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Jens Lekman Shares New Song

Jens Lekman is back in the studio working on material for the follow up to his 2007 release Night Falls On Kortedala. We’ve heard a few rumors and rumblings surfacing from Jens here and there, including a playlist he recently put together of  some of his favorite tunes called A Summer In 3/4 Time. However, we were pleasantly surprised when Jens contacted us and said he has a new song to share with the world. Entitled “The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love,” you can download this new song by clicking on the widget above or by heading over to the Small Talk blog on Jens’ website HERE. Below is a message from Jens that shares the story behind this new song:

“It was the day before the american election 2008 and I was filled with a hopelessness that only a McCain supporter could have shared with me at the time. I was in Washington DC to perform for swedish TV, sitting in the couch with a profesional smile on my face, joking with the hosts and discussing the lobster with the TV chef. I saw the clips online sometime ago, it’s amazing what an actor I can be if I really make an effort.

I lived in America back then, up in New York. At the time I felt like everything I touched was turning to shit and I had decided to put everything on one card. Subconsciously I knew I needed to hit the bottom so I could work my way up again. I needed confirmation, I needed someone to tell me it wasn’t going to work out, not this way. Yes, there was a girl involved in this. I was very much in love with her.

Some things you just go through. You don’t write about it, you don’t turn it into art because it can’t be turned into art. I didn’t write any songs that year because you can’t pour manure into an espresso machine and expect a cappucino to come out. When they announced the results and the streets filled up with people celebrating I felt happy to be part of something bigger than myself. It was a feeling that lasted me until the very last days of December 2008 when I finally sat down in my old teenage room at my parents house and I wrote this song. Then the year ended.

It’s a song of hope. When love turns it’s back on you it’s nice to know there’s a world out there that doesn’t give a shit about your problems. That forces you to keep your head held high and move on. A world that is fragile and beautiful. Maybe it can sound cold to some of you, but let me make it clear that I believe in love, I just get so wrapped up in it sometimes that I need to put it into proportion. It’s something you have to do a lot when you’re Jens Lekman.”

For those of you in Europe, Jens will be there soon….

08/01 Dublin, Ireland- Whelans w/ The Blow

08/02 Manchester, UK- The Deaf Institute w/ The Blow & Bill Wells

08/03 London, UK- Union Chapel w/ The Blow & Bill Wells

08/04 Paris, France- Nouveau Casino w/ The Blow

08/05 Amsterdam, Netherlands- Paradiso w/ The Blow

08/07 Stockholm, Sweden- Strand w/ The Blow

08/09 Copenhagen, Denmark- Vega w/ The Blow

08/10 Hamburg, Germany- Knust w/ The Blow

08/11 Berlin, Germany- Lido w/ The Blow

08/13 Goteborg, Sweden- Way Out West

Suuns Sign with Secretly Canadian, Offer Free EP, Tour with The Besnard Lakes & Land of Talk

Suuns music was delivered to us one afternoon accompanied with a short note from Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes and Montreal’s Breakglass Studios, where he had recently recorded the band. “Thought you might like to hear them. They’re pretty cool,” his note simply read. And while, technically this is correct, it hardly prepared us for the near immediate infatuation with Suuns’ blistering, dark electro and arena-sized psych. Elements of Suicide, Clinic and This Heat simultaneously delivered with a youthful swagger and a learned restraint, Suuns rapidly became the phantoms of our evening listening hours. And now, we are proud to share Suuns’ music with you, albeit in a missive that absolutely explodes Lasek’s modest brevity all to hell.

Montreal’s Suuns were born during the summer of 2006 when vocalist/guitarist Ben Shemie and guitarist/bassist Joe Yarmush got together to make some beats which quickly evolved into a few songs. The duo were soon joined by drummer Liam O’Neill and bassist/keyboardist Max Henry to complete the line-up.

As an introduction to the young men of Suuns, we are offering a free download of Suuns’ first release,  Zeroes EP, that to date has only been available through Other Music and at Suuns live shows. Zeroes EP also contains early versions of soon-to-be album cuts “Arena” and “PVC.” Minimalist rhythms are equally informed by Joy Division and Can, often wrapped in a noisy squall of droning guitars and pulsing synths, it’s the pitch perfect primer for Suuns vision. “I killed a man when I was 11 years old, but I’m innocent,” snarls Shemie on EP opener “The Disappearance of the Skyscraper” over an organ-and-drum stomp that feels like a switchblade-carrying version of Silver Apples. Shemie’s close-mic’d sing/speak is as metronomic as it is melodic; in “Arena” Shemie’s rhythmic “What-choo, what-choo”’s are reminiscent of Suicide’s Alan Vega as he leads the band’s death disco groove into a bloodbath of razor-sharp guitars. Download all six songs from the Zeroes EP, below.

DOWNLOAD SUUNS Zeroes EP

Suuns are also currently touring the East Coast w/ Parlovr and will be touring with Land of Talk and The Besnard Lakes this fall. Check out full tour dates after the jump, and stay tuned for news of Suuns new full-length record, coming very soon.

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Here We Go Magic, Chuck Klosterman Team Up to Benefit Brooklyn Non-Profit

Hey Brooklyn, how would you like to be serenaded and hear a story?

In August Here We Go Magic will join author and journalist Chuck Klosterman (Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs) for an evening in the Show Off Your Sugar: One Band + One Author event series. Each event features a reading from an author, followed by a musical performance.

Sondre Lerche shared the stage with writer Shalom Auslander in June, and on August 19 Phosphorescent will play after a reading from Sloane Crosley. Here We Go Magic takes the stage for an acoustic set on August 11 at 8pm at CoCo66 (66 Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn). Tickets are $16 and all the money goes to a good cause! The proceeds go to the 826NYC non-profit writing center, formed by Dave Eggers in 2002 to benefit  New York City students. Get your tickets & find more info HERE.

The War On Drugs Lay It Down Fat On Daytrotter

Surprise! It was quite a treat coming in to the office yesterday after a long weekend festivaling in Chicago, hanging with Adam and Mike from The War On Drugs (who were playing as members of Kurt Vile’s band), only to find this great session with The War On Drugs up on Daytrotter. Featuring a stunning, booming version of the band’s “Take Me To The Coast” from 2008’s Wagonwheel Blues, the whole session is a testament to the band’s mastery of mood and momentum. But perhaps, Daytrotter’s own Sean Moeller said it best in his blurb talking about the WOD session.

Of Wagonwheel Blues, Moeller wrote: “The spectacular Wagonwheel Blues is a mashing of sounds that one could hear at a busy train station, with three passenger trains crossing paths as if they were slicing up the yard like a pizza, missing each other by a hair – all of them with different tones and clatter. You can hear all of the anxieties of the folks riding the rails – the paying customers and the hobos. You can hear the nerves, the sobs, the farewells and the power of the shove off, along with the impressive power to keep all of that stuff rolling down the tracks. It’s a hurricane of stuff, a furnace of collisions, or near collisions.” Download mp3 from the session HERE.

The band has a few dates on the horizon, playing with Black Mountain in New York, and at Releigh, NC’s first ever Hopscotch Festival. See all the upcoming dates from The War On Drugs HERE.

BLK JKS Featured in New Documentary from The Fader

The talented editorial staff at The Fader was down in South Africa during the beginning of the World Cup, and they’ve been working on a terrific film series called Pitch Perfect.  The 7th episode follows BLK JKS home to SA and includes footage of their EP release show at Bassline.  Mpumi Mcata’s speech about “MZABALAZO” and their performance at the World Cup is incredibly inspiring.

“The country wrote a song; the people wrote a song.”

Antony and the Johnsons release “Swanlights” on October 12, includes duet with Björk

“The Creek,” one of the pieces included in the Swanlights hardcover art book

We previously announced the release of Antony and the Johnsons’  album and 144-page hardcover book, Swanlights in May. Since then, the date has been changed to October 12th in North America and the 11th in Europe. To the devotees-we assure you its worth the week-long wait!

Björk joins Antony on the album with the duet “Flétta.” The two have already collaborated on “The Dull Flame of Desire” and “My Juvenile” from Björk’s 2007 album Volta.

Tracklist for Swanlights after the jump.

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Yeasayer “Madder Red” digital single out 8/10, stream Golden Filter Remix

We’re pleased to announce the August 10 digital release of Yeasayer’s “Madder Red.” It will include the ODD BLOOD version of the song you already know and love, an instrumental (karaoke anyone?) and an incredible remix courtesy of NYC disco pop duo, The Golden Filter.

You can stream the remix over at Pitchfork.

Enjoy!

We Are Re-Releasing jj nº 2 on August 3rd! Download New, Free MP3!

Does the following scenario sound familiar?

You walk into a record store, looking for something new and great to listen to.  Your friend asks you, “Have you heard the jj nº 2 album? It has a giant, blood-spattered pot leaf on the cover and the singer has the voice of an angel! They are Swedish as hell.”  You haven’t heard of jj nº 2, so you ask the friendly clerk if they have it on vinyl.  They’re like, “Naw, dawg, it’s out of print.”  Your life fucking sucks so bad!!!  You were so pumped for a minute.

NEVER AGAIN!

Starting August 3rd, you can waltz into any fine music store (digital, brick and mortar, or…otherwise) and receive your very own copy (cd, lp or digital) of one of 2009’s greatest pop albums.

There is more good news for the jj fan and the about-to-be-jj-fan: to celebrate this, we are offering a free mp3 for a song that was recorded during the jj nº 2 sessions, “Baby.”  This song is not on the re-release of the album, but only for free on the internet.  You can download it today at SPIN online here.

Please pre-order your copy of jj nº 2 here at the Secretly Canadian Mailorder.

Let us know if you have any questions about this.  These are confusing times.  We’re here all day.

Richard Swift Hits Home-Run With 3″ CD Cover

The cover for Richard Swift’s new 3″ CD should be reason enough to get your hands on this limited edition release:

Looks familiar? Can you guess who are the components of this hybrid ?

Here’s a  hint: its an awesome triple-whammy use of alliteration for the letter “W.”

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Vote Yeasayer-ODD BLOOD for Best of 2010!

NPR’s All Songs Considered wants to know what you think merits the honor of The Year’s Best Music (So Far). Our very own Yeasayer is a contender with their stellar February release, ODD BLOOD. It’s been quite a year for the band as they continue on with their international touring schedule coming to a town near you.

You can cast your vote for up to 5 albums until the stroke of midnight, Sunday the 27th. Winners will be announced June 29th on All Songs Considered. Don’t get lazy just because the poll is in alphabetical order according to artist- scrolling is great exercise and you’ll also overlook Whiz Kalifa’s Kush and Orange Juice.

VOTE OR DIE!!!