Some albums are so fucking awesome, they just don’t sound as good out of order. But I’d wager that most albums sound better on shuffle. This isn’t a slight on most bands, although maybe it is a slight on whoever organizes the tracks on an album (producer?). It’s really just the way it is, and I think most of us are used to it. The nice thing about daps is that you can load multiple albums onto them and listen to an album in whole or as part of a huge random mix.
Really this is just my hope that if you don’t like my next suggestion, you’ll try listening to it in a couple of different ways. Read More
I have the tendency to find out about awesome albums years after they first come out, which happily isn’t always my fault. I wasn’t alive when Oar came out, I don’t think I had any money when Marquee Moon was released. And I frankly hated how often light radio played Neil Diamond to realize how awesome he truly is. But I’m really only a year off from discovering a band that only has one album so far but will probably prove to be at least as classic as the above.
Black Mountain‘s self-titled debut came out last January and if you haven’t heard it, give it a try. It is fucking awesome. A few of the tracks have that classic art rock type of screechy saxaphone paired with repetitive bass and instead of singing, a kind of sighing/yelling. Other songs are psychedelic prog-rock; bass-heavy, ballswaying rrrrOCK. Listening to the album you’re like, groooove out. No, ROCK out. No, psych out. No, beard out. You nod your head slowly, trying to get back to work, but your middle and ring finger keep curling while your index and pinky extend to the fucking sky, baby, like little black mountains all your own.
- Listen to “Druganaut“
- Listen to “Heart of Snow“
If you like Black Mountain, check out songwriter Stephen McBean’s lighter fare in Pink Mountaintops.
Because yesterday I posted some tracks from Work Clothes, it got me thinking about some of the other husband and wife teams that I’ve been listening to lately: Mates of State, since their new album just came out a couple of weeks ago, and Bagheera, who are working on their 2nd LP.
Maybe it’s my mood, lately. Maybe it’s aging. But I’ve been listening to quite a few bands lately who make soothing music. Music that’s easy to listen to before drifting off to sleep, or the perfect panacea for the difficulties of the morning, or that which just goes well with digestion. And the dreamiest of CDs I’ve bought recently is the debut LP from Carrboro, North Carolina group Work Clothes.
Okay so it took me a little longer to upload just these two tracks. I’m sorry. But I included the two best from Elbow‘s live thing on KCRW Friday morning.
- Download Mexican Standoff
- Download Fugitive Motel
If you’d like one of their albums why don’t you 