32. Thao With The Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster
Andy: Unranked :: Dave: 20

Recently, a good friend was telling me how much he liked a song we had posted from Thao with The Get Down Stay Down on this here blog. I told him that particular song wasn’t even my favorite off of the record it was released on. That honor went to one of my favorite songs of last year entirely, Beat (Health, Life and Fire ). I advised him the entire record was worth his while to check out. This little exchange illustrated to me the value of music blogs, however fleeting, in that songs/bands are revealed to people when they may not have heard of them otherwise. This is no new revelation, but every once in a while a situation like that occurs and justifies why I enjoy writing about music so much.

While none of the individual songs on 2009′s follow up quite reach that same level of excellence for me, the album as a whole perhaps reaches a little higher. The material is focused on the ever most popular of topics, the breakup, yet these songs are playful and accessible, with coy, though intelligent lyrics. That Thao has grown up is apparent in the increasingly mature and intimate lyrics and there is no lack of catchy and impressive hooks in this collection of diverse and eclectic sounds. It’s a shame more people haven’t read our blog (tongue in cheek) and subsequently given her music a chance yet.

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster (mp3) from Know Better Learn Faster

31. Brazos – Phosphorecent Blues
Andy: 18 :: Dave: Unranked

You know when you’ve found something so good that you have an innate need to share it with everyone you know – regardless of whether they will actually be intrigued by what you’ve found?  That’s Brazos’ 2009 release Phosphorescent Blues for me.  It’s a dusty, handclaps-and-stomps album, punctuated by the indie snap of the drums and Martin Crane’s mournful voice.

Phosphorescent Blues unfolds itself at it’s own pace, tells you stories you want to hear again and again.  Not unlike the river from which the band derives its name, the music ebbs and flows, smoothes over the rough parts, and washes the listener clean.  Each song had valid reason to be posted as representative.  This is an album with depth and width and height, all-encompassing, and if it had been released earlier in the year, it would have almost certainly found itself higher on this list.

Brazos – Tell (mp3) from Phosphorescent Blues

The Brazos River runs from its confluence in the middle of Texas, winding east past Dallas, then turns south, cutting through Waco before exiting into the Gulf of Mexico.  It was named by Spanish explorers Rio de los Brazos de Dios – which, translated literally, means River of the Arms of God – because it contained the first fresh water they had found for drinking.

The band that takes their moniker from the aforementioned river actually hails from Austin – which is not situated on the Brazos River at all.  But the band’s music meanders, picks up steam, widens as it moves along, and feels like what I’d imagine traversing the length of the river would be circa the turn of the 20^th century.  Brazos’ MySpace page describes their sound more aptly than I could:

“a couple of hundred years ago i whas born and i roamed around, i saw verious (sic) countries achieve independence, and i walked the earth happily. then about 100 years ago i tripped on a river and fell face first into a bed of mountains, and the mountains were like an old familiar bosom and i fell asleep till a few years ago then i woke up and everything was different so i decided to write some songs about what i could remember”

And that’s exactly what the songs sound like – familiar, comfortable, like you’ve known them all along.  Brazos’ music is what your soul sings.

The band’s new LP – Phosphorescent Blues – is set to be released physically on November 10 (which you can order here), and they’re busy touring with fellow Austin product (and Tympanogram favorite) White Denim.  Catch them if they’re around your area.

Brazos – Day Glo (mp3) from Phosphorescent Blues

Brazos – My Buddy (mp3) from Phosphorescent Blues