When Field Music announced their dissolution last year, just shortly after releasing their excellent second album Tones of Town, it was a sad day for yours truly. But talking with Peter Brewis after their Bowery Show in March, he dissuaded...

I think I am finally coming out of my slump from the holidays. The end of 2007 was pretty overwhelming with the amount of albums that came out. I was starting to get a little burned out from everything I was listening to. But with a new year finally comes a little refreshment and their are a few albums I am really starting to get into now. And since we haven't done one of these in a while I thought I would play catch-up by posting a long one. [...]

I understand that the sheer number of albums released last year can be a bit intimidating for those whose tastes are a bit more specific than the average listener. I made my Top 50 Albums of 2007 feature for that very same reason - to hopefully help those misguided listeners discover some of the year's greatest albums quickly and efficiently; I tried to include a substantial amount of variety too, hopefully succeeding in the process. However, in the midst of albums by Radiohead, Spoon, Arcade Fire, and other items of popularity, I often found myself most satisfied in [...]
11.01.2008 | pünktlich zum neuen jahr haben "giardini di miro" die neue ep "new year`s eve" als kostenlosen download ins netz gestellt! das gute stück enthält 5 lieder, darunter das bisher unveröffentlichte "no on ...

Marah - Can't Take it With You... If I have a funeral march in the streets of Louisiana, I want Marah to play my dirge. Curiously, this song seems to deal with death and longing. I could be wrong, but intended meaning only carries so much weight anyway. Hand-clap along to this sucker, because it doesn't get much better than the bluesy vocals of Dave Bielanko and his merry band of players. Los Campesinos! - Drop it Doe Eyes Back when I was on [...]
Port O'Brien - "I Woke Up Today" On the Port O'Brien one-sheet it explains that these songs were written while at sea. There was trend back in 2004-ish of a lot of bands giving their work a nautical aesthetic (Picaresque, Blueberry Boat, BOAT) but where they presented "what life must be like out at sea", Port O'Brien is explaining that "it's still life, it's just out at sea." There's a song about accidentally catching a puffin in the nets, there's one called "A Bird Flies By", and I'm convinced. These are the thoughts you have in this kind of isolation, [...]