Mar 5, 2008

Record of the Week - Music of an Era


here's my playlist for this week so far:

1. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005)

Beautiful songs, lined up one after another. A lot like Bright Eyes, but... better?
They have a newer record (The Stage Names), I still like this one better. Emotional, at times melancholic, at times angry, love-sick, embittered or hopeful, and all of this with a constant slight touch of an atmosphere that brings back nostalgic reminiscences from Death Cab for Cutie, the Weakerthans, Desaparecidos, Cursive, and the like.

Must-listen-to: #2 - For Real, #8 The Latest Toughs


2. Comeback Kid - Broadcasting (2007)

Hits! Hits! Hits! Bursting of energy and with a heavy-handed production, this one makes you wanna raise your fist, smash your chair right beneath you writing all this shit and get out there, make revolution! Somewhere in between Hardcore and Punk with Attitude. This is the shit!

Must-listen-to: #2 - Broadcasting, #5 - Industry Standards


3. Mars Volta - Bedlam in Goliath (2008)

Weird, crazy, exaggerated, but easy-listening compared to the latest Mars Volta oeuvre. And: more Rock! Exactly what we have waited for! Prog-Rock at its finest, plenty of well-chosen electronic effects and unusual instruments (the clarinet solo at 4:00, Song#1, pipes in #7), some nice guitar solos, rhythm changes en masse (and a Rage Against the Machine rip off riff in #5!), but somehow at times I miss these latin american, tango and bossa escapades. Once you're into it, you're lost, I promise. One great comeback! (Except for that awful piece of Metallica-esque insanity in the beginning of Tourniquet Man, Song #6.)

Must-listen-to: #2 - Metatron, #5 - Goliath, #10 - Ouroborous


4. What Price, Wonderland - Feel, Express, Share, Aid 7'' (2005)

Emo! Or call it Screamo. Call it what you will. It is what it is, good honest 90s emotional hardcore. I like the vocals and the low-loud level dynamics. "We are all guilty"

Listen to: #3 - Conversation with Morality, #4 - Bearfighter


5. Diane Reeves - Good Night, and Good Luck Soundtrack (2005)

Great swinging 50s feeling! A wonderfully expressive, bosomy, versatile, smokey, dark voice. Just makes you wanna look for a partner and enter that dance floor ;)

Listen to: #4 - Too Close For Comfort, #9 - Solitude, and whichever you like


6. Sdnmt - The Goal is to Make the Animals Happy (2007)

Wonderful post rock record from Berlin, Germany. Atmospheric, picturesque, harmony-driven, spacious, melodies that tend to without you reckoning with it attach to your brain cells and build well-crafted temples of pure sensual lust in there. That band has to be known much wider around!

Must-listen-to: everything you get a grip on


Comments, critiques, additions?
Let me know...

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