29.10.09

Wolfgang amadeus phoenix


Every now and then, you discover an album that completely blows your mind. One that seems fundamentally perfect. That makes you keep driving your car until 4:27 in the morning with a sore throat, because you got back from your girlfriend's house and there were still 3 tracks left. That makes your jaw drop for the last 3 miles of dark freeway before the exit. That gives you goosebumps when you are playing it just loud enough that your speakers are on the cusp of fuzziness. That makes you lay in bed, staring at your blackberry with the one post-contact eye that will focus at a manageable typing distance, writing your thoughts and waiting for the Kroger Nyquil ripoff to kick in, while the album tracks keep breaking the still, predawn silence inside your head. That makes you so incredibly excited to share it with a friend, and then so phenomenally disappointed when they have already heard it. That becomes the album you listen to for the next 6 months, anytime nothing else sounds appealing.

Phoenix has always been hit or miss with me. I typically really like a few tracks on an album, yet get bored by the rest. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix however, is a masterpiece. The last time I felt this way about an album was when Mates of State put out Re-Arrange Us in 2008. If you haven't listened to either of these albums, I have not heard better this year.

I went with the video from Letterman because I couldn't embed the actual video. But this sounds just as good.

2 comments:

manda said...

i've loved this song for a while now!

Darling Nicki said...

Wow. So I have never heard of this band before but I might just be in love. And the way you described this album had my blood boiling. Reminds me of the way I feel for "Good News For People Who Hate Bad News" by Modest Mouse or "Some People Have Real Problems" by Sia.