LOTW (Listen Of The Week)?

[Davey]

Been listening a lot to "Dogs" by Nina Nastasia lately. Love this CD. Quite a debut. The followup "The Blackened Air" is kind of smokey, folky, alt-country leaning music, with Steve Albini crafting a wonderfully evocative soundscape for her beautiful songs to live and breathe in. Lots of shimmer to add to the odd tales and metaphors. Gentle, yet sardonic, and sometimes biting lyrics. The debut was just on the tiny Socialist Records label and went out of print almost as soon as it was released, back in 2000. So became kind of a mystery ater she became more well known with the release of the excellent "The Blackened Air". But Touch and Go reissued it a couple years ago, and I just picked up a used copy a couple weeks ago, and it is a bit less eclectic, and not as folky as the second, nor as quietly introspective as the third, but still very loveable. In some ways I think it's her best. A bit more jazzy at times. The acoustics are really nice in all of them, and lots of room for the natural dynamics. She's a big favorite of Steve Albini, so he does a great job recording, especially the cello and acoustic basses. Love the musical saw too. Nice touch. And Albini works with Steve Rooke to master them at Abbey Road, just like the very nice Electrelane records he does that I also love.

I had a dream about a dog
I was walking
In an amusement park
With people all around me

We rode the roller coaster rides
And he was laughing as we
Jumped in the sky
And I saw that I looked just like him

It's a dog's life
I wanna lead a dog's life
Run in the woods, dig a hole
Just him and me

[Troy]

Yeah, that OSI is the best album I've bought in a while. For me the track "Once" is the mind-blower. I love the way it relentlessly pulses and plucks along, building by layers until it's a thick swirling tapioca of sound. Fantasic rhythm and pace for driving.