10.31.07 5:00 AM CDT
• Music
• Rocky Rakovic
Aquavit, smoked herring--our crack intern Seth Fiegerman has been getting all Scandinavian lately. His report might explain why: A few years ago, if someone asked me what I thought about Swedish music, I probably would have tried to think of some clever way to insult Abba to conceal the fact that I knew no other Swedish bands. But that’s no longer a problem. There has been a kind of Swedish invasion, thanks to indie bands like Peter Bjorn and John, Loney. Dear, and the deceptively named I’m From Barcelona. And to top this list off, last year, I discovered Jens Lekman and learned something important: Swedish people do have a sense of humor!
Lekman performed on Saturday at Webster Hall in New York. He wore a plain white shirt with a large illustration of a rose crawling up his side. He was backed by a group of good-looking Swedish women, all dressed in white scrubs (plus one man DJ-ing, also in white). Each of the women seemed to represent some stereotype of what a Swedish woman should look like. But wow, do they rock as a band! [For his encore, he brought out a male a cappella group. Apparently he’s comfortable performing with men and women.]
It's difficult to classify the music of Jens Lekman. He looks like Art Garfunkel and sings a bit like him too. His songs, always romantic, and often humorous, sometimes have a delivery similar to Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords. And yes, just because he's Swedish and backed by women (and a good beat), there's a trace of Abba in there.
After he finished the set, he told the audience he would come out and greet everyone. 15 minutes later he was standing 5 feet in front of me, taking pictures and hugging people. But after a few minutes, the Webster Hall crew told us all we had to leave. "Where should we meet up?" Jens asked the people gathered around him. We shouted Union Square and he said OK. My friends and I hovered around Union Square afterwards for the better part of an hour. No Jens. Maybe next time he comes to America.
RSS 2.0
http://www.playboy.com/mt-tb.cgi/6741