Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "The Letting Go" and "Master and Everyone"I've always liked me one Mr. Will Oldham (aka Palace, Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, Palace Music). His music is simple, his voice plaintive, his lyrics contemplative. Genre-wise, I guess folk/alt-folk/lo-fi would apply to most of his recordings. "Master and Everyone" is my favorite album of his: obviously a break-up album, I couldn't listen to it for a while after my divorce because it made me cry. The first year I owned the album, I only listened to tracks #2-4, and in particular track #3 (Wolf Among Wolves), but when I finally gave the rest of the album a chance it was well worth multiple listens.
I just got "The Letting Go" as a birthday gift from my parents. It's kind of hit-or-miss in my opinion, more heavily produced than the simpler stuff that is his real talent. I think some of the tracks are simply gorgeous (Cursed Sleep, Lay and Love) but some are just weird (Seedling). I'm not always keen on the female backing vocals, especially when she's just wailing away.
Mogwai - "Mr. Beast"Oh. my. god. I loves me some instrumental, guitar-driven, dynamic, mathy, Scottish music. Every song on this album is a gem, but the heaviest tracks (Glasgow Mega Snake, We're No Here) rawk my skinny butt right off and are definitely my favorites. So loud. So. great. Then again, the beautiful piano melodies (Acid Rock, Friend of the Night) are so catchy that I find myself whistling them as I walk between various engineering campus buildings. I would so love to see these guys live - I hear that it's very loud and possibly life-altering.
Russian Circles - "Enter"
Speaking of instrumental, guitar-driven, dynamic, mathy, and loud, this is an incredible album. I saw them play it live and it was EXACTLY like the recording. I know that some people like to go to live shows and hear some deviation, but this album was already perfect, and their playing was perfect so really how could one complain? They're coming through Milwaukee in August and I will not miss them.
