Poster Position: 6
Thoughts: Criminy, man, this guy has put out a buttload of albums. Spotify offers up 19, starting with 1996's Music of Hair and ending with 2016's Are You Serious. In the midst of those is a live album from his performance at the 2007 ACL Festival. His sound is warm, very comforting, kind of in the vein of the good M. Ward songs, except that he usually has a violin involved somehow because that is what the guy does (go check the old albums for sure). Oh, and whistling. The dude digs a good whistle.
The new album is really pretty great. It all sticks to a nice, indie sound that is really fun and pleasant. He's got a Rhythm of the Saints-esque tune in "The New Saint Jude" that is a really fun groove. "Chemical Switches" sounds like a Fleet Foxes tune with whistling. But if you go back to other albums, know that you will be taking an adventure out of that comfortable yard and into the twisting streets of oddness on some of these albums. 2015's Echolocations: Canyon is more like a modern classical album of orchestral instrumentals and ambient pieces, same with most of 2013's I Want to See Pulaski at Night. But 2014's Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of goes back to the lovely sound of the indie troubadour making warm tracks with intricate lyrics. Then, if you go all the way back to that first album, it is a bluegrass fiddle album. Nothing like his current music.
His most popular track is his most-listened to by a bunch, and is called "Pulaski at Night," from the 2013 album I Want to See Pulaski at Night. If you google "what is Pulaski," the definition of that word is:
Pu·las·ki
The new album is really pretty great. It all sticks to a nice, indie sound that is really fun and pleasant. He's got a Rhythm of the Saints-esque tune in "The New Saint Jude" that is a really fun groove. "Chemical Switches" sounds like a Fleet Foxes tune with whistling. But if you go back to other albums, know that you will be taking an adventure out of that comfortable yard and into the twisting streets of oddness on some of these albums. 2015's Echolocations: Canyon is more like a modern classical album of orchestral instrumentals and ambient pieces, same with most of 2013's I Want to See Pulaski at Night. But 2014's Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of goes back to the lovely sound of the indie troubadour making warm tracks with intricate lyrics. Then, if you go all the way back to that first album, it is a bluegrass fiddle album. Nothing like his current music.
His most popular track is his most-listened to by a bunch, and is called "Pulaski at Night," from the 2013 album I Want to See Pulaski at Night. If you google "what is Pulaski," the definition of that word is:
Pu·las·ki
pəˈlaskē/
noun
- a tool with a head that has an ax blade on one side and an adze on the other.
But from reading further, it sounds like there is a Chicago holiday known as Casimir Pulaski Day, which celebrates a Polish dude for being the father of the American cavalry and a Revolutionary War hero. The event apparently happens early in March and is observed by Polish communities in Illinois in general. They even close the public schools statewide, according to Wikipedia. So maybe everyone in Illinois jams this song on Pulaski Day, because its got 9.3 million listens while the next best is at 4.3 million in his Spotify catalog.
More orchestral plucking, and a vaguely asian sounding violin riff, to go with a sad set of lyrics about wishing someone would come back to Chicago to enjoy his half empty horn of plenty. People in Illinois apparently love the guy, because his second most listened-to track is called "Giant of Illinois." But I don't want to pimp that, I want to play one of the tracks off this excellent new disc. The three with the most listens are "Left Handed Kisses," "Roma Fade," and "Capsized." Although it is the least listened-to of those three, and "Left Handed Kisses" features the excellent Fiona Apple, I'm stepping to you with "Roma Fade" because I dig it.
Whistles! And then a great chugging groove! Cool, right? This guy's music is great, I feel like I could listen to this all week. And that new album is really excellent. That being said, I'm not entirely sure about this as festival fare. I've tried out the ACL Fest live album from 2007, and it is surprisingly rockin' in comparison to the tunes on the albums, so maybe he'll bring the thunder in person. I'm feeling like this may be comparable to the amazing Lord Huron sets I got to watch last year. Sign me up if so.
No comments:
Post a Comment