I consider my way home from work to be one of the most important daily routines in my life. Some people it's breakfast, some people it's laying in bed before miimiis. To me it's the hour or so it takes for me to get home after work. The time on the bus or in the car or walking, is so important because this is where I have time to live life in between. In between this and that is where I let all the stresses and worries flow out of me and I let myself be overcome by music or reading. Unfortunately this doesn't happen with everyone, so I feel fortunate that music has the ability to really purge tensions that have built up. Without this time to myself I'd probably suffer from anxiety and other crazynesses.
My point:
Here are 5 albums you should look into if your the same. These are my current Way Home albums.
Department Of Eagles isn't the answer to the next Grizzly Bear album, but it's damn close. In Ear Park is much more personal and accessible than Grizzly Bear but still feels hand-crafted and well thought out (Daniel Rossen, from GB, made his way back to the band after a few successful years away). The song structures are pretty similar to other bands that hint to a more innovative approach- think, Bowerbirds, Fleet Foxes, etc. I have a feeling that the album is just one or two songs too long, but with a few different vocal styles and music arrangements, the album definitely leaves a great mark in the genre this year.
School Of Seven Bells (named after a pickpocket training academy, dope) is twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, from On! Air! Library! (great!!) and Benjamin Curtis from Secret Machines. Right now I'm still debating whether or not to see them with M83 at The Fillmore later this month. I feel like the two bands make a pretty decent pair. Alpinisms starts off feeling very much like a warm-up for M83, but starts to get less dense and makes a break for a more Goldfrapp style of pop.
Kettel is on a super cool label called Sending Orbs, so first off, if you like this then go listen to the few others on the label. So far, Kettel's Myam James Part 1 is the most addicting for me out of the 5 listed here. It's mellow and minimal at parts, with super inventive and catchy beats in others. He manages to surprise you all the way through by adding in perfect little piano pieces within the layers, or for instance just after the 4min mark in this track, he throws just a little sax in then continues to change the structure of the song all the way to the end. Very Very good album.
Near The Parenthesis' L'Eixample is so far the best ambient/minimal atmosphere music I've heard this year. NtP is San Francisco-based musician Tim Arndt. When I'm on my way home, I imagine everyone else listening to headphones on the bus is listening to this album and then this beautiful fog starts to creep all around me and into my nose and ears and eyes and pretty soon I'm in another place where the music is radiating from within me and as I walk the fuzz and shifts and tones of the music leave an afterglow in the wake of my body. Uhh.. I'll just say it's in my top 10 this year.
Sighh. The Remote Viewer. This is the only song (of all 10 untitled tracks) I could get (through a friend no-less) off of the new album I Can't Believe It's Not Better. I don't want to have to cheat and just find this album online somewhere but seeing as there was only 350 albums made worldwide, and so far no one is offering this as an MP3 album, I might have to. If you like the song, you'll love his 3 previous albums. Enjoy the song though!
Department Of Eagles - Phantom Other
School Of Seven Bells - Half Asleep
Kettel - Twinkle Twinkle
Near The Parenthesis - The Second Nave
The Remote Viewer - Untitled 01
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