Decemberist

Album: The Hazards of Love
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: March 17, 2009
Stars: 5
Skippable Tracks: Zero

This album is a perfect example of why I love to listen to an album from start to finish with no breaks. It was love at first listen, and I think it feels the same way towards me too; so that’s awesome.
The album was released March 17th, and I have listened to it straight through about ten times by now. I believe the band’s original plan was to make this album into a musical, but later decided that it was not going to work out. This amazingly artistic masterpiece is arranged in a way that a love story develops from the first track to the last, taking the listener through many different genres of music. Even the tracks become characters, re-appearing throughout the story.
There are probably only a couple of tracks that can be played on their own, so I’m posting the complete album below. Put aside one hour to listen to the tracks and try to follow the story. It begins with a short interlude that sets the mood; it’s dark, mysterious, and intriguing. After the interlude a folkie song begins to play introducing the main characters William and Margaret. They toss in some power cords on the next track, followed by some baroque music, some riffs right out of Black Mountain, and so on.
I can only imagine how much work it took the band to put together something like this, so it is being labeled a masterpiece on my part. William and Margaret’s relationship develops throughout the album, and the music perfectly compliments this.
The best Album released this year, and may possibly be one of the top 5 albums of 2009 according to Smigs Reviews.

The Hazards of Love

Animal or Not Animal ?

Album: Animal/Not Animal
Label: Merge Records
Release Date: December 17, 2008
Stars: 4.5
Skippable Tracks: Zero (Animal) One (Not Animal)

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s may have not picked the best name for their band, but they sure know how to pick tracks for their albums. The band and the record label could not come to an agreement on which tracks to release on the upcoming album; so two versions were released. The band’s arrangement was released under the name Animal, and Merge Records’ arrangement was given the name Not Animal. I was completely oblivious to this when I first heard about the release of the new album, and ended up listening to Not Animal first. The albums are almost 50% different from each other and are quite a bit of a different experience. Animal is pretty mellow from track one through twelve, while Not Animal takes you through a rockier route. The label’s arrangement would have scored a 3.5, but this album receives a whole star more.
So how can you tell if you have purchased Animal or Not Animal? That’s easy! If you see an Animal on the cover…you’ve got Animal. No animal? Then…yeah, you get the idea.
If you like Arcade Fire, this would be a nice addition to your collection. Although I would put their sound more on the mellow side of the scale. I’m including a link to a track as usual.

This one's for the slupree kids

Album: Grand
Record Label: Fader Label
Release date: January 20, 2009
Stars: 2.5
Skippable Tracks : ?

This band has been causing a whole lot of hype in the past year, so I decided to chcek them out. Matt and Kim "sold-out" even before the release of their second album. Their song "Yea Yeah" was the theme for a Virgin Mobile commercial in 2008, and was also used to promote the movie Juno in the US. I must admit that the commercial was what initially got me interested in checking out the band, and I can’t say I was all that disappointed with what I heard since it was exactly what I expected it to be: Very simple, very energetic college pop. Like the title of the post suggests, it may be an album that you may want to listen to if you are having some younger people over at your place or if you are just young at heart.
The whole album is under half an hour, so it really doesn't really give you a chance to even skip a song, since by the time you realize the track is repetitive, the song is over.
I'm including one new track, and one old track below. Check out the whole album if you are interested. It's really not that bad and is fun to listen to if you are in the mood to feel young.



Matt & Kim loading up on sugar before a big show