volt, releases October 20th alongside the documentary.  An album influenced by Jack Kerouac's '62 novel Big Sur?  Genius.

Woodies.

Last week was the annual mtvU Woodie awards at Roseland Ballroom.  I'm so glad I finally got to attend.  The crowd was full of tweens but thankfully I glided past them up to the VIP area stocked with free booze and food.  There's nothing like getting typsy the MTV way with close colleagues, execs and VJs.  Besides the surprise Blondie appearance and watching my promos air on all of the monitors in between performances and presenters, I was most excited for the Santi (formerly known as Santigold), Vampire Weekend, Chromeo and Lykke Li sets.  Lykke Li was definitely the stand out.  Not only was she wearing hot glittery pants, she was banging on instruments and killing it on the mike.  She is uber cool.  I was told another stand out was the Chromeo and Vampire Weekend joint performance, yet I was waiting about a half hour at the bar for a drink and totally missed it.  I was not happy about that.  Thankfully I caught the last of Vampire Wknd which ended the show and was off in a rickshaw to the VIP after party.  My favorite coworker and I literally got thrown from the rickshaw (those drivers are crazy and not cheap) into the crowd trying to get into the club and made quite the entrance.  It was nice to party with the folks that have worked so hard on the mtvU channel and it was great catching up and dancing the night away.  Check out more commentary, some music and pictures from the event here.