my current obsession

Well, besides post-season baseball that is... :)

You may have noticed that I've not added any more "brilliant albums" posts lately... I kinda came to the conclusion that it was a bit of an ill-conceived idea for a couple of reasons. First, it will totally give away my end of year "best" list. And we simply can't have that. Second, I started the feature right before I was asked to write for those other blogs, and I just don't have the time to keep up. Finally, and somewhat after the fact, we over at The Line Of Best Fit have just started a similar feature entitled "The Line Of Best Fit Loves..." that will run every Monday. Check it out!

With that said, here is a tip that may possibly give away my sleeper album of the year. I don't know if Pete Doherty is influencing me somehow via my iPod, but I can't stop listening to the new Babyshambles album. Not unlike the way Pete can't stay off the crack. And the supermodels.

I never would have given this album a thought if I hadn't been asked to review it. But the thing is fucking amazing. From the time I got it until my review was published I listened to Shotter's Nation no less than a couple dozen times. I just can't seem to stop. Not entirely unlike how Pete Doherty can't lay off the... well, you get the idea.

Check this one out, it's a hell of a long journey from the semi-disaster that was Down In Albion, and it gives me a reason to hope for Pete's continued success with his latest stint in rehab. I came to a realization that lost in all his tabloid shenanigans is the fact that he really is a poet and he can actually sing!! Lots of kudos to his 'Shambles for sticking it out. Note also that all this fawning is coming from an admitted Carl Barât fangirl... I'm just sayin'...

For more insight, and some shameless self-promotion, you can read my review!

Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation
available: 10/23/2007
Parlophone

I've included the video for the brilliant, Kinks-influenced single "Delivery" (and at the risk of sounding like a complete bitch, I couldn't help but giggle at this commentary from FluxCapacitor):

The film ends with a terrifying image: Doherty behind the wheel of a car. However it soon becomes clear (due to him driving more than ten yards without being arrested) that the vehicle is being towed by a truck. Pete should consider getting around like this in real life. Safer.

I'm sorry, Pete... you just make it so easy.

brilliant albums for brilliant people #8

So, it's not like this one is up there in contention for album of the year or anything, but I've barely heard a peep about these guys, and their debut album is really quite good. So in an attempt to bring a bit of attention to a very under-appreciated band, The Gaslight Anthem is the next installment of "brilliant albums". They are a band who wears their influences on their sleeves for sure... think something like Bruce Springsteen going a bit punk. Throw in some Lucero and some Billy Bragg doing Woody Guthrie on Mermaid Avenue and you have an idea what The Gaslight Anthem is about. Good stuff, I urge you to check them out.

And they're playing the Marquis Theater on October 13. Of course, that has to be the same night that White Rabbits are playing the Larimer, but if there's a chance for me to catch both sets... (haha, incidentally Lucero is at the Fox Theatre on the very same night - too many choices!!!).

The Gaslight Anthem - Sink Or Swim
available: 6/12/2007
XOXO Records

brilliant albums for brilliant people #7

Ready for some shameless self-promotion? Read my review here!

Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
available: 9/18/2007
Arts & Crafts

brilliant albums for brilliant people #6

It finally leaked last week, hooray! I'm still not sure how it will compare with last year's Everything All The Time (my #1 of 2006), but what is clear is that I am completely in love with Band Of Horses. Despite the move from Seattle to South Carolina and all the lineup changes, BoH have done it again: Cease To Begin is another collection of pretty songs from Ben Bridwell & co. The reverb is toned down some, the atmosphere is a bit sunnier, but the end result is still lovely. If you know what's good for you, you'll pre-order this one now. Do it.

Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin
available: 10/9/2007
Sub Pop Records

Haha, I love this picture:

brilliant albums for brilliant people #5

I fell in love with this album the first time I heard it. David Dondero has been likened to Jack Kerouac and described as a troubador, minstrel and bard. All comparisons are certainly apt of this guy's poetic, folky music. He sounds a lot like Conor Oberst... or rather Conor sounds a lot like him, as Dave has been making music since Conor was barely a teenager. In fact, Conor has been a fan of Dave's for years, and both Simple Love and Dave's last album South Of The South were released through Oberst's Team Love label. For as long as this guy's been around and for as good as his music is, he should have more recognition than he does. Don't miss this one!

For you Denver/Boulder-ites, Dave is playing the Boulder Theatre next Wednesday (9/12) in support of Against Me! & Matt & Kim. An interesting combination, but worth checking out.

David Dondero - Simple Love
available: 8/21/2007
Team Love Records

brilliant albums for brilliant people #4

Oh, sure I've talked up The Broken Family Band plenty (see here). Welcome Home, Loser is probably the album I've listened to the most in the past few months. I'm feeling a bit short on words today, so I'll say this: Buy it. Love it. Thank me.

The Broken Family Band - Welcome Home, Loser
available: 2/14/2005
Track & Field

brilliant albums for brilliant people #3

So we're going back a ways for this one, but who ever said these had to be recent albums, huh? Figurines may well be my favorite Danish indie pop band... umm... not that I know of many Danish indie pop bands, but still...

Figurines are yet another band that refuse to be pigeonholed. I've seen them compared to Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, The Shins, and even Band Of Horses: all of which I can acknowledge. But make no mistake, this young band harbors a sound all their own. Skeleton is a quirky album brimming with catchy hooks, melodies and lyrics.

Sadly I discovered this gem too late to include on my best of 2006 list, but it is certainly worthy of the critical acclaim it did receive. Skeleton's follow-up When The Deer Wore Blue is to be released in the States on September 11 - fans of Zombies/Beach Boys 60's pop take note... :)

Figurines - Skeleton
available: March 7, 2006
The Control Group

brilliant albums for brilliant people #2

I had no intention of talking up The Broken String this week, but everything changed when I saw Bishop Allen last week and became hopelessly obsessed with this album. A lot to be said about this band was mentioned in my review of the show, most notably that one of the reasons I love them so is that they simply cannot be categorized.

Somehow, some way, Bishop Allen completely flew under my radar last year... Band core members/founders Justin Rice & Christian Rudder hit a wall in recording the follow-up to their debut Charm School. After stumbling across a discarded piano (the Muse behind the track Corazon) and attempting to learn songs on the liberated instrument, Rice & Rudder entered into a double-dog-dare kinda situation and ended up goading each other into releasing one EP every month. Eleven EPs of four songs each (August's disc was a live show recording) is an impressive feat for even the most prolific of artists. The fact that nearly 100% of the material on those EPs is pure gold is just icing on the cake. Nine of The Broken String's twelve tracks were culled and re-worked from the EPs.

Though some are stronger than others, there is not a weak track on this album. Justin Rice's tenor resonates throughout, and although tenuous at times, it works for these songs; Christian Rice is brilliant as multi-instrumentalist/vocalist. Out of the whirlwind couple of weeks that has seen me "discovering" them, listening incessantly to The Broken String, Charm School and the EPs, and most spectacularly seeing them live, Bishop Allen have cemented a spot as one of my favorite bands at the moment.

Bishop Allen - The Broken String
available: July 24, 2007
Dead Oceans

brilliant albums for brilliant people #1

Hey, a new feature! This is where I will choose a brilliant album every week, and then tell you why you should buy it. :)

Okkervil River's The Stage Names is hardly a new subject for this blog, but it comes out tomorrow so I deemed it fit for the first installment of brilliant albums.

Will Sheff is a master not only of unfurling stories within his songs, but going the next step to unfurl stories within entire albums. As 2005's Black Sheep Boy was built conceptually around the cover of Tim Hardin's song of the same name, The Stage Names plays out as a (semi-)autobiographical journey through the life of a "Rock And Roll Man". Sheff's clever lyrics wend and weave through 9 tracks about movies vs. life, realities of the road, unfaithfulness and failed suicide.

Sheff's lyrics are no doubt the most notable feature on any Okkervil River album, but even so it would be difficult to overlook the many other layers that contribute to the success of the album: dense instrumentation (rollicking piano, big guitars, horns, strings), backing vocals, and Sheff's voice itself. It's no big secret among Okkervil River fans - Sheff's voice, while extraordinarly unique, is not the best in the world. But with The Stage Names he's taken his vocals to a new level and has never sounded better. Plus, he can still whip himself into a good ol' frenzy by the end of a song.

Though the subject matter of The Stage Names may seem a bit dismal, the overall feel of this record is vastly more upbeat than Black Sheep Boy. There is not a bad song on the album, and Okkervil even manages to get away with a could-have-been-disastrous Beach Boys tribute of sorts in album closer John Allyn Smith Sails. I'd never have thought it possible, but in time this album may very well prove itself stronger than Black Sheep Boy.

Okkervil River - The Stage Names
available: August 7, 2007
Jagjaguwar