Cybersam's Blog - The Decemberists, Moby, and The Go-Betweens

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

The Decemberists, Moby, and The Go-Betweens

From time to time, I would join eMusic then download a mega load of digital music before canceling my membership. I would repeat this cycle a few months later. However, the selection at eMusic must be getting better lately because I find myself rejoining eMusic every month to seek and download new music.

Last week, I rejoined eMuisc to download a fresh batch of digital music, which consists of the following albums:

Picaresque by The Decemberists - If you need an introduction to The Decemberists, this is the album to get. After reading rave reviews about this band and their music, I decided to download this album to listen for myself. I was blown away by the band's lyrical tunes along with the wonderful voice of Colin Meloy, the band's lead singer and songwriter. I could not exactly categorize the musical genre that identifies the band. They have a broad range of musical style that ranges from folksy music akin to that of The Thrills to the upbeat indie pop similar to that of The Smiths. Absolutely my favorite album at the present. I highly recommended this album.
Castaways and Cutouts by The Decemberists - A close second favorite album by the band.
18 B Sides by Moby - This is one of the two albums from Moby that features B-sides, which some people consider as rejected stuff that did not make it to the main album. But do not let this negative connotion fool you in believing that this album is infrerior. While the album may not be as refined as the parent album 18, it does have a collection of great dance and ambient songs. The goods news is that all tracks on this album sound quite differently from those on the parent album. Overall the album sounds very refreshing and appealing - the album feels more like a new relese than a collection of B-sides.
Play: The B Sides by Moby - This album is so-so.
Ambient by Moby - Somehow I do not like this album that much. It is refined but nothing stands out from this album. My least favorite of the six albums.
Bellavista Terrace: Best of the Go-Betweens by The Go-Betweens - A compilation of top tunes from an 80's indie band from Australia.