Album of the Day: The Dodos - Visiter

Looking through my posts, I have not yet posted a single album by The Dodos. INCONCEIVABLE. This must be corrected. One of my all-time favorite albums, by the way.

Album of the Day: Sea Wolf - Leaves In The River

As Sea Wolf are gearing up to release a new album this September, let's revisit their 2007 album Leaves In The River. "Neutral Ground" and "Leaves In The River", the album's two softer songs/ballads are absolutely smashing (or I'm a sucker for melancholy, which is probably true). But there are a couple of currents running through this album, ranging from straight up indie rock through folk to an sea shanty-feeling with hints of haunting. They bear exploring.

Album of the Day: Lost in the Trees - All Alone In An Empty House

Lost in the Trees isn't an easy band to categorize. Wikipedia settles for "an American orchestral folk pop band" which is amazingly awkward. From the stunning, unnerving and haunting title track to the beautiful contemporary classical found in Sketch mvt. I&II, this is a record which deserves your full attention - I mean really listen, not have it on in the background as you go about your day.

In a 2010 SXSW interview the lead singer lists among his influences Beethoven, Radiohead, Vivaldi, Neutral Milk Hotel, Saint-Saëns, and OutKast. I can see that. The band takes all that and produces its own rich, deep, and rewarding brand of, ahem, "American orchestral folk pop".

Album of the Day: Styrofoam - Nothing's Lost

Another glitchy electronic album released on the excellent Morr Music label, this time by Styrofoam who hails from Belgium, my neighbors to the south. The album features guest appearances by Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie / The Postal Service), Markus Acher (The Notwist), Valerie Trebeljahr (Lali Puna), Andrew Kenny (American Analog Set), Bent van Looy & Japanese singer Miki Yoshimura (Munk).

Album of the Day: Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

Epic opener, amazing songs in a variety of styles, a discography of 12 albums - you may not like everything Yo La Tengo does but they do a lot of it very well. This 12th (wow, from 2009? Time for a new album!) is like a Yo La Tengo sampler: you get a bit of everything. And a lot of it is good.

 

Rating:*****
Comment: All over the place but that's not a bad thing

Album of the Day: Way Yes - Walkability

Please put the first song of this album on repeat, like, forever. I wasn't able to reconstruct the entire (short) album on Grooveshark but who cares? First song. Repeat forever. Commence swaying and sashaying. Never stop.

 

Rating: *****
Comment: Okay so the other songs are fun too.But the first one defines the summer.

Album of the Day: The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck

I've been tracking my listening habits on last.fm since 2004. I know that before that, starting around the mid-90s, Radiohead was absolute king of my top played artists. Because, well, they're very, very good. And eventually this reflected in my last.fm statistics, all the way up to ~2008 when I found The Mountain Goats. And then, very quickly, they overtook Radiohead as the top played artist. All this is relevant in that it demonstrates that I love The Mountain Goats very, very much.

The guy (because there is really only one core member) has a huge discography, but a lot of the earlier work was done on cassette and by home recording and so the audio quality leaves something to be desired.  This eventually changed around 2002 according to wikipedia although according to my ears from 1996 onwards the audio quality starts getting much better. This album is currently the latest (although there is a new one in the works, yay!) and was released in 2011.Enjoy.

If you're in the mood for more Mountain Goats, check out my "best of playlist" on Grooveshark.

 

Rating: *****
Comment: 13 songs, only 4 have less than a 4 star rating in iTunes. Yeah, I like this album.

Album of the Day: Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

Califone's unique sound is easy to detect but hard to pin down. Twangly is one of the words which comes to mind. Oh, that isn't a word? Deal with it. Clamorous is another. Freaking awesome, too. Wait, that's two words. Anyway, this 2009 album is less "out there" than their 2006 album Roots & Crowns, also a favorite of mine. More coherent. More... folky? Eh, whatever. Like I said, it's a unique sound, and it demands a few listens.

 

In fact, here is Roots & Crowns too, because it's Friday and I'm a nice guy and you really should listen to it. A couple of times at least.

Rating: *****
Comment: in a class of its own.

Album of the Day: Isbells - Stoalin'

Another Belgian band - a very different one from dEUS which I posted about two days ago but in its own way just as good. Gentle, wistful, restrained, Stoalin' is beautiful and sometimes haunting, sometimes uplifting, but always immensely enjoyable.

 Rating: *****
Comment: I think I said it all in the post.

Album of the Day: Rue Royale - Guide to an Escape

Today's record is Guide To An Escape by Rue Royale, a husband-and-wife team. I saw them on tour and was instantly hooked. Good stuff.

 

Official website

Rating: *****

Comment: Not a bad song on the album