January music

January is always a fun month for buying music. Usually I have a couple of gift cards from Christmas to spend. Since nothing new or worthwhile is being released this month, I picked up a few 2007 releases that I've had my eye on.


Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold
Listen here.

I first discovered this British band by watching their video "what's a girl to do" and I liked the vibe. Their video is very cool, look for it on their myspace page. Their music is in parts minimal trip-hop, dreamy, and spooky.


Bill Mallonee and Victory Garden - Permafrost
Listen here.

Bill is one America's best songwriters and is probably the least recognized. I have decided that I need to complete my VOL/Bill Mallonee catelog of his music. Maybe one album a month. Permafrost was his latest album from last year. I would have like to have gotten a hardcopy, but he is selling all his albums digitally for 7.99 and his albums are not available in standard record stores, so...


The National - Aligator
Listen here.

The National's Boxer (2007) was my number 1 album of 2007. I was curious about their earlier release "Aligator." Musically it is very good and contains the sort of texture and atmosphere found on "Boxer", but I think it lacks the cohesion that makes "Boxer" the masterpiece that it is. But still very good. This band is for real.

Caribou - Andorra
Listen here.

I recently discovered that a band that I lost track of. Manitoba put out a release back in early 2000's that I loved called "up in flames." They were electronic and experimental and sounded a bit like an electronic version of My Bloody Valentine. I guess at some point they were told they can not use the name Manitoba and changed their name to Caribou. I didn't find that out until this year and discovered that they have serveral releases inbetween. This album is more of a pop record with traditional song structures and vocals vs. straight up electronic and experimental. The music itself is still dreamy with a bit of the '60's thrown in and the vocals sound similar to Wayne Everett of the Lassie Foundation.

Sigur Ros - Heima
Watch trailer here.

Ah yes, can I love this band any more? This film follows the Sigur Ros in their native Iceland through a series of several performances in where they give back to their people. The shows are free and are played in a variety of venues: abandonded buildings, off the shore, hills and land, in churches/community centers, city centers. I really appreciated the humanness and humility of the band and the people of Iceland. The film is also beautifully stunning the way it intermixes the landscape with the music.

Starflyer 59 - Ghosts of the Future: Issue #5 and #8.

Listen here.

Mr. Martin acoustic is the winner here. Broken Arm was recording with and sung by David Bazan of Pedro the Lion.