Like their last record entitled Hymn To The Immortal Wind, even Mono seems to get lost in their outrageous and complex verse structures and it tends to become a bit pompous in a way. The music is exactly what you would expect from them as they incorporate these grandiose sections with some ostentatious production that seems almost overwhelming in an odd way. For My Parents is the newest release by the quartet and is a very standard release by the band. They have remained a steady staple of post-rock music and a band that is often counted on for their very colorful, majestic arrangements. Since then, the band has released a handful of records, much of them receiving plenty of critical acclaim. Mono is a Japanese post-rock band that formed in 1999. The Album Leaf have always been master song crafters and I see no difference with this release. This album is quite different then earlier material by the band and I think that is due to a more significant role by the other members of the band since evolving from a solo project. Instead, Forward/Return relies heavily on post-rock structures with plenty of electric guitar fills that dance around some droning but beautiful electronic landscapes. This EP is definitely relatable musically to the film soundtrack, but the songs are much more drawn out and tend to lean away from simplistic ambient tones. Forward/Return is actually the second record the band has released in 2012 after releasing Torey's Distraction, a film soundtrack, in August. Although this is the case with The Album Leaf, I have always been a true fan of the style of music that LaValle and crew put out year to year.
In their defense, it's fairly difficult to stay absolutely consistent from record to record when you're playing instrumental ambient music as ideas have trouble blossoming sometimes. They've released a few terrific records but in between the cracks there have been some releases that were absolutely devolved and boring. The progression album to album over the years has been fairly odd as it's been an up and down sort of career.
The Album Leaf has evolved from being the solo project for frontman Jimmy LaValle to being a full on band sine 1998. This is a very strong album that will end up high on most end of the year lists in the indie community. It's almost difficult to really compare this record to Veckatimest as the styles are very different but in the end, Shields seems like a much more genuine record that uses up the band's strengths instrumentally much more. The music on this record has its folk inspired lyrics of course but the experimental guitar rocking really takes this album on a ride. Shields, the newest album by Grizzly Bear, returns to the psychedelic styled origins that the band ran with on their massively successful Yellow House. It was mostly evident in the record's hits especially with their single "Two Weeks" which sounded eerily similar to Dr. The overall sound of the band did change in a subtle way, steering away from the psychedelic nature of their former records and blending in a more accessible, pop sound. Veckatimest, they're huge release in 2009, showed a minor change in style but still formed around soothing, folk vocals and plenty of acoustic arrangements which people enjoyed. They've only released four full length records but have become indie gods within the scene and it's well deserved. Grizzly Bear is an indie band that most likely needs no introduction. THROWBACK: Team Sleep – Team Sleep (2005) SUNDAY: The Helio Sequence – Negotiations I hope that my exploration through this never-ending sea of music will help satisfy that hunger for the brand new tracks you have been seeking. My name is Eric and I am your host of Straight from the Teet, where I will delve into 7 new albums per week as well as 1 randomly chosen throwback record and let you know which tracks I loved from the albums I listened to. It only makes sense that a website so dedicated to this gorgeous universe of music would want to celebrate the greatness and share it with anyone who is looking. How perfect is that? We can discover a brand new artist on the opposite side of the globe in seconds without a radio or a music television channel. The beautiful thing about music in today’s age is that technology has created an infinite supply of great music that is available to us at the click of a mouse. True fans of music spend countless hours searching for that next great song, album or artist, whether it be online or in a local record shop.