Beirut - Gulag Orkestar (2006)

Beirut's strangely-exotic music has slowly crept its way into my consciousness over the past few months, and now has me firmly in its grasp. It is a sound as unique as it is compelling, featuring all manner of instruments, including mandolin, accordion and trumpet.
The opening track of the album - The Gulag Orkestar - introduces us to a sound that seems neither of this time nor this place, and immediately sets the tone for what is to follow: a whimsical, often boisterous melange of sounds that wouldn't seem out of place, should they be spilling from an old-time Eastern European tavern. No small feat, for a group hailing from Santa Fe, NM.
The trumpet and accordion, coupled with dense, rythmic percussion, feature heavily in a number of the album's songs, while calmer moments, such as the rather lovely Postcards From Italy benefit with the accompaniement of mandolin, ukele and clarinet. The drama of the songs is only bolstered by the baroque vocals of the groups lyricist, founder and mutli-instrumentalist, Zach Condon. Condon, who was only nineteen when this album was recorded, is more-or-less a one mand band on Gulag Orkestar, which, considering the quality of the album, is quite an achievemet.
One of the greatest things that music offers us, is the ability to transport us out of our everyday experience. Beirut's music takes the listener on a journey not only to distant lands, but also to distant times. Without doubt, spending one's days toiling in the gulag would be far from ideal (read Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich if you don't know why), yet if your days were soundtracked by music such as Beirut's, perhaps it may not be all bad.

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

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007)

Of Montreal specialize in highly-imaginative, highly-eccentric, pop music that is immediately catchy, yet begs repeated listens. With song titles such as Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse (the song belonging to this title being one of the highlights of this album), you can rest assured that Of Montreal are not your average Top 40 pop band.
Lead by the enigmatic Kevin Barnes - the brainchild and mad-professor behind the group - Of Montreal construct songs that are weird, wonderful, and, at times, baffling - obscure lyrics often demanding repeated listens so that the listener may fully comprehend their true meaning.
A healthy portion of this album deals with a somewhat dark period in Barnes' psyche. A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger has Barnes relaying a tale of a Summer spent in Norway in the grips of severe depression, over what is an extremely upbeat, sunshine-y melody. The Past Is A Grotesque Animal is a one of the albums darker tracks, though its pulsing, rave-up, electro-beat and lyrics such as "How can I explain / I need you here / and not here too" and "Things could be different / but they're not" make it a compelling listen.
Of Montreal's music - playful guitars, upbeat electronics - often contradicts the songs' lyrical content, though this seems to be the ultimate goal on this album. People don't like to be battered around the head with tales of sadness and depression (not that it is all doom and gloom), but give it a funky beat and something I can tap my foot to, and it becomes really quite enjoyable.

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

DeVotchka - How It Ends (2004)

DeVotchka's music defies easy categorization. Think somewhere along the lines of a lovelorn troubadour fronting a "north of the border" mariachi band that grew up listening to eastern European folk music, and you may be getting close. Describing the feeling of the music on this album is equally difficult: soft and delicate; loud and boisterous; mournful; celebratory - DeVotchka wears many hats, and they wear them well!
How It Ends is the type of album that suits many moods and many situations. Perhaps this explains why it has barely left my CD player for the past three weeks and has shot to the top of my Ipod's "Most Played" list. With the soaring baritone of singer Nick Urata leading the proceedings, DeVotchka weave together tales of love, loss, sorrow, and celebration, in songs full of exotic instrumentation such as bouzouki, glockenspiel, theremin, violin, and accordian - in addition to staples such as guitar, drums, and piano.
There are a number of highlights on the album, the greatest of which is the title track, How It Ends. The opening lines - "Hold your grandmother's bible to your breast / Gonna put it to the test / You wanted to be blessed" - introduce a song that has the ability to make one's hair stand on end - even after multiple listens. It is the type of slow song that you and your friends will want to sing-a-long to at the end of a long, boozy night. It will make you happy and sad at the same time.
Other album highlights include the playful, mariachi-flavored, We're Leaving, the quiet lament of Dearly Departed, and the rollicking, Such A Lovely Thing, which contains the bitter refrain: "You only love me 'cause I'm leaving".

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/devotchkamusic & www.devotchka.net. For more DeVotchka music, check out the film Little Miss Sunshine, for which they provided the score.

The Shins - Wincing The Night Away (2007)

The Shins' latest album was released a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't as yet purchased the album, or at the very least given it a listen, may I suggest that you do so promptly. There are many people who have loudly sung The Shins' praises since the release of their 2001 debut album - Oh, Inverted World - particularly following the appearance of the track New Slang in the Zach Braff indie flick, Garden State. I am not one of those people.
Don't get me wrong - I own the bands first two albums and am of the opinion that they are really quite cool, however, for some reason, I have always felt that the albums were missing... something. Maybe I am crazy, because I certainly couldn't tell you what that certain "someting" is - it is simply a feeling I get when I listen to them. I can tell you, though, that Wincing The Night Away is missing absolutely nothing at all. It is a fantastic album! The Shins have brought together the best elements of their first two albums and have thrown in something extra special into the mix (a little fairy dust, some extra herbs and spices - I couldn't really say) to fully realize their potential.
From the opening track - the excellent Sleeping Lessons - through to the album's first single - Phantom Limb - and onwards, each song is an aural delight that begs multiple listens. One of my particular favorites is the delicate, 60's-psych-pop-esque, Red Rabbits - one of the album's many high points.
If you are unfamiliar with The Shins, it is probably time you cozied up and introduced yourself. If you have already formed an opinion of the band - even a high opinion, Wincing The Night Away could very well alter that opinion for the better, as it has certainly done for myself. Go Shins!

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