OMFG (Real screenshot from my Amazon wish list stalking). I've found my people.
Tunes Tuesday: "What's That Perfume That You Wear?," Jens Lekman
Jens Lekman is one my all-time favorite musicians. We picked one of his songs for our first dance at our wedding! What I didn't know is that I could've hired the man himself — apparently he's picked up wedding singer gigs to supplement the dwindling financial returns of being an indie singer in the days of online streaming. Gah!! Jens, you an inordinately talented songwriter, musician, performer, and observer of life and I will always spend my money on your album or DC shows.
My advice: buy his new album, which includes this lilting song that makes you want to dance and cry, perhaps simultaneously. (No, I don’t understand the video at all). He just came to U Street Music Hall last week, and he ended his set with a tune penned after Obama won in 2008, but now it didn't seem as hopeful. "These are dark and troubling times," he said. "So be kind to one another and don't let anyone stand in your way."
Tunes Tuesday: "Get Low," James Vincent McMorrow
This is the other song I constantly find myself humming from Kate Miss's excellent best-of-2016 playlist. I didn't know the artist, so I googled and found a podcast I wish was in my life years ago. It's called Song Exploder (there's 80+ episodes, most recently Solange and Metallica, so clearly I'm late to the party.).
Each episode consists of an artist breaking down how exactly how a song was created. Which is how I learned the genesis of Get Low's singer-songwriter-meets-minimalism feel and that call and response intro. Not to mention why it has a Lil Jon-esque title.