Tift Merritt - See You On The Moon

Listening to Tift Merritt's newest album, See You On The Moon, it's no great surprise that NPR has been going nuts for her since it came out. She has that style that resonates so well with NPR fans: a little country, a little folk; a lot like Over The Rhine and Aimee Mann in a lot of ways. Regardless, the album is great for late summer nights and autumn afternoons. Currently, I am reading Jerry Weintraub's autobiography "When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead" and listening to Merritt play softly in the background. Not a terrible combination.

Tracklisting:
1. Mixtape
2. Engine To Turn
3. The Things That Everybody Does
4. Six More Days of Rain
5. Feel Of The World
6. Never Talk About It
7. All The Reasons We Don't Have To Fight
8. Live Till You Die
9. Papercut
10. See You On The Moon
11. Danny's Song
12. After Today
13. Bar With A TV On

Old Abram Brown - Restless Ghosts

I think that it pretty well goes without saying that Old Abram Brown sounds like Cold War Kids, which in most cases turns me off to a band. I don't mind being able to easily recognize a band's influences in their own sound, but I hate to hear a band that is more or less a carbon copy of another band. While singer Carson Lund sounds a great deal like Cold War Kid's own Nathan Willett, I think that Old Abram Brown has taken time to flesh out the songs a little more than Cold War Kids and have created a sound that is reminiscent of the aforementioned, but their own, especially when it comes to heavily folk influenced songs like "Little Feet". Restless Ghosts has turned out to be a very strong release and shows a great deal of maturation that took place over the last year or so.

I sincerely hope that I haven't turned anyone off to this band by drawing comparisons. If you aren't a fan of Cold War Kids, then you should probably do something about that (hah!). If you are and you don't like the idea of some other band sounding like them, give them a listen anyway, you may be surprised.

Tracklisting:
1. Your House On The Hill
2. Novelty Prize
3. Little Feet
4. Tides
5. Mountain Lions
6. Silhouette
7. My Show
8. The Good Man's Way
9. I'm Not Happy

Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine

I posted Songs: Ohia's final album (or Magnolia Electric Co.'s first album, depending on who you talk to) The Magnolia Electric Co. some months ago. That album represents last fall for me: planning a wedding, working a job that I hated, playing in She Does Is Magic with Chad Serhal and Co., the Halloween costume party at Chad's house, Trailer Park Film Faction, the list could go on and on. That album is among a short list for me of perfect fall albums among Sun Kil Moon's Ghosts Of The Great Highway, Wilco's A Ghost Is Born, Midlake's The Trials Of Van Occupanther, Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker, and J. Tillman's Vacilando Territory Blues, just to name a few. As I had spent a great amount of time listening to Songs: Ohia's final chapter, I found myself still hungry for more of Jason Molina and company. Their latest album, Josephine, has come to be the perfect thing to satisfy that hunger. The album is lush with supplemental instrumentation, though not overly produced or too big. My good friend Eric Delong (aka The Apprentice) once told me that all of the great songs that have ever been written weren't displays of how much one person could do, but rather a layering of multiple, simple parts. Jason Molina must have been listening in on that conversation, because it seems like every one of his songs is beautifully layered and masterfully crafted. If you have yet to catch on, I am becoming quite the fan. This is a great place to start a long-lasting love affair with a great and regrettably under appreciated band.

Tracklisting:
1. O! Grace
2. The Rock of Ages
3. Josephine
4. Shenandoah
5. Whip-Poor-Will
6. Song For Willie
7. Hope Dies Last
8. The Handing Down
9. Map of the Falling Sky
10. Little Sad Eyes
11. Heartbreak at Ten Paces
12. Knoxville Girl
13. Shiloh
14. An Arrow In The Gale

Noise, Idaho - I Am Waiting For Death

Noise, Idaho (pronounced Nois-ee, like Boise) is side-project of Chad Serhal's and I Am Waiting For Death is an instrumental album about a volcano. I am convinced that Chad Serhal is bursting with material. I don't know of anyone else who is writing so many albums so quickly. In the year or so that I have known him, he has released about 3 albums under his own name and now another one as Noise, Idaho, and that's just the material that he has released. I'm sure there is quite a bit more material that he didn't release. Check it out. Good stuff.

Tracklisting:
1. LA SOUFRIERE PART 1
2. LA SOUFRIERE PART 2
3. LA SOUFRIERE PART 3
4. LA SOUFRIERE PART 4
5. LA SOUFRIERE PART 6
7. LA SOUFRIERE PART 7
8. LA SOUFRIERE PART 8
9. LA SOUFRIERE PART 9

Chad Serhal - Hoosier Mountain Restoration Gospel

As an added bonus, I am also making Chad Serhal's gospel record, Hoosier Mountain Restoration Gospel, available. The album contains a few covers of classic gospel songs, as well a few originals that are each and every one great. Check it!

Tracklisting:
1. Shine On Me
2. The Hour That The Ship Comes In
3. Praise the Lord! I Saw The Light!
4. Lord, I'm In Your Care
5. When I Bid This World Goodbye
6. Hallelujah! We Shall Rise
7. Glory Hallelujah
8. By and By
9. Oh! What A Beautiful City!
10. Do Lord
11. Take A Stand

Chad Serhal - Smithville

Well, it's happened once again: Chad Serhal has written and recorded a new album. With the exception of Eliot Wilder (of whom I am not a fan), I can think of no one else that is putting out music as quickly. Unlike Eliot Wilder, however, Chad Serhal has the ability to write interesting, yet catchy songs and his newest, Smithville, is no exception. Personally, I am not a fan of electronica, so the album Cruise Van Nuyes didn't resonate as much with me as his others. Smithvilles, however, sees a return to the sound found on albums like The Last Picture Show and Badlands (of which Smithville is a sequel). The songs are great (especially tracks like "Day at the Lake" and "Only The Only") and the album even contains a cover of the Bee Gees' song "To Love Somebody". Smithville is a fine addition to an already great catalogue. Download, listen, love.

Tracklisting:
1. Day at the Lake
2. Indiana
3. Only The Only
4. This Is Wrong
5. Miles Away
6. Judy's Drive-In
7. Sunrise Eyes
8. Second-Hand Lover
9. To Love Somebody

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

Well it finally happened: Sufjan Stevens has a new full-length album that isn't an instrumental soundtrack for a film that he made or a reinterpretation of an old (and subpar, in my opinion) album. It is, however, a departure from his previous works, which I am indifferent to. On the one hand, I, like so many others I'm sure, want to hear something similar in size and stature to Welcome To Michigan, or Come On, Feel The Illinoise!. On the other, I am pleased to see him doing what he wants to rather than doing what everyone else wants him to do. So then, upon the fence I remain. I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure I will over the next few days. What I have heard is like an electronica Illinoise-era Stevens. I'm not huge on electronica, but at least it's interesting, rather than repetitive techno beats with auto-tuned vocals over them. Enjoy it a little early. On me.

Tracklisting:
1. Futile Devices
2. Too Much
3. Age Of Adz
4. I Walked
5. Now That I'm Older
6. Get Real Get Right
7. Bad Communication
8. Vesuvius
9. All For Myself
10. I Want To Be Well
11. Impossible Soul

Belle and Sebastian - Belle and Sebastian Write About Love

It occurs to me that I have yet to post any Belle & Sebastian albums, though that isn't terribly surprising as I'm not the world's biggest fan. That may change soon, however, as their first new album in 4 years Belle & Sebastian Write About Love has just leaked (and it's great). From the little B&S I've heard, Write About Love doesn't sound like a great shift in sound, just maybe a little more mature. I would suggest this album to anyone who, like me, has never had a proper introduction to the band. I cannot, however, say how a diehard fan would receive this album. For what it's worth though, I like it.

Tracklisting:
1. I Didn't See It Coming
2. Come On Sister
3. Calculating Bimbo
4. I Want The World To Stop
5. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John (feat. Norah Jones)
6. Write About Love (feat. Carey Mulligan)
7. I'm Not Living In The Real World
8. The Ghost of Rockschool
9. Read The Blessed Pages
10. I Can See Your Future
11. Sunday's Pretty Icons

Autumn Mixtape [2010]

Here is a mix that I have had rolling around in my head for a little while now, revised and ready for your listening pleasure. These are songs that have come to mean a great deal to me this summer (especially considering how much has changed recently) and I'm sure that whenever I hear them in the future, I'll remember with great ease where I am now. I also threw in a couple of recent discoveries to round it off nicely.

Tracklisting:
1. Wichita Lineman - Bruner [from the album "Songs For A Friend"]
2. Enchanting Ghost - Sufjan Stevens [from the album "All Delighted People EP"]
3. Love Is All - The Tallest Man On Earth [from the album "The Wild Hunt"]
4. World News - Local Natives [from the album "Gorilla Manor"]
5. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire [from the album "The Suburbs"]
6. Rinse Me Down - Bombay Bicycle Club [from the album "Flaws"]
7. Don't Be Shy - Cat Stevens [from the album "Harold and Maude OST"]
8. Becoming A Jackal - Villagers [from the album "Becoming A Jackal"]
9. Mixtape - Tift Merritt [from the album "See You On The Moon"]
10. James Blues - J. Tillman [from the album "Vacilando Territory Blues"]
11. Tenuousness - Andrew Bird [from the album "Noble Beast"]
12. Conversation 16 - The National [from the album "High Violet"]
13. Smith Hill - Deer Tick [from the album "Born On Flag Day"]

Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day

Not sure how I let this one get past me last year, but I'm listening now so I'd say that's all that matters.

Tracklisting:
1. Easy
2. Little White Lies
3. Smith Hill
4. Song About A Man
5. Houston TX
6. Straight Into A Storm
7. Friday XIII
8. The Ghost
9. Hell On Earth
10. Stung
11. Bonus Track

MYSPACE