The Best Thing I Heard this Week-Chris Bathgate

I am a sucker (or perhaps an enthusiast) for great first tracks. As I say this, it seems so overly obvious that it shouldn’t be stated--rather, who isn’t enthralled by a great first track?** Well, years ago, the answer was probably no one. Now, however, I don’t think the answer is quite as obvious. Seemingly, more of the public listens to one or two tracks from an album that they like, and either dismisses the rest of the record or never bothers to hear it in the first place. This is by now not a new phenomenon, but one that has been going on for more than ten years I would imagine. Which is a long-winded way of saying that having a great first track only matters to people who listen to whole albums, and not the track that randomly gets posted on their Facebook wall or that they hear on the radio. I am one of those people, Chris Bathgate’s Salt Year is one of those albums, and the first track, “Eliza (Hue)” is one of those great openers that only comes around every so often.

The Best Thing I Heard this Week--Bon Iver

The best thing I heard this week was the new Bon Iver album. Bon Iver, or Justin Vernon, succeeds on his second, self-titled record, in a way that is both completely different than the first and exactly the same.

A couple of EP's

Two different but worthwhile EP's have been released in the past couple of weeks. The first is Bon Iver's Blood Bank EP, which may be the best clue as to what his next full length release may sound like after last year's phenomenal album, For Emma, Forever Ago. For those itching to hear this after having devoured For Emma, this may tide you over, as the title track has Bon Iver expanding on his already familiar sound. Woods has Bon Iver doing his best Kanye impression, with his vocals completely distorted by an auto-tune machine. If you like this, you can hope it's a preview of what's to come. The rest of us can always hold out that he's just getting his ya-ya's out before his next LP.


The second release is and iTunes only EP from My Morning Jacket, live from the Palms at Las Vegas. The email I received from the band implored me to listen to this on a candle-lit bench, in a secluded nook, or at a "sensuous" dinner party. Normally a "live" album wouldn't probably implore the listener in these ways, but this sounds like it was recorded in a studio--there is no crowd noise, feedback, or static here. It really is a "sensuous" listening experience. Jim James renews his takes on the old classics Knot Comes Loose, From Nashville to Kentucky, and They Ran. For serious MMJ fans, this is a must-have, not only because of these reprisals, but also for the new track Dear Wife. Others should probably stick to the band's previous LPs.