Cul de Sac – “Dust of Butterflies”
Death of the Sun
This fascinating album (with its beautiful album art by Corot) falls under the same mystical category as Charalambides and Black Forest, Black Sea. “Dust of Butterflies” is the opener, and a lovely opener it is — more Tape than jammy post-rock, just as the rest of the tracks defy easy categorization. Some as twinkling and rich as early Tarentel, some more sound collage than song. The only way to know is to listen — so listen. (insound)
Morton Lauridsen – “O Magnum Mysterium”
Lux Aeterna
Choral music gets better the louder you play it. My neighbors probably think I’m a very religious man. Performed by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
For Stars – “Calm Down, Baby”
It Falls Apart
This album is pretty melodramatic, but when it’s not being overwrought it can be pretty charming. “Calm Down, Baby” is great for the most part, though you’ll probably understand my objections right off the bat — “Frieeends again. I’m just your… friend again.” The lyrics are about a 7th-grade reading (and emotional) level, but if you’re feeling indulgent, it can be compelling music.
The Ivytree – “The Book Of Job”
Winged Leaves
This album is beautiful from start to finish, and in a murmured, lo-fi fashion that few artists are able to effect. When people talk about Bon Iver isolating himself to make For Emma, Forever Ago, I think: sure, that’s what it sounds like when you leave and you come back. But what if isolation is your natural state? That’s what I’ve always felt must be the case with The Ivytree and other bands that share its members. I spent forever trying to decide which track to put up; just get the album, I guarantee you’ll cherish it on some lonely, rainy day not long from now.
Crime in Choir – “Women of Reduction”
Trumpery Metier
Let this be your theme song tonight. I feel like if the scene from Blade Runner where that replicant is running through the glass displays was three minutes long, they would just have this for the background music. I love me some Crime in Choir. (insound)
Tulsa Drone – “Chiaroscuro”
No Wake
It’s past midnight and you’re driving alone on a rural highway with a body in the trunk. This is what’s playing on the radio. (more)
Jason Molina – “Pyramid Electric Co.”
Pyramid Electric Co.
This album, post-Songs:Ohia and pre-Magnolia Electric Co., is a solid piece of work. It’s not as dark as the incomparably bleak Ghost Tropic, nor as transcendent as his 17-minute Travels In Constants track, but Pyramid’s spare beauty is something almost anyone can appreciate. Molina is an excellent songwriter and knows just how much accompaniment his voice and words require — usually no more than a single guitar or piano. (insound)
Skygreen Leopards – “Parallel shadows (part 2) – Mad lion (part 7)”
Child God in the Garden of Eden
With the same simple and beautiful instrumentation as “The Heron,” this song, off a lesser-known companion piece to their disappointing (I thought) Life and Love in the Sparrow’s Meadow, channels the same mystical, pastoral beauty of their debut. I have two versions, this being the newer and clearer, but I keep the old version because it has a soft and indistinct quality that I grew to like. Chalk it up to variations in vinyl ripping.
Black Forest/Black Sea – “These Things”
Forcefields and Constellations
On their earlier self-titled album, Black Forest/Black Sea were more like Rachel’s, but when this album dropped, it was clear they had other things in mind. It’s the strange delvings of Charalambides married to the electronic hammock of Tape. Fully half the tracks are throwaway, but then you get a weird, sparkling gem like “These Things” and you’re reassured that they know what they’re doing.
Comets On Fire – “Dogwood Rust”
Avatar
What can I say? Simply one of the best tracks of all time, and the standard by which I now measure all medium-length rock songs. Listen to it all the way through; it’ll put hair on your chest. I’m proud to say I saw these guys in a place about the size of my apartment, and they killed it. Too bad the cops came like five minutes later and actually arrested the guy who lived there.
Tanakh – “Stereognosis”
Villa Claustrophobia
Tanakh’s debut album is still by far their strongest, and from start to finish there is hardly a weak moment. The haunting, wordless opener and its closing echo; the languid pace; you get the feeling that you are at once being serenaded in a lonely temple and floating far above a field of carnage. “Stereognosis” is the meat in an instrumental sandwich, between the sparse “Tallis” and droning “Tells,” which if joined to the center would create a single piece of music over 10 minutes long. Simply amazing. This album is most highly recommended. And you can buy the whole ball of wax for $5.
Beach House – “Wedding Bell”
Devotion
Beach House’s second album is, let’s be honest, a lot like the first – but they sound more confident and improved production brought out the instruments way more. “Wedding Bell” is the perfect example of this. Although the simple drum kit and blissed-out keyboards and vocals give you the usual Beach House business, you get this blast of guitar a minute and a half in that would have seemed completely out of place on their earlier album. Yet it feels so right here. (insound)
The Beach Boys – “Our Prayer”
20/20
This track was originally meant to be the opener for the unreleased Smile album. I don’t think a lot of people heard it, but it’s such a wonderful example of their particular brand of harmony that I end up listening to it more than their actual songs. Wilson re-recorded it for the solo remake of Smile, and I’m not entirely sure which version this is – not that it really matters. It’s worth one minute of your time whether it’s new or old. I was reminded of it by the intro to “You’re Not Supposed To.”
Dinosaur Feathers – “Family Waves”
Fantasy Memorial
Something about this music feels familiar, but I absolutely can’t place it. That’s odd, because this album is musically adventurous, listenable, and plain fun – all things I like. Best I can come up with: imagine if The Lovely Feathers spent a year in the South Pacific with Hot Hot Heat. It’s that sunny and bouncy, yet doesn’t cross over into sheer pop because it’s a bit weird too. Also: I guarantee this album is going to go big. (pre-order at Insound)
Sam Jayne And The Simpson Sound System – “Darker Still”
Living Bridge
Another track from the excellent and eclectic Living Bridge compilation, this song is actually similar in tone to the TK Webb track posted yesterday. For some reason its six minutes seem to pass by incredibly fast for me. If you haven’t given this album a listen, you really, really should soon. (Insound)
TK Webb & The Visions – “Closed Captioned Slang”
Ancestor
One of the standouts from a surprisingly strong album, this guitar fest shows what TK Webb is capable of with electric as well as “The Devil’s a Dork (The Sea Told Me)” shows off his acoustic skills. I love the sparkling and atmospheric coda.
The For Carnation – “A Tribute To”
The For Carnation
One of the first offshoots of Slint, The For Carnation put out a few albums leading up to this one, but none, I think, effect the same fusion of menace and melody quite so well as this self-titled release from 2000. The softly-spoken vocals of Brian McMahon are indeed very Slint-like, but the pacing and subtle instrumentation are much less abrasive – though that doesn’t mean the band is incapable of bursts of noise like that at the four minute mark. An excellent album.
Fieldhead – “This Train Is A Rainbow”
They Shook Hands For Hours
Listen to it all the way through. The closest reference point I have is perhaps Arovane’s earlier and more abstract albums, Autechre’s most accessible ones, or perhaps most closely, Tim Hecker’s excellent and atmospheric Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do It Again. Fieldhead seems hard to pin down, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable album for anyone with the patience for, well, this sort of thing.
Jan Ladislav Dussek – Sonata for harp
Anna Lelkes, Harpist
There are other harp sonatas by Dussek (I believe), but this is my favorite. I can’t for the life of me figure out its opus number or whatever. It’s almost like an ultra-simplified tone poem — it evokes a lot of images but is light and enjoyable, not trying too hard.
Nudge – “Two Hands”
As Good As Gone
This atmospheric but slightly funky album reminds me of Rio En Medio’s Frontier, but a little less mysterious. It can be too background-y at times but I think that the flow of the music and its lack of jarring and unexpected sounds is to be credited for that.
Foma – “Seraphim Succubi”
Inverness
The best song off an uneven, but interesting album. These guys have a knack for changing their songs up subtly but meaningfully about halfway through, and this one is no exception. It’s also the song where the singer’s breathy voice and the traditional but well-wielded instrumentation hits the mark most completely.
Cave – “Gamm”
Psychic Psummer
The rest of the album is harder to recommend, but “Gamm” proves that instrumental psychedelic rock has plenty of life in it. Good all the way through. The closer of this album, “Machines and Muscles,” is also excellent (and totally different).
Bear in Heaven – “Beast in Peace”
Beast Rest Forth Mouth
It’s true what you’ve heard. This album is pretty great, and the opener is proof of that. They’ve got the vocals and instrumentation down pat, the drums (a non-standard kit) are big as hell, and they’ve got a self-interrupting song structure that really works. Man, the drums in this track really are just off the charts.
Arthur & Yu – “1000 words”
In Camera
The shortest song on the album, and possibly the best. Beautiful and straightforward, and perfectly representative of the best these two can do. “Lion’s Mouth” is great as well but this one seems more — I’m not sure, actually. Somewhere between the naivete of innocence and the innocence of naivete. Whatever the case, it’s a wonderful little song.
Minotaur Shock – “(She’s In) Drydock Now”
Maritime
The playful, yet accomplished nature of this album is very evident in this song. The silly plucking and synths are balanced by really interesting drums and instrumentation, plus little throw-away details you don’t notice until a few listens in. You get the feeling that everything is exactly the way he wanted it to sound.
