solace

easily their best album since 'The Colour & The Shape' in '97

i enjoyed it for the most part, and great to see Dawes back him, but holy shit did he just botch the hell out of that solo

oh wow that's awesome!

i'd imagine they'll be announced in the next month... i don't know any specifics other than July/August timeframe

yeah, musicianship means little to me these days... i used to focus mostly on that when i was 13 and in my guitar shredder phase, but then I realized Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are shit songwriters as for Midlake vs. Fleet Foxes, for one, it's worth noting that the members of Fleet Foxes are quite a bit younger than Midlake.

yep. it was my absolutely biggest disappointment of 2010 by a mile. Van Occupanther was my fave album of '06 too. and i finally got to see them live last fall and it was also kind of a bore. *sigh* like i said, it's certainly gorgeous, but that doesn't make it any more engaging

true... i guess maybe my fault wasn't that it was mostly midtempo, but just kinda dull in a bunch of spots for me. i can dig on gorgeous/pretty stuff, but if it's boring i'll call a spade a spade (see the last Midlake album)

it was killer. while i went in mostly excited for Kurt's set, J was amazing. just finished my review... i'll post it when it's live, but here's my friend Erik's take: http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2011/04/j_mascis_and_ku.php

it was just a bit too midtempo for me... it certainly sounded great, but they've yet to put out anything since the debut that moves me as much as The Funeral or Great Salt Lake. i did really adore Compliments and Laredo a ton tho. midtempo songs are definitely my least favorite if i had to choose between a slow song or a rocker, so when an album is predominantly midtempo it's always a crapshoot if i'll love it or not. i think Matt Brook's writing input on the debut was a big part of why i loved that album too tho...

his first album wasn't quite this cohesive/engaging, but i'm loving this new one. he's actually on the new Bon Iver album a bunch and will be a touring member this summer.

yeah, after their awful first record I wasn't very excited to check it out, but i'm glad i did. they're opening for The Kills here next month.

i'll take FF over Band of Horses anyday... they've only made one great album so far for me (and last one was pretty dull minus 2-3 songs)

they actually released it as a b-side to 'Daft Punk' years ago too http://hypem.com/#!/item/6551

it is indeed a very cool record. they're playing here next Saturday, hoping to hit it up after Cut Copy. and yes, the artwork (and esp. the gatefold of the vinyl) is AMAZING. http://home-tapes.com/Hometapes/HAUS_HT039.html it was done by Aaron Draplin, a Portland based designer (who used to live in Minneapolis), i adore his work: http://draplin.com/

i use the Desktop Mac app and iPhone both yeah. you can sync files for offline play on the iPhone app too. it's selection has improved drastically over the last 2 months. it was a bit scarce last fall. but they keep adding a TON every Tuesday and have a running list of what labels aren't on it yet and are actively working with them.

it's def a very subtle record, but once it sinks it's teeth in, watch out

way better interface, a Mac desktop app, and iPhone/Android clients

i love Rdio

i think a lot of people's issue with it is that it is SO SO minimal in spots... but i like that there's a lot of white/dead air space

i can understand the claims of it being "booooorrring" or "dull", but it's too gorgeous for me to think that myself. really hope they don't move his show here from the 225 capacity venue it's currently at, but i feel they will based on NY/Philly/Chi shows being moved.

^^ super New Order-ish, but i surprisingly dig that album.

high quality 320kbps rip of this out now... so glad i waited, it sounds way better than the 128kbps. stunning/gorgeous production. total ear candy. to early to say if i like it as much as the first, but i didn't dislike a single song upon first listen.

eh? Glen Hansard is amazing

Evil Urges was their worst album by a WIDE margin. Highly Suspicious wasn't even good enough to be a b-side

slow builds are pretty much my favorite type of song (see Calexico, The Frames, National, etc.)... so clearly we differ greatly there. and it's not lazy imo, just a personal preference in songwriting style.