holy smokes. okay, real quick, before you hit play, go find some good headphones and a quiet room and turn it up as loud as you can take it. this is going smack of hyperbole, but it honestly sounds like the fleet foxes, justin vernon, james blake and the avett bros all got together and made an album just for me. an album, i should add, that just leapt into the top spot for best album of the year so far. incidentally, he’s just announced some tour dates with the band whose album he replaced at the top of that list. genius loves company. mercy what a sound…

i’ve never been much for release dates. i don’t stand in the rain to see movies on opening weekend. i don’t pre-order ipads. i don’t buy albums the day they come out so i can be the first to post about them. i buy them when i remember to and post about them when i get a chance. and usually, i’m totally fine with that. but every once in a while, i’ll completely miss a project that is so right up my alley that i can’t help but feel slightly disappointed in myself. this is that. come on, seriously? a G. Love album produced by the Avett Bros? how did i not even hear about this until 3 weeks after the release date? i mean, i…i…sigh. i guess all that’s left to do is to post the song, apologize profusely and promise myself and everyone else that this will never, ever happen again. hm. i think i’ll start by just posting the song. -d

driving back from a spectacular if parching 20m run in the santa monica mountains this morning, this came on and for some reason, it was exactly what i needed. then again every time i hear the avett bros they are exactly what i need. i could be, i dunno, driving in awkward silence through the shenandoahs on a 5-day trip to my parents house in DC with 4 friends including a girl i’d been dating up until about 12 hours before, for example, and these guys could come on and capture the moment perfectly. they’re unassuming, open-faced, and unafraid to to punch you or anybody else right in the throat, emotionally speaking or otherwise. it’s honest music. and honestly so good. -d