eMUSIC ROUND EIGHTEEN

As I downloaded the first album of the month today, I remembered I hadn't mentioned what I grabbed in July. So here I am to rectify that...and as always, I highly recommend eMusic.

Spoon/Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - This is in serious contention for album of the year. Everything you've ever loved about Spoon is here and more. "The Underdog" is one of the best songs of the year and yet it might not even be the best song on the album.

M. Ward/Duet For Guitars #2 - This is a reissue of Ward's first album with a few extra tracks. It's not his best album but there are a lot of good songs here and it is well worth owning. But really, if you're a Ward fan you would have already picked this up.

Bishop Allen/The Broken String - This is their second full-length but most of the album is made up of new recordings of a bunch of songs from their EP project of 2006. I plan to write more about this in the near future.

Josh Rouse/Country Mouse, City House - I've only listened to this a couple times but I'm a big fan of Josh Rouse. The sound here is along the lines of Subtitulo but it's a bit jazzier.

The Avett Brothers/Emotionalism - This is the right kind of country music...banjos with a pop and rock sensibility (and there are guitars too, of course). Still just digging into this album but I'm really liking it.

Voxtrot/Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives - I liked the last EP enough to check out another from last year. Bit of a different sound but that doesn't bother me - I like it when artists try different things.