first off, forgive the emo title but it'll make more sense further on down. there have only been two albums that have been released in the past couple of weeks that i've felt like buying (yes, i buy all of the albums i talk about...it gets very expensive sometimes), and while they're both very different in their approach, both are phenomenal.
first off, O'Brother released Garden Window digitally this week and within one listen it has become one of my favorite albums (if not favorite) album of 2011. now, let's bring this blog title back into play. one of the best things about this album is the atmosphere they created throughout its entirety. expressing atmosphere within music is one of the hardest things to do (i think) and keeping that atmosphere throughout 60 minutes is impressive. it's what allows an entire album to sound like one long, great song but still keep the listener intrigued from track to track. i'd imagine it's much like writing a novel, in where you have to keep the reader intrigued while continuing the story and offering new events along the way...granted, i've never written a novel so that's really just what i feel like it would be like. my favorite tracks are Sputnik and Lay Down. Sputnik features producer Andy Hull (vox/guitarist of Manchester Orchestra) providing some guest vocals, which add a nice element to the song. anyway, check out Sputnik and Lay Down below and i will re-iterate, this is an album that deserves to be listened to from front to back...it's impressive to say the least.
last week, four year strong released In Some Way, Shape, or Form and while I had to some reservations about it, it's really good. like really, really good. the couple of songs they released were definitely four year strong but a little more radio/ mass audience accessible than what i was use to from them. not to say that's automatically a bad thing, but it always makes me wonder what the rest of the album will sound like. but have no fear, it has turned into my favorite album from them. it's accessible the way blink-182 and rise against are accessible which is more than ok with me. the guitar work on this album is the best they've done (check out the riffs on stuck in the middle). nicely done guys, nicely done.
Also, if you are/were a Deep Elm records fan, you really should go like their facebook page. they give away a free album (yep, the entire thing) every wednesday from their catalog. last week was red animal war's "black phantom crusades" and this week is papermoon's "new tales". i never listened to papermoon before but they remind me a lot of old death cab, it's good, i'd recommend checking it out.
if you have music suggestions or albums i may have missed, definitely let me know, i'm always down for new tunes.
in other news, the band stuff is coming along nicely, have about a song and half to go before i think we'll be ready to start playing shows (it's been a year since i've played a show, i'm getting anxious to get back to it). we've got band photos saturday with a guy i met via craigslist who is trying to get into photographing bands (free pics!) so i get to stand there and try and look tough for a couple hours which is difficult when you resemble a hobbit more so than one of the american gladiators. hopefully the dude isn't weird though. could make for an interesting afternoon.
hope everyone is doing well. much love.
X
