

Perfect song. Perfect video. Her moves. Her tracks. I am slain. Seeing her in Toronto this fall. Go little Swedish Lykke! Go!
(special props to Schwabe for facebooking the vid!)
Gorgeous art direction. I’m seeing a pleasantly dark bent in a lot of the better videos coming out right now. The Presets took a little while to win me over, but this year belongs to them and Kid Kudi as far I’m concerned.

Nuff said.
Perfect future-funk. Flawless. Plus a great video concept. Finally a band I like that’s not from Sweden!
(video via Swissmiss)
This is where Santogold goes from being one of the year’s most interesting independents to being one of the decade’s most interesting majors. This is a clip from her appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. It’s thrilling to see how far she’s come since last year. She’s gonna be HUGE.
I’m really into what little I’ve heard of Lykke Li. Her sweet, distant little Swedish voice plus Bjorn Yttling(Peter Bjorn and John)’s clever, quirky production make a winning combination out of soul, twee pop, lo-fi electronic and a little bit of that early 80s brand of “small voiced girl” hip-hop. Highly listenable.
THE VID: Lykke’s simple, mesmerizing perfomance and a truly masterful editing job make this video near perfect in my book. The overexposed lighting and herky-jerky cuts keep us from ever getting a full glimpse of her face, while she quite ably gets down and gives us a sweet, distant little Swedish stare. Check it!
Fave track: I’m Good I’m Gone (Sumo Re-Edit) (Mp3)
Though I had been aware of him because of his work with Peaches, I first truly fell for Gonzales when I heard his brilliant, and aptly named 2004 release “Solo Piano”. Writer, singer, producer, Canadian, currently lives and works in France. His new album SOFT POWER looks like going to be a slightly tongue-in-cheek tribute to the saccharine pop days of the 50s & 60s, flavored with an urban twist and high notes of classic 70s pop radio balladry. Brian Wlson, Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder, but with something else, a little irony… and more handclaps fer sherz. I’m completely in love. Seeing him when he comes.
Live acoustic Parisian loft party performance of one of 07’s best songs: ‘2080′ by Yeasayer. An impromptu bit of genius, fabulously well shot for Blogothèque’s ‘Concert à emporter’ (Take Away Show) series. Props to Gorilla vs. Bear for keeping us informed.

Mad chillin! Went to José Gonzalez, whom everyone knows for his gut-rending acoustic cover of the Knife’s ‘Heartbeats’, on Friday. Totally killer live. Like a soft haze over the whole room. People rapt in awe. He’s an unbelievably still performer, free of any guile or artifice. He played most of ‘Veneer’ his massively popular first LP, and some tracks from his 2007 release ‘In our Nature’ including a WICKED cover of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ I did not see coming. A thoroughly worthwhile venture in my opinion.
Next up, (conversely) Chromeo! Then it’s Boyz Noize/MSTRKRFT the next day. Fuck Justice, they’re playing at bloody CEPSUM, and on a sunday night to boot. Not cool. No thanks.
Mad radness!!! Favorite song this week: ‘Chalo’ by Esau Mwamwaya. He’s a Malawian artist who’s made the cover of Fader, and also does an awesome vocal redub of Paper Planes that’s impossible not to like. Dubbed the ‘African Phil Collins’. That’s really funny. But seriously check this shit out. It kind of reminds me of one of my fosho all-time faves, Marianne Faithful’s ‘The Ballad of Lucie Jordan’.
Esau Mwamaya - ‘Chalo (Demo)’ (mp3)
M.I.A. and Brazilian MCs Saborosa and Puto Prata team up with Buraka Som Sistema on this wickedly bombastic track. Check out the amazing favela vogue/crunk style these guys are rocking. A dance video fan’s wet dream.
Every time Mad Decent posts something new on the subject I find myself thinking about how Brazil can only increase in worldwide cultural significance over the coming decades.

Picture speaks for itself.




