Gary Murray & LN - Minor Lives

I've been a fan of Gary Murray's work for years now, dating back to LN's Novel album (2001).  At that time, if I was having a stressful day, I would turn the lights off, close my eyes, listen to that album, and probably end up falling asleep.  It was referred to as a "sleepytime album" for good reason.

I still love that album, although I think I love each LN album released since then just a little more.  This is the first album Murray has released since 2009's excellent Downstream Angels (also listed as Gary Murray & LN).  And it just kind of dropped out of nowhere on June 7.  Needless to say, I bought it as soon as I learned of its existence, and have been enjoying it ever since.

It covers the same basic territory as a lot of past LN albums.  Slow, dark, folksy songs, built around a simple melody, and eventually filled out with a vast array of atmospherics.  And, as always, Murray nails it.  It's a beautifully dark album, each listening revealing something new to love.

If he keeps releasing albums this good, I don't really mind the 4 year wait so much.

Favorite track: "Minor Lives"
Rating: 5/5

Mumford & Sons - Babel

I loved Sigh No More.  It took me a few listens to get into, but once I did, I was hooked.  Babel takes that album and steps it up a notch.  It's a little bigger.  A little darker.  A little better.  It sets a mood at the beginning, and it keeps that mood throughout the entire album.  It's sinister, yet still inviting.  I'm 4 listens in, and I'm in love.

One added note.  I had this album on while Carpenter's Halloween was on the TV, and it worked really well.  Something about the dark, driving rhythms on this album fit really well with that movie.

Rating: 5/5
Favorite track: "Below My Feet"

In the past, I've made promises about keeping up with this blog on a more regular basis.  I'm going to attempt to make that promise again.  I have found myself a bit over-my-head with blogs lately (in addition to this one, I also write about horror movies and sports), and this is the one that has suffered the most.  I'm going to try to be better about that.  And if that means a series of short reviews like this one, then so be it.  I have discovered that I'm not the greatest music writer, so shorter is probably better.

Waxahatchee - American Weekend

Waxahatchee is the solo project for Katie Crutchfield.  Though she has been in a couple other bands (P.S. Eliot and Bad Banana), I have not heard either of them.  This album was featured on Up and In: The Baseball Prospectus Podcast (by the way, if you're a fan of baseball - specifically the prospect side of things - you need to listen to this podcast), and I immediately fell in love with it.

It's basically a lo-fi folk record.  But that oversimplifies it.  It's definitely a sparse album, with only a guitar and Katie's voice in each song (the lone exception being "Noccalula", where she trades in her guitar for a piano).

So the songs are sparse, but they also feel full.  Her voice is gorgeous, and it really fills the songs out.  She makes each song unique and interesting.  I have listened to this album a ton of times, and I have never been bored.  The way she is able to wrap her voice around each song keeps me coming back to the album over and over again.  And it only improves with each listen.

The lo-fi production was pretty distracting at first.  There are moments where it's rougher than others.  Some of the songs sound like old Alan Lomax field recordings.  But, once I started falling in love with the songs, I didn't notice the production so much.  In fact, it kind of added to the songs.  There's something timeless about these recordings.  I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised to find that this was a recently unearthed recording from 1920.

In case you couldn't tell, I love this album.  It's bare and raw and beautiful.  I can't get enough of it.

Rating: 5/5
Favorite song: "Bathtub"



If you want to buy this album (which I highly recommend that you do), go here.  I bought the vinyl for $10, which is a tremendous price.