Here’s a sweet little video of the two performing the song live above a house terrace in LA.  The announcement has been made of a co-headlining tour with El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees.  Ms. Assbring seems to never tour anywhere remotely close to me, so the list of dates is a bit disappointing.  One of these days, though!  It shall happen!

Tour dates can be seen here.

MP3: El Perro Del Mar :: “Change of Heart”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar :: “Change of Heart” (Rakamonie Remix)

Still catching up on a lot of things I’ve missed lately, and another to add to this ever-growing list is this recent 7″ split single from Lykke Li and El Perro Del Mar that was released for Record Store Day last month.  It’s a set of covers that includes a cover of Wendy Rene’s “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” by Lykke Li and El Perro Del Mar covering Aaliyah’s cover of The Isley Brothers’ “(At Your Best) You Are Love.”  I don’t think I’ve used the word “cover” so many times in one sentence.

Listening to the cover from Ms. Assbring, I realized that this could easily be mistaken for a top 40 pop song.  You don’t often hear much praise for her vocal ability, and I think this cover shows how underrated she can be despite her knack for putting out great pop songs.  Take a listen for yourself below, and here’s a video of both women performing “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” during one of La Blogothèque’s take away shows.

MP3: El Perro Del Mar :: “(At Your Best) You Are Love”

Saw this video for Matt & Kim’s “Lessons Learned” over at Rock Insider and just had to give it a mention.  The video premiered on MTV (or is it MTVu? I dunno the difference) and to be honest, the less you know about this video, the better the surprise will be.  Let’s just say that the duo are portrayed having a jolly stroll through Times Square.  They’ve certainly come a long way since I first heard them back in 2006.  Their reputation for having a crazy live show seems to precede them, no matter where they play now.

MP3: Matt & Kim :: “Lessons Learned”
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In other news, another video I just happened to watch a few minutes ago comes courtesy of the “American Idol” contestants singing Lykke Li’s “I’m Good, I’m Gone.”  I watched maybe 30 seconds of it, before I had to turn my head away in disgust.  Ouch.  If the casual viewer was blind to Lykke Li before, than I’m pretty sure this did absolutely nothing to pique any kind of interest in hearing the original.  You can watch it for yourself here.

MP3: Lykke Li :: “I’m Good, I’m Gone”

As you can see with this week’s Graboid, there are a lot of great releases out there to spend your hard-earned cash on. Seriously, I don’t even know where to start with this list. A few releases that I can definitely recommend include Ra Ra Riot’s The Rhumb (really dig this one – so happy for these guys), Jaguar Love’s Take Me To The Sea, Lykke Li’s Youth Novels (finally gets its US release) and Stereolab’s Chemical Chords.

I really had high hopes for The Stills’ third album, Oceans Will Rise – thinking they would make some kind of triumphant return to form with their debut, Logic Will Break Your Heart. Without Feathers was a major disappointment and unfortunately, everything i’ve heard so far from the new album hasn’t really blown me away.

One other release out this week is Music Tapes For Clouds And Tornadoes from Julian Koster’s band The Music Tapes, who I saw perform at Athens Popfest last week. Koster’s kept a low profile since the band’s debut album nearly nine years ago, so it was great to see him make his return at the 40 Watt Club. I’ll get to that performance on my ongoing Popfest coverage, but let’s say that it was hands-down one of the best concert experiences i’ve ever had….with a kazoo.

31Knotts :: Worried Well
MP3: “Compass Commands”

The Caesars :: Strawberry Weed
full album stream

The Dandy Warhols :: Earth To The Dandy Warhols
MP3: “The World the People Together (Come On)”

Death Vessel :: Nothing Is Precious Enough for Us
MP3: “Bruno’s Torso”
full album stream

The Fiery Furnaces :: Remember (2-disc live album)
MP3: “Wicker Whatnots”

GZA :: Pro Tools
full album stream

Jaguar Love :: Take Me To The Sea
MP3: “Highways Of Gold”

Jeff Hanson :: Madam Owl
MP3: “If Only I Knew”
full album stream

Jennifer O’Connor :: Here With Me
MP3: “Here With Me”

Julianna Hatfield :: How To Walk Away
full album stream

Kristoffer Ragnstam :: Wrong Side Of The Room
MP3: “Swing That Tambourine”

Loudon Wainwright III :: Recovery
MP3: “Motel Blues”

Lykke Li :: Youth Novels
MP3: “Dance Dance Dance”
full album stream

MakeUpBreakUp :: We Prefer Not To… EP
MP3: “Blame Game”
full album stream

The Moondoggies :: Don’t Be A Stranger
MP3: “Changin’”

The Music Tapes :: Music Tapes for Clouds & Tornadoes
MP3: “Majesty”

Ra Ra Riot :: The Rhumb Line
MP3: “Dying Is Fine”
full album stream

Robyn Hitchcock :: Luminous Groove (5-CD box set)
MP3: “Bad Case of History”

Plushgun :: Plushgun EP
MP3: “Just Impolite”

Stereolab :: Chemical Chords
MP3: “Three Women”
full album stream

The Stills :: Oceans Will Rise
MP3: “Being Here”

The Uglysuit :: The Uglysuit
MP3: “Chicago”
full album stream

The Walkmen :: You & Me
MP3: “In the New Year”
full album stream

What Laura Says :: Thinks and Feels
MP3: “July 23rd”

I haven’t been writing about a lot of the new music i’ve been listening to lately, but hopefully that will change this week – as i’ve got plenty of stuff that I want to highlight. The first of my newfound obsessions comes in the form of Lykke Li, who seems poised to take over as the new queen of Swedish indiepop with her recently released debut album, Youth Novels. Sure, she’s currently getting a lot of love after winning over audiences at SXSW, but after finally caving in and listening for myself – I can assure you that all of this attention is very well-deserved.

Luckily, my introduction came with a perfect little pop song called “Little Bit,” which is just too adorable for it’s own good. It’s that sweet innocence in her voice that is so captivating and very reminiscent of fellow Swedish vocalists like El Perro Del Mar and Victoria Bergsman. You can try and resist this song and the lyrics of obsessive love all you want, but once that chorus hits with the mandolin and “a little bit, a little bit, a little bit in love with you,” you just have to put your hands down and give in, because it’s just too meaningless to fight it. It’s seriously one of the catchiest songs i’ve heard this year.

As far as purchasing the album goes, which by the way was produced by Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John, can be purchased here. She’s also currently on tour, opening for Swedish chanteuse, El Perro Del Mar. The dates are up on her myspace if you’re interested.

myspace | website | buy

MP3: Lykke Li :: “Little Bit”
MP3: Lykke Li :: “I’m Good. I’m Gone.”