The Black Crowes – Before The Frost/ Until the Freeze


This is the record I’ve been waiting on from these guys for years. I think they owe Levon Helm a big thank you for providing the atmosphere for them to do this. I’ve still got mixed reviews on it but it deserves mentioning because it’s the best thing they’ve done in years. Those bookends of “Good Morning Captain” and “Last Place That Love Lives” are everything I used to like about this band.

I really dug Don't Dance Rattlesnake and will listen to almost anything Butch Walker touches but for some reason I missed this completely. Got it downloading now, thanks Derris.

If you haven't already heard Butch's I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart, you should check it. Solid year end album.

FYI, the main songwriter for The Films also co-wrote a few songs with Butch on his album from this year. Apparently they worked well together on this Films album.

Tim Hecker – An Imaginary Country

I have only in the past couple of years started to take more than a passing interest in artists like Hecker. Ambient music is such a subjective thing in my opinion. I think he falls more under “electronic” but it doesn’t really matter when the sound being produced is this………pretty? This reminds me a lot of M83’s “Dead Cities, Red Seas, and Lost Ghosts” and is probably the best thing I’ve heard in this type of stuff since that record. It’s not something to put on at a party but I do enjoy little trips into this kind of stuff. I had a stronger reaction to this than most run of the mill indie bands from 2009. “Where Shadows Make Shadows” is an amazing piece of ambient beauty.

Thanks for the recommendation. This is great. Doesn't remind me as much of M83's Dead Cities..., since that record was louder and shoegaze influenced (which I love). This is definitely more informed by ambient electronic of which I know Hecker is one of the most respected in that genre.

Links or STFU

You'll hate it. It's PPDD

I like that M83 record, dufus. Never assume you know what I like and don't like....

It's been pretty easy to discern over the years, and it's nothing like that M83 record, but here ya go:

But is it CINGEMAGIKG?

Maybe it doesn't sound like M83 as some exact facsimile but I still think it's a loose comparison that works for me.

William Fowler Collins – Perdition Hill Radio

This was something that I was looking for last summer when I was in a rut with reg-rock and wanted to get outside of the box. It’s outside of the box. Outside of the planet. It’s telling that when I uploaded to Itunes it comes up as “Unclassifiable” under Genre. I don’t know what to call it really. I guess it’s ambient but more like the soundtrack to a slow death. I don’t even know how people review this type of stuff. It’s so cerebral and how it affects you completely depends on the kind of person you are. It’s like noise art. Still, when driving along with this on, one can’t help but get inside one’s own head and start thinking random thoughts and getting images in the mind. It’s like it’s own Rorschach test. Still, a listen that requires dedication but one that rewards in weird psychological ways. One of the most unique listening experiences of my year.