An appreciation of the music of Jenny Lewis

Ok then, Matt has asked me to write something for the blog, he suggested a few of my loves - gospel, François Hardy and Saint Etienne. I was honoured to be asked and a little worried about a) making myself look like a twat and b) making myself look like a twat. Matt pretty much has the Disco, Detroit, House, Dub and Soul side of things represented, so I wondered what to write about. I decided to go for some contemporary rock/indie type of business, variety is the spice of life and all that. After much thought I decided to go with “An appreciation of the music of Jenny Lewis”  or as you might prefer to call it a brief history and some you tube clips.
A few years ago my friend Johnny (a man of impeccable taste) kindly sent me a four cd compilation of songs he loved. In amongst the many gems were two tracks by Jenny Lewis and The Watson twins both from the lp “Rabbit Fur Coat”. Here’s one of them “You Are What You Love”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ugSzInV3sA

A few months ago in the lovely summer another John came to the boat with a bunch of songs he loved and he played the same Jenny Lewis and Watson Twins lp. John used to work for Record and Tape exchange, and lives a much cleaner life than me, so his head is full of musical knowledge. I asked him if he knew much about Jenny Lewis and he asked if had heard her first band Rilo Kiley, I hadn’t.
It turns out Rilo Kiley had made 4 lps.
Here is the very interesting (and not safe for work) video for “The Moneymaker” taken from the “Under The Blacklight” lp the last one before Jenny went solo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ugSzInV3sA
(brilliant my first contribution to the Disco Village and it’s smutty)

Now the solo lps,  2006 gave us the aforementioned “Rabbit Fur Coat”, then in 2008 came “Acid Tongue”. Here is the video for “Rise Up With Fists” from RFC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-DZJo_Xyh8

And here is the title track of second solo lp “Acid Tongue”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z-e7XYW1Qk&feature=related

Last month saw the release of the latest Jenny Lewis lp, this time its recorded with her fella Jonathan Rice hence the groups name Jenny and Johnny, the lp is called “I’m Having Fun Now”. I was lucky enough to see Jenny and Johnny play in NYC last month supporting the mighty Pavement. Here is a little taste of the lp, a song called “My Pet Snakes”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MvWIHuCSMw&feature=mfu_in_order&playnext=1&videos=61M29KOjkVs

If you liked any of that, Jenny and Johnny are touring in the UK from 24th November (Birmingham) until 10th December (London), I have tickets for two dates but suspect I may go all stalky and do the full run. For tour dates and more info check their website
http://jennyandjohnnymusic.com/


And since I mentioned Pavement it would be rude not to post a link or two
Pavement on Jay Leno 1994 performing “Cut Your Hair”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ojx4PfmgoE
And the same song live from Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn NYC 19/9/2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhApz-SwI-w
Thanks for reading, check the Restless Funk radio show with Matt and myself Mondays 9-10 pm on http://www.camfm.co.uk/ or 97.2 FM if you are a simple country bumpkin like me
X