Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forever Ago" This is a beautiful lo-fi alt-folk album by a native Wisconsinite, Justin Vernon, on one of my favored labels for all things pretty and folky, Jagjaguwar. Most of the time he sings in a kind of weird falsetto voice, which normally would turn me off, but it just adds to the playfulness and wistfulness of the album and makes his chest voice that much more satisfying when it breaks through. "For Emma, Forever Ago" reminds me a lot of the Kickball album I mentioned ages ago in that it just makes me so fucking happy when I listen to it that my chest aches. It makes me think "The sun is shining, it's summertime, I'm in love and the world is a beautiful place." Seriously, I was listening to it yesterday as I walked to my building on campus thinking about how beautiful the sidewalk is. And the album was a gift from my lover which would make me love it even more than I do if that were possible. My only complaint about this album is that it ends.
Ludacris - "Chicken N Beer" Ludacris is a dirty dirty dirty man. I love him. If I'm gonna dance, at a party or all by my lonesome, then raunchy music is my favorite and Ludacris got a potty mouth that puts my own to shame. The three opening tracks to this album ("Southern Fried Intro", "Blow It Out", "Stand Up") are booty shakin' enough to get your grandmama to drop her hips to the beat. Especially if she's into nasty lyrics. After the intro, the tracks bounce between pretty good and not bad, and there's something to offend just about anybody. Why is this album getting my ups along with the one above? Because I similarly cannot listen to it and be in a bad mood. Personal favorite quote: "We all know Jesus saves and Ludacris withdraws..." Oh yeah, I also love the liner art.*"re: stacks" - Bon Iver
