3 Albums You Need To Check Out Now

1. Sigh No More 2009
    Mumford & Sons
 

No doubt you’ve already heard of this tornado of a newcomer. Perhaps you’ve heard a song here or there, or maybe you’re a full fledged, hardcore, folk rock, Mumford loving fan already. If you’re living under a rock though and by some miracle have not yet had the pleasure of letting your ears feast on, what is in my opinion, the best album of 2009, drag your ass on down to the record store and pick this beauty up. A combination of beautiful lyrics and classic folk rock sounds, Mumford & Sons manages to make something unique and wonderful, heartfelt and real. With lyrics like “in these bodies we will live/ in these bodies we will die/ and where you invest your love/ you invest your life”  Mumford is exemplifying song writing at its best, something that, unfortunately, with people like Kei$ha hijacking our beloved music venues and climbing to the top of Billboard’s Top 100, we don’t see as often as we should. But even with this trying time for lyrical genius, honesty and ingenuity, Mumford stays true. Writing songs that are best heard late at night, loudly over our speakers, wind in our hair. Songs that tear our hearts out and smear the blood over the dash, leaving us feeling raw and alive, the way great music should.

2. I Speak Because I Can 2010
    Laura Marling

You may have heard the lovely voice of Laura Marling playing quietly in the background as you enjoyed your moderately priced latte this week, as it has come to my attention that some of her earlier work has now landed on Starbucks’ latest playlist. But I find that listening to this goddess of folk in a din of other people talking and espresso machines roaring to be almost criminal, as do some others fans I know. Marling is the real deal and should be taken in, in all her glory. So let’s talk about this British songstress. With a dollop of folk and a whole helluva lot of heart, this powerhouse songwriter, whose subtle vocals bewitch you at first listen, is blowing my mind. The intricacies of her lyrics make the album flow like a story unfolding chapter by chapter. She draws you in with her desperation and her pain, but also with her hope and her wit. Marling has the rare gift of making you crack a smile, while simultaneously choking back tears. She hits you with all her emotions at once, leaving you with an honesty that is sometimes overwhelming.


3. The King Is Dead 2011
    The Decemberists

The Decemberists are bringing us folky, beautiful goodness with their newest release, The King Is Dead. These storytelling gods do not let us down with this new record, weaving together classic folk sounds with  gorgeously thought out lyrics. We find here a complete balance between hopeful, optimistic, upbeat songs that make us want to bask in the sun of life and perfectly melancholy ballads that hide that sun behind a grey, rainy cloud. “Dear Avery” perfectly exemplifies the latter. With simple music that carries the lyrics forth with a wave of honest emotion, head strong/ you and your long arms/ listing lazily on the cusp of your teens”. It’s the kind of song you want to put on repeat while you slip into one of those enjoyable sadnesses. If The King Is Dead is any indication of what’s to come in 2011, then we’re all in for an exceptionally good year for music, but with a stand out record like this, The Decemberists have made themselves a very hard act to follow.

Stars

The Five Ghosts 2010

★ ★ ★

In June of 2010 the Canadian indie pop band, Stars, released their fifth studio album, The Five Ghosts. Though less mature and lyrically compelling as previous albums, such as Set Yourself On Fire and Nightsongs, which collectively include brilliant examples of lyrical storytelling in songs like “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” and “The Very Thing”, The Five Ghosts though by no means a bad record, has it’s share of bland tracks and leaves the listener and fans of Stars yearning for a bit more substance, a bit more beauty, and a bit more to sink their teeth into. However, The Five Ghosts doesn’t entirely disappoint. Though this album finds itself to be less intriguing than expected from Stars, it still manages to deliver a few outstanding tracks that pull the album together and make it worth a listen. The track “Changes” does a wonderful job of showcasing Amy Millan’s exquisite voice and is mildly reminiscent of another Stars’ standout, “Calendar Girl”. Both share simple, yet beautiful lyrics that are woven into something intricate and wonderful by Millan’s unique vocals. The opening track on the album, “Dead Hearts” weaves Torquil Campbell’s voice with Amy Millan’s in a sort of musical Q & A, as he asks Amy to relay to him some sort of unreal experience. The song comes together nicely, and as always, when Torquil and Millan’s voices are paired, delivers a certain amount of beauty that cannot be ignored. The album as a whole, however, lacks the lyrical and musical spark that was so obviously present in their last few albums.

The Weepies

Be My Thrill 2010  

★ ★

If you’re a hardcore The Weepies fan and with their new album were looking for something bland and monotonous, that essentially reiterates their last two studio albums, then you’ve received exactly that with their new release, Be My Thrill. Not to say that there aren’t a few gems amongst the excruciatingly boring indie folk pop explosion that is this album. The opening track, “Please Speak Well Of Me” has gorgeously melancholy lyrics overlaid on top of rather up beat music in true The Weepies fashion and makes your heart hurt just the appropriate amount. The track “Be My Thrill” is quick and cute and though it lacks certain lyrical maturity and substance it does the job of making the listener smile and perhaps spare a thought for that special somebody. These two songs, however passable and catchy, do not, in any way make up for the rest of the album. As a long time fan of The Weepies and beautifully heartbreaking songs such as the simple and yet sublime “The World Spins Madly On” and the wonderfully honest “Gotta Have You” as I sat listening through Be My Thrill my disappointment grew dark and ugly. I won’t sit here saying that this album isn’t catchy, it is. Writing catchy folk pop is something that The Weepies mastered with there 2006 sophomore album, Say I Am You. The lyrical maturity and beauty that flooded both Say I Am You and Hideaway, however, are devastatingly lost in Be My Thrill. It sounds, quite simply, as though Deb Talan and Steve Tannen took the music from their last two albums and paired it with new, less meaningful, less beautiful lyrics. Most every song stares you in the face seeming all too familiar. The less talented little brother of it’s predecessor.

Oh My God; A Mission Statement

About four months ago I found myself dancing barefoot in an empty apartment to Ida Maria’s wonderfully blatant single "Oh My God". I could go into details about why I found myself in this place. I could spend an hour telling you about how, at the time, I was struggling financially, how I had someone I trusted and cared for lie to me and hurt me. I could write about how I was confused about life, how I had no idea the direction I was going in, or if I was going in a direction at all. But the point of this isn’t the why’s of the situation, the point is the situation itself. The bottom line is that there was a moment four months ago where I felt my world falling apart and instead of drinking myself into oblivion, or doing some mind numbing drug, I cried hysterically and danced around an empty room to a song that said exactly all the things that I couldn’t seem to put into words. This is what this blog is about. The idea that music is some of our drugs of choice. That when things are falling to pieces around us we put on the song or the album that makes it okay. The song that says, “Yeah, fuck everything. It’s okay to cry.” That when love hits us we make a playlist or mix tape to describe just how wonderful it is, because our words just aren’t enough. Why Apothecary Of Sound? Because the record store is my drugstore. I don’t need a prescription to make the pain go away, I just need to know that somewhere there’s someone singing about what I’m feeling. That this thing I can’t describe has already been put down on paper by someone else, someone who knows all about the joy or the pain or the insanity that is pulsing through me at that moment. This is why I decided it was time for me to share my love of music, to write a blog about what I hear and what it means to me. Because music is the drug that everyone can take, no prescription required. It’s an idea that proves that we’re never alone, because somewhere someone is listening to the same song you are and maybe they’re even feeling the same things. Music is the string that can connect us, show us what it’s like to be human, to feel and relate. That’s why I love music, that’s why I want to write about it, and that’s why I chose Apothecary Of Sound to be the name of this little experiment. Because it sums up why I love music. It can heal us, get us high, take us low, let us explore everything we’re feeling in four minutes of sound and lyrics. Music is the drug. Welcome to my Apothecary Of Sound.