Chris Wilson - Live At The Continental (Aurora Records 1994, re-issued 2007)

Chris Wilson is an Australian blues artist with an amazingly soulful and powerful voice. This is a live album that was recorded in 1994 at the much venerated, and sorely missed, Continental Cafe in Melbourne, and serves to showcase not only Wilson's amazing voice, but also his strength as a songwriter.
I remember hearing the album's opening track, You Will Surely Love Again, in early 1996, and being brought to tears by the raw emotion it conveyed. Wilson's voice rides seemlessly above the quietly strummed guitar of Shane O'Mara - who is something of an unsung legend in the Australian music scene, while the forlorn sound of Wilson's harmonica late in the the song could break even the hardest of hearts.
You Will Surely Love Again is immediately followed by Wolves, another tour-de-force which sees Wilson's voice soar as he impines "Won't you come on home?" Face In The Mirror follows, a soulful number in which the song's protagonist, broken-hearted, snorting a line off a mirror, tries to convince himself that "the face in the mirror tells me that I'm doing fine."
These are simply the first three songs on the album, with six more of equal standard that follow. Live At The Continental is a brilliant red wine album; an album perfect for long winter nights; an album that you will want to curl up on the bean bag with. Chris Wilson is a huge talent as a singer, songwriter and harmonica player - and this album is a testament to that talent. The re-issued version of the album contains the original nine song album, plus an extra disc of songs recorded on the same night. So soulful, so good.

Check Out: http://www.chriswilson.com.au/ and http://www.lastrecordstore.com/independentsW-Z.html to buy the album online.

In(The)Flesh: Arcade Fire, Greek Theater, Los Angeles 05/30/07

Ever since I got my hands on The Arcade Fire's first album, Funeral, in the early part of 2005, I have been patiently waiting for them to play live shows in the Los Angeles area. It is a fact, that they played at the Coachella Festival in both 2005 and again late last month, but having attended Coachella in 2004 and swearing never to return having endured my most miserable festival experience in living memory, I resigned myself to wait until the band played their own shows. Finally, my patience was rewarded, when the band announced two shows at the Greek Theater in L.A. - quite possibly the best venue for live music in Los Angeles: a beautiful, open-air theater, nestled into the hills of Griffith Park. Granted, I would have loved to have seen the band in a more intimate venue, however, such has their meteoric rise in popularity been over the past two years, the Arcade Fire are no longer of small venues, aside from the occasional special shows, such that took place in London and New York earlier this year.
To say I had high expectations for the show would be an understatement, so too would it be to state simply that those expectations were far exceeded. From the opening song, Keep The Car Running, the six-thousand strong crowd were on their feet, eager to drink thirstily from the cup of The Arcade Fire. There was an energy running through the crowd that was almost electric, and the band responded in kind, with a performance that was full of the energy and bombast that people have come to expect of them.
Amazing renditions of (Antichrist Television Blues), Intervention, and Windowsill from the band's second album, Neon Bible, were met with equal rapture as tracks from Funeral, including Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighborhood #2 (Laika), and Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), among others.
The show climaxed with a three-song encore that included the already classic, Rebellion (Lies), and the closing number/call-to-arms, Wake Up. During Rebellion (Lies), Win Butler - the bands frontman - was greeted with much enthusiasm, as he jumped off the stage and made his way through the crowd from the front of theater all the way to the back, as the band played on.
The Arcade Fire put on an amazing show that was well worth the wait.

The National - Boxer (Beggars Banquet, 2007)

On Boxer, The National's brilliant fourth album, the band have perfected their brand of brooding, emotive rock'n'roll, most recently displayed on their critically acclaimed 2005 album, Alligator. The band member's understanding of melody, mood, and tone, coupled with lyricist Matt Berninger's sublime skill with words, combine on each of Boxer's twelve tracks to create songs that are equal parts detail and drama.
From the opening piano chords on the album's first track, Fake Empire - also one of the album's finest - one thing is instantly clear: The National make music that is not only high listenable, but also music that immediately pulls you into its world of Green Gloves, golden slippers, and Squalor Victoria.
The drums sound sharp and dynamic; the guitars warm and angular; the additional orchestration, including piano, strings and horns, is always welcome and only serves to heighten the emotion of the band's sound. The true meaning of Berninger's lyrics is often concealed by his esoteric word play, though, strangely, this seems to draw the listener into each song deeper still. Perhaps the true essence of The National, is their ability to find the drama and beauty in the mundane nuances of every day life.
Easily one of the year's best albums, Boxer should finally earn The National the mass recognition they so clearly deserve. Buy this album.

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

The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse (Jagjaguwar, 2007)

Released earlier this year on the excellent Jagjaguwar label, The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse is an excellent album of grand baroque pop, that immediately draws the listener into its spacey, atmospheric world - most likely found floating somewhere up in the ether. Having drawn comparisons to both the Beach Boys and Pink Floyd, and sharing a similar aesthetic to more recent bands such as Mercury Rev, The Besnard Lakes create music that will appeal to fans of not only diverse musical genres, but also of diverse ages. Your little sister is just as likely to dig the album's mellow-pop opener, Disaster, as your cool uncle Gary is to enjoy the psychedelia of And You Lied To Me, while your boyfriend/girlfriend/best-friend will love the bombastic rock of Devastation.
Combining sounds both new and old, and using a diverse array of instruments, including strings, horns, organ and glockenspiel, ...Are The Dark Horse is a dense, multi-layered album, that offers something new with each listen. On the aforementioned Devastation - one of the album's highlights - a five member choir is used to great effect, on a track that sounds similar to something the Polyphonic Spree might come up with, were they to swap their brightly colored robes for something slightly more doleful. Another stand out, is the strange and delicate Because Tonight, which is a perfect for those occasions when all you want to do is close your eyes and drift peacefully above the clouds.... and who doesn't want to drift peacefully above the clouds every now and then?

Check Out: http://myspace.com/thebesnardlakes

Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond (Fat Possum, 2007)

As far as my current appreciation of music is concerned, Dinosaur Jr. are 'the' band that started it all for me. That is not to say that I wasn't aware of great music prior to discovering Dinosaur, because I definitely was, however, there was something about their music, something about J Mascis' amazing guitar sound and his world-weary drawl, that opened my ears to a whole new world.
I remember listening to Where You Been (Dinosaur Jr.'s awesome 5 th album released in 1993) through a walkman while on a road-trip with my family in 1994. As J ripped into another epic guitar solo, I remember looking out the window at the great expanse that is the Australian countryside, feeling a sense of contentment and well-being that I had never felt before. What I felt was better than sex and drugs combined, though as I had had neither sex, nor drugs, at that tender young age, I could only guess.
Now, with the original line-up of Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph in place, Dinosaur Jr. have released their first new album since 1997, and the first that this seminal line-up has released since 1988's Bug - and it is awesome.
From the opening crunch of Almost Ready, through to the euphoric punchiness of Been There All The Time, and the more mellow moments of We're Not Alone, this is an album for fans of all of Dinosaur Jr.'s incarnations, and for anyone who loves great rock'n'roll and some damn fine guitar playing.
I have not been as excited by a new album as I have this one for a long time, and have listened to it at least twenty times in the past week or so. I will be heading out to the Troubaour in L.A. on Saturday night to see the band for only the second time ever. The first I saw them was in Melbourne when I was sixteen. I was so amped to see them on that first occasion that I was giddy with excitement, and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't feeling that same giddiness right now. It is nice to know that some things never change.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/dinosaurjr - where you can listen to the album in its entirety.

Shearwater - Palo Santo (Matador, 2007 Reissue)

A little background: Palo Santo was originally released in 2006 on Misra Records, then repackaged and reissued in 2007 when the band switched labels to Matador Records. A number of the songs on the reissue have been re-recorded, in order to sound more similar to what the band originally heard in their heads, plus an 8-song bonus disc consisting of demos, bonus tracks and covers has been added. I have not heard the original version of the album, so I can't make any comparison, however, I can say that Palo Santo (the reissued and, henceforth, definitive version) is an excellent album.
Palo Santo is Shearwater's fourth album. The band was formed in Austin, Texas, in 2001 when Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg - both of Okkervil River - required an outlet for their softer songs. Those looking for a sound similar to Okkervil River may be somewhat disappointed, as on this album Sheff has played a lesser role, leaving the songwriting duties - as well as lead vocal duties - in the safe hands of Meiburg. That being said, it is not difficult to spot the similar aesthetic shared by the two groups, be they with regard to the sound or just the general mood of the album.
A lazy person may classify Shearwater's music as Americana. I prefer the hyphenate friendly: Texan-Gothic-Folk-Rock. The NME would be proud of that sort of creative genre invention! Shearwater's sound is expansive; it is delicate and, in parts, haunting, though it also has moments of bar brawl swagger, evident on one of my favorite tracks, White Waves.
It took me at least two or three listens before Palo Santo began to fully reveal itself to me, though now that it has, I discover something new - a lyric, a melody, a sound - every time I press play.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/shearwater / www.shearwatermusic.com