Top Five Albums of the recent history.

For me it is hard to find albums that I can listen to straight through with no itch to switch, as I like to say. It is also a near impossibility to pick favorite albums of all time, so in this case, I did what I could. Here is a list of one song from five albums I think were pretty killer in recent history. Enjoy.

Jeff Tweedy - Radio King. From the album: Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest. Wilco is probably hands down one of my favorite bands, but picking something from one of their albums seemed to be endlessly impossible because everything of theirs (in my humble opinion) is too solid to really wade through a pick a clear winner. However picking something that was performed live seemed to be a bit milder of an experience.

City & Colour - In the water I am beautiful. From the album: Sometimes. Much like many of the fandom of this fine man I've been following the career of his slightly more aggressive (okay a lot more aggressive) band for years, and when I got my hands on some demos he had done from years back it was just what the doctor ordered. My favorite thing about Dallas is his voice, his lyrics are great, but there is an honesty, and something really uncontrived about the way he sounds when he plays, for me it is rare to find someone who can stir that up and he definitely does. As far as why I picked this album instead of his most recent or even some of the demos is for one reason alone: there is no twitchy finger! You will come to see that is the deciding factor on all of these albums.

Songs: Ohia - The Lioness. From the Album: The Lioness. This is another one who just kills me. I love all of his albums but it was really this song that decided it for me. The context, the lyrics, I just love what he's created with such a humble beat. For me the song is all about mood and he sets a perfect one, I can picture a video playing out in my head, and once again, that is big for me. I would suggest anything by this man but especially this track. I can go for hours with it on loop.

Wintersleep - Faithful Guide. From the Album: (untitled). The first taste I got of this band was off a compilation album for the show Trailer Park Boys, and as you might have imagined it was more a joke then anything but when I sat listening to it and I heard Wintersleep pop up I had to listen. I turned it up, I was pretty enraptured with the somewhat haunting sound of Tim D'Eon and Paul Murphy combo and once I heard that one song I went looking for anything of theirs that I could get my hands on. And then I found this little ditty. When I first heart it I did actually press a button, but not to skip the album, but because I wanted to hear this song again, and again. There is something about it that I think encapsulates Wintersleep in a song, although it was hard to pick one as again, all their albums are worth picking up.

Low vs Diamond - Don't forget Sister. From the album: Low vs Diamond. Picking the last one was hard, so I wanted to go with something that I listen to for fun, whenever I need a good dance break at three am, this is usually what I choose, at least recently. This is one I have not even had for very long but ever since getting it I haven't been able to stop myself from listening to it whenever possible. It is just one of those catchy feel good albums and this song definitely is worthy of a listen.

I will likely not like any of these choices tomorrow as that is just what I do, but enjoy!