MP3: Jens Lekman - Rocky Dennis EP

First post of the year and unusually for me it's something new rather than old. I've recently become mega obsessed with young (but still older than meeee) Swedish singer/songwriter wunderkind Jens Lekman. At the moment he's only released one record, 2004's When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog, which is brilliant, but when I heard his up and coming (well it's out in America, two more weeks for the UK) compilation Oh You're So Silent Jens my childlike mind went slightly insane. The sort of insane that means hiding an artists records to force yourself not to listen because you like them so much you're scared you'll get sick of them. Like that.

Anyway I had to post some stuff, because despite him getting some Pitchforkhype (tm), hardly anyone over here in the UK has heard of him yet. I expect that'll change once the new compilation gets its no doubt great reviews in the music press this month, but until then i'll have to act as supercool Peel style musical ambassador for him. The three songs are from the still in print Rocky Dennis EP (now on Secretly Canadian), all of which will be compiled on the new compilation. The EP is a mini-concept album based on the eighties Bogdanovich film Mask, which featured a superyoung Eric Stoltz as a boy called Rocky Dennis who had a disfiguring facial bone disease, Cher as his badly acting alcoholic mother and a young Laura Dern as his blind semi-girlfriend. Lots of cheese in there, but Jens is able to pull out the pure poignant music juice out through the mullets and Bob Seger. The first track in particular is just amazing.

For more info on Jens you can check out his Wikipedia entry, his nice official site, or the really good unofficial site Maple Leaves site. By the way for all you Brits, Jens is playing at Nice N Sleazy in Glasgow with Bill Wells on Feb 11th, Faversham in Leeds on the 12th and with (fellow Secretly Canadian artiste) Richard Swift (plus Bill Wells again) at the lovely Bush Hall in London on Feb 16th, and you can get tickets here.

Enjoy.

Download: 01 - Rocky Dennis' Farewell Song (to the Blind Girl) - MP3 7.4mb (rapidshare)
Download: 02 - Rocky Dennis In Heaven - MP3 1.3mb (rapidshare)
Download: 03 - Jens Lekman's Farewell Song To Rocky Dennis - MP3 4.8mb (rapidshare)

Discography: (UK releases only)

When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog (2004)	Oh You're So Silent Jens (CD 2006)	Oh You're So Silent Jens (LP 2006)
Rocky Dennis EP	Maple Leaves EP	You Are The Light EP