Guess I should have taken this seriously and tried to buy an LP. I see they're all sold out and the only one for sale on discogs is $275? It's still on spotify but I'm assuming that won't last long.
― Indexed, Monday, 21 March 2022 19:02 (two years ago) link
Anyone selling on discogs right now is specifically trying to profit off of this news.
― Evan, Monday, 21 March 2022 19:17 (two years ago) link
btw night falls over kortedala still lives online in unlisted form at that link i shared above (until they wise up and take it down)
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Monday, 21 March 2022 20:42 (two years ago) link
Been removed from his Bandcamp page but still shows as a purchase in my app/feed, so there's that...
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 22 March 2022 22:04 (two years ago) link
When I saw this news I thought “good thing I got it on vinyl” but I was wrong! I was thinking of the compilation (which I adore)
― flow, my crimson tears (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 23 March 2022 01:52 (two years ago) link
I love him for the casual Life a Users Manual reference.
― Tim, Wednesday, 23 March 2022 15:47 (two years ago) link
wait is he really re-recording oh you're so silent jens...
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 23 March 2022 22:09 (two years ago) link
it's made pretty clear in his blog post linked above, says he wants to re-release it but has to avoid the sample issues that have kept it unavailable for the past decade & has recorded over some of the original tapes so some of it needs to be re-recorded from scratch
― ufo, Thursday, 24 March 2022 00:20 (two years ago) link
I was under the impression that Jens had already re-recorded various samples after their initial release... it could be my imagination but I thought that "Black Cab" in its original pre-Oh You're So Silent Jens form had a full-tilt Left Banke sample
I wish he could just get those samples cleared! The re-interpretative quality of those early songs was so much a part of the enjoyment
― flow, my crimson tears (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 24 March 2022 18:27 (two years ago) link
you're not wrong about "black cab" and i think "maple leaves," both of which had a few alternate versions with slightly-altered instrumentals
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Thursday, 24 March 2022 19:06 (two years ago) link
there were two different versions of "maple leaves" on oh you're so silent jens with some slightly different samples iirc, not sure if there were any others out there
i think the left banke sample is still there in the version of "black cab" on the album too
no idea which samples were at fault for the album getting taken down either
― ufo, Thursday, 24 March 2022 23:26 (two years ago) link
^ not "Oh You're So Silent Jens", I don't even think it's harpsichord on the album, sounds like a mandolin or something. What a perfect song
― flow, my crimson tears (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 25 March 2022 15:29 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PojymCxpb4
ah here's the version without the sample
― ufo, Friday, 25 March 2022 21:33 (two years ago) link
"Black Cab" is a magical song
― flow, my crimson tears (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 26 March 2022 01:54 (two years ago) link
Black Cab might be my favorite song. Thank god it is on youtube.
I really am saddened by the removal of Night Falls.
― treeship., Sunday, 27 March 2022 20:11 (two years ago) link
this must be what the opposite of hallelujah feels like
― maf you one two (maffew12), Sunday, 27 March 2022 21:45 (two years ago) link
I wasn't imagining it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpgkG4TIyvE
GOD this song
― flow, my crimson tears (flamboyant goon tie included), Monday, 28 March 2022 01:15 (two years ago) link
well maybe i am, maybe i am
― treeship., Monday, 28 March 2022 01:25 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roMN1t4amXY
this is a charming performance of the opposite of hallelujah to hold people over until night falls is available again
― treeship., Monday, 28 March 2022 01:27 (two years ago) link
the album still lives online at this unlisted link! (for now)
youtube.com/watch?v=jtHvuY-wXys
― roflrofl fight (voodoo chili), Monday, 28 March 2022 03:57 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMAml2wdwQ4sweetsurprised i couldn't find more footage of you together. Great memories of the Toronto Great Hall show.
― maf you one two (maffew12), Monday, 28 March 2022 12:52 (two years ago) link
he’s just posted ‘maple leaves - out tomorrow’ on his ig story
― just sayin, Tuesday, 26 April 2022 21:46 (two years ago) link
https://open.spotify.com/album/44Wa9N8w6M2VFRddtbnbX3
not just maple leaves, the entire oh you're so silent jens remake has gotten a surprise release!
now titled the cherry trees are still in blossom, it adds some interludes, a recording of "eureka" which looks to be a track he played live but never released, a new version of "julie" titled "the cherry trees are still in blossom", and an acoustic version of black cab, but removes the second version of "maple leaves"
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 01:48 (two years ago) link
hmm really do not know how to feel about the new "maple leaves", he's reworked it as an acoustic ballad with strings. it's gorgeous but as a replacement for the original and the only version widely available, it's totally disappointing. if this was a bonus track i'd love it but where's a version that's anything like the original! where are those propulsive drums!
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 01:59 (two years ago) link
new "black cab" is wonderful though! slightly different but totally does it justice
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 02:10 (two years ago) link
oh crazy! i just posted the julie video on another thread, didnt realise the whole album was out. listening now...
― just sayin, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 02:42 (two years ago) link
hmm showing up as all grayed-out tracks for me. Are you all in europe?
― na (NA), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 02:45 (two years ago) link
australia
― just sayin, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 02:47 (two years ago) link
his voice on the new black cab seems weird?
― just sayin, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 03:10 (two years ago) link
ufo OTM re: "Maples Leaves". Though it was always going to be a high-degree-of-difficulty move when the original versions were like the canonical How To Fruitfully Sample Stuff For Pop Songs, non-hip-hop/dance music division lol. (In my tiny brain anyway.)
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 03:11 (two years ago) link
i don't have any doubt he would have been capable of suitably recreating "maple leaves" though, even if the arrangement had to be tweaked a bit.
kind of a weird project where some of the tracks are barely changed from the original (only a tiny sample at the start of "sky phenomenon" removed otherwise it's the original recording) but a lot of tracks are totally re-recorded so there's pretty wild fluctuation in recording fidelity track-to-track. think he said it was due to some of the original master tapes being available but others were lost or too sample-dependent, but it's means it's not quite here or there
yeah it sounds a little deeper, might just be the passing of 19 years idk
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 03:20 (two years ago) link
wow the new "black cab" ... never heard a version of this song that wasn't absolutely perfect
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 27 April 2022 06:56 (two years ago) link
the new "maple leaves" is perfect in its own way i made peace with its existence before the second verse
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 27 April 2022 07:00 (two years ago) link
"the cherry trees in blossom" is maybe the best thing here, easily the best version of that song & the new lyrics posing it as a sequel to the original "julie" are a nice touch
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 07:13 (two years ago) link
https://boomkat.com/products/the-linden-trees-are-still-in-blossom
reworked Night Falls Over Kortedala out in two weeks too!
it has 6 tracks added on the end:Your Beat Kicks Back Like Death - Scout Niblett cover for a compilationOur Last Swim in the Ocean - demo included on pre-order bonus EP Kalendervägen 113.DA Little Lost - Arthur Russell cover for a compilationRadio NRJ - B-side to "Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo"The Linden Trees Are Still In Blossom - probably a sequel track like "The Cherry Trees Are Still In Blossom" but I don't think there's an obvious lyrical linkWhen I'm Swimming - no idea what this is either
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 09:33 (two years ago) link
Finally a streamable version of “I saw her in the anti war demonstration” I love that song, can’t really hear a difference on this version and the original one, but it’s been years since I last heard it.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 13:16 (two years ago) link
No idea why he didn’t become one of the most important and popular figures in indie pop/rock. There’s so many brilliant songs in here.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 13:17 (two years ago) link
"i saw her in the anti-war demonstration" is one that i'm not sure has been changed or re-recorded at all
it seems like he probably was pretty well-positioned to reach a higher level of success after night falls over kortedala but that didn't eventuate due to him taking 5 years to release i know what love isn't, which got a relatively underwhelming reception. he's also just been not very prolific in terms of actual albums since nfok. his output is a bit higher if you look at all the other weird little project he's done like postcards, but it's still not that substantial.
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 13:58 (two years ago) link
& he still puts out a bunch of stuff in weird ways that ensures that no one except the true heads ever hear it. looking at his website just now i found this wonderful 8 minute track he put out in 2019 exclusively as an mp3 download there.
http://jenslekman.com/IWantToBeInvaded.html
there's all sorts of other stuff... "wwjd" and "i remember" which were exclusive to a mix he made on soundcloud... he really needs to put out a rarities comp!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyQIen0MRSU
still love "wwjd"
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 14:05 (two years ago) link
probably prefer the old “maple leaves,” but i kinda like how the new version removes a lot of the things that stamp it firmly in 2004, including that breakbeat and the choral samples
― in places all over the world, real stuff be happening (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 14:05 (two years ago) link
"i want to be invaded" is really so good how does he let something like that just be a throwaway on his website!
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 14:27 (two years ago) link
guh these self-covers/remakes are SO disappointingly sweetreminds me of why i haven't been much interested in lekman's music in the past decade
too much light and glint and prettiness, ugh - the special of the old stuff was partly the dust and grit
― sean gramophone, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 14:46 (two years ago) link
this is on u.s. spotify now too
i'm just starting to listen to it but i'm inclined to agree with sean gramophone. i lost interest with jens bc his songs got so sappy and produced and arranged.
― na (NA), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 14:47 (two years ago) link
i don't hate this new maple leaves but it really feels like a cover, it's so reverential and slow
― na (NA), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 14:48 (two years ago) link
https://www.stereogum.com/2184655/jens-lekman-re-recording-classic-albums/interviews/qa/
interview here, he confirms nfok was indeed taken down due to legal issues with samples. also has two new albums in progress and one will be finished 'soon by his standards' so hopefully in the next year or so...?
― ufo, Wednesday, 27 April 2022 15:31 (two years ago) link
Gotta agree with sean, I thought most of these sounded “too clean”. They’re still awesome songs but they sound even amateurish with this antiseptic treatment.
“I saw her in the antiwar demonstration” sounded pretty good to me, but maybe that one didn’t get changed? The last part did sounded different to my ears, but again it’s been awhile since I played the original songs.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 16:26 (two years ago) link
Ok just compared it to the original version from a yt video from 4 years ago and it’s definitely the old version. That’s why that one sounded particularly good to my ears.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 27 April 2022 16:34 (two years ago) link
the linden trees are still in blossom is more like what i expected from this project, still very much the original album just a lot of the samples have been replaced with new overdubs. some stuff doesn't quite work or he wasn't able to recreate it properly, like the "sipping on the sweet nectar" instrumental break. biggest change is "kanske ar jag kar i dig" which has a new extended intro
obviously inferior to the original but a suitable replacement at least, works better than the more inconsistent approach of the cherry trees.
― ufo, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 08:32 (two years ago) link
night falls over kortedala really is probably the absolute best indie pop album there is though
new fully-arranged version of "our last swim in the ocean" is lovely, it's the most essential from the bonus tracks. "when i'm swimming" was previously unreleased in any form as far as i know and it's quite nice too.
"the linden trees are still in blossom" is a "postcard to nina" sequel but unlike the "julie" sequel the new arrangement isn't revelatory
would have been nice to include some more of his other rarities from the era like the "opposite of hallejulah" b-sides
― ufo, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 09:39 (two years ago) link