Records of the Week: 12/18/10

I can’t believe this, but I’m actually posting a “Records of the Week” a week after I posted the last one!  Finally I stay on schedule.  Now let’s get down to business, folks.  This week’s “Records of the Week” are rather “indie/folk-y” at least to me.  By the way, I’m going to try to post a ROTW on Christmas, but I’m not sure how much time I’ll have due to family commitments.  If it’s not posted Christmas Day, it’ll be posted Christmas Eve or the day after Christmas.

She and Him – Volume One and Two

She and Him is best known for the fact that popular (and adorable) actress Zooey Deschanel is their lead singer and primary songwriter.  The fact that an actress is a singer may immediately discourage some from listening to the project, but both She & Him records, Volume One and Volume Two are pure pop bliss.  The reason why I decided to combine them is because they’re in the same vein musically, and I’ve been enjoying them both this past week. The “Him” in the band is M. Ward, who plays guitar and produces the record.  His playing style, which is sparse and not very intrusive, fits the music well.  And Deschanel is a more than capable singer.  Her voice fits in very well with the old-timey arrangements and musical structures.  Its very reminiscent of popular music from the sixties and seventies.  Her voice has a very “warm” feel to it, and it’s very pleasant to the ear.  “This Is Not A Test” from Volume One is one of my favorite tracks – it’s a good example of the catchy brand of pop that you’ll find on both records..  Volume Two is quite similar to the first record in almost every aspect, but it doesn’t end up sounding too “samey” at all.  The best analogy for it would be that they’re different “volumes” (see what I did there?) in the same series of novels.  Both albums also end with vocal only tracks – an excellent cover of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Sleep,” (a song penned by Deschanel) which really does sound like something you would listen to while going to sleep.  If you’re into the kind of poppy, 60s/70s era type thing, definitely check these albums out.

Best Coast – Crazy for You

Best Coast’s debut Crazy for You is a unique record in that it combines jangly, distorted guitars and heavily reverberated vocals with extremely basic lyrics (Example rhyme: lazy/crazy).  On any other record, those type of lyrics might seem immature and repetitive.  But singer/guitarist Beth Constenino’s voice has an amount of believability and charm to it, and it works.  The final track, “When I’m With You” is the best of the bunch.  It starts out slowly enough but eventually picks up towards the end, repeating the beginning at a faster pace.  It’s not an original concept, but the production and instrumentation just makes it sound so great.  That’s probably a horrible description of a song, but the album as a whole is so simple (but enjoyable) that it’s hard to describe effectively.

Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

For the record, I never gave Bon Iver a chance when this record, For Emma Forever Ago, gained popularity in earlier 2008.  I had a few friends who listened to the record almost religiously and praised its greatness.  I heard “Skinny Love” and didn’t really give it a chance – it sounded like everything else that was popular at the time – indie folk music.  In early 2009 I gave it another chance on the airplane on the way to Europe – didn’t click.  I listened to it again this year and finally, it blew me away.  I’m not sure if it was the mindset I was in or the place I was emotionally.  But the album was one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard on that first real listen.  From the opening track, “Flume,” which is soft, moody, and brutally honest, the record found a way to “get into my heart” so to speak.  It just sounds like an infinitely emotional and personal album, and that’s probably why I couldn’t get into it the first few times I listened to it.  It really is a record for a certain time and emotional state, and I’m sure there’s some people who will never like it because of that.  But if you’re in an emotional place and have been through some pain, give it a spin, and see what you think.