Marie Elliott

“Goodbye” is not a regular expression you use in English when finishing an interaction with another person. Most of the time, you would say “bye”, “talk to you later”, or other variations of those two depending on the type of interaction. “Goodbye” is a word that is used when you are finishing more than an interaction. It usually means you’re completely parting; either finishing a relationship, an era of your life or separating yourself from something you were connected to before.

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

If anyone is interested, here are my top five albums of 2010. I listened to all of the below non-stop throughout the year. Thinking about it now, these albums accompanied me through some big changes last year, so I have an emotional attachment to each one of them.

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”.

I love when I hear the first 5 seconds of a track and I fall in love immediately. That’s exactly what happened when I listened to this cover of Fever Ray’s “When I Grow Up” by First Aid Kit. This song accompanied me throughout my day excursion to Wannsee today; it was basically perfect.

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!

I know that picture is horrible quality (it was taken with my iPhone) but for some reason, I really like 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!

Photo by ESO

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.