30 Day Update...

At the end or beginning of each month I like to jot down my thoughts on what I've heard so far this year. Kind of a running top 10. It helps me reflect on what i've been listening to and, maybe, alerts some of you good folk to something that may not be on your radar. It also gives me a chance to babble incessantly and I looooove to babble incessantly. Ok so here in no particular order (I'm saying these are the best I've heard so far though I haven't begun the arduous and patently absurd process of giving them sparkling little rankings):

Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree. Just a fantastic record. I think I've listened to it once a day since I got the promo copy. I've even turned my wife into a confirmed Darnielle fan.

Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy. Excellent. And Sheff's a very nice guy.

Archer Prewitt - Wilderness. I think this was technically the first album I reviewed this year. It still has the staying power that only great songwriting can muster.

The Decemberists - Picaresque. I listen to this alot. I mean alot. I sing loudly and badly to it in the car.

The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday There's been much debate over this record most of which revolves around whether or not anything really original is being done musically. I think the answer is probably no on a technical level, but on an emotional level this record is fantastic. Sure, you can level accusations of amateur poetry at Mr. Finn if you like, but I think you're missing the point. There's something brazenly fun, naked, honest, disturbing going on here and you can feel it.

The National - Alligatore. Ah more controversy. This record seems to be a love it or hate it proposition. I gave the review an A- over at Stylus and Jon Langmead (fine writer) gave it a 2 over at Pop Matters. What gives? I guess you buy it or you don't. I still love this record.

Damien Jurado - On My Way To Absence. I think this is the best alt-country release thus far this year. It's easily better than Buckner's Dents And Shells. A deeply felt record. Jurado's voice is wonderful, deep and resonant. He tells well imagined often heartbreaking stories.

Maria Mckee - Peddlin' Dreams. I'll admit I stopped paying attention to what Maria was doing years ago. She started to lose me with the hyperbole and cinematic grandeur of her songwriting. I just wanted to hear her sing melodies with that beautiful voice of hers. On Peddlin' Dreams she does just that. She returns to the rootsy americana of Lone Justice, her first solo record and You Gotta Sin To Be Saved. The record is sad, heartbreaking at times. Her voice has never sounded better. Runner up for best alt-country record going thus far.

Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs. What a wonderful and unusual record. Precious and peculiar. It was stuck on repeat in the CD player for awhile. It's playtime has since decreased a bit but I popped it in the other day and guess what? It's stil great. Melodic and clever. I've discovered completely different favorite songs this go around.

Other records occupying inordinate amounts of my time that I consider fucking sahweet:

LCD Soundsystem
Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Of Montreal - The Sundlandic Twins
Mobius Band
The Oxford Collapse - A Good Ground

I'll have another post with music later today. Just wanted to spit this out as I've been thinking about it.