This week’s has an overall hushed theme: It’s polite and reverent (save a song or two). It’s winter waiting for spring to knock down its door.
Sun Giant – Fleet Foxes
The opening track off of their 2008-current-tour EP, “Sun Giant” sweetly defines the sound of this Seattle five-some’s “baroque harmonic pop jams.” The closest band of the status quo that I can compare the Fleet Foxes to is probably Grizzly Bear, however, those similarities are primarily superficial; both bands do share a rustic, folk sound, though Fleet Foxes are not nearly a psychedelic, but much more grounded. It also serves to note that the mandolin at 1:30 is sublime.
Melody Day – Caribou
Harmony. This song has it in spades. Obviously taking multiple cues from sun-kissed California pop of the 1960s (the album and this track owe much to Brian Wilson), Daniel Snaith packs 2007’s Andorra with sugary percussion, twinkling guitars, dreamy vocals, and, as one could assume, melody. If this track doesn’t resonate amidst the winter months, save it for the first day of spring.
Running Up That Hill – Chromatics
Last year’s Night Drive was an album that I couldn’t quite dive into. I liked what I heard, but the record only seemed to make sense past 2 o’clock in the morning. I soon found, as the title of the record perhaps suggests, that the best way to digest the album is allowing the simple, synthesizer-heavy songs wash over you while stealing a night drive. Not everyone make take-in the record this way, but without doubt, this is music for romantic, lonely nights.
Young Bride – Midlake
I love nearly every aspect of Midlake’s 2006 effort, The Trials of Van Occupanther. Each song on the album contains subtle melodies that are infectious. Midlake are upfront about the influence CSN&Y and Fleetwood Mac have on their music, and it’s easy to see the band’s resemblance to acoustically driven bands of the 1970’s. The songs are long and winding, but never dull or dragging and almost always accompanied with rich, thick textures of guitars, pianos, and drums, all laced together with breezy vocals. Winter may be here, but Midlake revel in the imagery of fall.
Kurt Vonnegut – Born Ruffians
Here’s a fresh (and highlight) track off of last week’s Red, Yellow and Blue. The bands self-titled 2006 EP owed a lot to acts like The Pixies, but on their latest effort, the band is growing up. Vocals aren’t as spastic and there’s a greater focus on the songs a whole; they’re no longer just rocking out with their cocks out in the fashion they find suits them best. There’s certainly elements of the album that savor the brashness the band has previously displayed, but Red, Yellow and Blue is a much more concentrated effort and the band’s concentration has paid off in dividends. The backing vocals at 2:45 are brilliant accompaniment and the constant shifting nature of the song can keep any listener's attention, even if some of the song’s sounds are familiar.
Lost and Found – Atlas Sound
Almost every comment I made about Atlas Sound in the first issue of the Monday Mixtape can be cross-applied here. I’m still enamored by Bradford Cox’s lush soundscapes.
My Head In Front of Your Head – Best Friends Forever
There’s perhaps no explanation I can provide in a paragraph that can explain why I enjoy this song and its ridiculous subject matter, though letting someone read all the good lines when reading Shakespeare sounds like romance to me. Made up of primarily Bri Smith and Jes Seamans, Best Friends Forever are the only band that I know of that find Abraham Lincoln charming/hot shit and sing about it.
English House – Fleet Foxes
Because I’m really getting into their new EP, I’ve posting another Fleet Foxes track on this issue of the mixtape. “English House” is much more full-sounding than the sparse “Sun Giant” track posted above. However, all the previously mentioned sonic elements are still here and on this track the band gets to flex more of its instrumental potential. Their debut album comes out June 8th, so keep an eye out.
Going Away – The Innocence Mission
“Going Away” is a track that casts a spotlight on the crushing minimalism of The Innocence Mission. A track off of 1999’s Birds of My Neighborhood, “Going Away” is doused in unrequited love. Karen Peris’ vocals are fragile and haunting and swoon with each listen. The band’s stark simplicity works well in giving their songs hefty emotional weight and the acoustically-driven tracks almost always leave behind a sincere resonance.
Second Chance – Liam Finn
The second track off of this year’s debut, I’ll Be Lightning, Liam Finn’s “Second Chance” is, to me, Beatlesesque. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, just that Finn wears his influences on his sleeve more often than not. What I really enjoyed about the record was that Finn played the majority of instruments on his own, a practice that I’ll always champion. The song’s certainly straightforward and isn’t necessarily bringing anything hugely new to the table, but it’s solid nonetheless.
Super Inuit – Holy Fuck
Ever since I saw them open for Do Make Say Think (the very band posed below), I’ve been digging Holy Fuck. The band’s focus is on making electronic music that’s played live, meaning they have live bass, live drums, and create all the electro/keyboard/synth loops live. “Super Inuit” is the first tract off of their self-titled LP from last year and I should mention that it’s actually a live take, recorded at one of their shows and it encapsulates many of the practices and sounds the band explores in their material. Plus, it’s a straight-up jam.
Auberge Le Mouton Noir – Do Make Say Think
Do Make Say Think is an instrumental “post-rock” band out of Toronto, Canada. Their music is very much slow-burning, even epic. It’s very rare that their songs dip below the five minute mark and, in some cases, it can take some work to listen to the highly repetitive instrumental tracks. However, if one has the patience, it’s wonderful to hear the tiny additions the band adds to the motifs established at each song’s beginning: an added guitar riff here, flashes of percussion there. The songs evolve into marathons of momentum, building up and then exploding out of themselves, radically altering any previously established instrumentation and this track is a perfect illustration. If you get the chance, check this band out or see them live.
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