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Current mood:  nerdy
My List: 01 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 02 Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? 03 The Nines - Gran Jukle's Field 04 Travis - The Boy With No Name 05 Rooney - Calling The World 06 Electric Soft Parade - No Need To Be Downhearted 07 Brakes - Beatific Visions 08 Farrah - Cut Out And Keep 09 Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter 10 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala 11 Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five 12 Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars 13 Brandi Carlile - The Story 14 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky 15 Kelly Willis - Translated From Love 16 They Might Be Giants - The Else 17 Eric Hutchinson - Sounds Like This 18 The Supers - Re: Arrange 19 The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour 20 Missy Higgins - On A Clear Day My Detailed List: 01 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga This is a great record. It is more approachable than their last album, while still maintaining that unique and interesting sound. It's a rocking album that doesn't really slow down and keeps it entertaining for the full CD. 02 Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? They got better? Who knew? I thought they were a great improvement with "The Sunlandic Twins" a few years back, but this album is even better. Despite an 11 minute song in the middle, most of these songs are great, with a mix of several artists and styles that they come out with something uniquely their own. 03 The Nines - Gran Jukle's Field Always good to hear The Nines. Fantastic songs and great production. Bleu helped out a bit with this record and it is noticeable. The combination of both personalities creates something really interesting. 04 Travis - The Boy With No Name A great return for an artist. After 6 years without an album, this is a ray of light from their dark last album. It reminds me of why I liked them in the first place. It is a fine addition to a great set of albums before. 05 Rooney - Calling The World After 5 years or so, you never know what you will get from a band that had such a great debut, but Rooney have delivered something that fits alongside and apart from their first album. They still have a knack for writing cool songs, while stepping away from some of the relaxed sound of the first one, rocking out a bit more and they still seem to be having fun with it, which is great. 06 Electric Soft Parade - No Need To Be Downhearted They have really found their sound and what they do well, it is a great record, really makes you feel good. 07 Brakes - Beatific Visions Fantastic. A really fun, energetic record, with just a great sense of humor and thoughtful lyrics, make it a complete package. 08 Farrah - Cut Out And Keep A really fun record. This album is energetic, catchy and a thrill to listen to. It is a consistently good record and really great summer listening. I think it is as good if not better than their previous releases, all of which I have enjoyed thoroughly. 09 Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter Another great one from Josh Ritter, and again a change from his previous stuff. That is a good sign. His sound now is an amalgam of genres that makes him unique sounding and yet he fits alongside any indie band around. It's an exciting album and keeps the pace up the entire time. 10 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala Jens Lekman is great. And his music is getting even better. I think this album offers a fuller sound, not necessary, but it does add to the overall effect of the album. I think he was influenced a bit more on this record by 60's soul records or the like. A lot of fun and interesting. 11 Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five Can't go wrong with Eleni Mandell, this CD is a cool set of songs. It's a little mellower than some other efforts, but with cool instrumentation and sounds. 12 Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars Awesome, back to writing albums of songs rather than epic arrangements and concepts. This is a collection of songs that are all good and interesting and unique. They stand alone great, and is a return to form that is much appreciated by me. 13 Brandi Carlile - The Story Fantastic album from Carlile, this brings back that over the top style that she does so well. Overall a good listen, not quite as melodic and catchy as the first one, but it definitely has the same energy and intenseness. 14 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky As much as I did like their last two CD's they do tend to get a little old, with all the deconstructing and all that. This brings back a much more classic band sound, which is good. I think it is different than a lot of their stuff, a few more influences coming in, but it is a refreshing listen from Wilco. 15 Kelly Willis - Translated From Love Quite a good record, and different than her last. I think she has continued to move more and more away from her country roots, while still maintaining that attitude and a little twang. She gets some help from Jules Shear, who is great and definitely brings some pop sounds to it. She also covers an Iggy Pop song, an Adam Green song, so it is very eclectic and enjoyable. 16 They Might Be Giants - The Else Always a good choice, TMBG give a collection of songs that is great. The additional production help from the Dust Brothers is welcome and really enhances the album with a refreshing sound. The fact that they can manage to write cool, entertaining, unique songs after 20+ years is a testament to their talent. 17 Eric Hutchinson - Sounds Like This Excellent record. It is great to hear his songs with more of a fuller arrangement, besides just guitar. It adds a lot and made this record one of my favorites. 18 The Supers - Re: Arrange Really good record. I wasn't sure if they even still made music, so hearing this was a refreshing blast. It is a great power pop record. 19 The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour I really like the energy of this band. They are not hyperactive, but they also aren't depressingly mellow. They have a nice balance of soft and loud sounds. Both lyrically and musically. This album is definitely a step up from some of their previous efforts. 20 Missy Higgins - On A Clear Day She did a great job with this record. She has a knack for writing good songs. It is as good if not better than the first. Honorable Mentions (no order): Admiral Twin - The Center Of The Universe Aliens - Astronomy for Dogs Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder Autumn Defense - Autumn Defense Coconut Records - Nighttiming Dan Bryk - Discount Store Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather The Hoosiers - The Trick To Life Hot Hot Heat - Happiness Ltd. Jason Falkner - I'm OK, You're OK Ken Sharp - Sonic Crayons Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me Readymade Breakup - Isn't That What It's For? Red Button - She's About To Cross My Mind The Reigning Sound - Too Much Guitar Rick Altizer - Scripture Memory-Pop Symphonies Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living With The Living Teddy Thompson - Upfront and Down Low That's a wrap, Jordan
4:55 AM
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