ON ROTATION

Silversun Pickups, Neck Of The Woods
I was fortunate enough to meet the Silversun Pickups a few years back when they played in Seattle at the Paramount. It was the first real concert that my two older kids had experienced and the band invited us backstage before the show. Beyond being great and talented musicians, they are genuinely nice and down to earth people and I will always be appreciative for them taking the time to meet with my kids. At the time they were touring in support of their album Swoon, which was a killer album. Last week the band released their forth album, Neck Of The Woods. While the band does not break any new real ground in terms of their musical style, it is another fine album and one that finds the band continuing to expand and develop its sound quite nicely.
                                                        Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)  

Beach House, Bloom

The Baltimore due of Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand, better known as Beach House, have creating some of my favorite dream pop music since 2006. I was particularly enthusiastic about their 2010 album, Teen Dream. On their newly released, forth album, Bloom, the two extend their track record of producing outstanding music. Together, they are masters as at creating warm and lush songs that have great pop sensibility at their essence, but live in a dreamy state. This slows everything down and allows their songs to gently meander in time and space. With Bloom, they have achieved a new level of clarity with their vision of where their music lives. Songs are richer and perfectly textured with vocals that have a wonderful ethereal quality to them
                                                       which compliments the music beautifully. It all makes for an 
                                                       outstanding album.  
                                                       Myth   

Tindersticks, The Something Rain
Through twenty years and nine albums, Tindersticks has been creating music that is hard to pin down and not what I would call highly commercial. My kind of music. Their music has been called chamber pop by some, due to orchestral elements that the band often incorporates into their music. But that is really only part of the music's equation. Tindersticks' music is ambient, melancholy indi-rock that is soaked with emotional lyrics and heavy themes and is always interesting and always intriguing. On their latest release, The Something Rain, the band has created a dark, beautiful, and haunting album that really needs some quiet time to fully enjoy and absorb. When you do give it its due, you will be rewarded, having experienced
                                                       one of the more distinctive albums of the year. 
                                                       Medicine