There
is something to be said about autumn, she starts out hot and ends bitter and
cold. The college semester begins the same way, all of the students are hot
with excitement and by the end of the semester we are bitter, cold, and sick of
having our noses in textbooks. Fashion follows suit (see what I did there?)
and music isn’t too far behind. This past summer 90FM was virtually mythical
with music, with so many emerging and esteemed alternative musicians
producing albums worth noting and absolutely no literary outlet to express our
appreciation for them, I feel it is now time for me to catch you up on what you
may have missed this past summer, before you as a reader become bitter and
cold.
We
embark with “Reign of Terror” the sophomore album from the M.I.A benefactress
band, Sleigh Bells. The album glorifies the art of shred guitar, it is loud, it
is choppy, and it is in your face. I personally recommend the tracks “Comeback
Kid,” “Road To Hell,” and even though we can’t play this one on 90FM due to its
excessive use of the mother of all curse words, “True Shred Guitar.” One listen
to this album and you will understand why I describe it with one simple word,
“Bitchin.”
In
addition, I feel it is my duty to highlight the album “Here,” the second album
from everyone’s favorite hippie-hipster band, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic
Zeros. Though I enjoyed their debut album, “Up From Below,” I had absolutely no
hope that they could possibly reproduce an album of that quality, to me the
band is too gimmicky, almost cult like. Needless to say, I was wrong, I was
incredibly wrong.
“Here,” is a perfect follow up. Though the band won’t probably ever have
another legendary single like they did with “Home,” with tracks like “Man On
Fire,” “That’s What’s Up,” and “Mayla,” their new album in my opinion is
preferable over the debut.
I’ve
saved the best for last and it’s a rather new artist to the college radio
scene. The album is called “Fear Fun” from the musician dubbed Father John
Misty. Legally named Joshua Tillman who found his noble beginnings as the
drummer for the Seattle based folk rock band, Fleet Foxes, he ultimately
detached himself creating the mysterious Father John Misty. In my 22 years of
life I have never heard an album so good and so original. The album has energy
of groovy folk rock and this is easily expressed in tracks like “I’m Writing A
Novel,” “Nancy From Now On,” and “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings.” I can
easily say it is my favorite album of 2012, hell I can easily say it’s my
favorite album produced in the last 10 years.
Though
summer is cooling down and coming to an end, this summer’s releases are still
hot in my eardrums. In short, I welcome new freshman to college with hopes of
opening their ears to the world of alternative music, let us embrace the summer
and look forward to the hot tracks over the cold horizon.