What I'm listening to this week:

Slow news day. Here are the three albums getting the most play in my iPod this week. Keep in mind I dig EP's cause my commute is only about 25 minutes long.


Pinback - Summer in Abaddon

I just cant stop listening to this thing. And I know I'm late to the game here, with this album coming out sometime last year, but I never gave it a shot till just a couple weeks ago. To be honest, I think it sounds like Brand New meets Modest Mouse…and that’s a good thing. The First Modest Mouse CD I ever got obsessed with was "This Is a Long Drive...", and the opening Pinback track, Non Photo-Blue, sounds like a poppier outtake off that disc. Dark, brooding and angular, but with touch of Long Island mall-pop to keep it accessible. This is my favorite album of the moment.


The Decemberists - Five Songs EP
I think I've made it clear over the last two weeks that seeing Colin Meloy at the Fez had completely turned me into a huge Decemberists fan. I hear the songs differently and pay attention to the lyrics much closer. They are so well written and interestingly composed that I can completely overlook the fact that Colin’s voice is kinda nasal and annoying. That being said, I have been listening to all of their albums in a pretty constant rotation since those shows, and I have only singled this one out because it contains perhaps my favorite song right now, the epic "My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist."
I like songs that I can visualize. Nas always did a great job for me of telling a story I can picture in my head being played out. This track does the same thing. It works. An exceptional song on a solid EP from a very gifted songwriter.


I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - EP

Very atmospheric and sharp. Interpol comparisons are inevitable, but they've really got quite a different thing going on. Interpol revels in it's simplicity with isolated, individual sounds, while these guys get a lot more going on all at once. I have a feeling this band will be around for a while, and I can't wait to hear a full-length release.