Album Feature: And Now That I'm in Your Shadow

Pretty much assume when I do an Album Feature I'm just going to rant about it for the whole time, because it's such a good album. This is such a good album. Personally I think it's Damien Jurado's best, and I can't think of any other artist who's latest work is my favorite.
By the opening track, Hoqiuam, it starts strong with that beautiful cello that perfectly compliments the songs on almost every track. The recording and production on this record is so lush and quiet, but the emotion is so strong the songs are almost overwhelming. A song that really showcases this is the title track, which is definitely qualifiable as one of my favorite songs ever made. is the title track, which is definitely qualified for one of my favorite songs ever made. I'm really struggling for words to describe the song, it's just so powerful. The strings and the drums definitely drive the track. It manages to be quiet but booming at the same time and every word that Damien almost whispers sounds tragic and captivating.
The album keeps the same mood practically throughout the whole 12 songs for the most part, and while some songs start to blend together (like I am Still Here and Shannon Rhodes) I find that's OK because I usually end up wanting to play some songs over, but it leaves you with a really complete feeling when the album finishes (even the artwork captures the same mood). And the lyrics separate each song from the rest. Damien Jurado has a great narrative voice in his songs. I wonder how much of his songs are real stories or if he imagines these sort of things playing out in his head. Either way, it's incredible and it paints such an amazing picture in your head. He barely has to say two sentences and you already get a sense of what's happening in the song. The songs I mentioned earlier, I Am Still Here and Shannon Rhodes really prove these songwriting skills. And I had No Intentions is probably the saddest song I've ever heard, every time I hear it I can't help but feel the tragedy depicted.
I'm a huge fan of pretty much everything Damien's done (that I know of) but I always end up listening to this album the most, and I usually get hooked and end up listening to it all the way through. Here are a few of my favorite tracks:

Hoqiuam
Denton, TX
I had No Intentions
And Now That I'm in Your Shadow
I am Still Here


Seriously, you should own this album. Buy it Here.

And he's working on a new album too, I'm really looking forward to that. I don't know what to expect.

Try to catch Damien Jurado on tour, opening for Okkervil River:

Sep 3 2007 9:00P	Casbah w/ Okkervil River	San Diego, California
Sep 4 2007 9:00P	Troubadour w/ Okkervil River	Los Angeles, California
Sep 5 2007 9:00P	Independent w/ Okkervil River	San Francisco, California
Sep 7 2007 8:00P	WOW Hall w/ Okkervil River	Eugene, Oregon
Sep 8 2007 9:00P	Berbatis Pan (MusicFest NW) w/ Okkervil River	Portland, Oregon
Sep 9 2007 9:00P	Richards on Richards w/ Okkervil River	Vancouver, British Columbia
Sep 10 2007 9:00P	Neumos w/ Okkervil River	Seattle, Washington
Sep 12 2007 8:00P	Kilby Court w/ Okkervil River	Salt Lake City, Utah
Sep 13 2007 9:00P	Marquis Theatre w/ Okkervil River	Denver, Colorado
Sep 14 2007 9:00P	Waiting Room w/ Okkervil River	Omaha, Nebraska
Sep 15 2007 9:00P	Picador w/ Okkervil River	Iowa City, Iowa
Sep 17 2007 9:00P	Pabst Theater w/ Okkervil River	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sep 18 2007 9:00P	Logan Square Auditorium w/ Okkervil River	Chicago, Illinois
Sep 19 2007 9:00P	The Canopy Club (Pygmalion Festival) w/ Okkervil River	Urbana, Illinois
Sep 21 2007 9:00P	Lees Palace w/ Okkervil River	Toronto, Ontario
Sep 22 2007 9:00P	Pepper Jacks Cafe w/ Okkervil River	Hamilton, Ontario -
Sep 23 2007 9:00P	La Sala Rossa w/ Okkervil River	Montreal, Quebec -
Sep 24 2007 9:00P	Higher Ground w/ Okkervil River	Burlington, Vermont
Sep 25 2007 9:00P	Middle East w/ Okkervil River	Boston, Massachusetts
Sep 26 2007 9:00P	Iron Horse w/ Okkervil River	Northampton, Massachusetts
Sep 28 2007 9:00P	Webster Hall w/ Okkervil River	New York, New York
Sep 29 2007 9:00P	Johnny Brendas w/ Okkervil River	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sep 30 2007 9:00P	Rock and Roll Hotel w/ Okkervil River	Washington, Washington DC
Oct 2 2007 9:00P	Cats Cradle w/ Okkervil River	Carrboro, North Carolina
Oct 3 2007 9:00P	Athens, GA - 40 Watt w/ Okkervil River	Athens, Georgia
Oct 4 2007 9:00P	Club Downunder @ FSU w/ Okkervil River	Tallahassee, Florida
Oct 5 2007 8:00P	House of Blues w/ Okkervil River	New Orleans, Louisiana
Oct 6 2007 9:00P	Walters on Washington w/ Okkervil River	Houston, Texas

woah look at that, it copies the HTML from Myspace. That's pretty cool.

Wednsday Rarities

I don't like the name of this day anymore. Whatever, here are some not-so-common songs.





Wolf Parade - Claxxon's Lament
A cover of a Blackout Beach song. Blackout Beach is just Cary Mercer's side project from Frog Eyes, it gets mislabled as a Frog Eyes cover frequently. But it's really good. Wold Parade don't usually get this quiet.

Thom Yorke - Analyse (Live)
This is really wonderful. A really great stripped down perfeormance of the song, just Thom on the piano. It's not the best he could have done I feel but it still sounds pretty great.

Ratatat - The Mule remix (Z-ro, Devin the Dude and Juvenile)
Not really rare, but I just had to post one of these remixes. I've been listening to them a lot lately, they're just so cool. It's wierd how good this is and how terrible the originals are.

Quannum MC's Meet Jurassic 5 - Concentration
I found this track this year and I was so wowed. It's got so many of my favorite MC's and producers. Here's the list: Chali 2na, Zaakir, Akil, Marc Se7en, Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truth Speaker, Lyrics Born, Chief Xcel, DJ Nu-Mark, Cut Chemist, and DJ Shadow. All on one track!!! Jesus Christ. Don't worry, it does not dissapoint.

CSS - Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (Hot Chip Remix)
I like CSS. I like Hot Chip. But the math doesn't always add up well, sometimes Hot Chip's remixes aren't so good (like their !!! one). Sometimes they're amazing, but sometimes... I get nervous they won't work. This one starts slow but luckily it's long and it eventually builds up and breaks into this really sweet groove by the end. And strangely it's less of a party song now, the vibe totally gets switched up.