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

Nick Drake - Pink Moon (Island, 1972)

For many years, I have heard people speak of Nick Drake in hushed, reverential tones. It is rare to find a Drake fan who isn't completely and utterly enamoured with him. I had heard his music sporadically up until a month or so ago - a song on the radio here, a song at a friend's house there - however, I had never explored his music deeply. I am a firm believer in the idea that the music we love most has a way of finding us when we need it most, and I must say that I am extremely grateful that Nick Drake has finally chosen to find me.
Pink Moon is a stark, beautiful album that Drake recorded in two days with only an acoustic guitar, and occasional piano accompaniement. His lyrics speak of sadness, loss, and despair. Drake, no stranger to depression, would eventually die from an accidental overdose of anti-depressants two years after recording Pink Moon, at the tender young age of twenty-six. While the subject matter of the album may seem gloomy, Drake's tremendous acoustic guitar playing and finger picking, along with his soft, plaintive vocal delivery, transcend the gloominess and transform the album into something simultaneously dark and enchanting.
Listening to the album's opening track, Pink Moon, the piano line that kicks in 61 seconds into the song never fails to send a shivers up my spine, and the shivers recur throughout the remainder of the album, be they caused by a certain guitar note, or a softly sung lyric that speaks directly to the heart.

Check Out: www.brytermusic.com