I listened to one of Apparat‘s new songs, “Goodbye”, at a perfect moment, and now, I’m wiping the dust off my blog with this post.

Apparat – Goodbye

Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz

Sufjan Stevens, you – out of everyone – impressed me the most this year. Why? Because The Age of Adz is probably the most innovative and creative album I’ve heard in a long time. It was released in October and I’ve been listening to it ever since. Two tracks I really can’t stop listening to are: “I Want To Be Well” and “Get Real Get Right”. Click through below to find them and hear the rest of the album. I know, it’s a Bandcamp player. One of my wishes for 2011 is for Sufjan Stevens to get a SoundCloud account!

asthmatickitty.com/sufjan-stevens

Röyksopp – Senior

Senior came out soon after I relocated to Berlin and it moved me to a point I can’t explain. As many know, Senior is the instrumental response to Röyksopp’s 2009 album, Junior (which was on my best of 2009 list — as you can see, I’m a Röyksopp fan). Röyksopp’s instrumental music will always captivate me though, especially tracks like “The Alcoholic” and “The Fear”.

soundcloud.com/royksopp

Caribou – Swim

This album came out when I had finished university and wasn’t sure of what to do with myself. Swim actually kind of inspired me to do something (if that makes any sense). “Jamelia” was a track that joined me on many runs through the rainy trails near my old place. I also saw Caribou perform at Sasquatch, which was awesome. When they played “Sun”, the outdoor atmosphere of the windy gorge really added to the overall experience of the concert.

soundcloud.com/caribouband

CocoRosie – Grey Oceans

Here’s another album that came out just in time for graduation. I hadn’t listened to much CocoRosie before this, so I was in disbelief at how these unique voices and sounds worked so well together. These girls are eccentric and extremely talented. “Lemonade” and “R.I.P. Burn Face” are embedded below (both tracks from Grey Oceans).

cocorosieland.com

Lemonade

R.I.P. Burn Face

Robyn – Body Talk Pt. 1

In my eyes, Robyn has perfected dance-pop. Her music always makes me want to move…a lot! My favourites from this album are “None of Dem” (surprise — it was produced by Röyksopp!) and “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do”. Body Talk Pt. 2 was also released this year but wasn’t quite as good as the first, in my opinion.

soundcloud.com/robyn

And, here’s a rainbow playlist of my favourite 10 tracks of 2010 (not on the previously mentioned albums):

2010 was full of a lot of great music, can’t wait to hear what 2011 has in store for us!

Lykke Li is a great musician and entertainer. She knows how to captivate her audience to the point where they’re intimidated by her. Like at this concert, the audience seemed a bit shy at times. Example: Lykke Li asked, “Are you guys ready to hear some more new songs?” and no one really responded. She then said, “Come on, you guys need to be a little more excited than that.” But maybe people weren’t being shy, they just didn’t want to hear new tracks. Either way, I was happy to hear the new ones. They made me even more excited for the upcoming album. But I was hoping to hear one specific song: I’ve been to three Lykke Li concerts and I’m still waiting for her to play “Until We Bleed”. I know, it’s technically Kleerup’s track but she does perform it at concerts sometimes. One day, I’ll get to hear it live!

Highlights:

She did a brief cover of “Ready Or Not” by the Fugees and it looks like dynmk.de caught it on video! At one point, there was a bit of an intermission (or something) and The Knife’s “Silent Shout” came on. Lykke Li then danced with the hanging drapes while bright lights blinked around her. That part was definitely cool and reignited my love for that song. But I think the best part of the concert was when she played “Possibility”. It’s strange because “Possibility” was probably one of my least favourite Lykke Li tracks but this live version was unbelievable. The organ was so loud that it basically consumed me, and this probably sounds weird but I liked it. This is just from my point of view but the live version of this song took me somewhere else. This is what I love about concerts — live music always pushes my imagination beyond its limit. I would love to have a copy of this live version but for now, this video is the closest I can get to it. I’m still waiting on a live album, Lykke!

It was a pretty short concert, no opening act. Nevertheless, Lykke Li always impresses me!

And, I’ll finish this post off with “Possibility”.

As for First Aid Kit, they’re two sisters from a southern suburb in Stockholm. The duo released their debut album at the beginning of this year called The Big Black & The Blue. This cover didn’t appear on that album but is featured on their latest 7″ called Ghost Town. The band is also on SoundCloud if you want to check out the rest of their stuff. I highly recommend it!

And maybe it goes with this remix I’m really digging at the moment? I think so at least! The remix is by Keljet and it’s a rendition of The Temper Trap‘s “Love Lost.” Listen below!

In case you didn’t know, I’ve relocated to Berlin for now and so far, Röyksopp‘s song, “This Space” is my commuting/U-Bahn music. I listen to it on repeat during my commute in the morning and usually, when I’m coming home as well. About two minutes in, this song moves perfectly with the underground train.

Unfortunately, this track didn’t make it onto the upcoming instrumental album, Senior, but it is available as a free download! I really can’t wait for Senior though. September is too far away!

Posted below are two unbelievably astounding, out-of-this-world remixes. I’m deeply in love with the remix Jon Hopkins did of Four Tet‘s “Angel Echoes.” It makes me feel like I’m floating around that crazy baby star in the picture above. Listen and you’ll see what I mean.

Four Tet – Angel Echoes (Jon Hopkins remix)

Jon Hopkins – Vessel (Four Tet remix)

London DJ, Leftside Wobble, has created a gorgeous remix of Radiohead‘s “Reckoner.” The original song is amazing as it is but this remix has a bit of a lullaby twist. It’s dreamier and actually, kind of relaxes me.

I know I said Nosaj Thing’s remix was the best one I had heard of the “Reckoner” but now, I kind of like Leftside Wobble’s more. We’re allowed to change our minds, right?

You can hear Leftside Wobble’s remix below!

Original photo of fire by eqqman

Imaad Wasif did an amazing cover of the Television‘s song, “The Fire”, for Aquarium Drunkard‘s latest compilation. The label got eight LA musicians/bands to perform covers for this project — it’s actually a tribute to the Television’s second album, Adventure.

Imaad Wasif’s cover song features Lykke Li, who is from Sweden (I guess she’s an exception). All of you know how obsessed I am with Lykke Li but since her attribution to the song is fairly small, I don’t think I love this song because she’s in it (or maybe I do and I’m in denial). Anyhow, the guitar is straight-up seductive. I don’t know why but it reminds me of the satisfaction I used to get when I would listen to The Vines on repeat during my high school days.

You can hear “The Fire” here or you can stream the entirety of the compilation (L’Adventure) here.

When we first got on the road, things were looking a little sketchy. It seemed like my car was on the verge of breaking down and we kept hitting obstacles on our way there. There was a ridiculous storm happening for most of the drive but once we passed the windmills and got closer to the gorge, the clouds parted and the sun peeked through. Due to the amount of obstacles that got in our way, it took us way longer than it should’ve to get there — we left Vancouver at 8am and got there at midnight (it’s supposed to be a 6 hour drive…I guess that’s what happens when you travel with 13 people in a convoy).

Once we got set up and started the next day off fresh, everything seemed brighter. The day was sunny and warm, everyone was happy and we had a full day – and weekend – of concerts ahead of us. The first day, we saw plenty of bands but the one that stuck out the most for me was The National. I had never seen them before and their concert blew me away! I watched them from afar (somewhere in the middle of the hill) sitting with my group of friends. It was perfect with the sun setting in the distance behind the stage. I felt really moved at this moment. I remember thinking, “the money I spent to get here was definitely worth it already.” This was my first music festival. Music festivals are like a music lover’s dream come true. You’re like a kid in a candy store. I felt giddy most of the time.

The two bands I enjoyed the most on the second day were Caribou and Massive Attack. Caribou played really early. Dan Snaith and his band were basically one of the first to play that day. Once again, the atmosphere seemed perfect for the music. It was kind of warm but there was a constant breeze that kept the whole experience cool. While Caribou was playing “Sun” and the wind was blowing, I felt true euphoria.

Massive Attack had a crazy light show with written blurbs throughout the entire thing. They had a multitude of talented musicians playing with them, Martina Topley-Bird being one of them. I love her voice. She joined them for “Teardop” (just like this performance on Jimmy Kimmel) and it was mesmerizing. Massive Attack headlined so they played at night. At first, I thought there were bats flying around their lights but it turned out those large confused flying creatures fluttering into the lights were just really big moths (they were really big!).

The last night, I went to see Boys Noize. He started his set with “Jeffer” and I went nuts! I hadn’t danced that hard in…I don’t know how long. It reminded me of when my friends and I would take Vancouver by storm and show everyone around us how to dance. It felt so good to dance that hard again.

There were lots of other bands I saw during the festival that I really liked as well but these four were the ones that stuck out the most in my opinion.

Looking back on it now, I felt really free at Sasquatch.

The National – Anyone’s Ghost

Caribou – Sun