ALBUM OF THE MONTH
Artist: DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
Album: Transatlanticism
The Scoop: This will be the Death Cab album I reach for before any of the others. Helping to cap a very successful year for Barsuk, Transatlanticism is a deeply varied, highly melodic album that will require a few listens before announcing its full importance. Their last full-length, the slightly over-acclaimed The Photo Album, may be more cohesive, but Transatlanticism is more challenging and rewarding, refusing to repeat the same pattern twice. The band benefits from a new approach to songwriting - frontman Benjamin Gibbard still brought in the songs, but they were stripped down to their cores and rebuilt by the band, most noticeably guitarist/producer Chris Walla. In the past, I've likened Walla to King Midas because of his behind-the-boards work with other Northwest bands. Gibbard, meanwhile, has embarked on a number of side projects, including a critically lauded album with The Postal Service. Here, though, the two old college buddies put their heads together and reinvent their band. The sweetly wistful tales of captured and released loves - a Gibbard staple - are the best ones the band has ever done. "Title and Registration," "A Lack of Color" and the piano-driven "Passenger Seat" are all beautiful tracks, hinging on Gibbard's vulnerable vocals, illuminating lyrics and the band's less-is-more melodies. Likewise, the more ambitious, sprawling tracks ("Transatlanticism," "We Looked Like Giants") also rate among the band's best to date.Highlight Tracks: "Passenger Seat" and "Title and Registration"
For More Info: Jump over to http://www.barsuk.com
Artist: BÉLA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES
Album: Little Worlds
The Scoop: For those who would prefer to tiptoe into the Flecktone water, a single-disc version is also available (Ten From Little Worlds). But there isn't much filler amidst the three discs of Little Worlds, aside from an embarrassingly unhip, rap-influenced update of "Ballad of Jed Clampett" (that is on the single disc, anyway, and was admittedly conceived while punch-drunk from travel exhaustion). Plenty of famous guests turn up to lend hands, including Branford Marsalis, The Chieftains and the incomparable Bobby McFerrin. There are lots of high points as Fleck leads his ace band and spirited guests through a diverse terrain of genre and arrangement. Bassist Victor Wooten has earned, like Fleck, the title of "virtuoso", while brother Ray ("Future Man") fascinates with his invented percussion instrument, the synth-axe drumitar. There are patches of superfluity, naturally, but kudos to Sony for releasing the whole package rather than jamming it into a single album. In looking at the track list for Ten From Little Worlds, it's clear how many fine tracks would have been sacrificed.
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