1 White Hinterland
SXSW08: Jens Lekman the saving grace of a disappointing lineup
March 13, part two, in Austin
By Erik Adams
Published: March 14th, 2008 | 3:05pm
The day would have been lost were it not for Jens Lekman.
The grinning Swede took the Mohawk stage near the end of a Jagjaguwar/Secretly Canadian/Dead Oceans showcase with a promising start and a muddled middle. When he and his grey-clad backing band dropped their instruments to do a choreographed dance to the Chairmen of the Board sample that rides "The Opposite of Halllujah," it was clear that things were going to be OK.
It's incredible how much an artist's music stands out when you can tell that things are working; when all of the components are coming together exactly as they should. Lekman's work relies on digital sampling ("computers and stuff", as he called it), and he and the band sound truly comfortable within the confines of these pop droppings.
There was a disarming charm to the performance and it was a refreshment to find during an event that seems to take itself a little too seriously. Lekman added humorous spoken-word details to "A Postcard to Nina," and shared an anecdote about picking up two guys in Florence, Italy after showering that city with praise during a show.
"They said 'Stop saying nice things about Florence. Florence is a fucking shit hole!' And they threatened to beat me up,” Lekman said. With that in mind, he dropped a "Fuck you, Austin."
Evangelicals and Bon Iver preceded Lekman, and while both bands have garnered praise from my fellow Venus writers, I couldn't hear anything special. Bon Iver was more a victim of poor programming. The band's sparse, creaky folk seemed a poor fit between Lekman and the fearless freaks in Evangelicals. Lead singer Justin Vernon's falsetto became too much, too soon, and was only tolerable with other voices on top of it. Evangelicals were a mess. Excessive flange does not a psychedelic band make.
I was impressed, however, by Bodies of Water, a Secretly Canadian five-piece that killed with huge sound, similar to '70s prog rock without the complicated time signatures and intricate instrumentation.
On the inside stage, White Hinterland started things with a drum beat lifted from The Ronette's "Be My Baby" and continued to hop from genre to genre. It was a fantastically intimate set that highlighted Casey Dienel's fluttery warble, even if at times she just sounded like she was just doing a Björk impression.
It's March 14, which marks the SXSW halfway point, and I'm at turns sad and relieved. There's still a lot of music ahead, starting with The Scotland Arts Council showcase this afternoon.
Issue #35
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more