Jenny Lewis drops a new video for a song she’s been singing for a while now, “See Fernando,” and I can’t help but smile. I definitely envy her for how much fun being a rock star must be sometimes.

“Pretty Bird” - Jenny Lewis Live at Meany Hall ::: courtesy of Youtube user: bebeblu.

… most of them don’t usually involve appearing on stage alone in front of a nearly capacity 1200 seat theater. “I’ve never done this before,” Jenny Lewis confessed last Wednesday to the crowd after playing her first solo song, “Rabbit Fur Coat” all alone on a dark stage. To a cheer of encouraging applause she introduced the next song “It’s A Hit” noting “I wrote this next song about a guy who lost his job in Washington yesterday.” Three cheers for that indeed. Way to start strong.

As we heard on a recent NPR podcast, Lewis has been collaborating quite a bit with her current boyfriend Jonathan Rice, and brought him along to play some of the songs he helped to write on her latest album Acid Tongue. After a few songs alone, Lewis invited Rice out to join on a song he helped write called “Carpetbaggers,” a song that Lewis convinced Elvis Costello to duet with her for the album version. After Lewis noted “Carpetbaggers” was about treacherous women, Rice jokingly asked if it was autobiographical. She only raised an amused eyebrow in answer before launching into the song.

The set list consisted of the complete range of Lewis’ solo material and some covers, yet even with only a couple Rilo Kiley songs in the mix, a larger point of view quickly emerged. Quite a few of the songs chosen for this evening seemed to reflect the experience of conflicted and drama prone women, cougar moms and disaffected daughters and fragile girlfriends alike. Midway through the set Rice and Lewis dueted on the oft covered “Love Hurts,” a song which Lewis referred to in an earlier interview as “a perfect love song.” Right. Somehow that sounds exactly like something she would say. Rice’s jibe had legs.

Not having paid proper attention to Lewis’ latest release, many of the new songs I’d heard only once, and so was pleasantly surprised. She’s really singing with confidence now, and it’s sounding good. Notable songs for me were “Pretty Bird,” “Silver Lining,” and the Rilo Kiley number “You Are What you Love.” To be perfectly honest, I doubt this entire set could have been any better. (Reading the last two sentence’s over I now realize how much of a pussy I must sound. I’m a bearded dude! Oh well.)

“I was afraid Meany Hall was a beer hall or something,” Lewis confided to the crowd near the end of the night. “With beer nuts.” Funny. Considering this is where the small orchestra’s usually play on campus and the closest beer nut was probably up the Ave a ways, Lewis had nothing to worry about. Starting a three song encore with “Godspeed,” Lewis took to the piano, an instrument that until this point had remained untouched. She then brought out opener’s Norfolk and Western to harmonize on “Acid Tongue,” and finished the night with a song all alone on stage that I would have to identify as new.

You can listen and watch low-res versions of much of the night on Youtube at c2weber’s youtube channel.

A Rough Setlist from memory after the fold.
Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday this blogger will be headed back to the alma mater to take in Ms. Jenny Lewis at Meany Hall, an unusual venue for an incomparable entertainer. Not to many rock and roll shows happen at the Symphony hall at the University. The following night in Bellingham, Western Washington University will have the pleasure of another solo show on the part of the our dear heroine. The special guests joining her on the bill do not appear to be as hoped, one special Ben, but instead, PDX band Norfolk and Western. (Hope is still alive for a song or two. Anyways…) No matter the circusmstances, as far as we’re concerned,it’s been too long and we are excited to our core.

Just last Friday Ms. Lewis stopped by NPR’s World Cafe for a charming interview and five song set accompanied by Laurel Canyon resident, current flame, and songwriting conspirator Jonathan Rice along with her full band. The interview throughout brings where she’s coming from on her latest album much more into focus, and I was certainly surprised by some of her answers.

And I’m not talking about to learn.

If you happened to miss this weekend’s Decemberists show (which I heard was especially stellar) and you’re in school, this Thursday December 4 is your lucky day, as the University of Washington HUB Auditorium is host to Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, and man about town Sean Nelson. Starts at 7.30 and is $19.50 for UW students with ID only.

The general public isn’t completely left out as on January 21 Meany Hall features Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis with a “special guest.” I think you all know who I hope and suspect that special guest is. That one is $25 for the general public and $17.50 with UW ID. Get tickets at tickestwest.

The Mercury Prize nominees were announced today. The prize is annually awarded to the best British or Irish record of the past year and it’s list of nominees adds to the convincing argument that the past year was all about UK artists. Up for the prestigious award is Amy Winehouse (Back to Black), Maps (We Can Create), Fionn Regan (The End of History) and Klaxons (Myth of the Near Future) and eight other UK bands. Stop by KEXP’S Blog for the full list and take a listen to a number of the nominated bands.  While I am loving the new Fionn Regan album, my vote is Winehouse for the win.

Were you one of the little girls on the Siamese Dream album cover? If so, Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins want to know. With their new release Tarantula, featuring none other than Paris Hilton on the cover, it’s no wonder the band is feeling nostalgic for the good old days.

And in a post sure to give at least two of my favorite readers sweet dreams…. Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley talks about auditioning people for an amateur porn  and “her increasingly loose attitude about sex and music.”  

Grizzly Bear acoustic in-store! My favorite soundboard blogger lullabyes has the entire performance from the acoustic Grizzly Bear peformance Gorilla vs. Bear is talking about today. I highly suggest you download it as, it captures the vocal harmonies perfectly. If your into Jenny Lewis like I am, you can also search around at lullabyes for some great performances by her and her and Blake’s band Rilo Kiley.

New Dntel single … Sub Pop posted the title track from Dntel’s, aka Jimmy Tamborello of the Postal Service, new album. Incidentally, this album will feature guest appearances by both Jenny Lewis and Ed from Grizzly Bear. I did not intend for this written coincidence.

Figurines have a video … for their song excellent song “Back in the Day.” I love this band. The animation in this video is great too.

Leak, Leak, Leak… Leaks of the new Feist, the new Wilco, and of course the new Modest Mouse have appeared on the nets and bloggers are all over it. I haven’t dl’ed any of them (that would be stealing?), so I have no opinion yet. The single songs are interesting though and I look forward to hearing them all.

I am pleased to say that choosing the best songs of 2006 has been a daunting task with all the incredible tunes that have been released this year. The following are, after much consideration, a thousand listens, and just about as many changes… my favorite songs of 2006:

1. (Gasp! A Tie!) “Hospital Beds” and “We Used To Vacation” - Cold War Kids - Up In Rags EP Hospital Beds
2. “Hold On, Hold On” - Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood Hold On, Hold On
3. “While You Were Sleeping” - Elvis Perkins- Ash Wednesday
4. “Fire Island, AK” - The Long Winters- Putting the Days to Bed
5. “Here’s Your Future” - The Thermals - The Blood,The Body, The Machine Here’s Your Future
6. “Samson” - Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
7. “The Phantom Limb” - The Shins - Phantom Limb Single
8. “Flag and Family” - Cursive - Happy Hollow
9. “The Funeral” - Band of Horses- Everything All the Time
10. “Cream”- Thee Emergency- Can You Dig It? Cream
11. “Moon Over Goldsboro” - The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
12 “Future Foe Scenarios” - Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
13. ”Sad Sad City” - Ghostland Observatory- Paparazzi Lightning Sad Sad City
14. “Just A Thought” - Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
15. “Bad Education” - Tilly and The Wall - Bottom of Barrells
16. “Start of Something” - Voxtrot - Raised by Wolves EP
17.”Good Weekend” - Art Brut- Bang Bang Rock & Roll
18. “All Fires” - Swan Lake- Beast Moans All Fires
19. “Handle With Care” - Jenny Lewis with guests Ben Gibbard, Conor Oberst, & M. Ward- Rabbit Fur Coat
20. “Jah Didn’t Kill Johnny” - Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust

Beloved Songs of 2006, That Were Not Released in 2006

“Lisa” - Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
“The River (live)” - Atmosphere w/Heiruspecs - from First Avenue, Mpls
“No Children” and “Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton”- The Mountain Goats
“I Found a Reason” - Cat Power
“Breathe Me” - Sia
“Heartbeats”- Jose Gonzalez

In honor of even the remote possibility of our seeing Ben and Jenny do a couple of songs tonight I have a live Postal Service recording featuring both. I know Ben has been touring solo with a few of the Postal Service songs, but I think actual live recordings of them all together are rare. SOTS have actually seen Postal Service live once, at Sasquatch, where Ben and Jenny did a cute little dance to the song provided below. That cute little dance cemented Jenny Lewis’s #1 indie-rock hottie ranking in my mind forever.

It’s the last show of the tour in their hometown so I am really hoping Death Cab pulls out all the stops tonight. 

Here is “Nothing Better” from a live XFM session.

 Listen: “Nothing Better” (live) - The Postal Service

Jenny’s been busy lately. She’s been on the largeheartedboy run down lately just as much as The Mountain Goats which is impressive. But she is also doing the media much more than she ever did with Rilo Kiley it seems. Via Never News we are pointed to a YouTube clip of Jenny and the Watsons on a D.C. kids show called Pancake Mountain doing their new favorite “Fernando.”

 Check it out. Jenny is wearing a shiny minidress. So hot.

My duty as a Jenny Lewis superfan compells me to tell you that Who Killed the Mixtape? has Jenny Lewis’ version of “Little Boxes,” done for the theme song for the Showtime’s best shows, Weeds.

Here is we have previously blogged about the other artist versions of “Little Boxes” including one by Death Cab.