December’s features were cut short by the ‘Best Albums‘ feature, so I decided to cram two months into one for this compilation. I think it makes this one twice as good as the average one on here, headlined by the first big successes of 2011. Destroyer, Smith Westerns, British Sea Power, and Cut Copy are the first big names to release an album in 2011, all doing so with critical acclaim. Three of the four are featured in this month’s compilation with some of the highlights from those releases. Add to that some new efforts by other familiar faces like Memory Tapes, Akron/Family, and Times New Viking and there is little to complain about thus far. If 2011 continues in a positive direction like this, we could all be in for a great year.

Even aside from the popular names, other names like Woodsman, Grass Widow, and Tennis are generating buzz as well. There is yet to be a breakout new star in 2011, but a couple of these artists produced exceptional debuts and sophomore releases that should provide them with some well-deserved recognition. I’m just hoping that February comes and goes quickly… in my opinion, it’s easily the worst month of the year. The weather absolutely sucks, the only sport on TV is basketball, and illnesses are flying around with malicious intent. I was unlucky enough to catch one early last week and am still battling it. The last time I was sick before this? Last February. There’s just something about the month that makes my body weak. Good thing music is not affected by the miserable qualities of a given month. It’s one of the only things that acts as an enjoyable compass in times like these.

01. Destroyer – Chinatown (post)
02. Smith Westerns – All Die Young (post)
03. British Sea Power – Mongk II (post)
04. Akron/Family – So It Goes (post)
05. Bullion – I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times (Beach Boys) (post)
06. Memory Tapes – Today Is Our Life (post)
07. Times New Viking – No Room to Live (post)
08. Woodsman – I Can’t Move (post)
09. Soft Landing – Pendleton Woolen (post)
10. Young Prisms – I Don’t Get Much (post)
11. Grass Widow – Fried Egg (post)
12. The Mountain Goats – Damn These Vampires (post)
13. Tennis – Pigeon (post)
14. Young Galaxy – We Have Everything (post)

DOWNLOAD ENTIRE COMPILATION>>> (91.2 MB, .RAR)

The post Obscure Sound: Best of Dec./Jan. ’11 appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

Soft Landing remain somewhat elusive, but the members’ experiences are never in question. Frontman Paul Collins is part of the traveling circus that is Beirut. And so is Perrin Cloutier, who Collins recruited just as Soft Landing passed its preliminary stage. Mike Lawless, Collins’ friend from college, later rounded out the trio as they began recording their debut full-length in Chicago with Icy Demons’ frontman Griffin Rodriguez. The self-titled release predictably found a home with Ba Da Bing Records, the label to bands like Beirut and Shearwater. Soft Landing was released last fall but just recently found its share of press. The trio possesses the same angular approach to rock, folk, and pop that frequent collaborator Zach Condon does, but Soft Landing implement their diverse showing of styles – from tropicalia and mariachi-driven chillwave to twangy folk and rhythmically combustible pop anthems – more succinctly than Condon. The result is not as grandiose or individualized as Beirut, but with greater stylistic prowess and arguably more percussive involvement.

While Condon plays with enjoyably rigid sentiments of Balkan folk and unconventional fusions of electronica, Soft Landing is a breezier and more accessible interpretation of freak-folk, electronica, and art-rock. The world influences are not as striking – like Condon’s Balkan folk – but Soft Landing provide plenty of international flair mainly pertaining to South American and African folk/pop. “Papaya” shows this off well with the exotic woodwind-like synths and fast acoustic arpeggios. One can envision a blue-sky atmosphere, mainly on account of the handclap-percussion and vibrant guitars resembling both an Irish jig and tribal dance. Collins has a voice most comparable to The Veils’ Finn Andrews in a half-nasally half-anthemic croon that fits well, particularly for this fun track.

“Mic Check” boasts a little electro bass gargle and quick strums of a ukulele. During its build-up, Collins’ gradually raises the pitch of his voice until the falsetto signals a fury of percussion, which is mastered subtly in its panning but still unavoidable considering its incredible workmanship within the track. “Mic Check” is constant and somewhat repetitive, but the subtleties inherent in Collins’ vocal usage and percussive involvement prevent even the slightest moment of predictability. The stampede of percussion and revolving synth licks create an infectious quality rarely found in driven works like these and Soft Landing should be commended for it. They are able to manipulate a flimsy synth sound into the capabilities of a retro-friendly organ, and these bursts bring along sentiments of psychedelia and classic-rock that fit seamlessly into Soft Landing’s creative presentations of freak-folk and Balearic-influenced electronica.

A guitar arpeggio and more intensified synth-organs than before propel “Live with Birds” into yet another memorable effort. Big bass drums dominate shortly thereafter, with a poppy synth line only to designed to tease. The initial vocal introduction is complemented by only an acoustic guitar, and this bass drum/synth collaboration reveals itself as a killer hook once it appears again, now laced beautifully under Collins’ soaring vocals. XTC, David Bowie, and Deer Tick are just a few comparisons that come to mind. “Pendleton Woolen” has a type of lush delicacy that the band should pursue more. An acoustic track for the most part, a little bass shuffle enters concurrently with Collins’ voice. “All my kisses turned to ash,” he sings at one point. “I wish I could control the beats of my heart.” This is one of the more aptly emotional tracks on the album, and more developments like these should result in heavy exposure for this promising trio.

RIYL: Beirut, Au, XTC, David Bowie, Deer Tick, Rita Lee, Os Mutantes, Devendra Banhart, Fanfarlo, Andrew Bird

Soft Landing – Mic Check

Soft Landing – Pendleton Woolen

Soft Landing – Baptism

Ba Da Bing Records / BUY

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