"Never judge a book by it's cover" certainly applies to CD art as well. Words that come to mind when looking at this cover? Plain. Boring. Genius. Heard in Starbucks' throughout the nation Damien Rice has been pleasing our ears since 2003, when he first released O. On this album Damien Rice uses his delicate yet powerful voice to convey tales of sorrow, love, heartbreak, frustration and faith. Many of the tracks on O, such as "Eskimo" and "Volcano," have brilliant orchestral backgrounds that complements Damien's voice. His lyrics are absolutely beautiful throughout the entire CD, he uses a lot of poetry mixed with random phrases to make a story out of each song. What really gets me about Damien's music is that it's rather simple. No wailing guitars, no crazy energetic drum solos, and no synthesized anything; just an acoustic guitar and Damien's astounding voice. Completely genius. Some of my favorites off of O are "Amie," "I Remember" and "Cannonball." All of which have the common theme of love. But these are not your typical love songs. No "I miss you baby-s" here. This entire album is incredible, especially for rainy days. It's amazing how Damien Rice has managed to fly under the radar for so long.
As Spring comes into full swing, more warm sunny days will be heading our way. And with warm and sunny days come happy, upbeat, feel-good music. And there you have The Shins' Wincing the Night Away. Wincing the Night Away is The Shins' third album, released January of this year. This album is a bit of a melting pot for The Shins. Their previous albums have been your standard indie rock albums, acoustic, quirky lyrics, its what makes The Shins, The Shins. And don't get me wrong, both of their prior albums are fantastic as well. But on Wincing the Night Away, you can hear some different roots in certain songs. In "Turn On Me" (one of my favorites) you can definitely hear some Beatles influence in the song. And on "Sea Legs" there's a bit of Depeche Mode, a bit of that 80's euro-pop in there, most likely not intentional, but surprisingly magnificent. Other favorites off of this album include "Red Rabbits," "A Comet Appears" and "Girl Sailor." This album still upholds The Shins' reputation as being, well, weird, and having some really odd lyrics with even more odd song titles, but also shows a bit more creativity on their part, as well as being a bit more serious.
Both of these Cd's can give you a peek into the whole indie scene. Although there are many more sub-genres to indie music, both of these albums should hook you regardless. So check them out.
