Wincing The Night Away
Realeased 23 January 2007

Must Own

I’ve been seriously contemplating writing a Best Albums of 2007 list in the first few weeks of the year, just to see how close I can get. Most of it would be based on expectation and conjecture. I wouldn’t be able to account for the surprise hits or debut albums. And, of course, it is impossible for pre-emptive Best-of lists to measure the emotional impact any specific album will have had by the end of the year. So I decided against it. Regardless, this is shaping up to be a very good year for music.

Well, Wincing the Night Away is a sure bet for the Top Ten of 2007. If ten better albums are released this year, I’ll be shocked. In fact, if this album ends up on 5 or fewer Top Ten lists over at Metacritic, I’ll eat a crayon.

Anyone who has listened to the Shins can tell you, their music is infectious. As your new friend Sam aptly put it, “It will change your life, I swear.” I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like the Shins. Come to think of it, I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t love the Shins. It’s like each of their albums are perfectly crafted to create fans. This, their third effort, expands on that new tradition.

But more than anything else, here’s my favorite thing about the Shins: You cannot describe them using that ever-popular equation, band1 + band2 = the Shins. In fact, they are more often than not used in place of band1 or band2 to describe other bands. They have earned a place in the hearts and minds of music fans everywhere by sounding exactly like the Shins and nobody else.

Our Endless Numbered Days
Realeased 23 March 2004

Must Own

I’m not even sure where to start.

This album is nothing less than essential. Our Endless Numbered Days is not only one of the best albums to be released this decade, it contains the best love songs recorded in a generation. Put simply, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this album. It’s more than good. It’s perfect.

I don’t remember where and when I first heard Sam Beam, but I do remember buying Iron & Wine’s debut album The Creek Drank the Cradle while I was dating my wife. I remember thinking Bird Stealing Bread would go perfect on my next mix tape for her. I’m sure it’s one of the reasons she married me. Our Endless Numbered Days was released less than a month after our wedding and it became an instant favorite. Perhaps you could blame our starry-eyed newly-wed love bubble, but this album became the soundtrack for our entire first year.

The album sinks its teeth in at precisely 2:43 in the first song and it doesn’t let go. Ever. It came as absolutely no surprise when Iron & Wine started popping up on the soundtracks to major motion pictures. Sam Beam will not only be with us for a very long time, he may very well go down as one of the defining musicians of this generation.

As Man-With-Guitar music goes, it simply doesn’t get better than this.

So This is Goodbye
Realeased 22 August 2006

Must Own

It’s hard to dislike this album. Nie unto impossible, I’d say. Everyone at work refers to this album as the “bleepity blopity music” and that’s actually a pretty accurate description. The music consists almost exclusively of engineered beats and vocals. Normally a recipe for disaster, Junior Boys have managed somehow to create a near perfect album. More than being expertly produced, they have created an album that is easy to listen to. There is no need to skip a single track.

So This is Goodbye is also something of an enigma. All at once the album sounds retro, modern, and way ahead of its time. There is nothig inherently new offered by this album, the genius is in the presentation. If I were feeling more adventurous, I would use words like “sensual,” “organic,” and “tranquil.”

Like so many others, I first learned about Junior Boys when Pitchfork gave So This is Goodbye an almost unheard-of 9.0. A Pitchfork induced Pavlovian response forced indie rockers all over the world to not only buy the album immediately, but to buy their previous release and attend a show as fast as possible (the sooner this is accomplished, after all, the sooner you have long-time-fan bragging rights). I admit, I drooled like the rest of them.

Something else happened, however, when I started listening to the album. I became a genuine fan. Good albums are nice to listen to, great albums get better with each listen, and the best albums leave us wanting more and more and more. Four months of regular listening since that initial introduction and I still play this album without hesitation.

But best of all, everyone else seems loves this album. I’ve played So This is Goodbye for people ranging in age from 4 months to 54 years and I have yet to hear anyone complain. There should be an award for music that can do that.

The Crane Wife
Released 3 October 2006

Must Own

It’s difficult to write music that people will like. It’s harder still to write bold music with broad appeal. But it’s nearly impossible to create an album that will be considered a “classic.” Relatively few artists have managed to climb this Mt. Everest of musical accomplishments and we all recognize the names of those who have: the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Dr. Dre, Michael Jackson, OutKast, U2, Radiohead… There is a special place in music history reserved for these albums and always room in our CD collection.

Well, make room for one more.

Last year in my review of the Decemberists’ album Picaresque I wrote, “Wecome to the future of cool music. Deliberately theatrical, post-indie, emo-pop will be next year’s ‘alternative’. Mark my words.” Well, it’s true and everyone’s in on the act. TV On The Radio, The Hold Steady (self described as “America’s #1 bar band”), Yo La Tengo, Subtle, My Chemical Romance, even Grizzly Bear is getting ambitious. Everyone is testing the waters of concept music and it turns out we like it. And to push that analogy just a little bit too far, The Crane Wife is the deep end of that pool.

The Crane Wife is unexplainably great. Without exception, everyone with whom I’ve shared this album (“with whom.” how do ya like that?), even people who normally hate my music, have asked to hear it again. A co-worker actually went out to buy the album on her lunch break after hearing it one time. In a word, this album satisfies. I guarantee you will be hooked before the 1 minute mark of the very first song.