Top Recommendations from Top Albums Lists

With list season in full swing, I’d like to recognize the albums that I discovered through various top albums lists. There’s only four, but these four were a very nice surprise for me, especially when I had concluded that the year in music was dead.
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1) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago


Thanks to Ryan at Muzzle of Bees (#4) and Dodge at My Old Kentucky Blog (#1).

Dusty, yet pristinely recorded folk songs that are drenched in tears, but, like summer raindrops, you want to bathe in them. Justin Vernon leans to the left when he walks as the weight of the heart on his sleeve pulls him. However, you’ll want to walk at his side and carry him along the windy, dirt road that he is traveling on. At times, his layered vocals sound like TV on the Radio when they sing high and in unison, while the musical landscape is melancholy, yet weathered like Ola Podrida.


Get it from Jagjaguwar in 2008.
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2) White Rabbits - Fort Nightly


Thanks to David at Largehearted Boy (top 12).

These guys are from New York and they sound like they’re from New York. What does that mean? I’m not entirely sure, but it does make sense a bit, right? Regardless of the sense that does or doesn’t make, it’s an indie rock record that blitzes most other records that attempt to be unique in such a largely populated genre. Guitars chop up thumping kick drums and snapping snares, shooting an electric pulse through your body and making you spazz out. Try it – it’s fun.


Get it from Academy Fight Song.
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3) Bodies of Water - Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink


Thanks to Chris at Gorilla Vs Bear.

Meet Danielson’s second Famile. Danielson is an obvious comparison to Bodies of Water, but this LA band is a little less quirky and, thus, a little bit better. It’s an awfully fun record to listen to and, ironically, it evokes a certain nostalgia, but remains as current as anything coming out today.


Get it from Bodies of Water.
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4) Frankel - Lullaby for the Passersby


Thanks to Justin at Aquarium Drunkard.

Personally, I think it’s rare to find a singer-songwriter that is good. They’re usually a dime a dozen and a rare exception is Elliot Smith. Michael Orendy, a.k.a. Frankel, sits nicely alongside Smith and he uses a more current approach to the singer-songwriter genre with a few electronic blips to put him above the rest.


Get it from his site

For I'm Losing My Edge's Top 25 Albums, click here.