What The Hell Am I Listening To?!?
The badassity of All Tomorrow’s Parties has yet to wear off on me, as I have been jamming hard the new albums from three of the bands I caught there:
Mogwai (Glasgow, UK)
Mogwai‘s newest album seems to be getting a bit overlooked and underestimated by the blog-a-lites, and it reminds me of Explosions In The Sky‘s record from last year in many ways. Obviously there are many parallels between these two bands, but I think each band’s most recent work may be their best. Both are a refined, culmination of a specific sound exploration that marks the pinnacles of what they can achieve. And both albums will be ultimately perceived by most as more of the same from bands that do not stray far from the conventional post-rock sound they have mastered. Yes, the armies of artists that have followed in their foot steps have pushed the boundaries of what an instrumental rock band can do far beyond anything on The Hawk Is Howling. But, every single song on this album has one of those blissful moments that you can never seem to get enough of, and there are very few albums I can think of that are capable of that:
Mogwai : The Sun Smells Too Loud
Buy The Hawk Is Howling: [MP3] [CD] [LP]
Mercury Rev (Catskills, NY)
While a part of me certainly hates hardly being aware of such an old, established band until recently, my lack of expectations for their newest album allows me to appreciate it in a different sort of way than those versed in Mercury Rev. Every review I read about Snowflake Midnight is so concerned with the band’s past and each analysis is fully in the context of their previous work. Taking it as an intro point to this band, I hear an album with a movie soundtrack vibe commanding mature, interesting songwriting and a sincere, ambitious vision. I can’t wait to go back through their discography and learn what I’ve been missing:
Mercury Rev : Snowflake In A Hot World
Buy Snowflake Midnight: [MP3] [CD] [LP]
Growing (Brooklyn, NY)
I remember listening to Growing‘s Color Wheel back in the beginning of last year. Every time I would try to sit down and listen to it, I just wasn’t in the right mood to digest it. You have to be in a certain frame of mind to truly be able to enjoy the low key, trippy instrumental, slow developing loop stuff this duo deals in. I eventually moved on and forgot about that album until recently being impressed by their live show and then digging in deep to their newest, All The Way. Tonight, I went back and listened to Color Wheel again by myself with my headphones on, and it felt very satisfying to finally be able to appreciate such a great record. Their newest is just as good, so check it out:
Buy All The Way: [MP3] [CD] [LP]
- Posted by Davy Minor on October 23, 2008 at 6:07 am
