With all due respect to Natalie Portman, "New Slang" failed to change my life when I first heard it. As a matter of fact, The Shins in general really failed to spark any kind of emotional response with me. I didn't hate them; I just didn't need them. That is, I didn't need them until I heard "Phantom Limb" off Wincing The Night Away (released today, for those of you living in shelter). Suddenly, it all started making sense ("the fuss") and I started telling anyone who'd listen that they have to hear this song--this song without a chorus (kind of) that really doesn't need a hook, because the whole damn thing is a hook. The album's worth purchasing for this alone, but thankfully there's plenty more wonder and beauty to go around; album opener "Sleeping Lessons" is a percolating daydream that awakens from it's hazy slumber with a start. Other standouts include "Sealegs", "Spilt Needles", and "Australia" and... all of it. Wincing The Night Away is my first new favourite album of 2007; listen to it, it'll change your life.
The Shins, "Phantom Limb" and "Sleeping Lessons"
Shins online: Official | Myspace | buy The Shins
Also released today is Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Of Montreal is another band that I never connected with upon first hearing them; however, since one of my new year resolutions was to listen to more music I think will be crap before I even listen to it, I used some of my eMusic credits and picked it up. I need more time to really wrap my head around it, but "Gronlandic Edit" is definitely making me curious. I don't think I'll ever understand what that album title means, though.
Of Montreal, "Gronlandic Edit"
Of Montreal online: Official | Myspace| buy Of Montreal
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