One word:
Chanticleer
I don’t give a damn if it is February, this Chanticleer Brumalia album is staying on my iPod until 58 degrees qualifies as a cold night. Them boys can sing like a teenage pot dealer in the county lock up. One benefit of having been so tied to the computer so long that showering and exercising both seem like more trouble than they are worth is that I get to experience the goosebumps that come from hearing them sing “O Holy Night.” Who knew it had a second verse?
I had almost forgotten that there was anything on the Touchy besides Vampire Weekend’s new album “Contra.” Other than the “Twilight” associations of the band’s name, there is nothing I don’t love about the record. Well, except that it is a little disturbing to have the last three albums I’ve bought be this one, the Animal Collective album, and a Big Star double album. If I start making favorable comparisons to Dick from “High Fidelity” you will do an intervention, right? Thanks.
So, “Contra” has big fingerprints from Paul Simon’s “Graceland” and “Rhythm of the Saints” albums all over it. There are other elements readily attributable to other artists in there as well, though I’m at a loss for the moment to give them to you. It’s sort of like listening to Phish in that you know you have heard a lot of these elements before. Unlike Phish, however, the resulting mix is fresh and interesting, greater than the sum of its identifiable parts. When VW (as the kids appear to call them) come to Altamont in April, I wonder if Carl will be my date?