WATCH // Jens Lekman Live in London, Plus New EU & UK Tour Dates

Oh, Jens. Just when you think he couldn’t be anymore charming, he delivers this –> Jens Lekman Live in London. Pitchforktv captures Jens performing songs off his new album, I Know What Love Isn’t, interspersed with discussion on the themes and stories that exist as the foundation. He couldn’t be more perfect. Watch “I Know What Love Isn’t” above, then head to Pitchfork for more videos.

“I like breakup records that don’t pat you on the back and say, ‘It’s OK, it’s going to work out.’ I like breakup records that say, ‘It’s shit now, and it’s going to suck even worse, but we’re in this together.” – Jens

Jens just added new EU/UK dates to his fall & winter tour. Check them out below! See full list of dates HERE. His first show is tomorrow at Barcelona’s Music Hall! Don’t miss it!

 
Tour Dates:
11/22/12 Dublin, IE - Whelans
11/23/12 Cork, IE – Cork Opera House (Half Moon Theatre)
11/25/12 Glasgow, UK – The Hug and Pint
11/26/12 Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe
11/27/12 Bristol, UK – Thekla
11/29/12 Brussels, BE – Botanique (Orangerie)
11/30/12 Amsterdam, NL – Bitterzoet
12/01/12 Frankfurt, DE – Zoom
12/03/12 Munich, DE – Freiheiz
12/04/12 Ravenna, IT – Bronson
12/05/12 Rome, IT – Circolo Degli Artisti
12/07/12 Zurich, CH – Kilbi Im Exil

The War on Drugs Play London in One of Their Biggest Performances To Date

The War On Drugs took control of London’s Electric Ballroom Tuesday night. With a 13-song set plus a romping encore of “It’s Your Destiny” and “Needle in Your Eye #16,” they played to 1000 fine folks in one of their biggest performances to date. Uncut‘s Allan Jones was there to cover and he gives us a intricate play-by-play, saying,”More, and soon, is the response of everyone I speak to on the way out, those of them who aren’t still speechless, anyway.” You can and should read the full show review HERE.

Included in the set was a cover of “A Pagan Palace,” originally done by UK band, The Waterboys. Jones calls to The War On Drugs’ many influences, then writes, “Less commented on perhaps is what they share with The Waterboys. It’s a connection made explicit tonight via a terrific version of ‘A Pagan Place’, with Granduciel’s impassioned vocal whoops appropriately reminiscent of Mike Scott, as they are on reflection elsewhere, punctuating a wild thrashing of acoustic guitars. There are actually only two of them being played, but the giant thrum they make sounds like the entire Red Army is up on stage strumming away with giddy abandon.” Watch The War On Drugs’ “A Pagan Palace” above.

The War On Drugs trek on, playing Bristol tonight and eventually coming back home to continue their tour Stateside. They’ll make a stop at the Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian/Dead Oceans SXSW 2012 Official Showcase, playing alongside label-mates Gardens & Villa, Nite Jewel, Exitmusic and many more. Check out the full showcase lineup HERE and then pop over to see the rest of the WoD’s full tour HERE.

Our Thoughts on the PIAS Warehouse Fire

As many of you have read in the press or via social media, a large part of the independent music community took a serious hit very early Tuesday morning, when the Sony DADC / PIAS warehouse in the Enfield neighborhood of London burnt to the ground amidst continuing riots and unrest across England. A good summary of what occurred and which labels were affected can be read here: http://pitchfork.com/news/43478-labels-react-to-sonypias-warehouse-fire/

Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian, as well as our SC Distribution label brethren Asthmatic Kitty, Lovepump United, No Quarter, Suicide Squeeze Records, Post Present Medium and We Are Free, all lost significant amounts of stock in this fire. This being said, our primary thoughts and concern are with the Sony warehouse staff and PIAS sales staff whose lives were all massively disrupted by the tragic event, as well as our independent label peers who had a more significant portion of their worldwide stock committed to the Sony DADC / PIAS warehouse. We extend our support to them, and we are committed to doing all that we can to help them with the recovery.

With regards to how this affects us and our releases, Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian are in the fortunate position of having significant stock holdings dispersed around the world. We’re working very quickly now to shift some of that existing stock to make our records available in the UK and Ireland as soon as possible. Also, we have the utmost confidence that the emergency plan that PIAS and Sony are currently implementing will result in a new fulfillment system being up-and-running very quickly. Currently no release dates outside of the UK and Ireland will be delayed, and it is looking more and more like release dates within the UK and Ireland will be delayed by no more than a few weeks.

Although the lost sales and the amount of extra work will be significant, Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar and Secretly Canadian are healthy enough to be able to weather this unfortunate storm. So it is that our more primary concern, again, is with those outside of our camp – the peer labels that we madly respect who have more of their stock more centrally committed to the Sony DADC / PIAS system – as well as the overall health of the independent music sector in the UK, especially at a time when over the past few years, physical retail and music sales in general had already been taking such a significant hit. Above all, we hope that the violence and vandalism in the UK gives way to peaceful demonstration and a thoughtful dialogue. Particularly to our friends in London, we wish you safety and a return to normalcy soon.