Cloud Cult - Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus (2005)

As you may be able to guess from the title, this album is a little bit 'out-there'. However, it is 'out-there' in a really good way. I bought Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus back in April of this year, and have found myself returning to it constantly since then. It has worked its was into my psyche, planted itself under my skin, and has become one of my favourite records of 2006.
Cloud Cult is a collective of musicians, based around the eccentric song-writing talents of one Craig Minnowa. The music they make is playful, poignant, life-affirming, sad, boisterous, and pretty. Across the twenty-three tracks on this album, there is a quite a lot of genre-hopping, although it is quite safe to say that, for the most part, it is rooted in the kind of eccentric pop-rock made by the likes of The Flaming Lips and others. Comparisons are odious, however, as Cloud Cult have a sound that is all their own. Transistor Radio is, for me, one of the stand-out tracks on the album. It is a beautiful track that always reminds me of a Jonathan Safran Foer novel (particulary, Extremely Close And Incredibly Loud, which happens to be my favourite novel of 2006). Other favourites from the album include What Comes At The End and The Man Jumped Out The Window, although each and every song has a way of attaching itself to you.
As they release albums on their own label, Earthology Records (www.earthology.net), and have little or no marketing budget to speak of, it would be very easy for this album to slip between the cracks. However, people have been taking notice, because it is an album full of wonderful songs, created by people who truly care about their art. Plus, it is the sort of album that just makes you feel good. It would be well worth your time and money to seek Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus, you won't be disappointed with what he has to say.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/cloudcult