Nathan Edwin - My Best

This is not a compilation that was made by Nathan himself; it is a mix of my favorite tracks from his 4 EPs that I own. I entitled it My Best because it is a collection of his best [in my opinion] and also because of the track by the same name.

These songs are wonderful and make me miss him every time I listen to them. Nathan Edwin is not only an incredible musician, but he is also a dear friend.

MYSPACE

Tracklisting:
1. Birds
2. Tennessee
3. We Tried Our Best
4. Did You Come Clean?
5. Flowers Of Our Dynasty
6. My Best
7. The Queen Of Italy



Music Video for "The Queen of Italy"

RQTN - Monolithes En Mouvement

Sorry for the lack of updates, though I'm not entirely convinced that anyone has noticed my absence. I have been without strong internet signal, which makes it difficult to upload albums. That is also why I am reposting this Rapidshare link rather than uploading the album to Mediafire and then posting it. But, I digress...

Until tonight, I had never heard of RQTN and I still couldn't tell you anything about the band other than the fact that they are brilliant. This debut LP, entitled Monolithes En Mouvement is a cool album full of simple orchestral strings over a base piano which is reminiscent of the soundtrack to the film The Fountain. It also has the same somber yet strangely beautiful sound as Sigur Ros' album ( ). Try it on for size and keep a look out, I'll be posting more stuff soon.

MYSPACE

Tracklisting:
1. Debout, Décharges Passives
2. Comme Suspendu A Regarder Passer, Sans Jamais Toucher
3. Le Point Culminant, Le Réveil, Les Mains Brumeuses
4. Effleurer Du Doigt, Déplacer Les Masses
5. Remuer Les Pieds Dans L'Eau, Les Yeux Clairs
6. Aurore, Lettres Manuscrites (G. Hoepffner)
7. Départs Et Décalages
8. Marcher A L'Envers Et Detourner Le Regard. Sur Le Rebord
9. Photographies, Emulsion. Intérprétations

Wilco - Wilco (The Album)

Sky Blue Sky was certainly not my favorite in Wilco's catalogue, but I did like it. Maybe it's because of how much I love A Ghost Is Born that Sky Blue Sky didn't resonate with me as much, as Ghost is more of a studio album and Sky is more concerned with the live aspect of the band. Regardless, Wilco's newest release (out June 30th), entitled Wilco (The Album) returns to the sound that can be found on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and my own personal favorite: A Ghost Is Born.

Start to finish, Wilco (The Album) is wonderful and more than worth your time. [Oh yeah, and track #5 features a duet with Feist]

Tracklisting:
1. Wilco (The Song)
2. Deeper Down
3. One Wing
4. Bull Black Nova
5. You and I
6. You Never Know
7. Country Disappeared
8. Solitaire
9. I'll Fight
10. Sunny Feeling
11. Everlasting Everything.

mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright

If I am being completely honest, I hated mewithoutYou's newest release It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright when I first heard it. I thought it to be slow and poorly written and I thought this a great letdown, as mewithoutYou has consistently blown me away with each new release. Then yesterday, I decided to give their newest a second chance. I knew there had to be something there - and there is. Upon second (and subsequent third) listen, I realized the genius behind the songs. The reason I disliked it initially was because it is such a departure from their previous material, making an even bigger leap in sound than what was seen between Catch For Us The Foxes and Brother, Sister. However, once I was able to dig into the songs and pull them apart, I found that they were in actuality brilliant. Not only so, but musically, the songs show a maturity and talent that was perhaps not fully realized on earlier releases. When I was able to get past the block in my mind of what they should sound like, I was able to fall in love with what they do sound like.

Give this album a chance (or two) and see if you don't feel the same way.

Tracklisting:
1. Every Thought a Thought of You
2. The Fox, The Crow, and The Cookie
3. The Angel of Death Came To David's Room
4. Goodbye, I
5. A Stick, A Carrot, and A String
6. Bullet To Binary (pt. Two)
7. Timothy Hay
8. Fig With a Bellyache
9. Cattail Down
10. The Beetle King on a Coconut Estate
11. Allah, Allah, Allah

Highlight Tracks: "The Fox, The Crow, and The Cookie", "Timothy Hay", "Cattail Down", "The Beetle King on a Coconut Estate"

Human Highway - Moody Motorcycle

Human Highway is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of singer-songwriter Jim Guthrie and Nicholas Thorburn of the band Islands. While I'm not a huge fan of Islands, Human Highway has simply blown me away with their undeniable pop sensibility and amazing harmonies. This is a band that I hope to hear more from in the future.

Tracklisting:
1. The Sound
2. All Day
3. Get Lost
4. What World
5. Sleep Talking
6. Moody Motorcycle
7. My Beach
8. Ode To Abner
9. Pretty Hair
10. Vision Failing
11. Duties Of A Lighthouse Keeper
12. I Wish I Knew

Iron & Wine - Around The Well

Admittedly, I am an avid Iron & Wine fan, so Sam Beam and Co. could release an album full of him reading War & Peace and I'd still on some level love it. Fortunately, however, Around The Well is nothing like that. It is a double disc album full of rare and unreleased songs. Disc 1 is a collection of home recordings and demos; Disc 2, a compilation of B-side tracks that were recorded in studio, but that never made the final album cuts. Around The Well is career-spanning, including outtakes from The Creek Drank The Cradle through The Shepherd's Dog. It is honestly beyond me how some of these tracks have taken so long to be released; they are brilliant.

Tracklisting:
Disc 1:
1. Dearest Forsaken
2. Morning
3. Loud As Hope
4. Peng! 33
5. Sacred Vision
6. Friends They Are Jewels
7. Hickory
8. Waitin' For A Superman
9. Swans and The Swimming
10. Call Your Boys
11. Such Great Heights

Disc 2:
1. Communion Cups and Someone's Coat
2. Belated Promise Ring
3. God Made The Automobile
4. Homeward These Shoes
5. Love Vigilantes
6. Sinning Hands
7. No Moon
8. Serpent Charmer
9. Carried Home
10. Kingdom Of The Animals
11. Arms Of A Thief
12. The Trapeze Swinger

Death Cab For Cutie - The Open Door EP

The Open Door EP is an EP which consists of tracks recorded during the "Narrow Stairs Sessions", but that didn't make the album cut. The songs are great, but have a completely different feeling from the tracks on Narrow Stairs.

Great songs; I'm certainly glad that they released them anyway.

Tracklisting:
1. Little Bribes
2. A Diamond and a Tether
3. My Mirror Speaks
4. I Was Once A Loyal Lover
5. Talking Bird (Demo)

Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism

Death Cab For Cutie is a band that I have always appreciated, but it seems like I have been able to listen to few bands other than them for a few weeks now. Not just Narrow Stairs either; I'm revisiting their old albums, which certainly accounts for this post.

Regardless of how great Plans and Narrow Stairs are, neither can or will ever be able to touch Transatlanticism in my mind. It is a wonderful and cohesive album that represents my freshman year of college, when I was just beginning to pan out the good bands from the river of bad, and one that stood out was Death Cab. Say what you will about them and their recent popularity, it is hard to not smile when you hear songs like "The Sound Of Settling" or "The New Year". Beyond the radio friendly pop songs, though, are incredibly and meticulously crafted gems like "Tiny Vessels" and "We Looked Like Giants".

Death Cab For Cutie is a band that will forever be great, because Ben Gibbard and Co. refuse to write songs that appeal to anyone other than themselves. Either that, or they are brilliant at feigning it. Regardless, they make great records that speak.

Tracklisting:
1. The New Year
2. Lightness
3. Title and Registration
4. Expo '86
5. The Sound Of Settling
6. Tiny Vessels
7. Transatlanticism
8. Passenger Seat
9. Death Of An Interior Decorator
10. We Looked Like Giants
11. A Lack Of Color

Highlight Tracks: "Tiny Vessels", "Transatlanticism", "We Looked Like Giants", "A Lack Of Color"

News

In non-music related news, I proposed to my lovely girlfriend Rachel this past weekend and she said yes.

Look how cute she is...

Clint Mansell - The Fountain OST

The Fountain is easily one of the most inventive and beautiful films I have ever seen. Having said that, it would be difficult to imagine such an important film having anything less than an amazing soundtrack.

On The Fountain OST, Clint Mansell has created some of the most organic and beautiful music I have ever heard. This soundtrack is, for lack of a better word, phenomenal.

Tracklisting:
1. The Last Man
2. Holy Dread!
3. Tree Of Life
4. Stay With Me
5. Death Is a Disease
6. Xibalba
7. First Snow
8. Finish It
9. Death Is The Road To Awe
10. Together We Will Live Forever