That Right Aint Shit

I’ve come to realize the perils of trying to write a blog piece about my favorite artist. After literally writing my face off about The Books, an experimental duet, I took the paper right out of my typewriter, crumpled it up, and tossed it in my old-fashioned wastebasket.

Because you see, what I love most about The Books and their music is the indescribable nature of their compositions. It seemed unfair and frivolous to try to write a set up as to what you can expect to hear, what they sound like, blah di fucking blah blah. Instead, I’d rather those of you who are unfamiliar with The Books, to be introduced to them the same way I was a few years back:

03 Tokyo.mp3

Their first release was Thought for Food in 2002 and is a prime example of a ‘finding their sound’ record. Among several solid tracks on the disc are Read, Eat, Sleep (which you might recognize from a Hummer commercial a year ago), Motherless Bastard, and All Our Base Are Belong to Them.

One year later The Books released The Lemon of Pink, and had officially found their sound. Each song is a beautiful collage of acoustic guitar/banjo, cello/bass, electronic percussion and ambient sounds. Take for example the opening and title track on the disc:

01 The Lemon of Pink.mp3

In 2005 The Books released Lost and Safe, a phenomenal follow-up to The Lemon of Pink. The songs on this disc cover more genre ground, touching blues and breaks, all with the same orchestral composition that creates the unique, rich, organic sound of The Books. Here are a few tracks off of this disc (sorry about the mp4 format):

04 Smells Like Content.m4a

05 It Never Changes To Stop.m4a

10 An Owl With Knees.m4a

And although The Books released an EP in 2008 called Music for a French Elevator that featured this wonderful short song:

01 Frailté.m4a

It was a tease of a release, leaving fans still waiting for another full-length disc.

Now I’m sure over the course of this blog there will be many mentions of the phrase ‘must buy.’ And I’m sure I’ll be responsible for more than a few of those. However, never will I be as adamant as I am about both The Lemon of Pink and Lost and Safe. If you are a fan of ambient, electronic, acoustic or beautiful music in general, these records are essential.

The Books’ music plays with your brain, and to this date, I’ve never been able to better articulate it than by saying it is the most visual music I have ever heard.

The Books aren’t for everyone, but then again, no music should be for everyone.
Take a listen (headphones help). Hope you dig.

oh, and check their website

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Next week: a compilation that one blogger called “an indie rocker’s wet dream.” Sounds promising, I know...Here’s a sample:

1-04 Brackett, WI.m4a