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The subject is fairly self-explanatory and this serves as nothing but a shameless plug, but please feel free to "like" the Facebook page for this blog! It's fun to see new readers start following the page :)

Thanks and, as always, enjoy the music!

Andrew

"Wait for Me" by Moby

Let me start off with my extraordinarily shallow first impression of this album: the album cover is one of my favorite album covers of all time. It's so simple, but it drew me in and it's a great representation of the music on the album.

"Wait for Me" by Moby is perfect driving music. Most of the songs are quiet, but some flow with a sense of urgency that makes them much more powerful than any louder song could be. Moby himself doesn't provide much vocal work for this album. Instead, he uses a variety of female singers, all of whom do great jobs on their respective songs.

At times complex, at times sparse, each song on the album brings something new to the table. You really do feel like the little being on the album cover, wandering on in some foreign place, feeling lonely and happy at the same time.

In addition to the vocal tracks, there are some great instrumental tracks that tie the album together. "Divisions," for example, serves as a sort of overture to the entire album. Once I heard that track, I was hooked.

Other tracks, such as "Pale Horses," evoke some feelings of nostalgia. The afore-mentioned song in particular made me feel like I was in a smokey underground club sometime in the 40s or 50s.

This is not the Moby of "Extreme Ways." It is a more restrained and more mature Moby. Everything on this album works, and I can't wait for his new one, due to be released soon.

My three favorite songs on the album are "Division," "Pale Horses," and "Study War."

Here's a link to his Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/moby/music

Until next time, keep reading and enjoy the music!

Andrew

"Thriving Ivory" by Thriving Ivory

Happy weekend, everyone!

This album, "Thriving Ivory" by Thriving Ivory, is one of my favorite alternative rock albums of the last few years for a couple reasons.

One of those is melody and instrumentation. Every song is really catchy and very angst-y in a non-emo way. In other words, this is really emotional alt rock without the overly whiney characteristics of a lot of standard emo rock (I think that the album cover is a pretty fair representation of this). This album is full of great guitar licks and great piano rhythms.

Building on these melodies are some of the catchiest choruses around. Every. Single. One. I would be shocked if, after listening to the album the first time through, you aren't gripped by the urge to listen to it again and sing along with the choruses. They're absolutely infectious.

This album does come with a bit of a "This is an acquired taste" disclaimer due to the vocalist's voice. It's not a singer's voice, and though he sings in tune and very well, it's in a scratchy voice that took me a while to get used to.

Once you do, however, this is great cloudy day music to float away into.

My three favorite songs on the album are "Angels On the Moon," "Alien," and "Hey Lady."

Here's a link to their Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/thrivingivory/music

Until next time, spread word about the blog and enjoy all the music out there,

Andrew

"(E)vening" by Mae

I know I've already gushed about "The Everglow," Mae's best album, but I think that "(E)vening is such a good finale to Mae's discography that it warrants a post of its own.

The album is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And, as the band's final album, the music on it is especially poignant, the idea of nighttime mirrors the end of Mae's run as a great band.

Finally, Mae returns to the use of intricate piano that drew me completely into their music years ago. The three movements of "Seasons" combine to create one of the most beautiful song sequences in alternative music this year. It's a shame Mae didn't use this much piano in the rest of their work. Albums like "(A)fternoon" and "Singularity" suffered from the lack of it.

Once you hit "Sleep Well," (which is basically a poignant goodbye to the fans, in my opinion) you'll be feeling very bittersweet, because this album is by far the band's best work since "The Everglow."

It's sad that it's the band's last album, but it's great that they went out on such a beautiful note.

My three favorite songs on the album are "Bloom," "Seasons" (I'm counting all 3 movements as one song), "Sleep Well."

Here's a link to their Myspace.

http://www.myspace.com/mae/music

Until next time, enjoy all the music out there!

Andrew

The Best Albums of April 2011

Hey there all!

Well, May is upon us (and with that, the ever-nearing end of school). This month had several great albums come out, so I'll get right to my top 2.

"Take Care, Take Care, Take Care" by Explosions in the  Sky

Well, it's just about impossible to equal "The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place," but this album from Explosions in the Sky comes close to matching their masterpiece. They've expanded their repertoire of musical tools, and the result is a post-rock album that you can easily float away in.

"Wasting Light" by Foo Fighters

This album was recorded on analog (super old school) and it succeeds in doing exactly one thing: rocking. There's a fury to this album that is backed up by the exorcising of some definite demons. The album is their best in a long time. 

I hope you like these albums and let's hope for a great musical month of May!

Until next time,

Andrew