El Perro Del Mar “Shelter” (by The XX) from The Control Group on Vimeo.

Sure, the Bee simply reprinted a review from The Philadelphia Inquirer, but it’s a start for the very good Swedish singer-songwriter to be featured in the San Joaquin Valley city.

[via The Modesto Bee]

With already two albums (2004’s Somebody Outside and 2006’s Separation Road) under her belt, Anna Ternheim’s third full-length album Leaving On A Mayday (2008) has finally seen the light of day in the United States after ruling the music charts in her native Sweden.

I’ve been trying to remember specifically what turned me off to her so many months ago, but as of right now it’s futile and pointless. Mayday is stunning in its breadth, balancing the immediacy of today with the sadness of a candlelight’s last moments.

The opening “What Have I Done” perfectly encapsulates this poise. As passionate as the lover may be, the idea of finality is the hardest thing to overcome no matter how lost everything may seem, with the words “I hope you feel the way I do / I hope you give yourself up to” still sounding so distant as though told through a final love letter.

Love is an obvious theme. But is it lost love? While some songs are gloomy (“No, I Don’t Remember”), something eternal never seems to vanish. The melancholy of “Terrified” can at times be overwhelming, but the chorus offers hope of something lasting (“You see me / Like no one / Saw me before”). It’s laid more clearly in “My Heart Still Beats For You.”

It isn’t until the rather uplifting “Make It On My Own” that you truly get the magnitude of love’s power in its pure, bare form. Ternheim sums it up perfectly: “The last album was like a black, shiny, heavy stone. Leaving On A Mayday is a bit like a dirty white feather” (press release).

[photos via Sneak Attack Media]
____

Track list:

1. What Have I Done
2. Damaged Ones
3. Terrified
4. Let It Rain
5. My Heart Still Beats For You
6. No, I Don’t Remember
7. Summer Rain
8. Losing You
9. Off The Road
10. Black Sunday Afternoon

2008 marked yet another year in which the music industry saw another decline in total album sales. Of course, that figure looks less bleak when you factor in the big increase in digital music sales.

I can’t imagine anyone actually thinking the industry will collapse so much that it will have to finally embrace the Internet and develop new strategies for promoting its product as well as getting people to buy it. Okay, I lied.

But new strategies have already proved to be successful. Ringtones are super popular given the millions of cellular phones being used in the U.S. and also the billions of cellular phones being used worldwide. Video games have also become a consistent platform to sell music. Whether music will ultimately be given away for free remains to be seen.

Nevertheless, 2008 was still a good year for music, particularly for indie lovers. That being said, here is my top 5 favorite 2008 albums which unsurprisingly none were among the year’s top 10 selling albums.

Top 5

5. Adele — 19

British singer-songwriter Adele seemed to never be mentioned when other British soul artists like Amy Winehouse and Duffy were discussed for their vocal talents. For some reason, even four Grammy nominations seems low for the very moving “heartbroken soul” sound of her debut album 19.

4. Ratatat — LP3

New York duo Ratatat continues their synthe-driven electronica on their incredible third full-length album, aptly titled LP3.

3. Lykke Li — Youth Novels

Swedish artist Lykke Li (Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson) uses infectious dance pop to mask the awesomeness of true sensuality in her debut album Youth Novels.

2. Crystal Castles — Crystal Castles

Canadian duo Crystal Castles proves that the electronic remix can be its own genre on the band’s self-titled debut.

1. Beach House — Devotion

Devotion, the sophomore album of Baltimore duo Beach House, brings you as close to divinity as possible without having to listen to worship music or spend two early Sunday morning hours in a church.

Honorable Mention

El Perro Del Mar — From The Valley To The Stars

Hercules And Love Affair — Hercules And Love Affair

M83 — Saturdays=Youth

The Raveonettes — Lust, Lust, Lust

She & Him — Volume One

The concert started late (as most concerts do) and Anna Ternheim took the stage. I had never heard of her before, but she has a nice surreal voice — similar to Cardigans lead singer Nina Persson. She definitely did more talking than the next two artists. I would have pictures, but we found a seat way in the back and wanted to enjoy our beers and french fries before venturing out onto the floor.

Lykke Li was awesome. I have the Little Bit EP and didn’t know any song beyond the EP’s four tracks. I know her debut album Youth Novels is already out in Europe so now I’ll have to get it. Lykke had a lot of energy, mixing her softer songs and her danceable up-beat stuff well. A lot of people left after she performed.

Here’s a cool video of Lykke Li performing a stripped down version of “Little Bit”:

El Perro Del Mar was great. Her album has minimal instrumentation, but here she played most of the time with a full band. It was interesting to hear a suedo-ballad like “God Knows” with drums, a keyboard, and an electric guitar accompanying Sarah’s vocals.

These are pictures that I took on the crappy camera on my cell phone. I need to be better about bringing my actual camera to take some decent photos.

Here are some real photos from the event, courtesy of ToastyKen:

[photos via ToastyKen]

That last photo is my favorite, with him getting the incense in the right light. Nicely done.

Of course, having talent helps.

And El Perro Del Mar seems to have lots of it. Her self-titled debut album (U.S. version) was a compilation of sorts from her many self-released unofficial EPs, as well as her official label released EPs. Far from being stitched together, El Perro Del Mar almost fluidly combined angelic harmonies with creepy lyricisms.

Understandably, the album lacked some cohesion, and that’s partly because the songs (to a point) weren’t made to be with one another. It’s mouthwatering to think about an EPDM album conceived to be whole.

From The Valley To The Stars doesn’t disappoint and proves that Assbring, in her honest and fearless approach to her music, is more mature and more talented than most. She returns with her angelic harmonies and creepy lyricisms, but she’s also included a flare of experimentation, as seen in the short track times. She never wants to stay in any one moment for too long, but never strays too far from the previous one.

The fluidity in this sophomore album is remarkable in that even entire tracks can be heard without the slightest hint of them being different tracks, and even some (“Inside The Golden Egg” and “You Belong To The Sky Now”) without having Assbring’s vocals.

One of the beauties of From The Valley To The Stars is Assbring’s non-reluctance to always be singing. She puts the music front and center, and she only enters when she needs to, sometimes in the form of simply accentuating the melodies (“Jubilee”).

But she accentuates the melodies even when she sings because of how complimentary her vocals are to the instrumentals, especially with the flutes in “Glory To The World,” the synths in the title track, and the static hum in “Inner Island.”

I can’t help but feel equally uplifted and depressed because of the polarity of El Perro Del Mar’s music. In one instance, it can sound heavenly, and in the other, it can sound downright gloomy. In that case, I’d say the album title was in the ballpark.

[photo via Johanna Hedborg]

Track list:

1. Jubilee
2. Glory To The World
3. You Can’t Steal A Gift
4. How Did We Forget?
5. Inside The Golden Egg
6. To Give Love
7. Inner Island
8. Do Not Despair
9. Somebody’s Baby
10. The Sun Is An Old Friend
11. Happiness Won Me Over
12. From The Valley To The Stars
13. You Belong To The Sky Now
14. Into The Sunshine
15. Someday I’ll Understand (Love Will Be My Mirror)
16. Your Name Is Neverending