Hits In The Car

Found these 7 CD's at the library yesterday (Tuesday):

Frank Sinatra: In The Wee Small Hours
Sufjan Stevens: Michigan
Brendan Benson: Lapalco
Tegan and Sara: If It Was You
The Rolling Stones: Sticky Fingers
Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans
The Style Council: The Sound Of

During the next couple of days I will listen to the albums and add a few comments along the way.

I like Frank Sinatra - in fact I've done so for as long as I can remember. At RateYourMusic this album is highly ranked, so I thought it would be appropriate to give the album a spin. I didn't know any of the songs beforehand, but I wasn't surprised that this is a really quiet album, because with a title like that - I guessed it had to be! Probably more suited for dinner music than as music to "kick start" your working day!

No matter where you turn you always seem to find someone who writes something positive about Sufjan Stevens. Parts of Michigan (ranked as the 3rd best album of 2003 at RateYourMusic) are indeed astonishingly great and other parts are, well, not so great. But this was my first listen and as always that's not nearly enough to make a final verdict.
Thoughts on Seven Swans are pretty much the same as on the Michigan album. More time is needed I guess?

Brendan Benson is another one of those artists that everyone seems to like. Lapalco is surprisingly immediate and made a really good first impression. Second listen: This is a brilliant album! Will be in my "shopping bag" the next time I order CD's. If you want to check it out I suggest that you start with Tiny Spark, You're Quiet or Life in the D. Come to think of it I actually recommend that you check out the entire album!

How do you describe the music of Tegan and Sara? Is it pop music with a twist of country or vice versa? The songs I already knew (Living Room, Monday Monday Monday and I Hear Noises) are really good, but overall I'm a bit disappointed, because the rest of the songs are not of the same caliber as those three! Quantity will never beat quality, but 12 songs running just 36:39 is not really enough - is it?

I'm not a fan of The Rolling Stones, but I'm constantly trying to get into their music. So far I've only had mixed success with this Stones "project", but I have managed to find a few songs that I really, really like (She's a Rainbow, Sympathy for the Devil and Gimme Shelter). Sticky Fingers is widely considered to be one of their better (best?) albums, so I thought it would be the next logic step in the exploration of The Stones after listening to Forty Licks a few times. The standout tracks on Sticky Fingers (except for Dead Flowers) can be found on Forty Licks as well, but for a first listen my impressions of the album as a whole are very positive.

The Style Council were never really my cup of tea in the 80's, but ever since I downloaded the (excellent) 12" version of My Ever Changing Moods a few years back, I've started to explore their music. The Sound Of is a nice compilation, which also has been added to my wish list.

This sums up my recent visit to the library. More ups than downs; well worth the effort, so expect more of this stuff in the future!