THE BLANK GENERATION

Mr. Jens Lekman is an abominable snowman in the market, the luckiest guy on the lower East Side, and the light that never goes out--all rolled into one! His show on Friday in Bloomington, Indiana simply floored me. It was like the first time I saw Stephin Merritt all over again (except unlike Merritt, Lekman has a wee bit of innocence and a dash of youthful energy). Simply spectacular. Lekman performed with a drummer (playing standing up), a bassist (both on loan from The Impossible Shapes), a cellist and a violinist. Lekman handled electric guitar and ukelele (another thing he has in common with Merritt). His set consisted of a good number of tunes from his EPs, to my surprise. In fact, the only one of the songs that he didn't play from those I previously posted (see post below) was "Sky Phenomenon". The best news from the show? Lekman has a new 7" you can purchase, although even he doesn't know how you go about buying it. (See his site for contact info.) He performed the title cut from it, "The Opposite of Hallelujah," which is yet another stellar offering from this boy genius.

The rest of Bloomington was a minor letdown. For starters, we arrived late, but luckily didn't miss any of Lekman. M and I forgot about the time change and then had trouble finding the club, which was a dump compared to the posh indie rock venues of Champaign. The no smoking policy was a nice surprise, but unfortunately all that did was call more attention to the skank smell of mold. Hello, ventilation, you are needed at the Second Story. Our hotel, The University Plaza, came cheap enough ($56 through Priceline). But, let's just say, the room reflected the price. Peeling wallpaper, no hot water, and a wall of curtains that would lead one to believe that there was a wall of windows behind it. Sadly, much like in The Wizard of Oz, once the curtains were opened, what was behind them was found to be quite inferior: a wall.

Once outside the hotel, things perked up. M found some good clothing shops, I picked up an MC5 t-shirt, we had a yummy brunch at a downtown deli and toured the campus/downtown (they are essentially connected) by foot. And, oh yes, I bought a few records. But, more on that haul--and the happy/sad demise of my Year Without Music--at a later date.

To speed things along, in honor of Mr. Lekman's super show, I'm posting some MP3s this week from his fellow Swedish patriots, whom I highly recommend: The Chrysler, the Shout Out Louds, and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names. See my Top 30 of 2004 for additional thoughts on the tunes. I will add that the Shout Out Louds, who recently released a new EP, have signed to Capitol and are likely to blow up this year. They're touring the western half of the States with The Futureheads right now (see schedule at their site). If memory serves, The Chrysler will be re-releasing their last full length with Parasol shortly. So, look for that. And, Suburban Kids can be found on the net here and here.

N/P--Tears of rage as a result of the first loss of the season for my Fighting Illini. (29-1 ain't too shabby, though.)

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 6 at 7:00 PM.

5 Comments:

i was similarly impressed with his philadelphia show (pictures)

By  Anonymous, at 9:10 PM  

I picked this up today and I'm impressed so far. I know you are on a CD fasting of some sort, but it's worth checking out some MP3s if you can find them

http://www.arts-crafts.ca/stars/

By  Anonymous, at 2:57 AM  

Thanks for the tip on Stars; I have their first two albums, and have seen them live a couple times. But, I haven't followed them much over the past two years. I'll check it out...

Gac: thanks for the pics! Do you mind if I link to them in the post?

By  thenoiseboy, at 8:57 AM  

Hi thenoiseboy and thanks for a great review.

If you want news and mp3-files from swedish artists ive collected a couple here:

http://music.colorize.net

Best regards,
Johannes

By  Anonymous, at 4:23 AM  

no, i don't mind, link away

By  Anonymous, at 7:27 PM  

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