Taking a deep breath…
This week’s album is a bit more relaxed. Shearwater was started by members of the previously featured Okkervil River, to house a different style they wanted to work on, which is somewhat more organic and quiet. Their latest album, Rook, came out in 2008, and in my opinion defines their style very well. They evoke very soothing soundscapes through unique sounds that still sound very grounded and “earthy”. Highly recommended!
You can listen to some amazing tracks from it on their website.
This week, something slightly more conventional (at times). These guys have been on frequent rotation on my player ever since woxy.com featured them as album of the year (again, nicely done). I’m talking about the 2006 album You In Reverse by the american rock band Built to Spill.
Instrumentally it is pretty much standard rock but melodically and vocally I find it to be quite unique. Their songs also have an evolving feel to them, and indeed some of them are quite huge in duration. You can listen to some songs from their official website, and last time I tried it kicked right off with the album opener Going Against Your Mind, which at 8:42 duration is a prime example of the evolution that I just mentioned. Enjoy!
This week I’m featuring an amazing new band, from New York, called Ra Ra Riot. I started listening to them when they had only launched an EP and listened to their lounge acts in the internet radio station WOXY.com (which I highly recommend). They usually use strings (violins, cellos..) as a big component in the songs which gives them a very distinctive sound.
Their debut album is free to stream from last.fm, so no excuse not to check it out! As usual, if you like it, I’d suggest buying a copy to support this amazing starting band, which is already so promising.
Also, they’re coming to London on the 17th February and I’ve already got my tickets! Can’t wait!
Subscribe by RSS