Phosphorescent - The Weight of Flight (Warm, 2004)

Phosphorescent
The Weight of Flight
Warm
2004

Rating: 7.5 cowboy toes out of 10

 
I’ve been waiting ages for something in the neo-folk/alt-country genre to come along that wowed me as much as Iron & Wine when he broke on the scene a couple of years back (and for the record, I’ve been wearing that new Iron & Wine CD out, it’s amazing). Well by god, I think I’ve finally found it in Phosphorescent, an Athens, GA group put together and led by Matthew Houck. It somehow manages to sound like Will Oldham, Neutral Milk Hotel, Okkervil River, and even some of Chris Mill’s early work all at the same time, and still managing to sound quite original. Without a doubt, Houck’s voice is one of the most beautiful and engaging I’ve heard in quite some time – and trust me, I’ve hear a lot of damn voices, not even counting the ones in my head. This wins the award for “best record out of nowhere” from me, and I’ll be hunting down their debut “A Hundred Times or More” post-haste.

Parker & Lily - The Low Lows (Warm, 2004)

Parker & Lily
The Low Lows
Warm
2004

Rating: 6.5 candy suits out of 10
 
I’ve always had a soft spot for the pedal steel guitar, and this album is chock full of it. Parker & Lily sound like Damon & Naomi or Low or Sappington in their approach to minimal, mellow rock music, but with a slight country tinge. So perhaps an even better comparison would be My Morning Jacket at their mellowest, like on that solo Jim James disc that accompanied some copies of “At Dawn”. This is a pretty damn good record, very relaxing…makes me wish I was sitting in a field on a sunny day drifting off into a nap, hoping a squirrel doesn’t crawl up my pants leg or that birds don’t fly over and poop on me.