[Tracks] How Did The Sky Get So Damn Broken?
Its no secret that I haven’t always been such a voracious consumer of music. CotP started as, and will continue to be, a musical diary of my (and Sam’s) personal discovery. A lot of the bands I suddenly fall in love with have been around for a long time and already have a substantial fan base. However, the excitement that comes with discovering an established act and getting to mine their back-catalog and anticipate new stuff, has always proved just as rewarding as stumbling across the next best thing.
Los Campesinos! are a septet (!) from Wales who I have always inappropriately lumped in with acts like The Decemberists for what I considered to be theater-rock, fairy-tales set to drums and guitars. Current, fans will probably cringe at this spot judgment, and I probably will too as I look back, but until recently I was completely unfamiliar with their work. I was originally attracted to their recently released, “The Sea Is a Good Place To Think of The Future” because of the title. I’ve always found comfort in the ocean and now that I am separated from it, it evokes nostalgic memories of the quiet that falls on a slow day outside the line up of a Maine beach break at sunset. Luckily, the song does little to dispel that feeling of anticipation and reflection that settles when you find yourself alone in the ocean as the light begins to fade. “The Sea…” is a beautiful and poignant song about slipping into the unknown.
mp3:Los Campesinos! - The sea is a good place to think of the future
Alec Ounsworth is the lead singer of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a band I know almost exclusively for “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth.” A wonderful song, but nothing I’d stake my reputation on. “That is Not My Home (After Bruegel)” is the first single to surface from his solo album Mo Beauty (out on Anti- 10/20). After an ominous horn intro, the song propels forward on the back of galloping drums and Alec’s distinctive, strained vocals. “It’s not my fault, it’s not my fault” he tells us, but the urgency of the song seems to tell us something differently.
mp3:Alec Ounsworth - That is not my home (after bruegel)
