Vs. the Snow

Lk (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 11, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: KF
• ASIN: B0013FSVIO
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #476,926 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Swedish duo of Lindefelt, abstract sound artist, & Fredrik, pop visionary & songwriter par excellence. Fusing musique concrŠte-style collages of sound w/ iconic pop arrangements that are both gradually mind-invading & comfortingly direct. Recorded w/ a minimum of equipment, this album was built largely by gluing pieces of Lindefelt's abstract sounds,lyrics & voice to Fredrik's simple, beautiful melodies. The resulting 11 (including 1 bonus song for kora) tracks make or a crisp, melancholy noise- pop cocktail w/ a human warmth & dark sense of humor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 7.9 Pitchfork Review, March 18, 2008

By 

mr. smith (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vs. the Snow (Audio CD)

According to their website, the full name of Malmų, Sweden's the LK is The Love of Kevin, Colour, Chaos and the Sound of K (no word on how to say that in Swedish). This ungainly phrase, wisely abbreviated for general use, seems like an oblique reference to member Lindefelt's synaesthesia, which causes him to mentally associate colors with timbres. Synaesthesia's one of those weird brain glitches that seems like it could actually be cool to have, though I imagine that for those afflicted, the novelty value of being able to see sounds isn't quite as apparent. Lindefelt's partner in the LK, Fredrik, can't see sounds, but is apparently a good chef.

Both men have their own projects-- Fredrik's is a band called Fredrik, and Lindefelt performs solo electroacoustic shows with his cello-- but together they make some pretty awesome synth-pop. The music has a spiky immediacy, with Lindefelt's vocals way up front, backed by sharp beats and electronic collages. Fredrik's guitar and Fender Rhodes provides the harmonic structure, but the timbres of the instruments are rounded off and subsumed into the overall texture. It's a sound superficially similar to the Cansecos and Russian Futurists.

The key to the album's infectiousness, though, lies not so much in the vocals as in the bouncy basslines that percolate at the bottom of the songs. "Tamagotchi Freestyle" rides one of these , a disco-worthy descending phrase that perfectly backs up the instrumental hook, which Fredrik swaps between guitar and cornet. The lyrics mercifully skip any references to the once-ubiquitous digi-pets of the title in favor of calls to burn Elvis alive, and the immolation of a pop icon has never sounded quite this appealing.

I would've called "Tamagotchi Freestyle" a standout, but frankly by that standard half the album would be standouts. In addition to being a good pop record, it's a good details record-- dig the echoing pings and odd, watery guitar tone on closer "Yellow Ribbons", for instance. "Stop Being Perfect" has a great verse melody to set up the chorus, but the bed of electronic tones that worms its way through the beat is just as interesting. Then there are the staccato blasts the underpin the beginning of "Private Life of a Cat"-- what are they made of? It sounds like guitar and trumpet and white noise all smashed together to make one sound.

And speaking of cats, one of mine was completely freaked out by the way the backing vocals on "Eurovision" are injected into the song. He was convinced the sound was coming from someone in the room. The album hits a bit of a lull toward the end, with a few slow tracks that don't grab with nearly the force of their neighbors, but overall The LK Vs. the Snow is a sharp collection of songs that keeps pulling me back for more.

-Joe Tangari, March 14, 2008

5.0 out of 5 stars Best album of 2008, June 10, 2010

By 

A. Hamilton "Bollocks" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Vs. the Snow (Audio CD)

From my point of view, anyway. Otherworldly, moving, and wonderful. Great vocals, quirky lyrics, all set in a soundscape (sorry, I know that word is now outlawed) of beats as fast as the pulse of a pygmy shrew and keyboard sounds like alien radio signals, all held together with hypnotic, unforgettable melodies.

They took a break from their hard-core dance music for this one, and Thank G they did. All together now: "Tandem bikes, above our ground. We're The LK. We are all for swinging if it takes the pain away." It certainly helps.