{Jens Lekman}
A friend and I recently declared the month of May thee official Jens Lekman month!!! I could have easily put together a nice little mix of Jens tunes, but I'm betting you savvy readers already familiar with Jens' material (if not head over to Hype Machine and give "Black Cab", "The Opposite of Hallelujah", "Your Arms Around Me", or "Postcard To Nina" a listen).
So I opted to put together a little mix of Jens inspired tunes! You may recognize the opening riff of Jens' "Black Cab" from the '60s pop tune "Something on my Mind" from Left Banke. There's always a mention of the Motown influence on Jens' music, which is apparent on "Sweet Summers Night on Hammer Hill" where you can hear the groove of Martha Reeves an The Vandelles "Heat Wave", but I think his uptempo tunes pay alot of homage to the Northern Soul of the '60s (Northern Soul was a sub-genre of soul music, here's the wiki) such as Pookie Hudson's "It Gets To Me". I've also included Television Personalities "Someone To Share My Life With", which Jens covered. The music and (and often funny) lyrics can also be heard in material from Magnetic Fields, Jonathan Richman, Robyn Hitchcock, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Morrissey.
So here's my Jens Lekman Inspired Mix...
Left Banke - "Something on my Mind"
Magnetic Fields - "Love Goes Home to Paris in the Spring"
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - "(Your Love is Like A) Heat Wave"
Television Personalities - "Someone To Share My Life With"
Jonathan Richman - "Not Yet Three"
Robyn Hitchcock - "Mexican God"
Dexy's Midnight Runners - "Tell Me When My Light Turns Green"
Pookie Hudson - "This Gets To Me"
Morrissey - "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me"
I couldn't post a Jens Lekman and not give you any Jens tunes, so here's one from When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog (a collection of early material) and the other is from his tour only EP he was selling the last time he toured the states, it's titled Four Songs By Arthur Russell...
"A Higher Power"
"A Little Lost"
