Dark Was The Night - Pt 1

Today marks the beginning of an epic two-part post covering the Dark Was The Night compilation. As is tradition at Support Your Local Catgun, I'll be rating the songs on a unique scale. As soon as I come up with it. Also, I am a little irritated, as I realize that a couple tracks are missing from my download. These are tracks by Grizzly Bear, which may belong to a label that is not available via eMusic. This is a Damn Shame, as I like Grizzly Bear. We'll work on this, though.

*Dirty Projectors + David Byrne - "Knotty Pine" - bright and cute, but has a nice vibe to it. I really like the piano line here. A good choice for an album opener, as it sets a strong tone but does so briefly. A-

*The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez - "Cello Song" - neat stuff here. Very minimal but integrates the electronics and the strings exceptionally well. Gonzalez's voice is ideal for this composition. The song does a nice job of building tension while remaining benign. A-

*Feist & Ben Gibbard - "Train Song" - nice, basic, campfire-spooky mood to it. Probably not one of the standout tracks on this album but still very good, and certainly well-placed after the previous two. B+

*Bon Iver - "Brackett, WI" - my first thought was "oh NO, Vernon went electric". I, for one, appreciate Vernon's approach to this song, even if it isn't too far from his roots. Nice build and use of percussion here. The tempo makes me a little restless but damned if this isn't good. A

*The National - "So Far Around The Bend" - a nice transition from Bon Iver to a larger, fuller sound and a little more spring in the heels. Perhaps not the most complex composition, and not my favorite National song, but very listenable, and placed well on the album. The clarinet(?) and piano are good here, and I like the punchy snare drum, too. B+

*Yeasayer - "Tightrope" - just melancholy enough. The singer does some interesting things here. Musically somewhat simple in spite of the layers, but it's very difficult not to empathize with the song, and want whatever the singer is singing about even if that thing isn't exactly clear. A

*My Brightest Diamond - "Feeling Good" - very much a successor to the Feist/Gibbard track, albeit with a brassier, big-band sound. Lovely voice, nice instrumentation as well. I'm a sucker for the horns, and damned if this isn't the best-sung track on this half of the album. A

*Kronos Quartet - "Dark Was The Night" - all strings, all the time. Kind of a musical interlude, really, but this is the reason why compilation albums exist - for little gimmicks and style anomalies like this one. This one seems to be less of a song and more of a bunch of sounds that happen, but it's still a nice touch. B

*Antony + Bryce Dessner - "I Was Young When I Left Home" - kind of a mopey old-timey blues song. As much as I like the mood and sound here, I can't say this is my favorite track on the album, though it's not bad - it is a logical segue from the previous instrumental track. B

*Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner - "Big Red Machine" - not bad but a little too gentle and emotional for my tastes. Also doesn't seem to have much in the way of progression compared to some songs. I do like the use of the piano as a semi-percussive instrument, though. B

*The Decemberists - "Sleepless" - pretty good though a little morose. I wouldn't have minded a greater crescendo through the song but Meloy leading the piano and banjo(!) makes for a nice effect. Also, I'm a sucker for the Decemberists. B+

*Iron & Wine - "Die" - sixty-six seconds and each one is beautiful. This is the Iron & Wine that I live for. Why couldn't this song be much longer? A

*Sufjan Stevens - "You Are The Blood" - well, they can't all be winners. C, and that's being generous. Sufjan, you suck.

That's all for today. Tune in for Part 2, possibly tomorrow, maybe some other day. I'm really enjoying this compliation so far, in spite of Sufjan Stevens showing up to try and out-cute everything, as usual. I'm excited for Part 2, as the second half of the album features some bands that I really like.

In Other News:
I'm so close to free weights again that I can just about smell them. Come on, shoulder.

I bought a medicine ball last night. I just hope I can remember to use it regularly!