Because new music can be intoxicating.
And people sometimes call me Drunk.
Showing posts with label The Avett Brothers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Avett Brothers. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The Best of the Rest
or
88 Lines about 44 Songs
(In order to go easy on internet browsers, this will be broken into four parts)
Part One
44) Adam Arcuragi - Oh I See
Gospel-infused folk that manages to build to a spiritual crescendo. Having never heard of the guy before this year, I can't wait to see where he goes from here.
43) Yuna - Someone Out of Town
Brooding and haunting, this is one of my favorite chill songs of the year. Reminds me of that one Imogen Heap song.
42) Lightships - Sweetness is Her Spark
I was likely to enjoy anything by a former member of Teenage Fanclub. Airy pretty guitars will get me every time.
In honor of the veritable orgy of aural delights that was released yesterday, I'm not wearing any pants as I write this post.
alt-J - An Awesome Wave
I may be out on an island on this, but I absolutely love this arty, schizophrenic, occasionally just plain weird debut album from the British band alt-J. It's difficult for me to describe their sound, and that's part of the appeal: though you hear traces of other indie or folk acts in different parts of their songs, alt-J has more or less managed to create a sound of their own, which is one of the highest compliments I can give a debut album. This band manages to accompany folky guitars and vocal harmonies with off-kilter polyrhythmic beats that sparkle at times, bounce at times, and rock at times. Over all this the lead singer Joe Newman gives what I will call a quirkily affected vocal performance, singing out of the back of his throat in a way that reminded me several times of the lead singer of System of a Down. People's mileage may vary on the guy's voice, but unlike some other bad indie singers - the guy from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah comes to mind - it seems to be an intentional effort on the Newman's part: on a couple of the more straightforward songs, he sounds perfectly normal.
Anyway, this is my favorite album of a week filled with some great music. I will most definitely be tracking this band's career:
