If a frog can do it, so can I / The Shins - Australia

The more I play "Australia" by The Shins, the more I want to learn how to play banjo. The twangy, jingly-jangly back-country sound it emanates makes the song entirely what it is, bar none. I'm a little sad that they only use it during the chorus but the scarcity might be what keeps me coming back. In fact, I've been noticing the more prominent use of banjo in the music I've been listening to lately; Sufjan Stevens comes to mind as a huge example of that... re-listening to Michigan and Illinois has developed my new found love for the 5-stringed beast of an instrument.

The Shins - Australia

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The Battle of Land and Sea - The Battle of Land and Sea

Rating: 8
Links:
- Official Website
- Last.fm

The Battle of Land and Sea consists of Sarah O'Shara and Joshua Canny, whose compositions are mere products of their voices, their guitars, and their love for music. This terrifyingly ethereal duo plays a brand of ghost-like indie pop on their self-titled album, their haunting and memorable vocals fusing with the atmosphere fashioned by dual acoustic guitars. O'Shara's trembling voice is soaked in complete sorrow, but where sounds of mourning are penned, there seems to be an equally powerful message of hope and buoyancy. I don't know if their songs have a purpose in their writing, but I don't think I want to know. Mellow, flowing rhythms carry themselves through each song effortlessly, strumming and eerie modulations intact. The lo-fi resonance of "Birdsong" drifts quietly through the air, enclosing in a bubble of tranquility anyone who crosses its path, leaving them at a standstill, exhausted and impassioned. "You Are a Sailor", the final track on the album, does the very same with terribly memorable discourse sung so lazily that you can't help but be swept up in their lethargic daydream. Go ahead and slip into magnificent phantasms at the hands of The Battle of Land and Sea. You won't regret it.

Album Highlights: "You Are a Sailor", "Saltwater Queen", "Birdsong", "I Built the Sea"

Giant Skyflower Band - Blood of the Sunworm

Rating: 8
Links:
- Last.fm

If the forest made music, this is what it would sound like. At the heart of "Blood of the Sunworm" lies a simplistic and earnest penchant for folk metres and ancient tones. Donaldson croons over heartfelt mixes of domestic and foreign sounds, acoustic guitars and sitars blending together all too well. Songs like "Bitter Wild Rabbit / Builds the Bone" contain enough essence of pop to attract those who stray from the New Weird America roots of the tree, while the 11 minute folk-epic "Meditations on Christ and the Magi" satisfies any of us who are looking for "the sounds of the universe." This music could very well accompany you on an bright and sunny day. The lo-fi quality is a staple of folk like this, and whereas some may not pull it off as well, the Giant Skyflower Band seems to. There's a song or two that isn't as comparable to some of the other songs on the album, so it feels like filler, although I acknowledge the attempt of these songs to satisfy the listener wholeheartedly. Still, even with it's minor flaws, "Blood of the Sunworm" is a magnificiently written album; those looking for a pseudo-spiritual experience should surely check it out.

Album Highlights: "Bitter Wild Rabbit / Builds the Bone", "Meditations on Christ and the Magi", "The Arcangel (Hurray for the Beast)"