Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Tuesday June 8

Creaturesque is one of the first albums I’ve bought based on hearing a song I liked on NPR’s All Songs Considered, a really great show for discovering music. However, they’re so prolific with their podcasts it can be hard to keep up!

Throw Me The Statue sounds a lot like the Shins or Belle and Sebastian. Their songs are pretty immediately accessible musically – they are peppy and have lots of horns and such. I also love the cover photo;  I’m a fan of nature-reclaiming-urbanization photos (see Sweet Juniper, he calls them “feral houses“).

Listened: Tuesday June 8

I was introduced to Elf Power by my friend Audrey back in college. They are a huge collective of hippie musicians who play dreamy folk music. Creatures was another album I had bought and was sitting around for a while, not really being listened to. However, I will probably listen to it more now – it’s reasonably high energy for hippie/folk music, and therefore good for working.

Listened: Tuesday June 8

I acquired Court and Spark on vinyl in college, when I was collecting lots of cheap classic records. I listened to it once or twice and taped it on side B of a tape that had Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours on side A. I listened to side A repeatedly for many years and never heard side B. Until one day I let it run. I was totally blown away by this album like I had never been years before when I first heard it. Maybe I needed to get more life experience to really hear it for what it is.

I’m not surprised that Joni Mitchell is a painter – her songs are just like paintings to me. People’s Parties and Just Like This Train tell you all the details of a setting to help construct the scene in your mind. Free Man in Paris takes you somewhere else when you’re stuck to your desk – since it’s about the joy of going traveling and not being stuck to your desk.

In terms of sheer pleasure generated, this record was one of the best finds of my vinyl diving days.