The Trials of Van Occupanther

Today's Music of the Day is The Trials of Van Occupanther, by Midlake. Now, I don't know anything about this band, so let's get down to business.

This album is sort of dreamy indie rock, not too poppy, maybe a bit of a rustic touch. There is a lot of synthesizer on this album but it's not overbearing, certainly not like an 'arena rock' band. Sometimes I think the album is a little too sweet and should push its boundaries a little bit but as a whole it achieves an interesting sound. If you actually look at this blog on a regular basis, you'll see that albums (and bands) that I really enjoy have a little energy to their music, that even their ballads build some tension without having to speed up to get there. This is why I couldn't completely get into this album, as it has a wonderful sound but seems a little too content to stay with it.

The sound is something like a laid-back Band of Horses, both in the style of the music and in the vocals. I suppose the opinion on this will vary with the individual, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Some of the songs are pretty good; in particular, I like "Roscoe", the opener. I'm sure I'll get in no end of trouble for this, but here is a link to a remix of "Roscoe":
http://www.worlds-fair.net/mail/MIDLAKE.mp3
Come on Blogspot, autoformat a link for me...

Well there you have it.

Edit:
here, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XaoF8bDMcM
It's not a Rickroll, it's R.E.M. with Eddie Vedder! It's freakin' great!

In Other News:
FRICK am I ever sleepy today.