Castledoor - Shouting at Mountains

Artist: Castledoor
Album: Shouting at Mountains
Released: April 21, 2009
Label: Castledoor
Stars: 4.5
Skippable Tracks: 0
Must-listen/purchase Track: couldn’t decide on one

As promised, I’m doing the review on the new Castledoor album Shouting at Mountains. The only reason why I didn’t give it the full five stars was because they decided to use a lot more backing vocals on the album, which can be slightly annoying at times. I hate to say it but some songs are almost ruined by them (ex. the song Free).

On previous albums the backing vocals can barely be heard, so it took me by surprise when I head them. There is nothing wrong with using them, but when the vocals are basically just repeating what the singer just said, or just saying “bop bop” it makes it sound a bit cheesy. If the backing vocals were used only to create harmony, the album would have turned out quite a bit better. The singer is married to one of the vocalists, so maybe he had no choice. I mean, how do you tell your wife that she is ruining your songs? I don’t think you could, or should. That just goes to show you that the singer is a nice guy.

Anyways, all of the songs are pretty much just guitars, synth, and drums. Nothing really all that complicated, but they manage to put it together in an original way. Most of the songs are four-star-tacks, and the rest are about a three. I feel like there is a week point from tack six to eight, but they are still decent songs.

Castledoor has posted a lot of their music on PureVolume and has included some free tacks. As well, the band posted a link to one of their new songs on Twitter and can be downloaded here. You can also purchase all their music on iTunes.

Thanks again to Michael Elves for getting this CD for the station.

Here's the only official video I could find. It's not a song from Shouting at Mountains, but a single released last year from their 'til we sink EP.

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Artist: Andrew Bird
Album: Noble Beast
Released: January 20, 2009
Label: Fat Possum, Bella Union Records
Stars: 4.0
Skippable Tracks: 1
Must-listen/purchase Track: Tenuousness

Alright, time to step it up a notch! I'm going to have to start using proper grammar and spelling. This blog might actually get read now. We'll see how that goes.


Andrew Bird is a singer-songwriter from Chicago, who has just released his sixth studio album - Noble Beast. The whole feel of the album is very Folk Rock, and at times Indie Rock. Since he purposefully tries to keep listeners on their feet, some tracks don't find their direction until a minute or two into it. Think of a folk song, a pinch of Thom Yorke, some violin, a hint of glockenspiel, a tune that you might hear in a Western film, mix, and you have a song from Noble Beast.

The album is full of great ballads,rock tunes, and songs with many twists and turns. Over-all sound would be mellow, and something you should not listen to while operating some kind of heavy machinery.

I only found one track that I would choose not to listen to as a stand-alone track (Nomenclature), but if you are listening to the album from start to finish, the track just blends in. It simply had too many twists and no climax. This is followed by Ouo a 20 second track of nothingness, but thankfully he picks it up with the next track.

Overall, this album has its brilliant moments, and deserves a high rating. Check out his MySpace, or preview and purchase the album at eMusic.

Must-listen/purchase track:

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.