Jens Lekman
How did I not know about this guy?
Last week a Ycombinator team came to see us at Union Square Ventures and they gave us a mixed CD. What a treasure trove that CD has been. And no that's not the way to get Union Square Ventures to fund your company. But it sure was nice. It had Camera Obscura on it which I blogged last week. And it had Black Cab from Jens Lekman off the Oh You're So Silent Jens record.
This record is a compilation of three EPs. And apparently its the last record Jens is ever going to release. Not sure what that means. Is he done recording music? Or is he just going to put out singles?
The closest thing to this record that I've come across is 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields. If you like that record, I can confidently say you'll like Jens.
This song, called Pocketful Of Money, has Johnny Cash singing on it. Maybe its a sample? Or maybe he recorded this before he died? Who knows. But it's great.
Jens is awesome indeed.
Minor correction --- that's Calvin Johnson's voice from Beat Happening though it sounds a lot like Cash.
Posted by: Raj | July 26, 2007 at 05:19 PM
Funny, I was wondering when you would mention Lens - thought that last week. Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill is amazing.
Have you been to see the film Once yet? You should check it out if you are a music fan. Subsequently, you should check out Glen Hansard, Swell Season, and the Frames.
Posted by: NICCAII | July 26, 2007 at 05:42 PM
Jens Lekman = Lens :D
Posted by: NICCAII | July 26, 2007 at 05:44 PM
Maybe if it's his last *record* it means from now on he'll only put out CDs. Or MP3s. ;-)
Posted by: Jay Parkhill | July 26, 2007 at 06:46 PM
Agree with you Fred on Jens being great. Amazed it took you so long to find out about Camera Obscura too - they are very big in my book (but I'm a big Belle & Sebastian fan also).
Have you ever rigorously checked out the top-played artists on your top neighbours? of course it takes some time (although if the last.fm keep signing label deals it'll be easy enough just to stream them all), but I've found its the single best way to find the artists like the Jens and Camera Obscura's of the world
Posted by: pascoe | July 26, 2007 at 07:40 PM
Saw him at the Bowery last year. As much as u love music 2.0 apps funny it was a human who made something and passed it on to u that caught ur ear. Nothing I've seen in the music 2.0 space has ben able to replace that. If I see hes combing into town I'll get u a ticket and ping u. So much fun, you'll have to c him.
Posted by: josef | July 27, 2007 at 12:00 AM
sent the comment from my iPhone - sorry for all of the Prince shorthands and misspellings.
Posted by: josefr | July 27, 2007 at 12:03 AM
Surprise! It's not his last album. He quit music and worked in a Bingo parlor, but that didn't last long.
In fact, his new album's release date was just announced the other day. It's called "Night Falls Over Kortedala". He keeps a great blog on his personal website. Check it out.
Posted by: TheMarkPike | July 27, 2007 at 12:25 AM
Crap, and I had a CD all ready so you invest in us...
:)
Posted by: Tim Marman | July 27, 2007 at 01:35 AM
This is good. Nice one Fred. I didn't particularly like the ones you posted before but you're on the money with this one.
Posted by: Owlsley | July 27, 2007 at 03:22 AM
Fred, can you publish the entire track listing for us?
Posted by: nick | July 27, 2007 at 12:38 PM
Jens = 2/3 Jonathan Richman + 1/3 Stephin Merritt
Posted by: Brian | July 28, 2007 at 04:41 PM