Yesterday morning I had 104 downloads remaining on my eMusic account, which I had to use by midnight or they disappeared. So, I got busy and downloaded some music. Here’s what I got:
- Chris Rice – Smell the Color 9
- Half-Handed Cloud – Thy Is A Word And Feet Need Lamps
- Trans Am – Trans Am
- Papa M – Hole of Burning Alms
- Mogwai – Mr. Beast
- Tortoise – A Lazarus Taxon
- Denison Witmer – Of Joy & Sorrow
While I’m pretty familiar (i.e. I have almost all of their other albums) with some of these artists (Chris Rice, Mogwai, Tortoise), I don’t have any other albums by Half-Handed Cloud, Trans Am, Papa M, or Denison Witmer. It turns out, though, that the guy behind Half-Handed Cloud (John Ringhofer) plays trombone for Sufjan Stevens, whom I really like. Sufjan reciprocates by playing drums on Ringhofer’s album. I like Ringhofer’s voice – it reminds me of Doug Martsch of Built to Spill. Adrian described Half-Handed Cloud as “total ADD music”. I think that’s about right.
Also, the guy from Papa M is David Pajo of Slint fame. I have all of Slint’s albums, so this album doesn’t represent completely unfamiliar territory for me.
Anyway, as I listen to these albums and get familiar with them, I may post reviews here. Of course, my eMusic account rolled over last night, so I have another 90 downloads for this month, which I have to figure out how to use. I can’t really keep up with this pace. I think I’ll need to downgrade my subscription to the 40 tracks/month for $10. In the meantime, if you have any recommendations on how I should use this month’s downloads, let me know.
[Insert Witty Title Here] 