I love and hate the feeling of listening to an artist I’ve always meant to check out but never got around to, and then falling in love with their music. For the past two weeks I have been kicking myself for not listening to Owen Pallett (formerly known as Final Fantasy) sooner, while at the same time just drowning myself in his records. Pallett has done string arrangements for artists including, oh, you know, Arcade Fire, Beirut, and Grizzly Bear (and a million others), and his own music is equally amazing. Heartland (album cover above) is my favorite record so far this year, and it’s going to be a tough one to beat.
Anyway, here are some new reviews:
Review of Owen Pallett’s Heartland on CriticalMob.com (+ Owen Pallett’s MySpace)
Review of Cold War Kids’ Behave Yourself EP on CriticalMob.com (+ Cold War Kids’ MySpace)
Review of Mayer Hawthorne’s A Strange Arrangement on CriticalMob.com (+ Mayer Hawthorne’s MySpace) — I know I’ve blogged about this album a bunch but hadn’t formally reviewed it…
Also, my best of 2009 list and commentary for CriticalMob.com.
AND! My first Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll ballot!
Whew! Lot to get out there. A bunch of posts this week, and more to come.
