Currently on Heavy Rotation
I missed this monthly post in October, partly due to the hecticness of CMJ, but here’s this month’s edition highlighting some of the albums that haven’t strayed far from my ears.
Joanna Newsom – Ys
Joanna Newsom’s Ys (pronounced “ease”) is sure to be topping many critics lists in the upcoming weeks. I have to admit, I really never got into 2004’s The Milk-Eyed Mender, something I plan on revisiting in the coming months after falling in love with Ys (and Joanna Newsom). A lot of great things have been said about his album, I read somewhere that it has been referred to as the “album of our time,” but I think Pitchfork’s Chris Dahlen captured my feelings about Ys with the following paragraph.
“This isn’t a great album because she owns a dog-eared encyclopedia, or because it stands above the cheap rewards or superficial freakiness we expected from her. It’s great because Newsom confronts a mountain of conflicting feelings, and sifts through them for every nuance. It’s intricate and crammed with information, but it’s never bookish, and she never sits back in a spell and lets her heart flutter:She swoops into the sky and races across the ground, names every plant and every desire, and never feels less than real. The people who hear this record will split into two crowds: The ones who think it’s silly and precious, and the ones who, once they hear it, won’t be able to live without it.” [Chris Dahlen for Pitchfork]
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
I watched Jim Jarmusch’s “Dead Man” and “Down by Law” earlier this month, with the latter being my favorite of the two, even though I’m a pretty big fan of Johnny Depp. I was pretty impressed with Tom Waits performance in “Down by Law” and instead of springing for a Neil Young album after watching the movies, I put on Tom Waits Rain Dogs and have been listening to it since. I was on a pretty good Waits kick a few years ago and it looks to be starting again with today’s release of Orphans, Waits‘ 56-track outtakes collection.
Tom Waits ”You Can Never Hold Back Spring” (from Orphans)
White Magic – Dat Rosa Mel Apibus
Another excellent release from Drag City, White Magic’s Dat Rosa Mel Apibus was released the same day as Newsom’s Ys. I mentioned before how this album has been the perfect companion for the season and it has also mixed in really well with my current rotation, well, minus all of the electro stuff. Stylus Magazine has a nice review of Dat Rosa Mel Apibus with mentions of Newsom throughout. Also, the packaging on the vinyl version of the album is just as beautiful as the music.
Beach House – Beach House
Along with Le Volume Courbe, White Magic, and Joanna Newsom, Beach House’s hazy self-titled slow burner is another fall favorite. I was pleasantly surprised with the band’s live show during CMJ, as the duo captured the warmth and beauty of the album on stage with Legrand crooning about lost loves and longing. The band plays Tonic on Sunday, November 26th.
Previously: September 27, August 28, July 26, June 22, May 10, April 12, March 28, January 16
