8.03.2007

Midlake

For over a year I have been hesitant to use some of my eMusic downloads to get the album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, from fellow Texans, Midlake. Usually other things grab me and I use up my 30 downloads before I know it. This past month, however, I decided to get things that I had been hearing about for a while. It was going to be my "follow the reviews" month of downloads. So I got a brand new, highly anticipated album (Stars), a newer album from earlier this year (The National), and an album on many people's best of list from last year (Midlake). I've grown to like all of the Stars stuff over the past couple of years, so this purchase was an addition to an already sizable Stars collection. The National have been causing a lot of buzz but I never took a liking to the lead's voice. I decided to give the album a try, hoping it would be better than the 30-second samples I had listened to. It is! But, of the three albums I purchased, Midlake's is by far the best. I can't get enough of it. I think I've listened to portions of it every day for the past three weeks. Highly recommended. Somehow they blend a 70s feel with a 21st century sensibility. Plus, they are from Denton, Texas, a place I visited many Saturdays during the Falls of the mid 90s when my brother was playing football for the University of North Texas.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I also recommend The National (I too had a hard time getting over the lead singer's voice -- at first, it sounded too much like that guy from Crash Test Dummies) and Midlake. I've been tempted to acquire the news stars album. You might have just pushed me over the edge.

Chris Spinks said...

Barry, you went over the edge a long time ago!