Our favorite albums of the first part of the year- Nr. 01

So here we are again. Nothing changes, it all stays the same, nothing ever happens. For the umpteenth time now, we put in our 2 cents of what has been doing it for us in the first half of this year music wise. Hopefully you can find something in there that you agree with, which you overlooked at first, or which you maybe never even heard of. So much great music out there, this is our little grab out of that hat, enjoy!

01. Linda

Artist: Lotus Plaza

Album: Spooky Action at a Distance

Label: Kranky

I thought this was an average, nice album, till the moment I put it on my headphones when I was walking through the park on a hazy sunny day (yes, we did have some of those this year). It just clicked. It might not be the best album to put on at a dinner party, or in the background when you're doing some work, but for walking around the city with your headphones on to block the noise, this the perfect shoegaze/noise rock/dream pop option. It is, you might say, sublime. 

Tracks switch from ambient dreamy pop (Strangers) to more assertive guitar based tracks (White Galatic One), without ever losing the flow of the album. Some way or other, it all still fits together. 

And yes, Lockett Pundt also just so happens to be that guitarist who stands, unshaken and unassuming, next to the terrific Bradford Cox when they play as Deerhunter, but lets give credit where credit's due and judge him on his own merits. 

01. Stef

Artist: John Talabot

Album: Fin

Label: Permanent Vacation

And so here we are, number one, and for me, I’ve just got a weakness for these kind of albums that for some reason or another I find perfectly suited to listen at midnight to. In the train, or walking around in the city, seeing the city lights, and then music can be just the perfect companion. Luckily, every year there’s sure to be one album that will accompany you when it has all gone dark and the city lights are all you see in abandoned streets with only the bums and the youth alive as its inhabitants.

Last year it was Nicolas Jaar, I certainly count Circlesquare’s album to that category as well. And here, John Talabot has done it to perfection too. All three manage to make such elegant, understated songs that put me in escapist mode when I’m thinking about love and law and poverty. The combination of the vocals, the beat, and just the overall complex compositions of these songs (in combination with a full moon, though full isn’t a prerequisite) just manage to hit me like no other albums can. John Talabot, with his lovely songs, his collaborations with Pional (another talented man right there), manages to evoke exactly the right atmosphere and emotions on this album that make me want to wander from lamppost to lamppost.