Cat Power performs Showbox SoDo on Saturday / photo by Hilary Harris We finish out October with Halloween and a strong week of shows ahead, and we swing right into November with a ton of other great choices. Monday starts pretty damn string with Robyn Hitchcock and the Young Fresh Fellows at Triple Door, Dark Dark Dark, Emily Wells, and Eternal Fair at Crocodile, and Nneka at Tractor Tavern. Some scary choices Tuesday night at Chop Suey with Twerps, Witch Gardens, Crypts, Ononos, Haunted Horses, and [...]
I'm not going to talk about my October 19 radio show, other than this sentence and noting the playlist is below. Instead, I'm going to pump up the forthcoming October 26 show. But first, a little history behind next week's show. When I first moved to Mount Vernon, I purchased a 73 single on eBay of a Seattle band called Tullycraft. After winning the auction, I received a message from one Brett Sandstrom, who noted that he lived in the neighboring town of Sedro-Woolley. We were both a [...]
Frank Yang I guess I should blame Letterman. When it was announced that English trio Daughter were doing a short North American tour around their CMJ appearance, I was quite excited as I figured with their full-length debut not due out until the new year, and only a couple of low profile EPs in The Wild Youth and His Young Heart to their name, their Monday night showcase at The Drake would be a intimate, even secret, occasion for those [...]
In By The Numbers, FADER looks at a big record release and breaks it down in basic digits. In FADER #82, we actually took on a record label: Gothenberg, Sweden's Service, which, with 19 albums ... read more
By this point, it seems like fall (or autumn, depending on your preferred season-name) is a treasure trove of great new indie rock. Last year, some of the best albums of 2011 came out in September or later. (Wilco, Laura Marling, and Ryan Adams come to mind.) That pattern continues in 2012, with major releases in September and October, and we've got them all for you here on GTI's Fall 2012 mix: Jacket Weather . So what have we got here, you ask? Indie rock darlings Grizzly Bear revealed a wonderful new album [...]
Nina Mouritzen As a confirmed musical Scandiphile - I don't know if that's a real world but I like it regardless - I like to think each nordic country has a particular strength and style to them: Swedes excel at mating melody to melancholy, the best Icelandic music is evocative of the mystery and otherworldliness of the environment from which it springs, and Norway has given us black metal and a-ha. But Denmark... for a long while, they gave us Aqua. And also Mew and The Raveonettes, sure, but only recently have I began to detect a particular [...]
Jens Lekman, the instantly-endearing songwriter from Gothenberg, Sweden, touched down in New York last week to support his first album in five years, I Know What Love Isn't, out now on Secretly Canadian/Service. He stopped ... read more
The charming and eccentric Jens Lekman made a stop at Philly’s Union Transfer on his tour to promote his latest album, I Know What Love Isn’t . He recounts intimate stories and philosophies through his songs, drawing back a curtain on his own sometimes highly amusing experiences. His lyrics are unique, not often catchy, but more often than not, communicate important messages. The evening’s performance started off with Lekman’s keyboard player playing the melody to “Every Little Hair Knows Your Name”, which created anticipation before Lekman came out on stage with his acoustic guitar to play the [...]
Our amazing photographer Blake Howell went to Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill last night to see Jens Lekman w/ Taken By Trees. Not only did he get amazing shots, but he came back raving it was "the most fun, upbeat show I've been to in awhile!" Here's some of our favorite shots. You can see the whole set here: Jens Lekman ! [...]
THIS WEEK'S BEST BET: The Afghan Whigs w/ Wussy Saturday, October 20 The Masquerade - 695 North Avenue in Atlanta 30306 Admission $29.50 / Purchase Tickets So many great shows this week. And if you know me or if you've spent enough time reading this blog, you'll know that on most any other occasion, I'd have the inimitable, otherwordly Swans leading this list. So what gives? Well, as it turns out, I'm a man who harbors the occasional regret. [...]
He doesn't read Stieg Larsson, hasn't heard Blood on the Tracks , and found Melancholia rather uplifiting. Welcome to the unique world of the inimitable Jens Lekman, who tells PopMatters all about his new album and why he accidentally stole something from Paul McCartney ... For a little over a decade, Swedish singer/songwriter Jens Lekman has been captivating audiences worldwide with his unique mix of stunning sample-infused musical arrangements and quirky, witty lyrics. His songs have become a joy to listen to because we're always wondering where's he taking us to next, his stories rarely adhering [...]
Wow - that month went by fast. Probably because I was too busy and tired to keep track of it. Crayzey. Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep up as well with music as usual due to my not being able to access the internet for most of the week. But I've been doing my best during the weekend, mostly just making sure to catch the big new albums, but still, I'm checking the blogs. Here are the highlights of September. 1. Lust For Youth - Behind Curtains 2. David Byrne and St. Vincent - Who [...]
Lekman's sweetly melancholy third full-length is that rare breakup album that emphasizes mature, thoughtful perspective over wallowing, self-hate, or bile. Failing relationships are so ingrained in pop music practice that "breakup albums" often fail to register as conceptual pieces at all. But concept albums they are, from In the Wee Small Hours and Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely onward. Jens Lekman has always come off as the modest sort, so perhaps he's acknowledging his latecomer status to the form on I Know What Love Isn't with a sly reference to its origins: "Sinatra...
Swedish pop singer/songwriter Jens Lekman is playing at Union Transfer tonight. His third full-length album I Know What Love Isn't, which dropped in September, surprised fans by taking a huge step away from the characteristically romantic Lekman on older records. I Know What Love Isn't may just define the term "break-up album," Lekman's sad but ... Continue reading
photos by Greg Cristman Jens Lekman @ Terminal 5, 10/9/2012 Jens Lekman brought his tour with Taken by Trees to NYC for a show at Terminal 5 on Monday night (10/8). Both artists are touring in support of their new albums -- Jens released I Know What Love Isn't in September and Taken by Trees released Other Worlds earlier this month -- and both focused their sets [...]
Watch 'I Know What Love Isn't' here. Catch Jens Lekman on his North American tour. Purchase Jens Lekman items via Insound. MP3: Jens Lekman - An Argument With Myself
As Victoria Bergsman bid the crowd farewell after her plaintive opening set at Terminal 5 on Monday night, she mumbled a self-deprecating offhand command to enjoy the following set, because it was “a lot more fun than [hers].” All apologies to Bergsman, but she couldn’t have been more correct. Jens Lekman was more affable than one could ever imagine, and his crack backing band rendered his tracks in their most potent forms conceivable. But first we’d be treated to a set from the Bergsman-fronted fellow Swedes and Secretly Canadian labelmates Taken By Trees. Dealing heavily in the breezy [...]
Lifted off one of the albums of the year, the JENS LEKMAN performs the title track, I KNOW WHAT LOVE ISN'T , via the Jimmy Fallon show.
Last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Swedish bittersweet chamber pop star Jens Lekman made his television debut with the delightful little title track from his latest and most wonderful album I Know What Love Isn't . Sorry that I can't help but think about Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" when I hear this song, the two songs really couldn't be more different. Catch the catchy replay below (via The Audio Perv ).
Jens Lekman performed "I Know What Love Isn't on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Watch the video below: ...
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MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
Listen to producer Jacques Greene’s “On Your Side,” featuring How To Dress Well
