Secretly Canadian, 2004
Acquired: Love Garden, New, 2008
Price: $14
I really cannot express my love for Jens Lekman properly. Usually, whenever I listen to his records I just rock back and forth with glee. “She said let's put a plastic bag over our heads/ And then kiss and stuff til' we get dizzy and fall on the bed,” Lekman sings over a Blueboy sample on album closer “A Higher Power.” This, his first record, is full of perfect lines, perfect tunes, and perfectly chosen samples. Though Lekman seems like a lovable goof, there's a deftness to his compositions currently unmatched. There's so much JOY there that no one else can really harness. He's got the sadness of Robert Wratten with the wit of Stephin Merritt. And he's charming as hell. When I saw him live at SXSW his backing band was comprised of beautiful Swedish women? I mean, how cool is that? And he often takes comedians on tour with him as the opening act! HOW COOL IS THAT?! Basically, I love Jens unabashedly and I think this album is amazing. How he manages to improve on every album is astounding given the sheer quality of his output. “You Are the Light (By Which I Travel Into This And That)” even features a LYRICAL sample, borrowing the conceit and opening line from a David Berman poem. A DAVID BERMAN POEM! This still amazes me.
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