by: Mitch Miggenburg
I was assigned a record review by Sunsets a couple of months ago, and while i have yet to complete this assignment, the main reason is here. I loved many albums of the 'oughts' (is this the best term for the years 00' - 01'? I guess it'll have to do) including, but definitely not limited to:
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin and Everything All the Time - I love them both unconditionally
The Mountain Goats - Sunset Tree (my original winner of album of the decade)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot (bad name for a great album)
The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
The Postal Service - Give Up
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - self-titled
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
Josh Joplin Group - Useful Music
The Features - Exhibit A
The Decemberists - Picaresque
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Sun Kil Moon - Tiny Cities
and
The Fray - How to Save a Life....OK, just kidding - had to make sure you were still reading!
Some pretty good stuff! How is one to choose fromt he greatness above? I am no rock critic, i just know what I like. Most of the time I have a difficult time describing exactly why. I usually just kind of realize my affection for an album based on its time spent in my disc player. Each of the albums above spent an inordinate amount of time in my cd player in my car, and most of those still find their way there on a regular basis. These albums just don't get old. Ever. I have probably listened to Sunset Tree and Cease to Begin all the way through at least 200 times each. And that's a conservative number. Even when I know every single lyric and melody....I still listen. In those three seconds before the next track begins, I can already hear the opening sequence to the next song I already know i like. Powerful stuff. You know you've found something special when you don't even bother to research new bands, or songs, or videos. Nothing new gets a chance. You're content listening, and re-listening. I guess that makes these albums 'great' to me.
That being said, there's one band (and one album) that still gets me excited every time i listen. It's denying other new bands chances to be a part of my life. I don't want to listen to anything else. I am still stuck on Hometowns by the Rural Alberta Advantage. It snuck into my life at Christmas time, thanks to Sunsets, and it hasn't left my life since. I have literally worn the album down to a nub. I play it on repeat grading papers in my classroom; i listen over and over on my ipod on long runs; and i cannot eject it from the honda's disc player. It's the soundtrack of my last 3 months, and I don't see it coming to an end any time soon. I search for videos on youtube (hold on, where almost there), look for articles on websites, hoping for new releases....anything to feed the addiction. Again, i am no rock critic, but there's something to be said for their simplistic chord progressions, the urgency of his voice and words, and the complexity of the drums (I've never heard percussion this way). i notice something new with each listen. That's what makes it great to me.
So, if you haven't heard the RRA, do yourself a favor. If you have, do yourself another favor and play it again, and again, and again. I bet it won't get old any time soon.
Here's a couple videos I found taped at a record store in Ontario. Anyone else have a little bit of a secret crush on Canada? I digress. "Don't Haunt this Place" is on Hometowns, and Barnes' Yard is not. Both are unreal.
Don't Haunt This Place
Barnes' Yard
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