"What are you listening to right now?" thread | Page 680 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Just popping in to recommend two albums that came out earlier this year, both of which I think plenty of you all would love.

First is Big Thief’s new double album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. If you’re not familiar with Big Thief, they’re a US band based around the awesomely talented singer-songwriter Adrienne Lenker (whose solo records are also definitely worth checking out for folkies) who’ve been putting out gorgeous folk rock albums for a few years now. At 20 songs and 1 hour 20 minutes long, it’s a pretty huge undertaking, but it’s definitely worthwhile – it expands their sound into psychedelia, country, dream pop and even trip-hop, all while retaining that pastoral, earthy goodness they’ve always had. It’s also got a really laid back, gentle, fun, unpretentious vibe to it which you don’t often get on an album of this scale. I’d recommend it especially to fans of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk and our very own White Album . These two songs should give you a sense of its variety – 

The second is the new album, Ants From Up There, by UK band Black Country, New Road. They released their debut album For The First Time last year, which was an awesomely gritty mixture of Slint-esque post-rock and post-punk, with wonderful spoken word lyrics satirising contemporary British culture. If that sounds a little derivative, remember they’re a seven piece band which includes violin, keys and saxophone, so they’re capable of textures much more lush and interesting than your average post-punk band. If you’re interested, check out the song ‘Sunglasses’ on YouTube. Their second album is a different beast. It’s much more folk and singer-songwriter oriented, with early Arcade Fire as a strong influence, but what really sets it apart are the lyrics and vocals of Isaac Wood, who left the band for mental health reasons shortly after its release. He ditches his spoken word style for actual singing, and his lyrics are full of interesting repeated motifs and metaphors, which can range from funny to heart-wrenching. The band sounds amazing, too – they mix folk and post-rock in a way that I’ve never heard before, and it manages to be lush and gorgeous while still retaining its edge. I’m sad Isaac will no longer be part of the band, but I’m very excited to see where these guys go next, as they’ve got the instrumental chops to continue making some of the best music of the decade. 

t=3s 

You Kmow My Name (Look Up The Number)

QuarryMan said
Just popping in to recommend two albums that came out earlier this year, both of which I think plenty of you all would love.

First is Big Thief’s new double album Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. riod Joni. 

Thanks @QuarryMan, this is a really good listen. So far I Believe In You is my fav song. Reminds me of mid-period Joni. 

It’s a little bit magic
Like a river of morning geese
In the new warm mountain
Where the stone face forms and speaks

Coincidently after listening to the album on youtube, the next time I logged into the forum I encountered an ad for a Big Thief concert just up the road on May 8th.